USS Bismarck Sea CVE-95

Type:
Escort Carrier
Class:
Casablanca
Builder:
Kaiser Shipbuilding Company
Vancouver, Washington, U.S.A.
Hull Number:
CVE-95
Ordered:
July 17, 1942
Commissioned:
May 20, 1944
Keel Laid:
January 31, 1942
Decommissioned:
N/A
Launched:
April 17, 1944
Stricken:


March 30, 1945
Fate:
Sunk in action Feb. 21, 1945 by Kamikaze aircraft.

Location: North Pacific, 30 miles east southeast of Iwo Jima.
(24.36N-141.48E)

322 men lost (including crew, air squadron personnel and Marine Corps personnel.)
(Roll of Honor)

625 survivors picked up by USS Edmonds DE-406, USS Helm DD-388,
USS Lawrence C. Taylor DE-415 and USS Patterson DD-392 and landed at Iwo Jima.
Notes:
Launched as Alikula Bay CVE-95, renamed Bismarck Sea May 16, 1944.


Commanding Officer
From
To
Name
May 20, 1944
Feb. 21, 1945
Captain John Lockwood Pratt, USN (later Rear Admiral)


Air Squadron
From
To
Squadron
Sept. 5, 1944
Feb. 21, 1945
Composite Squadron Eighty-Six (VC-86)
Squadron Commander
From
To
Name
Jan. 18, 1944
Feb. 21, 1945
Lt. Commander Benjamin Marshall Lakin, USNR


Combat Victories
     
Date
Name
Type
Tons
Nationality
Notes
Jan. 5, 1945
Momi
Destroyer
1,262
A
Total:
Sunk
Tons
     
1
1,262
 
           
A: Sunk by combined aircraft attack from TU-77.4.1 including VC-86 (Bismarck Sea CVE-95),
VC-85 (Lunga Point CVE-94), VC-92 (Tulagi CVE-72) and VC-75 (Hoggart Bay CVE-75).


Awards
Combat Action Ribbon
Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal (3 Battle Stars)
From
To
Engagement
Nov. 14, 1944
Nov. 23, 1944
Leyte operation: Leyte landings. (Also applies to VC-86)
Jan. 4, 1945
Jan. 18, 1945
Luzon operation: Lingayen Gulf landing. (Also applies to VC-86)
Feb. 16, 1945
Feb. 21, 1945
Iwo Jima operation: Assault and occupation of Iwo Jima.
World War II Victory Medal
Philippine Liberation Ribbon


Class Overview
Builder's Data
Page published July 9, 2017