USS Liscome Bay (CVE-56)

USS Liscome Bay (CVE-56)
Ship name	USS Liscome Bay (CVE-56)
Ship country	United States
Ship builder	Todd Pacific Shipyards (Seattle)
Ship launched	1943
Ship commissioned	24 January 1944
Ship decommissioned	24 November 1943
Ship class	Casablanca-class escort carrier
Ship displacement	10,000 tons (full load)
Ship length	512 ft
Ship beam	65 ft
Ship propulsion	Steam turbines, 2 shafts
Ship speed	19 kn
Ship complement	~860 officers and enlisted
Ship aircraft	~27 aircraft

USS Liscome Bay (CVE-56) was a Casablanca-class escort carrier of the United States Navy commissioned in January 1944 and lost in November 1943 during operations in the Pacific Ocean theater of World War II. She played a role in Operation Galvanic (the Gilbert and Marshall Islands campaign) before being torpedoed during support for the Battle of Makin and the invasion of Tarawa. The loss resulted in one of the highest single-ship fatality counts for an United States Navy escort carrier and had immediate operational and investigative consequences.

Construction and commissioning

Liscome Bay was laid down as part of the rapid wartime escort carrier program at Todd-Pacific Shipyards in Seattle, Washington. She was a standardized hull in the Casablanca-class series, built to expedite replacement of losses such as USS Lexington (CV-2) and to supplement fleet carriers like USS Enterprise (CV-6), USS Yorktown (CV-5), and USS Hornet (CV-8). Launched in 1943, she was sponsored by a civic figure and commissioned into service under the command of a United States Navy officer who would oversee her initial shakedown, air group integration involving units from United States Navy Reserve and active Naval Aviation squadrons, and transit to the Central Pacific.

Design and specifications

As a Casablanca-class escort carrier, Liscome Bay embodied mass-production principles influenced by carrier concepts from Imperial Japanese Navy and prewar Royal Navy escort designs like the HMS Activity. Her flight deck, hangar arrangements, and arresting gear accommodated a composite air group of Grumman F6F Hellcat, Grumman TBF Avenger, and screening fighters and torpedo bombers drawn from Carrier Air Group elements. Displacement and dimensions matched other escort carriers such as USS Gambier Bay (CVE-73) and USS Nassau (CVE-16). Armament included dual-purpose guns and anti-aircraft batteries patterned after doctrine refined after actions including the Battle of Midway and Battle of the Coral Sea. Machinery produced speeds sufficient to escort convoys like those supporting Admiral Chester W. Nimitz's operations, while compact construction allowed rapid numbers comparable to Liberty ship production rates.

Service history

After fitting out and shakedown, Liscome Bay joined Task Force 52 elements supporting the Operation Galvanic assaults on the Gilbert Islands, coordinating with amphibious groups under Vice Admiral Frank Jack Fletcher and Rear Admiral Richmond K. Turner. Her air group conducted reconnaissance, close air support, and anti-submarine patrols in coordination with escorting destroyers and cruisers such as USS Indianapolis (CA-35) and USS Nashville (CL-43). She operated alongside other escort carriers including USS Corregidor (CVE-58), USS Suwanee (CVE-27), and USS Chenango (CVE-28), contributing to air cover for transports and landing forces at Tarawa Atoll and Makin Island. Operations brought Liscome Bay into proximity with Imperial Japanese Navy submarines operating in the Central Pacific and with surface and air threats from bases at Kwajalein Atoll and Wake Island.

Sinking and casualties

On 24 November 1943, while conducting anti-submarine watches and flight operations in the vicinity of Makin Atoll, Liscome Bay was struck by a torpedo fired by the Japanese submarine I-175 (or reported as I-175 in postwar accounts). The torpedo detonated near the bomb magazine, producing catastrophic explosions and a rapid fire that broke the carrier’s watertight integrity. The vessel sank within hours, with catastrophic loss of life including the carrier’s commanding officer and many of her Carrier Air Group personnel. Among the dead were sailors connected to the carrier community and aviators who had flown in Naval Air Stations such as NAS North Island and NAS Alameda. Casualty lists echoed the losses suffered at other hard-hit carriers like USS Lexington (CV-2) and USS Princeton (CVL-23) in earlier campaigns, making Liscome Bay one of the worst single-ship tragedies for an United States Navy escort carrier in terms of fatalities.

Aftermath and investigations

The sinking prompted immediate operational responses including intensified antisubmarine warfare patrols by escorts and air cover changes across Task Force formations commanded by officers in the Pacific Fleet under Admiral Chester W. Nimitz. Naval investigators examined damage patterns, magazine protection, and damage-control limitations characteristic of escort carriers such as Liscome Bay, comparing findings with losses like USS Princeton (CVL-23), USS Franklin (CV-13), and USS Wasp (CV-7). Recommendations emphasized improved magazine stowage practices, enhanced firefighting training modeled after procedures at Naval Shipyards and Brooklyn Navy Yard, and tactical changes in screening formations to counter submarine threats seen in actions near Tarawa and Kwajalein. The investigation influenced postwar analyses by entities including the Naval Historical Center and contributions to doctrine reviewed later in contexts like the Cold War carrier force structure debates.

Legacy and memorials

Liscome Bay’s loss entered United States Navy institutional memory alongside other carrier tragedies commemorated at memorials such as the National Museum of the United States Navy, the Pearl Harbor National Memorial, and naval cemeteries where survivors and next of kin sought closure. Books, oral histories collected by the Library of Congress Veterans History Project, and studies by historians of the Pacific War preserved accounts of the carrier’s sinking, connecting its story to broader narratives including works on Admiral William F. Halsey Jr., Admiral Raymond A. Spruance, and campaign histories of Tarawa and the Gilbert Islands. Memorial ceremonies and unit associations have continued to honor those lost, and artifacts and records associated with Liscome Bay are held in collections at institutions such as the National Archives, regional maritime museums, and memorial exhibits that interpret escort carrier roles for visitors studying World War II naval history.

Category:Casablanca-class escort carriers Category:World War II shipwrecks in the Pacific Ocean Category:Ships sunk by Japanese submarines