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Lt. Robert I. Myers, VC-93, USS Petrof Bay (CVE-80), April 1945
VC-88, USS Saginaw Bay (CVE-82), 1945
USS Petrof Bay (CVE-80), after being
commissioned into the Navy in February 1944,
was first engaged in shipping aircraft, material,
and military personnel. In May VC-76 boarded and
participated in the Peleliu landings, the Philippine
Campaign, and the Battle of Iwo Jima. After the
latter operation, VC-76 was replaced by a fresh
unit, VC-93, with which USS Petrof Bay intervened
in the Okinawa landings and subsequently
supported ground forces and provided protection
to vessels off that island. During this activity,
the pilots of VC-93 had to face primarily
kamikaze raids, and on this Wildcat, on April
6, 1945, Lt. Robert Ira Myers managed to shoot
down Kamikaze Zero attacking a transport ship,
shortly after another Zero, and finally a D3A Val
dive bomber attempting to engage a destroyer.
For these achievements he was subsequently
awarded the Navy Cross.
The escort carrier Saginaw Bay (CVE-82),
one of fifty Casablanca-class vessels, was
commissioned on March 2, 1944, after
a construction period of 123 days. Like her sister
ships, she first participated in the transport of
personnel, aircraft, and material, then combined
squadron boarded to participate in combat
operations, specifically the landings in Palau, the
liberation of the Philippines, and the invasions
of Iwo Jima and Okinawa. The Okinawa landings
were supported from aboard the USS Saginaw
Bay by VC-88 equipped with FM-2 Wildcats and
TBM-3 Avengers.
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