World War II Database

Contributor: C. Peter Chen

ww2dbaseUSS Wake Island was commissioned into service in Nov 1943. She departed for the east coast of the United States in Jan 1944. Between Feb and May 1944, she made a round trip to Karachi, India. She spent most of May 1944 being overhauled. On 15 Jun, she set from Norfolk, Virginia, United States for a patrol in the Atlantic Ocean. En route back from her patrol area in the Gulf of Guinea, one of her TBM Avenger aircraft, piloted by Ensign Frederick L. Moore, sank German submarine U-543 between the Canary Islands and Cape Verde Islands; the sinking was not detected, however, and the carrier's air crew spent the following two weeks hunting for the submarine that had already been destroyed on the first day. On 2 Aug, Task Group 22.6 in which Wake Island was sailing with detected a German submarine and proceeded to attack; the group failed to sink the submarine, and during the attack destroyer escort Fiske was struck by the submarine and sunk at 1235 hours. Returning to the east coast of the United States, she conducted carrier qualification operations until 30 Oct. She returned to San Francisco, California, United States on 28 Nov and moored at Naval Air Station Alameda to take on two new air squadrons for delivery to Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, United States. She then went on to transport supplies to Manus Island, Admiralty Islands, arriving on 27 Dec. She took on ammunition and other supplies at Kossol Roads, Palau Islands and departed on 1 Jan 1945 for the Luzon, Philippine Islands invasion. During the invasion, her aircraft performed scouting missions and provided shelter for survivors of friendly sunken ships. She was damaged by a bomb in Lingayen Gulf on 13 Jan, and retired from the front lines on 17 Jan for repairs. She sailed with Task Group 52.2 in Feb for the Iwo Jima operation, during which she performed spotting and ground attack operations. Between Mar and Apr, she provided support for the Okinawa operation, during which, on 3 Apr, she was struck by two or three Japanese special attack aircraft, causing damage but few casualties. Upon the completion of repairs at Guam, Mariana Islands, she returned to the Okinawa, Japan area in late May 1945. On 19 Jun 1945, she was removed from the front lines due to concerns that battle damage, particularly that received on 3 Apr 1945 when she was struck special attack aircraft, made USS Wake Island unsafe for combat operations. She performed aircraft ferry and cargo transport missions for the remainder of WW2. After the war, she remained in service until 1946.

Escort Carrier Wake Island (CVE-65) Interactive Map

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Wake Island Operational Timeline

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