Please report any broken links or trouble you might come across to the Webmaster. Please take a moment to let us know so that we can correct any problems and make your visit as enjoyable and as informative as possible.

NavSource Online: Escort Carrier Photo Archive

USS GAMBIER BAY   (CVE-73)



Flag Hoist/Radio Call Sign: November - Kilo - Whiskey - Uniform

Unit Awards, Campaign and Service Medals and Ribbons


Precedence of awards is from top to bottom, left to right
Top Row: Presidential Unit Citation / American Campaign Medal / Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal (4 stars)
2nd Row: World War II Victory Medal / Philippine Presidential Unit Citation / Philippine Liberation Medal

CLASS - CASABLANCA
Displacement 7,800 Tons, Dimensions, 512' 3" (oa) x 65' 2" x 22' 4" (Max)
Armament 1 x 5"/38AA 8 x 40mm, 12 x 20mm, 27 Aircraft.
Machinery, 9,000 IHP; 2 Skinner, Uniflow engines, 2 screws
Speed, 19 Knots, Crew 860.

Casablanca Class Escort Carrier
Awarded Laid down Launched Commissioned Decommissioned Stricken
18 Jun 1942 10 Jul 1943 22 Nov 1943 28 Dec 1943   27 Nov 1944
Builder: Kaiser Shipbuilding Co., Vancouver, Wash.

Fate: Sunk by gunfire of Japanese surface warships off Samar, Battle of Leyte Gulf, October 25, 1944.

USS Gambier Bay and the other ships and aircraft of "Taffy 3," aided by planes of "Taffy 2," gallantly fought and stopped the powerful Japanese Center Force, and inflicted significant losses on the enemy. However, Gambier Bay was heavily damaged in this action; she capsized at 0907 and sank four minutes later. Nearly 800 survivors were rescued by Task Group 78.12.

More than 130 of her crew were lost with the ship and remain on active duty.


Click On Image 
For Full Size Image
Size Image Description Contributed
By And/Or Copyright
Name
Gambier Bay
NS0307316
149k

AVG-73 (later ACV-73 and CVE-73) was named Gambier Bay for a bay on the east coast of Admiralty Island, in the Alexander archipielago, Southeast Alaska.

The name derives from Point Gambier and was given in 1889 by LCDR Henry B. Mansfield, USN. It was published by the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey (USC&GS) in the 1891 American Coast Pilot.

(Image: Google Maps.)

NavSource
World War II
Gambier Bay
NS0307325
350k

Captain James D. Barner, USN, Commander, Naval Air Station, Astoria, Oregon, speaks a few words at the commissioning ceremonies of USS Gambier Bay (CVE-73), 28 December 1943.

National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) photo, # 80-G-218319.

NARA
Gambier Bay
NS0307325a
328k

Commissioning Ceremonies aboard USS Gambier Bay (CVE-73), 28 December 1943. Captain Hugh W. Goodwin, USN, right, prospective Commanding Officer, being congratulated by Captain James D. Barner, Commander, Naval Air Station, Astoria, Oregon, and Commanding Officer of the Pre-Commissioning Detail.

National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) photo, # 80-G-218320.

Gambier Bay
NS0307329
423k

USS Gambier Bay (CVE-73), two days after commissioning and moored to docks at Naval Station, Astoria, Oregon, 30 December 1943.

National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) photo, # 80-G-218338.

NARA
CVE-73 Gambier Bay
NS0307301
15k (Poor quality) Undated, as completed. USN
CVE-73 Gambier Bay
NS0307302
76k Underway, good image showing AA armament. USN
CVE-73 Gambier Bay
NS0307317
1.06M

Radar antennae on USS Gambier Bay (CVE-73): YE (top), SG (middle), and SK (bottom). Photographed on 14 January 1944.

National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) (# 80-G-218332).

NARA
CVE-73 Gambier Bay
NS0307317a
447k

Gun crew receiving instructions in anti-aircraft gun-firing aboard USS Gambier Bay (CVE-73), 14 January 1944.

National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) (# 80-G-218331).

CVE-73 Gambier Bay
NS0307327
617k

Initial inspection aboard USS Gambier Bay (CVE-73), 22 January 1944, by Captain Hugh H. Goodwin, USN. "Suck 'em In" crew of Gambier Bay receive a thorough going over by Captain Goodwin assisted by Executive Officer, Commander Richard R. Ballinger, USN.

National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) (# 80-G-218334).

NARA
CVE-73 Gambier Bay
NS0307332
809k

Store Keeper First Class G.E. McArdlo aboard USS Gambier Bay (CVE-73), makes Chief and is initiated into the mysteries of the cult, 1 February 1944.

National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) (# 80-G-218385).

NARA
CVE-73 Gambier Bay
NS0307315
194k

F6F Hellcats, with folded wings, on the flight deck of USS Gambier Bay (CVE-73) en route to the South Pacific, 12 February 1944.

National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) (# 80-G-218352).

NARA
CVE-73 Gambier Bay
NS0307319
1.34M

Starboard battery aboard USS Gambier Bay (CVE-73) in action during the Marshall Islands Campaign, 15 February 1944. Note the 40mm, and the F4U Corsairs with folded wings on the flight deck.

National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) (# 80-G-218364).

NARA
CVE-73 Gambier Bay
NS0307318
732k

USS Norman Scott (DD-690) coming alongside USS Gambier Bay (CVE-73) for refueling operations in the South Pacific, 177 meridian, 19 February 1944.

National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) (# 80-G-218356).

NARA
CVE-73 Gambier Bay
NS0307330
767k

Captain Hugh H. Goodwin, USN, Commanding Officer of USS Gambier Bay (CVE-73) on the navigation bridge, 20 February 1944.

National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) (# 80-G-218357).

NARA
CVE-73 Gambier Bay
NS0307320
1.65M

Planes taking off during first catapulting operations aboard USS Gambier Bay (CVE-73) in Marshall Islands Campaign. In the first craft to leave is Lieutenant Commander M.G. Guerrieri, Squadron Commander of VF-39, and he is flying an F6F-3 Hellcat. Date is given as 21 February 1944.

National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) (# 80-G-218366).

NARA
CVE-73 Gambier Bay
NS0307320a
1.10M

Planes taking off during first catapulting operations aboard USS Gambier Bay (CVE-73) in Marshall Islands Campaign. In this F6F-3 Hellcat, Lieutenant Miner, pilot, clears the flight deck, and was the fifth plane to be launched. Note the F4U Corsairs with folded wings in the foreground. Date is given as 21 February 1944.

National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) (# 80-G-218367).

NARA
CVE-73 Gambier Bay
NS0307331
660k

Frank S. Hughes, Gunner, giving instructions on the Tommy Gun to a group of enlisted men on the fantail of USS Gambier Bay (CVE-73), 24 February 1944.

National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), # 80-G-218384.

NARA
CVE-73 Gambier Bay
NS0307321
331k

Ensign R.R. Foltz is landing the first plane, an F6F Hellcat, aboard USS Gambier Bay (CVE-73) in the South Pacific. Note the destroyer in the background (probably USS Norman Scott (DD-690), since she appears in other photos of this series). Photograph released 25 February 1944.

National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) (# 80-G-218377).

NARA
CVE-73 Gambier Bay
NS0307321a
1.28M

In celebration of the first plane landing aboard USS Gambier Bay (CVE-73), officers gathered around an F6F Hellcat and a cake was baked in honor of the occasion, somewhere in the South Pacific. Captain Hugh H. Goodwin, USN, Commanding Officer of the ship and Ensign R.R. Foltz, the pilot of the first aircraft to land on Gambier Bay, are holding the cake. Photograph released 25 February 1944.

National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) (# 80-G-218380).

CVE-73 Gambier Bay
NS0307333
605k

Captain Hugh H. Goodman, USN, Commanding Officer of USS Gambier Bay (CVE-73) making first dungaree inspection on board ship, somewhere in the South Pacific, 26 February 1944.

National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) (# 80-G-218387).

CVE-73 Gambier Bay
NS0307326
566k

USS Gambier Bay (CVE-73), photograph received 23 November 1944. She was sunk during the Battle of Leyte Gulf (Battle of Samar—25 October 1944).

National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) (# 80-G-46892).

CVE-73 Gambier Bay
NS0307310
106k

USS Gambier Bay (CVE-73) in port, April 1944. The ship is painted in Camouflage Measure 32, Design 15A.

U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command Photograph (#NH 79408).

Naval History & Heritage Command, via Robert Hurst
CVE-73 Gambier Bay
NS0307314
112k

Bow view of USS Gambier Bay (CVE-73) in April 1944, showing her Measure 32, Design 15A camouflage pattern.

U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command Photograph (#NH 79409).

Mike Green
CVE-63 Midway
NS0307311
36k Bridge of USS Gambier Bay (CVE-73), 23 July 1944, showing CAPT Hugh H. Goodwin pointing to Jap flags designating enemy aircraft shot down in a recent [17–18 June] air attack in central Pacific area. Photo # CVE 73-359. National Archives photo # 80-G-243853 (thanks to Tracy White, Researcher @ Large, for the identification). USS Saint Lo Association
CVE-73 Gambier Bay
NS0307307
127k

Ensign Darrell C. Bennett, A-V(N), USNR, stands beside his plane, a General Motors FM-2 Wildcat fighter, on board USS Gambier Bay (CVE-73), 1 August 1944. Note pinup art and nickname "Smokey's Lucky Witch" adorning the engine cowling; what appears to be a Composite Squadron Ten (VC-10) insignia below the cockpit windshield; plane numbers ("27") in white on the wing leading edge and in black under the lip of the cowling; and Ensign's Bennett's flight gear and .45 caliber M1911A1 pistol carried in a shoulder holster.

Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives (# 80-G-243864).

Doug Bennett comments: "Ensign Darrell C. Bennett had an older brother stationed on the St. Lo. Both were stationed on their ships when they sank AND both are still alive [as of May 2009]! They are my uncles."

Robert Hurst
CVE-73 Gambier Bay
NS0307312
100k

Composite Squadron (VC) 10 patch, designed by then ENS Robert B. "Tuffy" Barrows, a TBM Avenger pilot. VC-10 was commissioned on 23 September 1943 at Sand Point Naval Air Station, Seattle, WA. LCDR E.J. Huxtable, USN, took command six days later. The squadron went aboard its carrier, USS Gambier Bay (CVE-73), on 5 April 1944. Gambier Bay and VC-10 took part in the capture and ocupation of Saipan, Tinian, Guam and the southern Palau Islands. Gambier Bay was sunk off Samar on 25 October 1944, during the Battle of Leyte Gulf.

"With its ship gone, the Leyte invasion marked the end of the squadron's activities as a unit. In small groups the members went by various methods to Manus, Pearl, San Francisco, and then home on leave. Some were transferred to other units for duty. Nineteen pilots and twenty-five of the crew chose to stay with Lt. Cdr. Huxtable and form the nucleus of a new Composite Squadron Ten, to be reformed in January 1945." (Quoted from Narrative History of Composite Squadron Ten, by CAPT Edward Huxtable.)

Courtesy of Mike Pyzdrowski, USS Gambier Bay/VC-10 Association website archiver/historian
CVE-73 Gambier Bay
NS0307322
224k

Cooks and storekeepers, USS Gambier Bay (CVE-73).

(Larger copy available on request.)

S Division.

Duties: Supply, Disbursing, and Commissary.

Back row, left to right: Harold Marion Moeshler SK 3/c, Richard Wayne Leach SC 3/c, Bill Mack Dunham SK 3/c, Edwin Camp Berryman SK 1/c, Donald Marshall Ryan Bkr 3/c, Joseph Anthony Cassaro SC 1/c, Charles Vincent Rizzo SC 2/c, Ralph Leland Skaggs SK 2/c, Chester Alvin Liller Sk 2/c, Harold Henry Schaffner SK 3/c, George Leo Miller SK 2/c, Claudius Guy Lowe SK 3/c, Roy Williams SC 3/c, Peter Kolody SC 3/c, Lawrence Larry Zanetell SK 3/c, Reginald Franklin Ruffin CK 2/c, Joseph Schirard Fish SK 2/c, Walter Franklin Marshall SC 3/c, Orville Cluster Propes SC 1/c, Lyle Thomas Stoner SK 3/c, Kenneth Brooks Thompson SK 3/c, Norman Russell Loats SK 3/c, Henry Schmidt Jr SK 1/c, Donald Ralph Huntley SK 2/c.

Front row, left to right: Albert Smith CSK, James Edward McCardle CSK, Walter Michael Gumaski CCS, Harrell Andrew Thomas SC 3/c, Leonard Gerard Martin SC 1/c, Chester Norval Crane Bkr 2/c, James Dale Henderson SC 2/c, Robert William Knight SK 2/c, Daniel Eugene Martindale SC 3/c, Donald H Schieke Bkr 3/c.

Andrew Stoner,
for his uncle, SK3/c Lyle T. Stoner (KIA, 25 October 1944)
List of names courtesy of Mike Pyzdrowski, USS Gambier Bay/VC-10 Association website archiver/historian
CVE-73 Gambier Bay
NS0307328
61k

AMM3/c Joseph E. McQuade, 1942. Served aboard USS Gambier Bay (CVE-73) in the aircraft catapult crew.

Tim Smith,
for his grandfather Joseph E. McQuade
CVE-73 Gambier Bay
NS0307334
93k

ART1/c Robert Lee Davis survived the sinking of USS Gambier Bay (CVE-73). He was born in Tennessee, to Alice and William Davis.

Sharon Lee (Davis) Henry,
for her father Robert Lee Davis
Battle off Samar, October 25, 1944
CVE-73 Gambier Bay
NS0307305
20k Straddled by gunfire. Haze Gray & Underway
CVE-73 Gambier Bay
NS0307303g
773k

Battle of Leyte Gulf, Battle off Samar, 25 October 1944. USS Gambier Bay (CVE-73) and another escort carrier, and two destroyer escorts making smoke. Photographed from USS Kalinin Bay (CVE-68) by Phil Willard Nieth.

Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), # 80-G-288154.

NARA
CVE-73 Gambier Bay
NS0307303
74k Gambier Bay burning and shells from Japanese surface forces splashing down beside her. (Circled ship is a Japanese heavy cruiser. This is one of the few photos showing both American and Japanese ships in the same image.) USN
CVE-73 Gambier Bay
NS0307303a
109k - Courtesy of Scott Koen & ussnewyork.com
CVE-73 Gambier Bay
NS0307303b
223k - Courtesy of Scott Koen & ussnewyork.com
CVE-73 Gambier Bay
NS0307303c
206k - Courtesy of Scott Koen & ussnewyork.com
CVE-73 Gambier Bay
NS0307303d
199k - Courtesy of Scott Koen & ussnewyork.com
CVE-73 Gambier Bay
NS0307303f
111k

USS Gambier Bay (CVE-73) is seen on fire after being hit, viewed from on board her sister-ship USS Kitkun Bay (CVE-71). Photo courtesy of Conway Picture Library.

Photo and text from Conway's The War at Sea in Photographs, 1939–1945, by Stuart Robertson and Stephen Dent.

Robert Hurst
CVE-73 Gambier Bay
NS0307304
89k Another photo of Gambier Bay under Japanese fire during the Battle of Samar. The smudge in the upper right corner is another Japanese heavy cruiser. USN
CVE-68 Kalinin Bay + CVE-73 Gambier Bay
NS0306807d
470k

USS Gambier Bay (CVE-73) falls further behind her Task Group after receiving shell damage during the Battle off Samar (Battle of Leyte Gulf), 25 October 1944. Photographed from USS Kalinin Bay (CVE-68) while the crew watches.

National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) photo, # 80-G-287512.

NARA
CVE-73 Gambier Bay
NS0307306
433k

USS Gambier Bay (CVE-73) bracketed by Japanese shells while making smoke, during the battle off Samar, 25 October 1944. After these near misses the ship appeared to slow down and fall behind the rest of her task group. Photographed from USS Kalinin Bay (CVE-68) by Phi Willard Nieth.

United States National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) photo, # 80-G-288149.

Mike Green
CVE-66 White Plains + CVE-73 Gambier Bay
NS0306606g
595k

Battle of Leyte Gulf, 24–26 October 1944. A CVE, possibly USS Gambier Bay (CVE-73), attacked by Japanese surface units, as seen from USS White Plains (CVE-66).

National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) photo, # 80-G-384160.

NARA
CVE-73 Gambier Bay
NS0307308
60k

USS Gambier Bay (CVE-73) bracketed by Japanese gunfire during the Battle of Leyte Gulf (US National Archives photo from Nemesis: The Battle for Japan, 1944–45, by Max Hastings).

Robert Hurst
CVE-73 Gambier Bay
NS0307309
Get FREE Adobe Reader
144k

Letter from Captain Walter V.R. Vieweg, Commanding Officer, USS Gambier Bay (CVE-73), to the Commanding Officer and Crew of LCI(L)-337, thanking them for saving the lives of the survivors of the escort carrier, sunk by enemy gunfire on 25 October 1944.

Marc Levine
PUC - CVE-70
NS0307016a
177k

THE SECRETARY OF THE NAVY
WASHINGTON

The President of the United States takes pleasure in presenting the PRESIDENTIAL UNIT CITATION to the

TASK UNIT SEVENTY-SEVEN POINT FOUR POINT THREE, consisting of the U.S.S. FANSHAW BAY and VC-68; U.S.S. GAMBIER BAY and VC-10; U.S.S. KALININ BAY and VC-3; U.S.S. KITKUN BAY and VC-5; U.S.S. SAINT LO and VC-65; U.S.S. WHITE PLAINS and VC-4; U.S.S. HOEL; U.S.S. JOHNSTON; U.S.S. HEERMAN; U.S.S. SAMUEL B. ROBERTS; U.S.S. RAYMOND; U.S.S. DENNIS and U.S.S. JOHN C. BUTLER

for service as set forth in the following

CITATION:

   "For extraordinary heroism in action against powerful units of the Japanese Fleet during the Battle off Samar, Philippines, October 25, 1944. Silhouetted against the dawn as the Central Japanese Force steamed through San Bernardino Strait toward Leyte Gulf, Task Unit 77.4.3 was suddenly taken under attack by hostile cruisers on its port hand, destroyers on the starboard and battleships from the rear. Quickly laying down a heavy smoke screen, the gallant ships of the Task Unit waged battle fiercely against the superior speed and fire power of the advancing enemy, swiftly launching and rearming aircraft and violently zigzagging in protection of vessels stricken by hostile armor-piercing shells, anti-personnel projectiles and suicide bombers. With one carrier of the group sunk, others badly damaged and squadron aircraft courageously coordinating in the attacks by making dry runs over the enemy Fleet as the Japanese relentlessly closed in for the kill, two of the Unit's valiant destroyers and one destroyer escort charged the battleships point-blank and, expending their last torpedoes in desperate defense of the entire group, went down under the enemy's heavy shells as a climax to two and one half hours of sustained and furious combat. The courageous determination and the superb teamwork of the officers and men who fought the embarked planes and who manned the ships of Task Unit 77.4.3 were instrumental in effecting the retirement of a hostile force threatening our Leyte invasion operations and were in keeping with the highest traditions of the United States Naval Service."

For the President,

James Forrestal
Secretary of the Navy

Thanks to Gerry Lawton, CDR USN (Ret.)
Memorabilia
CVE-73 Gambier Bay
NS0307323
87k

"The U.S.S. Gambier Bay (CVE 73), Vol. 1 No. 1, December 1943, Issued Monthly, Commissioning Issue."

Belonged to Tim's grandfather, J.E. McQuade, who served aboard Gambier Bay.

Tim Smith
CVE-73 Gambier Bay
NS0307324
102k

Domain of the Golden Dragon Certificate, 19 February 1944.

Belonged to Tim's grandfather, J.E. McQuade, who served aboard Gambier Bay.

Tim Smith
CVE-73 Gambier Bay
NS0307313
42k

Card model of USS Gambier Bay (CVE-73), by Andrzej Halinski Publishing.

Tomnmy Trampp

For more photos and information about this ship, see:

Read the USS GAMBIER BAY (CVE-73) DANFS History entry

Crew Contact and Reunion Information
Contact:  
Address:  
Phone:  
E-mail:  
Web site: USS Gambier Bay / VC-10 Association
Remarks:  

Related Links
Hazegray & Underway World Aircraft Carrier Pages by Andrew Toppan
Escort Carrier Sailors & Airmen Association
USS Gambier Bay (CVE-73) & Composite Squadron VC-10
USS Gambier Bay / VC-10 Association
Building the Gambier Bay in 1/72 Scale by Bill Waldorf

The Battle Off Samar - Taffy III at Leyte Gulf

Comments, Suggestions or Image submissions, E-mail Carrier Information
Problems and site related matters, E-mail Webmaster

This page was created by Paul Yarnall and is maintained by Fabio Peña
All pages copyright NavSource Naval History

Last update: 13 January 2024