USS Kitkun Bay (CVE-71) was a Casablanca-class escort carrier of the United States Navy. She was named after Kitkun Bay, located within Prince of Wales Island. Launched in November 1943, and commissioned in December.
Lookouts sighted enemy planes circling about three miles off the ship's port bow at about 6,000 feet at 18:48 on 7 January 1945, near 16°N, 119°10'E. The rumble of antiaircraft fire from the cruisers and destroyers increased in crescendo; however, in a few minutes two Japanese Nakajima Ki-43 Hayabusa Army Type 1 fighter planes detached from their formation and flew toward the carriers. One of the Oscars turned at 18:57 and dived on Kitkun Bay from a relative bearing of 330°. All available guns including Montpelier (CL-57) and Phoenix (CL-46) opened up on the Oscar and shot off parts of the plane, but the pilot continued his dive through what the ship's historian described as "murderous fire," levelled off close to the water at 3,000 yards, and crashed the suicide plane through Kitkun Bay's port side at the waterline amidships. An explosion and large fire flared up simultaneously with a hit by a 5-inch round from one of the other ships, which burst close to the carrier's bow below a gun sponson, killing and wounding several men—the attack killed 16 men altogether and wounded another 37. The Oscar tore a hole in the ship's side approximately 20 feet long and nine feet high between frames 113 and 121, extending three feet below the waterline.Kitkun Bay lost power and began listing to port rapidly as her after engine room, machine shop, and gyro spaces flooded. The list increased to 13° with the trim down by the stern four feet at 19:04. Maintainers shifted planes to the starboard side of the flight deck to help correct the list. Firefighters valiantly battled the blaze and extinguished the flames by 19:10, but the flooding continued as seawater poured into the ship in spite of the efforts of the engineers and repair party to contain the damage. Rear Adm. Ofstie prudently ordered all secret and confidential publications destroyed to prevent them from falling into enemy hands. The Medical Department tended to the wounded, and then the captain passed the orders to transfer all "unnecessary" crewmen off the ship; wounded first. Destroyers took off 724 men, leaving less than 200 on board—the rescue party supplemented by volunteers.
Deck logs dated on 9 January 1945 show the ships dead were buried at sea at 11:00.
S/O Edith Ann (Bartsch) & Bert C Blume
Wife was Margaret Jane (Workmaster)(Blume) Alexander (m. 1935)
Daughter was Shirley Ann Blume (b. 1937)
Daughter was Deanna Marie Blume (b. 1939)
Records suggest a son
Service # 9610246
Unit United States Naval Reserve
Rank Seaman Second Class U.S. Navy
★ Purple Heart
BLUME, Gordon J, SEA2, 9610246, USS Kitkun Bay (CVE-71), Lingayen Gulf, January 8, 1945, (Cascode121) killed in combat, dd January 8, 1945.
Source material from multiple public domain websites.
Remembered by Buffalo (50696055)
Lookouts sighted enemy planes circling about three miles off the ship's port bow at about 6,000 feet at 18:48 on 7 January 1945, near 16°N, 119°10'E. The rumble of antiaircraft fire from the cruisers and destroyers increased in crescendo; however, in a few minutes two Japanese Nakajima Ki-43 Hayabusa Army Type 1 fighter planes detached from their formation and flew toward the carriers. One of the Oscars turned at 18:57 and dived on Kitkun Bay from a relative bearing of 330°. All available guns including Montpelier (CL-57) and Phoenix (CL-46) opened up on the Oscar and shot off parts of the plane, but the pilot continued his dive through what the ship's historian described as "murderous fire," levelled off close to the water at 3,000 yards, and crashed the suicide plane through Kitkun Bay's port side at the waterline amidships. An explosion and large fire flared up simultaneously with a hit by a 5-inch round from one of the other ships, which burst close to the carrier's bow below a gun sponson, killing and wounding several men—the attack killed 16 men altogether and wounded another 37. The Oscar tore a hole in the ship's side approximately 20 feet long and nine feet high between frames 113 and 121, extending three feet below the waterline.Kitkun Bay lost power and began listing to port rapidly as her after engine room, machine shop, and gyro spaces flooded. The list increased to 13° with the trim down by the stern four feet at 19:04. Maintainers shifted planes to the starboard side of the flight deck to help correct the list. Firefighters valiantly battled the blaze and extinguished the flames by 19:10, but the flooding continued as seawater poured into the ship in spite of the efforts of the engineers and repair party to contain the damage. Rear Adm. Ofstie prudently ordered all secret and confidential publications destroyed to prevent them from falling into enemy hands. The Medical Department tended to the wounded, and then the captain passed the orders to transfer all "unnecessary" crewmen off the ship; wounded first. Destroyers took off 724 men, leaving less than 200 on board—the rescue party supplemented by volunteers.
Deck logs dated on 9 January 1945 show the ships dead were buried at sea at 11:00.
S/O Edith Ann (Bartsch) & Bert C Blume
Wife was Margaret Jane (Workmaster)(Blume) Alexander (m. 1935)
Daughter was Shirley Ann Blume (b. 1937)
Daughter was Deanna Marie Blume (b. 1939)
Records suggest a son
Service # 9610246
Unit United States Naval Reserve
Rank Seaman Second Class U.S. Navy
★ Purple Heart
BLUME, Gordon J, SEA2, 9610246, USS Kitkun Bay (CVE-71), Lingayen Gulf, January 8, 1945, (Cascode121) killed in combat, dd January 8, 1945.
Source material from multiple public domain websites.
Remembered by Buffalo (50696055)
USS Kitkun Bay (CVE-71) was a Casablanca-class escort carrier of the United States Navy. She was named after Kitkun Bay, located within Prince of Wales Island. Launched in November 1943, and commissioned in December.
Lookouts sighted enemy planes circling about three miles off the ship's port bow at about 6,000 feet at 18:48 on 7 January 1945, near 16°N, 119°10'E. The rumble of antiaircraft fire from the cruisers and destroyers increased in crescendo; however, in a few minutes two Japanese Nakajima Ki-43 Hayabusa Army Type 1 fighter planes detached from their formation and flew toward the carriers. One of the Oscars turned at 18:57 and dived on Kitkun Bay from a relative bearing of 330°. All available guns including Montpelier (CL-57) and Phoenix (CL-46) opened up on the Oscar and shot off parts of the plane, but the pilot continued his dive through what the ship's historian described as "murderous fire," levelled off close to the water at 3,000 yards, and crashed the suicide plane through Kitkun Bay's port side at the waterline amidships. An explosion and large fire flared up simultaneously with a hit by a 5-inch round from one of the other ships, which burst close to the carrier's bow below a gun sponson, killing and wounding several men—the attack killed 16 men altogether and wounded another 37. The Oscar tore a hole in the ship's side approximately 20 feet long and nine feet high between frames 113 and 121, extending three feet below the waterline.Kitkun Bay lost power and began listing to port rapidly as her after engine room, machine shop, and gyro spaces flooded. The list increased to 13° with the trim down by the stern four feet at 19:04. Maintainers shifted planes to the starboard side of the flight deck to help correct the list. Firefighters valiantly battled the blaze and extinguished the flames by 19:10, but the flooding continued as seawater poured into the ship in spite of the efforts of the engineers and repair party to contain the damage. Rear Adm. Ofstie prudently ordered all secret and confidential publications destroyed to prevent them from falling into enemy hands. The Medical Department tended to the wounded, and then the captain passed the orders to transfer all "unnecessary" crewmen off the ship; wounded first. Destroyers took off 724 men, leaving less than 200 on board—the rescue party supplemented by volunteers.
Deck logs dated on 9 January 1945 show the ships dead were buried at sea at 11:00.
S/O Edith Ann (Bartsch) & Bert C Blume
Wife was Margaret Jane (Workmaster)(Blume) Alexander (m. 1935)
Daughter was Shirley Ann Blume (b. 1937)
Daughter was Deanna Marie Blume (b. 1939)
Records suggest a son
Service # 9610246
Unit United States Naval Reserve
Rank Seaman Second Class U.S. Navy
★ Purple Heart
BLUME, Gordon J, SEA2, 9610246, USS Kitkun Bay (CVE-71), Lingayen Gulf, January 8, 1945, (Cascode121) killed in combat, dd January 8, 1945.
Source material from multiple public domain websites.
Remembered by Buffalo (50696055)
Lookouts sighted enemy planes circling about three miles off the ship's port bow at about 6,000 feet at 18:48 on 7 January 1945, near 16°N, 119°10'E. The rumble of antiaircraft fire from the cruisers and destroyers increased in crescendo; however, in a few minutes two Japanese Nakajima Ki-43 Hayabusa Army Type 1 fighter planes detached from their formation and flew toward the carriers. One of the Oscars turned at 18:57 and dived on Kitkun Bay from a relative bearing of 330°. All available guns including Montpelier (CL-57) and Phoenix (CL-46) opened up on the Oscar and shot off parts of the plane, but the pilot continued his dive through what the ship's historian described as "murderous fire," levelled off close to the water at 3,000 yards, and crashed the suicide plane through Kitkun Bay's port side at the waterline amidships. An explosion and large fire flared up simultaneously with a hit by a 5-inch round from one of the other ships, which burst close to the carrier's bow below a gun sponson, killing and wounding several men—the attack killed 16 men altogether and wounded another 37. The Oscar tore a hole in the ship's side approximately 20 feet long and nine feet high between frames 113 and 121, extending three feet below the waterline.Kitkun Bay lost power and began listing to port rapidly as her after engine room, machine shop, and gyro spaces flooded. The list increased to 13° with the trim down by the stern four feet at 19:04. Maintainers shifted planes to the starboard side of the flight deck to help correct the list. Firefighters valiantly battled the blaze and extinguished the flames by 19:10, but the flooding continued as seawater poured into the ship in spite of the efforts of the engineers and repair party to contain the damage. Rear Adm. Ofstie prudently ordered all secret and confidential publications destroyed to prevent them from falling into enemy hands. The Medical Department tended to the wounded, and then the captain passed the orders to transfer all "unnecessary" crewmen off the ship; wounded first. Destroyers took off 724 men, leaving less than 200 on board—the rescue party supplemented by volunteers.
Deck logs dated on 9 January 1945 show the ships dead were buried at sea at 11:00.
S/O Edith Ann (Bartsch) & Bert C Blume
Wife was Margaret Jane (Workmaster)(Blume) Alexander (m. 1935)
Daughter was Shirley Ann Blume (b. 1937)
Daughter was Deanna Marie Blume (b. 1939)
Records suggest a son
Service # 9610246
Unit United States Naval Reserve
Rank Seaman Second Class U.S. Navy
★ Purple Heart
BLUME, Gordon J, SEA2, 9610246, USS Kitkun Bay (CVE-71), Lingayen Gulf, January 8, 1945, (Cascode121) killed in combat, dd January 8, 1945.
Source material from multiple public domain websites.
Remembered by Buffalo (50696055)
Gravesite Details
Entered the service from Minnesota.
Family Members
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