USS Marcus Island

USS Marcus Island (CVE-77) was the twenty-third of fifty Casablanca-class escort carriers built for the United States Navy during World War II. She was named after U.S. actions against Minami-Tori-shima, which American maps labeled as Marcus Island. In September 1943, she was laid down at Vancouver, Washington, by the Kaiser Shipbuilding Company as Kanalku Bay. She was renamed Marcus Island in November 1943, launched in December, and commissioned in January 1944.
Marcus Island served in the Mariana and Palau Islands campaign, the Philippines campaign, and the Battle of Okinawa. She acted as the flagship for various escort carrier formations, serving as the headquarters for Rear Admirals William D. Sample and Felix Stump. During the Philippines campaign, she participated in the Battle off Samar and the Battle of Mindoro, surviving multiple close brushes with Japanese kamikazes. Post-war, she participated in Operation Magic Carpet, repatriating U.S. servicemen from throughout the Pacific. Marcus Island was decommissioned in December 1946, mothballed in the Atlantic Reserve Fleet, and sold for scrap in 1960.