Talk:USS Kitkun Bay

What is the origin of the ship's name?

Is it named for Kitkun Bay, Alaska?

Kitkun Bay, Alaska doesn't have a Wikipedia article.100.34.9.189 (talk) 02:39, 19 September 2016 (UTC)

GA Review

This review is transcluded from Talk:USS Kitkun Bay/GA1. The edit link for this section can be used to add comments to the review.

Reviewer: Kges1901 (talk · contribs) 21:53, 13 July 2022 (UTC)

Will take this one, always nice to see more detailed coverage of the jeep carriers, as I previously wrote a couple ship histories of destroyer escorts that protected CVEs. Kges1901 (talk) 21:53, 13 July 2022 (UTC)

• Lead is a little on the short side, suggest mentioning more on her combat service such as the kamikaze attack on 25 October 1944 and the one on 10 January 1945 that took her out of the war for several months
• She was named after Kitkun Bay, located on the southeastern end of Prince of Wales Island, which constituted part of the Alexander Archipelago, within the Territory of Alaska. This intricate detail could be in the body instead of the lead

Design and description

• Ship's complement is in the infobox but not in the body
• Did Kitkun Bay carry the extra AA guns mentioned as an anti-kamikaze modification\

• Refits began in early 1945, and given the overstay at San Pedro, I would bet on the additional guns being installed. However, I haven't seen anything explicitly stating as such, so I can't give an answer.

• Suggest describing aircraft as 'FM-2 Wildcat' and 'TBM-1C Avenger as the aircraft are more commonly known by their names rather than the official designation

Construction

• Ref 11 is broken, also suggest crediting the author of the DANFS entry, Mark L. Evans, instead of just having the sfn as DANFS

Service history

• First two paragraphs of service history are missing the ref to DANFS
• Mention 1944 after the 1943 narrative concludes
• VC-5 was already embarked for the carrier qualifications, suggest mentioning them earlier
• Mention the invasion of Saipan and the Battle of the Philippine Sea in the Saipan section
• The Samar narrative should incorporate at least a brief mention of the destroyer screen's attack on the Japanese ships, and summarize VC-5's contributions. Last Stand of the Tin Can Sailors has secondary details on VC-5's actions.

• Not too much that directly refers to VC-5's engagements.

• Yukio Seki was attributed in Danger's Hour as the pilot who crashed into Kitkun Bay on 25 October
• The article should mention all of the squadrons that served aboard her since her notability derives from her air group. For example, VC-63, aboard from June 1945, is not mentioned in the article.

Lingayen Gulf

• There are some important details missing on her post-Lingayen Gulf service that are in the DANFS entry, for example, that the carrier cover unit did not face Japanese aerial opposition despite being within range of Japan, and the fatal onboard fire on Kitkun Bay on 4 August

Post-war

• Mention that she helped repatriate Allied POWs from Japan

More to follow. Kges1901 (talk) 21:53, 13 July 2022 (UTC)

@Kges1901: I've responded to your points. Stikkyy t/c 04:50, 14 July 2022 (UTC)

Samar

• The section itself doesn't actually mention that the actions were part of the Battle off Samar
• Soon, Kitkun Bay had its own specific threat, as while Chōkai exploded, crippling the vessel's handling,: Chokai isn't previously mentioned, but the vessel didn't explode immediately according to its article. Suggest condensing to disabled by secondary explosions from bomb hits and splitting the sentence. I will note that Hornfischer mentions on p. 312 that VC-5 scored a bomb hit on Chokai.
• These planes were part of Yukio Seki's "Shikishima" squadron, conducted the first official kamikaze attack of the war - Reword
• As it approached the carrier, the kamikaze changed the angle of its dive, aiming directly for Kitkun Bay's island, but at the last second, perhaps due to the incapacitation of the pilot, it streaked over the island, tore through the port catwalk, bringing 15 ft (4.6 m) of it along, and detonating its 550 lb (250 kg) bomb onboard, before plunging into the ocean 25 yd (23 m) from her port. Suggest splitting run on sentence
• Suggest adding a map for Lingayen Gulf to help readers

That's all from me. Kges1901 (talk) 16:26, 14 July 2022 (UTC)

@Kges1901: Should be good now. Stikkyy t/c 04:07, 15 July 2022 (UTC)