Off central Luzon on 24 October 1944, the light carrier Princeton (CVL-23) was still burning almost six hours after a single Japanese 550-pound bomb had penetrated her flight deck amidships and crashed through two more decks before exploding. On the way down, the bomb hit a plane on the hangar deck, igniting fuel and creating an instant inferno that spread out of control. Within half an hour, the Princeton had lost propulsion and steering control and dropped out of formation. The aircraft carrier was a floating hulk, and throughout the day, a hastily assembled group of two cruisers and four destroyers valiantly attempted, along with the Princeton's own captain and damage-control party, to extinguish the fires and rescue the crew.
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