Zitzewitz, wife of Lieutenant Commander Herbert C. Goodwin in command. The ship was referred to as the "Bonus Ship" by yard personnel because she was the 19th carrier delivered in The yard had originally projected 16 carriers would be delivered before the end of 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; being the 19th and last Kaiser-built carrier commissioned in , Gambier Bay was dubbed the "Bonus Ship". No ships of her class survive today. After shakedown out of San Diego , the escort carrier sailed on 7 February with troops embarked for Pearl Harbor , thence to rendezvous off the Marshalls, guarded by the destroyer Norman Scott , where she flew 84 replacement planes to the fleet carrier Enterprise.
Gambier Bay gave close air support to the initial landings of Marines on Saipan 15 June , destroying enemy gun emplacements, troops, tanks, and trucks. On the 17th, her combat air patrol CAP shot down or turned back all but a handful of 47 enemy planes headed for her task group and her gunners shot down two of the three planes that did break through to attack her.
The following day, warning of another air attack sounded. As her fighters prepared to take off, they found intense antiaircraft fire of the entire task group covering their flight path. Captain Goodwin called the event "another shining example of the adaptability and courage of the young men of our country".
Eight pilots of Composite Squadron 10 VC did take off to help repulse the aerial attack. Gambier Bay remained off Saipan, repulsing aerial raids and launching planes which strafed enemy troop concentrations, bombed gun emplacements, and supported Marines and soldiers fighting ashore.
