Sinking of USS Ommaney Bay
A Casablanca-class escort carrier of the United States Navy during World War II named after Ommaney Bay, located at the south end of Baranof Island, Alaska.
Vice Admiral Oldendorf’s TF-77.2 consisted of 164 ships, including six of the older battleships, six cruisers, and 19 destroyers, accompanied by an escort carrier group with 12 escort carriers, 14 destroyers, six destroyer escorts, a minesweeping and hydrographic group of 72 vessels, ten destroyer-transports with underwater demolition teams (UDT ), two fleet tugs, a seaplane tender, and 11 LCI gunboats.
TF-77.2 commenced departure from Leyte Gulf on 2 December, with the slowest units leaving first to transit via Surigao Strait, the Sulu Sea, Mindoro Strait, and then up the west coast of Luzon.
As the main part of Oldendorf’s force passed through Surigao Strait into the Sulu Sea, it divided into a van and rear group, each group centered around a nucleus of escort carriers, which combined could sustain a combat air patrol of about 40 aircraft in daylight hours, supplemented as weather and flying conditions permitted by U.S. Army aircraft flying from Leyte and Mindoro.
The escort carrier Makin Island (CVE-93) served as the primary fighter direction for the van and Natoma Bay (CVE-62) served the same function for the rear. During the day, the combat air patrol thwarted a 120-plane effort by the Japanese.
At this point in the war, Japanese kamikaze strikes and their escorts would turn back if it looked like fighter opposition was too great—the object was to die striking a U.S. ship, not to die getting shot down on the way to the ship. Nevertheless, one kamikaze got close enough to Makin Island to crash 500 yards astern.
At about 1700 on 4 January, approximately 15 Japanese planes were detected on radar at a range of about 45 miles from Oldendorf’s force.
The planes then split into two groups. Intercept was complicated by false radar returns from islands in the Sulu Sea, although an Army P-47 succeeded in shooting down one of a group of two Japanese P1Y Frances twin-engine bombers (a three-crewmen fast successor to the Betty bomber), but the results of the intercept were not reported and the survivor continued inbound. At 1712, the Frances penetrated the screen, with a blinding sun at its back, approaching the escort carrier Ommaney Bay bow on. Despite the ship’s radar and having put on extra lookouts, the Frances was not detected until it was too late. Only the battleship New Mexico (BB-40) managed to fire any rounds, but to no avail.
The Frances hit the island superstructure, just missing the commanding officer and executive officer, but wiping out the signal bridge before crashing into the flight deck, releasing two bombs as it did do. One bomb penetrated the flight deck, exploding amongst fully fueled aircraft in the forward hangar bay, while the second bomb penetrated to the second deck before exploding, rupturing the fire main. Wreckage from the plane hit a TBM Avenger on the flight deck, starting a fire that engulfed the aft end of the flight deck.
The intense flames and exploding ammunition made it difficult for destroyers to approach and assist. Although the Bell (DD-587) was damaged when she collided with Ommaney Bay while attempting to fight the fire.
At 1745, wounded crewmen were lowered into the water on litters with flotation and able-bodied swimmers to assist. At 1750, the entire topside area was in flames and there was no way to prevent flames from reaching the torpedo stowage area aft, which would result in a massive explosion like the ones that sank Liscome Bay (CVE-56) and Princeton (CVL-23 ). Captain Howard L. Young gave the order to abandon ship and was probably the last living man off at 1812.
At 1818, the torpedoes blew, and a massive explosion ripped Ommaney Bay apart, hitting nearby destroyers with debris and killing an unknown number of sailors in the water, including two from destroyer escort Eichenberger (DE-202), who were in a whaleboat rescuing survivors.
Despite this, Ommaney Bay refused to sink until the destroyer Burns (DD-588) was ordered to sink her with torpedoes.
All told, 93 crewmen of Ommaney Bay died and another 65 were wounded.
Seven survivors of the escort carrier would be killed aboard the light cruiser Columbia (CL-56), when she was hit by kamikaze on 6 and 9 January. (Captain Young was awarded a Navy Cross for Ommaney Bay’s role in turning back the Japanese force during the Battle off Samar on 25 October 1944).
