U.S.S. ANZIO

USS Anzio was commissioned in Astoria, Oregon in 1943 as the Coral Sea, designation CVE-57. The vessel was first used to ferry aircraft and train in flight operations off of the West Coast, and then set sail for Pearl Harbor to train off Oahu. In November, she headed to help with the invasion of the Gilbert Islands, and then headed back to Pearl Harbor.

Doing ferry duty, she went back and forth between the U.S. and Hawaii a couple of times. In December of that year, she was prepared for the attack on Kwajalein. On January 3, 1944, the ship underwent training in Hawaiian waters before heading into the Kwajalein combat zone.

The Coral Sea provided air support and ferrying services in many battles and invasions throughout the Pacific during her time on duty, and ordered back to the U.S. in July of 1944 for major overhaul. It was at this time that her name was changed to Anzio on Sept. 15, 1944. She headed back into combat operations once she was overhauled and then became part of the Magic Carpet operations and arrived at Washington in December of 1945.

She headed to Norfolk, was decommissioned and placed on reserve, reclassified as CVHE-57, and then stricken from the Navy roster in 1959. She was sold for scrap that November, but had earned six battle stars for her World War II service.