Completed in May , she served in support of the Philippines campaign , and the landings on Iwo Jima. On 21 February , she sank off of Iwo Jima due to two Japanese kamikaze attacks, killing crewmen.
Notably, she was the last aircraft carrier in U. Bismarck Sea was a Casablanca -class escort carrier, the most numerous type of aircraft carriers ever built, and designed specifically to be mass-produced using prefabricated sections, in order to replace heavy early war losses.
Standardized with her sister ships , she was ft 3 in She displaced 8, long tons 8, t standard , 10, long tons 11, t with a full load. She had a ft 78 m long hangar deck , a ft m long flight deck. Her compact size necessitated the installment of an aircraft catapult at her bow end, and there were two aircraft elevators to facilitate movement of aircraft between the flight and hangar deck: one on the fore, another on the aft.
Anti-aircraft guns were mounted around the perimeter of the deck. Casablanca -class escort carriers were designed to carry 27 aircraft, but she sometimes went over or under this number. A reasonable estimate puts the number of crew typically on board a Casablanca -class escort carrier at around to men. Her construction was awarded to Kaiser Shipbuilding Company , Vancouver, Washington under a Maritime Commission contract, on 18 June , under the name Alikula Bay , as part of a tradition which named escort carriers after bays or sounds in Alaska.
She was laid down on 31 January , and was assigned the designation MC hull She was launched on 17 April ; sponsored by Mrs. Mabel C. She was renamed Bismarck Sea on 16 May , as part of a new naval policy which named subsequent Casablanca-class carriers after naval or land engagements, and she was transferred to the United States Navy and commissioned on 20 May, with Captain John L.
