USS Kitkun Bay (CVE-71) was the seventeenth of fifty Casablanca-class escort carrier built for the United States Navy during World War II.

She was powered with two Skinner Unaflow reciprocating steam engines, which drove two shafts, providing 9,000 horsepower (6,700 kW), thus enabling her to make 19 knots (35 km/h; 22 mph).

Her namesake, Kitkun Bay, is located on the southeastern end of Prince of Wales Island, constituting part of the Alexander Archipelago, at the time within the Territory of Alaska.

[10] She was launched on 8 November 1943; sponsored by Mrs. Francis E. Cruise; transferred to the Navy and commissioned at Astoria, Oregon on 15 December 1943, with Captain John Perry Whitney in command.

She then underwent a shakedown cruise down the West Coast, heading to Naval Air Station North Island, San Diego, California.

She arrived at San Diego on 22 January 1944, and after spending a week conducting exercises off the Channel Islands, she loaded Marine Torpedo Bomber Squadron (VMTB) 242 on a transport mission bound for the New Hebrides.

From 9 to 17 March, she conducted pilot qualifications with her intended air contingent, Composite Squadron (VC) 5 until she returned to port, during which VC-5 was detached for further training.

The next day, on 19 June, Kitkun Bay's aircraft participated in the Battle of the Philippine Sea, providing a screen and intercepting Japanese planes.

On 23 July, the escort carriers turned their attention towards Tinian, with Kitkun Bay sending sixteen FM-2 Wildcats and eleven TBM-1C Avengers to strike targets around the island.

Kitkun Bay left Seeadler Harbor on 12 October as part of an advance contingent, escorting Rear Admiral William Fechteler's Task Group 28.2.

This prompted Admiral Soemu Toyoda to launch Shō-Gō 1, a gambit to defend Japan's access to the oil fields of Southeast Asia.

On 18 and 19 October, Taffy 3 conducted strikes against Japanese bases located within Cebu, Negros, and Panay, destroying a total of thirty-eight planes, and damaging twenty-eight more.

Taffy 3, the northmost task group, would bear the brunt of Vice Admiral Takeo Kurita's Center Force as it swung through the San Bernardino Strait.

[8] [16] On the early morning of 25 October, Kurita's Center Force had already crossed the San Bernardino Strait unmolested, and was entering the open waters of Leyte Gulf.

Although World War II era surface radar was notoriously faulty, the speed and course of the spotted blip was consistent with the course set by the Center Force.

[18][8] Upon coming to an understanding of the severity of the situation, Sprague ordered Taffy 3 to steam eastward, in hopes of being shielded by a passing rain squall.

Sprague also radioed for assistance from Vice Admiral Jesse B. Oldendorf, the commander of Task Group 77.2, which had just defeated the Southern Force in the Battle of Surigao Strait.

Unfortunately for Sprague, Oldendorf was at least three hours sail away, Task Group 77.2 was scattered over an immense distance because of the previous night's battle, and it was low on both fuel and ammunition.

The Japanese were firing dye-marked shells to gauge their aim, and Fanshaw Bay and White Plains were quickly bracketed between plumes of color, much to the concern of their command on board.

[22] As the Japanese fleet approached closer, Kitkun Bay began to jettison some of her armaments at hand, while continuing to frantically emit smoke.

At 8:59, the cruiser Chōkai, which already had her stern blown off by a torpedo from the destroyer escort Samuel B. Roberts, suffered a secondary explosion, possibly derived from the cooking off of munitions on board, crippling her handling and forcing her out of the vanguard formation.

The bomb showered fragments throughout the flight deck, puncturing more than 100 holes, and breached the gasoline lines, forming a puddle within a gun sponson, which was washed overboard.

At 11:23, one of the bombers made a run on the carrier, but both of its wings were torn off by anti-aircraft fire, and it plunged into the ocean 50 yd (46 m) off her port bow, detonating upon impact and showering the flight deck with seawater.

Transiting eastwards, VC-5's planes were detached to Ford Island on the morning of 18 November, and the squadron's pilots were unloaded at Pearl Harbor later that day.

[8][31] On the evening of 8 January, Kitkun Bay was still screening Task Force 79, when at 18:06, a group of Japanese aircraft was detected approaching some 20 mi (32 km) from the southwest.

Fortunately for Kitkun Bay, the kamikaze's two 550 pound bombs did not arm and detonate, although the explosion of its fuel tank killed four men and ignited a fire.

Spurred by this serious situation, the entirety of the crew was ordered onto the flight deck, where the aircraft at hand were repositioned towards the starboard side in an attempt to correct the list.

Making stops for limited repairs at Leyte Gulf, where she transferred her aircraft off, Manus, and Pearl Harbor, she returned to the United States by late February.

On 4 August, a forge within the shipfitter's shop exploded, burning several men, killing one, and forcing two others overboard to escape the flames, who were later rescued by the destroyer escort Dionne.

There, she joined a bevy of other warships headed towards Mutsu Bay, where Vice Admiral Frank Jack Fletcher accepted the surrender for Japanese forces in northern Honshu and in Hokkaido.