When he was asked if he wanted to dive on a virgin aircraft carrier shipwreck, Samir Alhafith didn’t need long to say ‘yes’, and so began an exciting exploratory expedition to the Philippines
“Would you like to dive on a virgin aircraft carrier…?”After picking my jaw off the ground, it was the quickest ‘yes’ I ever replied! This was a conversation I had with David Tipping of DPT Scuba at the OzTek dive show in 2022. Before knowing any details, the thought of a virgin wreck of an aircraft carrier in diving range was remarkable, so inspired many questions… and then planning.
The ship in question, USS Ommaney Bay (CVE–79), was a Casablanca-class escort carrier of the United States Navy, which served during World War Two. It was named after Ommaney Bay, which is located at the south end of Baranof Island, Alaska. Launched in late 1943 and commissioned in early 1944, the ship took part in the Mariana and Palau Islands campaign, followed by several battles during the Philippines campaign in 1944 and early 1945.
On the afternoon of 4 January 1945, she was transiting the Sulu Sea, to the west of the Philippines. At 5pm, approximately 15 Japanese planes were picked up on radar, 45 nautical miles west of the task group, and approaching quickly. These planes split into two groups, one group heading towards the rear of the task group, while the other continued on its course towards the centre. Although fighters from the carrier group were scrambled, false radar signals hampered their efforts to intercept, and the only successful interception was when P-47 fighters intercepted two enemy planes, shooting down one. The other plane escaped and is believed to be the kamikaze which would attack Ommaney Bay.
This successful intercept was not reported back to command, nor was the fact that the plane which escaped was being herded towards the carrier group. At 5.12pm, a Yokosuka P1Y penetrated the screen undetected and made for the Ommaney Bay, approaching directly towards the ship’s bow. Captain Young later reported that the kamikaze’s approach was concealed by the blinding glare of the sun.
Captain Young, acutely aware of the kamikaze threat, had assigned multiple lookouts throughout the carrier’s deck. At the time of the attack, ten lookouts were assigned, along with an additional lookout located on the signal platform, equipped with Polaroid glasses. Additionally, a lack of radar signals had led the task group to believe that the Japanese planes had withdrawn, and the kamikaze attack took the lookouts by complete surprise.
New Mexico was only able to respond with inaccurate anti-aircraft fire, while the Ommaney Bay was unable to react at all. The plane sliced across the superstructure with its wing, collapsing it onto the flight deck. It then veered into her flight deck on the forward starboard side. Two bombs were released; one of them penetrated the flight deck and detonated below, setting off a series of explosions among the fully gassed planes on the forward third of the hangar deck, near the No. 1 boiler uptakes. The second bomb passed through the hangar deck, ruptured the fire main on the second deck, and exploded near the starboard side. A TBM torpedo bomber had been hit by the kamikaze’s wreckage, sparking a fire which consumed the aft of the flight deck.
Water pressure forward was lost immediately, along with power and bridge communications. An oil tank may have been breached, contributing to the fire, as the smoke was noted as looking ‘oily’. Men struggling with the terrific blazes on the hangar deck soon had to abandon it because of the heavy black smoke from the burning planes and exploding .50 calibre ammunition.
Destroyer escorts found it difficult to assist Ommaney Bay, because of the intense heat, the ammunition going off, and the real possibility that a catastrophic detonation could be triggered by the blaze. The destroyer Bell, attempting to manoeuvre into a position to fight the fires, collided with the carrier, damaging her port bridge wing. At 5.45pm, wounded crew began to be taken off the ship, and by 5.50pm, the entire topside area had become untenable. In addition, the stored torpedo warheads threatened to detonate at any time. The order to abandon ship was given.
“Descending to a virgin wreck is always an exhilarating experience no matter how many times you do it, and this was no exception when the first glimpses of a huge shape appeared”
At 6.12pm, Captain Young was the last man to evacuate the burning wreck. At 6.18pm, the torpedoes stored in the aft end of the ship finally detonated, collapsing the flight deck and launching debris onto the destroyers who were rescuing survivors. Two crewmen from the Eichenberger aboard a motor whaleboat were struck and killed by airborne debris.
At 7.58pm, the carrier was scuttled by a torpedo from the destroyer Burns, under orders from Admiral Jesse B Oldendorf. A total of 95 Navy men were lost, and 65 men were wounded, including the two killed from Eichenberger. On 6 January and on 9 January, Columbia was struck by kamikaze attacks, killing seven survivors rescued from Ommaney Bay.
The wreck site was discovered by the Sea Scan Survey team in 2020, consisting of Australians skipper Mick Stefurak, Historian Neil ‘Snake’ Krumbeck and Joe Brothers, who contacted Dave Tipping to organise divers to confirm the wreck identity. Planning was going well until the Covid pandemic put a halt to everything. This is when Dave and I spoke at OzTek, when he declared there was one spot available if I was interested. Then followed the months of planning by Dave to organise all logistics, as well planning our video gear and how we were going to capture images needed to identify the wreck. The team consisting of CCR mix divers David Tipping, Chris and Aimee McCran, Alex ‘Heeman’ Lee, John Wooden and I, arrived in Manila in April 2023 and proceeded on a five-hour drive to meet the boat in Batangas.
The first two days we spent mixing trimix gases with bottom gas being 7/75, checking gear on a shallower wreck and overcoming some logistical problems that delayed our departure by one day.
The plan was to do two dives on the ferry Princes of the Orient located at a depth of 125m, but this was cut to one dive instead, so that we could arrive at the primary site on time. While we were doing our test dives on shallower wrecks, we experienced a first for us hearing dynamite fishing explosions! It’s not a pleasant experience!
“…we filmed evidence of intense fires that raged during the sinking – plates charred by the fire, and also boots and human bones, a reminder of the many who met violent ends here”
The sail to the Sulu Sea was relaxing in lake-like conditions, and no winds at all. We arrived early morning over the site and deployed a shot line and a decompression station. At this stage no one was even sure there was a shipwreck down there, and it was time to find out. Descending to a virgin wreck is always an exhilarating experience no matter how many times you do it, and this was no exception when the first glimpses of a huge shape appeared.
Water clarity was excellent on this first dive, the flat shape looked like it may be decking runway, with arresting cables visible, but after arriving on the bottom it became obvious the ship sank upside down, with arresting cables draped over the keel of the wreck.
This area of the wreck has a lot of damage, and at first it was hard to tell which side of the wreck we were looking at. The stern of the ship was blown away during the scuttling and scanning the surrounding area by Mick and Neil may have located it. Alex and I proceeded along the starboard side and arrived at the bow. We were looking for any evidence of aircraft remains, but none found, and anything else that identified it as being an aircraft carrier. Main features we found were the deck support beams on either side, Bullnose ring and the distinctive shape of the bow.
Further along the port side we saw quite a lot of damage to the hull, and we arrived at a gaping torpedo hole which allowed us to penetrate deeper into the wreck. Soon our bottom time of 25 minutes was over, and it was time to start our lengthy decompression obligation.
The next two days we continued to explore as much of the wreck as possible, and each buddy team went to different parts to find as much evidence to identify the wreck. On the second dive Alex found a big crack in the hull that allowed access into the crew mess area. He showed me this area on the last dive, and we filmed evidence of intense fires that raged during the sinking – plates charred by the fire, and also boots and human bones, a reminder of the many who met violent ends here.
With the conclusion of our diving activity, we sent all our images and video to the US Naval History and Heritage Command in Washington DC, for them to study and confirm that this wreck is indeed the final resting place of the USS Ommaney Bay. This discovery and identification allow the families of those lost some kind of closure, knowing their final resting place. The NHHC declared this site protected, with the exact location withheld to stop any illegal salvaging.
