Escort carrier USS ST LO (CVE 63) afire and helpless
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U.S. Navy Photograph
from the personal collection of Mike McKenna
"As soon as I considered the ship sufficiently near to dead in the water, I gave the order to abandon ship. During the interval, rafts were being cleared and abandon ship lines readied by the personnel awaiting the final word. At the order "abandon ship", personnel went down the lines and either got into or hung onto rafts or floated with the aid of their life jackets. The wounded were lowered from the forecastle in large numbers."
