USS Makin Island (CVE-93) was an Casablanca class

Casablanca class escort carrier

The Casablanca class escort aircraft carriers were the greatest number of not only escort carriers, but also any size aircraft carrier ever built to a like-design by any nation at any time. Fifty were laid down, launched and commissioned within the space of less than two years - 3 November 1942...

 escort carrier of the United States Navy

United States Navy

The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...

. Named for the 1942 Makin raid

Makin Island raid

The Makin Island Raid was an attack by the United States Marine Corps on Japanese military forces on Makin Island in the Pacific Ocean...

, she was laid down on 12 January 1944 by Kaiser Shipbuilding Company, Vancouver, Washington

Vancouver, Washington

Vancouver is a city on the north bank of the Columbia River in the U.S. state of Washington. Incorporated in 1857, it is the fourth largest city in the state with a 2010 census population of 161,791 as of April 1, 2010...

; launched 5 April 1944; sponsored by Mrs. B. B. Nichol; and commissioned at Astoria, Oregon

Astoria, Oregon

Astoria is the county seat of Clatsop County, Oregon, United States. Situated near the mouth of the Columbia River, the city was named after the American investor John Jacob Astor. His American Fur Company founded Fort Astoria at the site in 1811...

, 9 May 1944, Commander

Commander

Commander is a naval rank which is also sometimes used as a military title depending on the individual customs of a given military service. Commander is also used as a rank or title in some organizations outside of the armed forces, particularly in police and law enforcement.-Commander as a naval...

 W. B. Whaley in command.

Service history

Following a brief west coast shakedown cruise, on the eighth of June, Makin Island left for San Diego, California, stopping at
Alameda, California, to load bombs and aviation gasoline. Makin Island departed San Diego on 19 June 1944, to ferry aircraft and men to Pearl Harbor

Pearl Harbor

Pearl Harbor, known to Hawaiians as Puuloa, is a lagoon harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu. Much of the harbor and surrounding lands is a United States Navy deep-water naval base. It is also the headquarters of the U.S. Pacific Fleet...

, Majuro

Majuro

Majuro , is a large coral atoll of 64 islands in the Pacific Ocean, and forms a legislative district of the Ratak Chain of the Marshall Islands. The atoll itself has a land area of and encloses a lagoon of...

, and Kwajalein

Kwajalein

Kwajalein Atoll , is part of the Republic of the Marshall Islands . The southernmost and largest island in the atoll is named Kwajalein Island. English-speaking residents of the U.S...

, returning to San Diego 24 July. The escort carrier then trained out of San Diego, preparing for combat until 16 October, when she sailed for Ulithi

Ulithi

Ulithi is an atoll in the Caroline Islands of the western Pacific Ocean, about 191 km east of Yap. It consists of 40 islets totalling , surrounding a lagoon about long and up to wide—at one of the largest in the world. It is administered by the state of Yap in the Federated States of...

 via Pearl Harbor and Eniwetok, arriving 5 November.

On 10 November, the ship got underway for Leyte, protecting convoys in transit to the invasion beachhead. Extensive air operations were conducted, but no enemy resistance was encountered. On 22 November, she sailed to Manus

Manus Island

Manus Island is part of Manus Province in northern Papua New Guinea and is the largest island of the Admiralty Islands. It is the fifth largest island in Papua New Guinea with an area of 2,100 km², measuring around 100 km × 30 km. According to the 2000 census, Manus Island had a...

 for the forthcoming invasion of Luzon

Luzon

Luzon is the largest island in the Philippines. It is located in the northernmost region of the archipelago, and is also the name for one of the three primary island groups in the country centered on the Island of Luzon...

.

Flying the pennant of Rear Admiral

Rear Admiral

Rear admiral is a naval commissioned officer rank above that of a commodore and captain, and below that of a vice admiral. It is generally regarded as the lowest of the "admiral" ranks, which are also sometimes referred to as "flag officers" or "flag ranks"...

 C. T. Durgin, Commander TG 77.4, Makin Island left Manus 27 December to rendezvous with the invasion force in Surigao Strait

Surigao Strait

Surigao Strait is a body of water in the Philippines located between the islands of Mindanao and Leyte. This strait connects the Bohol Sea with Leyte Gulf and is regularly crossed by ferries that transport goods and people between Visayas and Mindanao...

, Leyte. Sailing for Lingayen Gulf

Lingayen Gulf

The Lingayen Gulf is an extension of the South China Sea on Luzon in the Philippines stretching . It is framed by the provinces of Pangasinan and La Union and sits between the Zambales Mountains and the Cordillera Central...

, 3 January 1945, the carrier was subjected to fierce, almost continuous enemy air attack during the passage to the assault beaches. Though sister carrier was sunk and a number of other ships damaged, Makin Island arrived unscathed 6 January. For the next 11 days, she remained off the beachhead flying air support for the amphibious operation, then sailed for Ulithi.

Admiral Durgin flew his flag in Makin Island once more, during the invasion of Iwo Jima

Iwo Jima

Iwo Jima, officially , is an island of the Japanese Volcano Islands chain, which lie south of the Ogasawara Islands and together with them form the Ogasawara Archipelago. The island is located south of mainland Tokyo and administered as part of Ogasawara, one of eight villages of Tokyo...

, off which she arrived 16 February. Her planes made pre-invasion strikes and after the landings provided aerial fire support, essential to success in the hot action ashore, until 8 March. The carrier group again came under heavy Japanese kamikaze

Kamikaze

The were suicide attacks by military aviators from the Empire of Japan against Allied naval vessels in the closing stages of the Pacific campaign of World War II, designed to destroy as many warships as possible....

attacks, but Makin Island once more was not hit. After replenishing at Ulithi, she sailed for Okinawa, again as flagship.

From her arrival off Japan's last great island bastion, Okinawa, 25 March, Makin Island remained on station for 67 days, flying constant fire support, supply, and reconnaissance missions for the ground forces. The ship’s aircraft, from Composite Squadrons 84 and 91 (VC-84 and -91), flew 2,258 combat sorties, recording over 8,000 hours of flying time. Relieved 1 June, the carrier sailed for Guam

Guam

Guam is an organized, unincorporated territory of the United States located in the western Pacific Ocean. It is one of five U.S. territories with an established civilian government. Guam is listed as one of 16 Non-Self-Governing Territories by the Special Committee on Decolonization of the United...

, arriving 5 June.

She sailed again 11 July, to provide air cover for ships conducting minesweeping and raiding operations in the East China Sea

East China Sea

The East China Sea is a marginal sea east of China. It is a part of the Pacific Ocean and covers an area of 1,249,000 km² or 750,000 square miles.-Geography:...

 and to launch airstrikes against Japanese targets on the Chinese coast. On 13 August she anchored in Buckner Bay, Okinawa, and on 9 September proceeded to Wakanoura Wan, in southern Honshū

Honshu

is the largest island of Japan. The nation's main island, it is south of Hokkaido across the Tsugaru Strait, north of Shikoku across the Inland Sea, and northeast of Kyushu across the Kanmon Strait...

, for occupation duty. Among her missions was providing air cover for the evacuation of Allied prisoners of war. She sailed for San Francisco 18 October, arrived 5 November, then voyaged to Shanghai to return troops to the United States at Seattle 30 December.

Makin Island was decommissioned on 19 April 1946 at Puget Sound

Puget Sound

Puget Sound is a sound in the U.S. state of Washington. It is a complex estuarine system of interconnected marine waterways and basins, with one major and one minor connection to the Strait of Juan de Fuca and the Pacific Ocean — Admiralty Inlet being the major connection and...

, was stricken from the Navy list on 11 July, and sold on 1 January 1947.