# Grand Debut of 1/350 USS Gambier Bay(CVE-73)



## flyhawkmodel (May 15, 2009)

Brief introduction

USS Gambier Bay (CVE-73) was a Casablanca-class escort carrier of the United States Navy. She was sunk in the Battle off Samar after helping to turn back a much larger attacking Japanese surface force.
Named for Gambier Bay on Admiralty Island in the Alaska Panhandle, she was originally classified AVG-73, was reclassified ACV-73 on 20 August 1942 and again reclassified CVE-73 on 15 July 1943; launched under a Maritime Commission contract by the Kaiser Shipbuilding Company, Vancouver, Washington on 22 November 1943; sponsored by Mrs. H. C. Zitzewitz, wife of Lieutenant Commander Zitzewitz, the Senior Naval Liaison Officer (SNLO) assigned to Kaiser's Vancouver Yard from the Navy's Bureau of Ships; and commissioned at Astoria, Oregon on 28 December 1943, Captain Hugh H. Goodwin in command.
The ship was referred to as the "Bonus Ship" by yard personnel because she was the 19th carrier delivered in 1943. The yard had originally projected 16 carriers would be delivered before the end of 1943, however, in September the Navy asked the yard to increase that number by at least two more. To rally the workers, Kaiser initiated a campaign called "18 or More by '44" to meet the new challenge.Gambier Bay—being the 19th and last Kaiser-built carrier commissioned in 1943—hence was dubbed the "Bonus Ship". No ships in her class survive to this day.


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## Modlerbob (Feb 10, 2011)

I'll bet all that PE costs a pretty penny.


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## John P (Sep 1, 1999)

Was Natoma Bay, Sargent Bay and Manilla Bay of the same class?
My Dad's P-47 group was transported to Saipan on those ships, and he launched from one of them. Now if I could get a squadron of 1/350 P-47s...


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## surfsup (Apr 19, 2009)

That is one beauty of a Set. May have to buy the Kit to justify buying the upgrade set...BUMMER


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## cwalker3 (Jan 29, 2014)

John P, all three of those ships were Casablanca class. A Google search will bring up lots of info about them.

For an excellent book on the Battle of Samar, in which the Gambier Bay was lost, check out The Last Stand of the Tin Can Sailors. The Battle off Samar was just a part of the Battle of Leyte Gulf which is thought of as the greatest naval victory in the history of the U.S. Navy.


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