An escort carrier burns at sea, sending a towering column of black smoke into the sky -- a stark image from the USS Petrof Bay (CVE-80) collection likely documenting the desperate air battle off Samar in October 1944. During this engagement, Taffy 3's small escort carriers faced determined Japanese air attacks, including the first organized kamikaze strikes of the war, which claimed the escort carrier USS St. Lo. Project: 218455