Loss
On 20 October, landings were made at Dulag and San Pedro Bay, Leyte. Princeton, in Task Group 38.3, cruised off Luzon and sent her planes against airfields there to prevent Japanese land based aircraft attacks on Allied ships massed in Leyte Gulf. On the 24th, however, the task group was found by enemy planes from Clark and Nichols fields. Shortly before 10:00 am Princeton was attacked by a lone Yokosuka D4Y 'Judy'. The dive bomber dropped a single bomb, which struck the carrier between the elevators, crashing through the flight deck and hangar before exploding.
A fire broke out as a result of the hit; it quickly spread and caused further explosions. Other vessels then came alongside to provide assistance. USS Irwin (DD-794) approached and attempted to fight the fire in the forward section of the hangar deck. The cruiser USS Birmingham (CL-62) also assisted in the fire fighting.
At 15:24 a second and larger explosion shook the Princeton, possibly caused by an explosion of one or more bombs in the magazine. The Birmingham was heavily damaged by the explosion and suffered casualties. Irwin was also damaged, but stayed close and launched boats to rescue survivors from the sea. Irwin rescued 646 crewmen from the Princeton; the ship later received a Navy Unit Commendation award for her actions. Ironically Princeton (as CL-61 Tallahassee) and Birmingham had been planned as consecutively numbered sister ships.
Efforts to save the carrier continued, but at 16:00 the fires were out of control. The remaining personnel were evacuated and at shortly after 17:06 Irwin commenced firing torpedoes at the burning hulk. However, Irwin abandoned this effort due to torpedo malfunctions and was relieved by USS Reno (CL-96) at 17:46.
Three minutes later an even larger explosion occurred on Princeton, destroying the entire forward section and sending flames and debris up to 1000–2000 feet into the air. Princeton sank at approximately 17:50.
Read more about this topic: USS Princeton (CVL-23)
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