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On 24 September, Coral
Sea got underway for shakedown in Puget Sound. She arrived at San
Diego, California on 8 October to load aircraft and hold flight
operations off the California coast. The carrier sailed for Hawaii
on 25 October and upon arrival at Pearl Harbor, joined by sister
ship Liscome Bay for exercises off Oahu. On 10 November, Coral Sea
steamed southwest to join the American forces about to invade the
Gilbert Islands. She launched strikes on Makin Island from 20–28
November. When Tarawa Atoll had been captured, Coral Sea headed for
Pearl Harbor and arrived there on 5 December. She paused to embark
passengers and load aircraft for transport to the U.S. and departed
on 8 December. She arrived at Alameda, California on 14 December to
take on new planes. She put to sea on 22 December and steamed back
to Hawaii. On 28 December, Coral Sea anchored at Pearl Harbor and
began preparations for the impending assault on Kwajalein.
Coral Sea was underway on 3 January 1944 for a series of exercises
in Hawaiian waters. After final fitting out, she sailed on 22
January in Task Group 52.9 (TG 52.9) and arrived in the vicinity of
Kwajalein on 31 January, two days after planes of the Fast Carrier
Task Force began pounding airfields on the atoll. She provided
direct and indirect air support for the amphibious landings. On 24
February, she set course for Eniwetok, but was recalled to Hawaii
and arrived at Pearl Harbor on 3 March.
After a brief respite, Coral Sea got underway again on 11 March and
proceeded to the Solomon Islands. She anchored at Tulagi on 21 March,
topped off with fuel, and loaded stores. Sailing again on 30 March,
she headed for Emirau Island. From 1–11 April, she launched planes
in support of forces occupying Emirau and returned to Port Purvis on
15 April.
The next day, Coral Sea left Tulagi to assist in the reconquest of
New Guinea. On the 19th, she joined TG 78.2, which was formed to
support Allied footholds at Hollandia (currently known as Jayapura)
and Aitape. Her planes joined in strikes on 22 April, and on 26
April, the escort carrier sailed to Seeadler Harbor for
replenishment, and on 7 May headed for Espiritu Santo for
availability.
Her repair period completed, the ship got underway on 8 June for
Kwajalein, the staging point for the invasion of the Marianas. The
American forces sortied on 10 June, and Coral Sea helped to provide
air support for landings by the 2d Marine Division on Saipan. She
endured numerous Japanese air attacks during the next few days but
received only minor damage. The carrier had moved south to Guam on
17 June to begin softening-up operations against that island but
returned to Saipan the next day to assist the bogged-down American
forces. Coral Sea and her escorts retired to Eniwetok on 28 June but
returned to Saipan on 4 July. Her planes made further air strikes
before she put into Eniwetok on 15 July for repairs to her engines.
Ultimately, Coral Sea was ordered back to the United States for a
much needed overhaul, and the carrier sailed on 23 July. Two days
later, she paused at Kwajalein to unload most of her aircraft and
ammunition and then continued via Pearl Harbor for the naval base at
San Diego. Coral Sea arrived in California on 9 August and entered
drydock at San Diego on 31 August. While she was still undergoing
overhaul, Coral Sea received word that her name was being changed to
Anzio as of 15 September.
Anzio held sea trials off the California coast and was ready to sail
for the western Pacific on 16 September. She reached Hawaii on 23
September and entered Pearl Harbor for a tender availability. On 8
October, the carrier began a series of training exercises, and on
the 16th, she set out for Eniwetok. There, Anzio joined a hunter/killer
group and carried out an antisubmarine warfare (ASW) mission while
she was en route to Ulithi. On 4 November, she was ordered to assist
light cruiser Reno which had been torpedoed in the Philippine Sea.
When Anzio was relieved by Extractor, she resumed her ASW patrols
and worked at that task through mid-February 1945, when she steamed
to Iwo Jima.
Anzio resumed combat support operations on 16 February. Three days
later, she launched a strike to the north on Chichi Jima in the
Bonin Islands. From 19 February-4 March, she followed a schedule of
launching her first flight just before sunset and recovering her
last just after dawn. During these nocturnal operations, she
completed 106 sorties without a single accident. She departed the
Iwo Jima area on 8 March and entered San Pedro Bay at Leyte on 12
March. After 10 days of upkeep and being joined by a newly
redeployed VC-13 from the USS Tripoli, she sailed to join the
invasion of Okinawa.
After providing air cover for an Okinawa-bound amphibious group,
Anzio joined other forces in the vicinity of Kerama Retto in seizing
that island group to provide an advanced base for the Fleet. The
Okinawa attack began on 1 April, and she remained on line until she
retired to Ulithi on 30 April for repairs to her rudder bearings. On
21 May, the carrier resumed ASW operations in the Okinawa area. This
role ended on 17 June, when she sailed to San Pedro Bay, Leyte, for
upkeep after finding that her aviation fuel tanks had been
contaminated during a replenishment at sea. One TBM didn't get a
radio heads-up in time when a pair of Wildcats encountered engine
problems right after takeoff and had to ditch when it switched to
its spare fuel tank. Anzio dumped her thousands of gallons of bad
gas overboard before pulling into Leyte, and this caused a passing
outbound carrier to radio with concern when they smelled the fumes.
Anzio left the Philippines on 6 July to begin what proved to be her
last stint of combat duty. She joined TG 30.8 and positioned herself
about 600 mi (970 km) east of Tokyo. She made ASW patrols in support
of Admiral Halsey's attacks on the Japanese home islands. She
received word of the Japanese capitulation on 15 August and sailed
for Guam on 19 August. After refitting and training new flight crews,
the escort carrier headed for Okinawa. From that point, she was to
provide air cover and ASW patrol services for transports carrying
occupation troops to Korea. On 8 September, she anchored at Jinsen,
Korea, whence she provided air support for the landings of the
occupation force. She left Korea on 13 September and returned to
Okinawa. On 19 September, she broke her homeward-bound pennant,
became a member of a "Magic-Carpet" group, and reached San Francisco
on 30 September.
Operation Magic Carpet[edit]
While at San Francisco, Anzio was modified to provide maximum
passenger accommodations. The carrier made two trips to the western
Pacific and back, one to Pearl Harbor and one to Shanghai, China, to
shuttle American troops home as part of Operation Magic Carpet. She
arrived at Seattle, Washington, on 23 December and ended the year at
that port.'
On 18 January 1946,
Anzio sailed for Norfolk, Virginia. She paused at San Francisco then
continued southward to transit the Panama Canal before finally
reaching the east coast. Anzio was placed out of commission on 5
August, and became a unit of the Atlantic Reserve Fleet berthed at
Norfolk. The ship was redesignated CVHE-57 on 15 June 1955. Anzio
was struck from the Naval Vessel Register on 1 March 1959 and sold
to the Master Metals Co. on 24 November. |
