USS St. Lo (CVE-63)

USS St. Lo (CVE-63)

USS St. Lo (CVE–63) was a Casablanca-class escort carrier of the United States Navy during World War II. On 25 October 1944, St. Lo became the first major warship to sink as the result of a kamikaze attack. The attack occurred during the Battle of Leyte Gulf.

St. Lo was laid down as Chapin Bay on 23 January 1943; renamed Midway on 3 April 1943; launched on 17 August 1943; sponsored by Mrs. Howard Nixon Coulter; and commissioned on 23 October 1943, Captain Francis J. McKenna in command. She was renamed St. Lo on 10 October 1944 after the town of Saint-Lô in Normandy, France, which was the location of fierce fighting during the allied Normandy landings.