Patsy Capano, USNR, and ARM2c Malcom J. Gordon in a TBM-1c of VC-3 on a sector patrol, escorted by Lt. Keighley and his men flew their planes through a hole in the clouds at 8,000 feet and sighted a Kongō class battleship (Haruna or Kongō), Nagato, Chikuma, Tone, two Nachi class heavy cruisers (likely Haguro and one of the other cruisers), and a number of destroyers at 0740. Fanshaw Bay (the group’s flagship), Midway, Cassin Young, Irwin, and Ross sailed as Escort Carrier Unit 1, TU 52.14.1, Rear Adm. Bogan. These pilots manned what the ship’s historian reported as “the maximum number of FM-2 type aircraft assembled there for transportation to TG 52.14 in the Saipan area,” and then flew 42 FM-2s, along with an additional five TBM-1Cs, to the ship from Naval Air Base Eniwetok. Kalinin Bay turned hard to starboard and astern of St. Nishiuchi was dated 25 October and messages to the boat on 27 October and 7 November were never answered. Early in the New Year (3–18 January 1946) Kalinin Bay embarked more returning veterans and brought them home to San Diego. A second round in a following salvo detonated just off the fantail, sending fragments into the stern on the port side into the mess attendants’ compartment C-204-16L and continued on and tore into bulkhead 199. As the Japanese fired their Parthian shots and reversed course northward at about 0930, Kalinin Bay scored a direct hit amidships on a retreating destroyer. “Realizing the urgent necessity for destroying this formation before it could attack,” Ens. Kalinin Bay (CVE-68) arriving at San Diego, California on 25 November 1944 for repair of damages received in the Battle off Samar a month earlier. Upon her arrival at Eniwetok, the task group was dissolved, and the ship refueled and provisioned. Dace sank heavy cruiser Maya, and Darter sank Atago and damaged her sistership Takao, which came about for Brunei. The Japanese battleships fired blood red, pink or greenish-yellow dye-loaded projectiles in order to mark their fire, and Sprague referred to their huge splashes as “very distinctive.” Haruna fired a salvo of 14-inch rounds from a range of 16,998 yards that straddled the carrier, and one of the shells struck the starboard side of the hangar deck just abaft the forward elevator on the hangar deck. (3–9 January 1944), where the vessel unloaded the marines and their planes and equipment from both squadrons, as well as her own ordnance of aerial bombs, torpedoes, and depth charges. The men there, in turn, relayed the information to the gunners, which proved invaluable as they engaged the Japanese in the unequal duel until they were knocked out (see below). The Japanese had prepared their main line of resistance on Peleliu inland from the beaches to escape naval bombardment, and three days of preliminary carrier air attacks in combination with intense naval gunfire failed to suppress the tenacious defenders. Despite the gunfire from three enemy cruisers, bearing 270° at 34,500 yards, she launched all of the available planes, and ordered the pilots “to attack the Japanese task force, then proceed to Tacloban airfield [at the northwest end of Leyte Gulf on Leyte] to re-arm and re-gas.” Kalinin Bay’s available planes comprised two TBM-1c’s each armed with eight 5-inch rockets and two 500-pound general-purpose bombs, another half dozen Avengers loaded with eight rockets and six 100-pound bombs, and 13 Wildcats with their full load of .50 caliber ammunition. Designated TU 19.9.17, Kalinin Bay bought on board 71 officers, 219 enlisted men, six F6Fs, 14 FM-2s, 17 TBMs, 75 aircraft engines, and 1,202 cubic feet of miscellaneous cargo, turned around and plowed through the eastern Pacific back to San Diego (1–8 June). Williamson at 0654 on 25 October 1944. Kalinin Bay launched fighters that flew CAP over the task group from sunrise to sunset on the 26th, and at 2300 that night, the ship sounded general quarters when radar tracked an estimated two to three unidentified low flying planes approaching from 270° at ten miles. Rear Adm. Clifton A.F. The rain squalls and smoke screens imposed multiple delays and some of the aircraft launched in different groups. But winter winds blew up -- the cold, dark water smoked and rolled. Rear Adm. Gerald F. Bogan, Commander, CarDiv 25, broke his flag in Fanshaw Bay as the OTC as the ships proceeded on their journey and stood into Pearl Harbor (1–6 May). Oil contaminated the entire fresh water system, and the risk of infections to the wounded and thirst further agonized the men, and multiple aviation lube oil tanks leaked. Ens. Japanese fuel shortages and inadequate training bedeviled A-Go, however, and U.S. signal decryption breakthroughs enabled attacks on their submarines that deprived the enemy of intelligence. Our in-depth travels in this UNESCO world heritage site afford the best opportunity for amazing encounters with wildlife, such as brown bears, black bears, wolves, moose, and more. Decommissioned at the Boston Naval Shipyard on May 15, 1946, the KALININ BAY was struck from the Navy List on June 5, and was sold for scrapping December 8, 1946 to Patapsco Steel Co., Baltimore, Md. Sea Jay Goes North 2011. Edward P. Van Hise Jr., USNR, also went down in a fighter he was flying over Tinian, though he survived the harrowing experience. These men helped transfer all of the “flyable” Wildcats off the ship to other carriers, which left only three FM-2s in Kalinin Bay, two of which originated from other ships. USA. The ship’s new duties brought with them fresh recruits, and Capt. Kalinin Bay trained and prepared for her next endeavor, Operation Forager—landings in the Marianas Islands. The enemy destroyers launched a torpedo attack and lookouts on board Kalinin Bay sighted at least 12 torpedo wakes on parallel courses on either side of the carrier as the deadly weapons churned through the water but they all passed the warship. The projectile continued on through the platform deck approximately four feet inboard from the port side, through storeroom A-407-A, and on into the forward section of the port aviation lube oil tank and exploded, almost passing through the bottom of the ship. At best, I had expected to be swimming by this time.”. Force B comprised battleships Haruna and Kongō, heavy cruisers Chikuma, Kumano, Suzuya, and Tone, light cruiser Yahagi, and destroyers Hamakaze, Isokaze, Urakaze, and Yukikaze. Kalinin Point is a cape in Alaska. Wildcats tangled with the attackers, and shipboard 20- and 40-millimeter guns added their firing to the cacophony. Lt. Crockett led a second flight that included Lt. E.L. Archer Jr., USNR, Ens. Meanwhile, on 30 September 1944, Savo Island (CVE-78) and Thorn (DD-647) joined TU 32.7.2, which was dissolved and the combined ships formed TU 32.17.16, and steamed to Seeadler Harbor, Manus Island, in the Admiralties (30 September–3 October). The Japanese surprised the Americans and caught Taffy 3 unprepared to face such a seemingly overwhelming assault, and the battle quickly became a precipitate flight in the face of the powerful enemy force. 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