US Navy

Gambier Bay under attack

On the morning of October 25, 1944, USS Gambier Bay (CVE 73) was steaming off the island of Samar with her task unit "Taffy 3".  At 0647 she received word that a sizeable Japanese fleet was approaching from the northwest. Comprised of 4 battleships, 8 cruisers, and eleven destroyers, Vice Admiral Takeo Kurita's Japanese Centre Force steadily closed and at 0658 opened fire on "Taffy 3." Gambier Bay was soon dead in the water as two Japanese cruisers, Tone and Chikuma, closed to point blank range. One of the cruisers, probably the Chikuma, is clearly seen in the background of photographs taken during the attack (gray circle in the photo) . Fires raged through the riddled escort carrier. She capsized and sank at 0907 on 25 October 1944 with the majority of her nearly 800 survivors rescued two days later by landing and patrol craft dispatched from Leyte Gulf. Gambier Bay was the only U.S. carrier sunk by gunfire in World War 2.