U.S.S. PETROF BAY

USS Petrof Bay (CVE-80) was an Casablanca-class aircraft carrier built and active during World War II; her performance in the war earned her five battle stars. She served as part of the Pacific Fleet and was part of the task unit Taffy 1. Below are highlights from her World War II service.

• March-September, 1944: The carrier performed transport voyages that spanned the Pacific.
• September, 1944: Petrof Bay and others in her task force met up in the Solomon Islands to prepare for the invasion of the Palaus. Her planes were engaged in bombing and strafing Japanese forces on the Peleliu Island for two weeks.
• Oct. 24, 1944: The carrier was east of Surigao Island, in the Philippines, when Taffy 3 sent out word that it was under attack from a much larger Japanese force. This was the beginning of the historical Battle off Samar. Petrof Bay and other ships in Taffy 1 and 2 sent planes to the aid of Taffy 3, destroying several Japanese ships before the Japanese eventually withdrew.
• After the Japanese retreat, the carrier’s planes flew numerous strikes against remaining Japanese ships and planes. However, the Battle off Samar was only one part of the Battle for Leyte Gulf, and Petrof Bay would come under attack in the hours to come.
• Oct. 26, 1944: The carrier was targeted by several suicide planes, all of which missed their target; she then narrowly avoided a double torpedo attack.
• With the Philippines successfully captured, the carrier was sent to Iwo Jima, where her planes made hundreds of sorties to take the island.
• March 1945: Petrof Bay provided air cover for the invasion of Okinawa.

The carrier was sold for scrap in 1959.