World War II Database

Contributor: C. Peter Chen

ww2dbaseNamed for a bay in Alaska, Ommaney Bay was commissioned in Feb 1944 with Captain Howard L. Young in command. She was fitted out at Astoria, Oregon, and conducted her shakedown cruise in Puget Sound. In Mar 1944, she sailed with supplies and aircraft on board for Brisbane, Australia. She did not have her carrier qualification landings and other drills until she returned from Australia at the end of Apr. She received her air group in Jun and sailed for combat mission in the Pacific in Aug. In Oct, she was stationed off Peleliu and Anguar Islands and provided air cover for the invasion forces ashore. Her next mission took her to the Philippines, supporting the invasion of Leyte. During the Battle off Samar on 25 Oct, her aircraft attacked the attacking Japanese fleet, assisting in the sinking of one Japanese cruiser. In Dec, she operated in Mindanao and Sulu Seas in the Philippines to continue her support of the Philippines campaign. On 19 Dec, she returned to port in preparation of the American landing in Lingayen Gulf on Luzon.

ww2dbaseOn 3 Jan 1945, while in Surigao Strait, Ommaney Bay was struck by a suicide aircraft with two bombs on her starboard side. One of the bombs tore through the flight deck and detonated in the middle of fueled aircraft; the other detonated near the fire main on the second deck. Power was lost quickly, and communications broke down. Without water pressure in the forward half of the ship, fires burned uncontrollably. Nearby ships attempted to assist in the firefighting, but the intense heat and the ammunition being set off made it impossible. With fire spreading near the torpedo storage (which did detonate later), the captain gave his abandon ship order. After the completion of the evacuation, destroyer Burns launched a torpedo, scuttling the ship. 93 of Ommaney Bay's crew and 2 from an assisting destroyer were lost.

Escort Carrier Ommaney Bay (CVE-79) Interactive Map

Photographs

Ommaney Bay Operational Timeline