USS Kitkun Bay (CVE-71) was the seventeenth of fifty built for the United States Navy during World War II. She was launched in November 1943, and transferred to the Navy and commissioned in December. She served in the Mariana and Palau Islands campaign, the Battle off Samar, in which she was the first ship to undergo kamikaze attack, and the Invasion of Lingayen Gulf, during which she was damaged by another kamikaze and forced to withdraw. Post-war, she participated in Operation Magic Carpet, repatriating U.S. servicemen from around the Pacific. She was decommissioned in April 1946, and sold for scrapping in November. Ultimately, she was broken up in early 1947.
Design and description
Kitkun Bay was a Casablanca-class escort carrier, the most numerous type of aircraft carriers ever built, and designed specifically to be mass-produced using prefabricated sections, in order to replace heavy early war losses. Standardized with her sister ships, she was long overall, had a beam of , and a draft of . She displaced standard, with a full load. She had a long hangar deck and a long flight deck. She was powered with two Skinner Unaflow reciprocating steam engines, which drove two shafts, providing , thus enabling her to make . The ship had a cruising range of at a speed of . Her compact size necessitated the installment of an aircraft catapult at her bow, and there were two aircraft elevators to facilitate movement of aircraft between the flight and hangar deck: one each fore and aft.
One /38 caliber dual-purpose gun was mounted on the stern. Anti-aircraft defense was provided by eight Bofors anti-aircraft guns in single mounts, as well as twelve Oerlikon cannons, which were mounted around the perimeter of the deck. By the end of the war, Casablanca-class carriers had been modified to carry thirty cannons, and the amount of Bofors guns had been doubled to sixteen, by putting them into twin mounts. These modifications were in response to increasing casualties due to kamikaze attacks. Casablanca-class carriers were designed for a complement of 890, along with 50 to 56 airmen in the attached squadron. Casablanca-class escort carriers were designed to carry 27 aircraft, but the hangar deck could accommodate more. During the Mariana and Palau Islands campaign, she carried 12 FM-2 fighters, and 8 TBM-1C torpedo bombers, for a total of 20 aircraft. However, during the Philippines campaign and Battle off Samar, she carried 16 FM-2 fighters and 12 TBM-1C torpedo bombers for a total of 28 aircraft. During the Invasion of Lingayen Gulf, she carried 15 FM-2 fighters, 10 TBM-3 torpedo bombers, along with two reconnaissance planes, an FM-2P and a TBM-3P.
Construction
Her construction was awarded to Kaiser Shipbuilding Company, Vancouver, Washington, under a Maritime Commission contract, Mc Hull 1108, on 18 June 1942. She was laid down on 3 May 1943 under the name Kitkun Bay, under Frank Knox's directive naming escort carriers for "sounds, bays, and islands". Her namesake, Kitkun Bay, is located on the southeastern end of Prince of Wales Island, constituting part of the Alexander Archipelago, at the time within the Territory of Alaska. She was laid down as MC hull 1108, the seventeenth of a series of fifty Casablanca-class escort carriers. She was launched on 8 November 1943; sponsored by Mrs. Francis E. Cruise; transferred to the Navy and commissioned at Astoria, Oregon on 15 December 1943, with Captain John Perry Whitney in command.
Service history
Upon being commissioned, Kitkun Bay spent the rest of December and early January undergoing outfitting at U.S. Naval Ship Yard Tongue Point, Astoria, Oregon. She then underwent a shakedown cruise down the West Coast, heading to Naval Air Station North Island, San Diego, California. She arrived at San Diego on 22 January 1944, and after spending a week conducting exercises off the Channel Islands, she loaded Marine Torpedo Bomber Squadron (VMTB) 242 on a transport mission bound for the New Hebrides.