Misplaced Pages

#938061

33-811: USS Whitehurst (DE-634) , a Buckley -class destroyer escort of the United States Navy , was named in honor of Ensign Henry Purefoy Whitehurst, Jr., a crew member of the Astoria  (CA-34) who was killed during the Battle of Savo Island in August 1942. Whitehurst (DE-634) was laid down on 21 March 1943 at San Francisco , California, by the Bethlehem Steel Co.; launched on 5 September 1943; sponsored by Mrs Robie S. Whitehurst, mother of Ensign Whitehurst and commissioned on 19 November 1943. Following shakedown off

66-613: A typhoon in the vicinity resulted in a two-day delay. Whitehurst reached Guam on the afternoon of 7 November. Operating as a unit of Escort Division 40, Whitehurst supplied electrical power to the dredge YM-25 into 1946. Returning to the continental United States in April 1946, Whitehurst was decommissioned on 27 November 1946 and placed in the Atlantic Reserve Fleet at Green Cove Springs, Florida , in January 1947. Reactivated in

99-630: A Group II ASW reserve ship in July. On 6 December 1958, she was transferred to the Naval Reserve and placed in an "in service" status as a unit of the Selected Reserve ASW Force. During the 1960s, Whitehurst cruised one weekend per month and made one two-week cruise per year. In 1961, she was placed second in a battle efficiency competition among the west coast Group II Naval Reserve destroyer escorts. Commissioned on 2 October 1961 for duty with

132-509: A bomb that fell clear of the ships, the second started a glide bombing attack, but Whitehurst claimed it shot down. After arriving with the convoy at New Guinea on 25 November, Whitehurst spent the remainder of 1944 and the first few months of 1945 in escort operations between New Guinea and the Philippines. When the landings on Okinawa commenced on 1 April 1945, Whitehurst was part of Task Force 54 (TF 54), screening vessels protecting

165-659: A goodwill visit to Sapporo , Japan. The ship also operated in the South China Sea and the Gulf of Siam . Returning to the United States via Hawaii, Whitehurst arrived at Seattle with Charles E. Brannon  (DE-446) on 17 July 1962. Subsequently, transferred back to the Naval Reserve on 1 August 1962 and placed in Group II in-service status as a Naval Reserve training ship, Whitehurst resumed operations out of Seattle. During 1963,

198-491: A large amount of oil, wood and other debris, some of which her motor whaleboat recovered at 10°10′N 127°28′E  /  10.167°N 127.467°E  / 10.167; 127.467  ( I-45 ) , and headed back to Kossol Roads in the Palaus with TU 77.7.1. A month later, while escorting a 12-ship convoy from Leyte to New Guinea, Whitehurst came under attack by two Japanese "Lily" medium bombers. One dropped

231-528: A range of 14,600 yards (13,400 m) at 45°, and an antiaircraft ceiling of 28,000 feet (8,500 m) For antiaircraft defense, the Buckley -class carried four 1.1 inch/75 (28mm) guns or two Bofors 40 mm L/60 guns fitted in the 'X' position. These were not included in the Captain -class units. Eight Oerlikon 20 mm cannons were positioned two in front of the bridge behind and above B gun mount, one on each side of

264-471: A rendezvous with other task forces operating in the area. While Atascosa refueled ships from Destroyer Squadron 47, an enemy aircraft appeared, all ships opened fire but no hits were observed and Whitehurst returned to Espiritu Santo. After escorting President Monroe  (AP-104) to Milne Bay, New Guinea, Whitehurst remained in New Guinea waters for escort duties until 17 May. She then participated in

297-493: A submerged submarine probably I-45 on her sonar, about 50 nautical miles (93 km; 58 mi) from the site of Eversole ′s sinking. After making three unsuccessful Hedgehog attacks, the submarine tried to escape by diving to a depth of 225 feet (69 m). At 06:48, Whitehurst conducted a fourth Hedgehog attack, which resulted in five or six small explosions, followed by a large underwater explosion that disabled her sonar. Whitehurst resumed her search at 07:20 and noted

330-805: The Napoleonic Wars , forming part of the Captain-class frigate along with 32 Lend-Lease ships of the Evarts class. After World War II, most of the surviving units of this class were transferred to Taiwan , South Korea , Chile , Mexico , or other countries. The rest were retained by the US Navy's reserve fleet until they were decommissioned. The Buckley -class' main armament was three 3-inch/50-caliber guns in Mk 22 dual-purpose open mounts. They fired fixed-type ammunition (antiaircraft, armor-piercing, or star shell ) and had

363-506: The slipways . The Buckley class was the second class of destroyer escorts, succeeding the Evarts -class destroyer escorts. One of the main design differences was that the hull was significantly lengthened on the Buckley class; this long-hull design proved so successful that it was used for all further destroyer escort classes. The class was also known as the TE type, from Turbo Electric drive. The TE

SECTION 10

#1733093620939

396-443: The B gun mount in sponsons , and two on each side of the ship in sponsons just abaft the funnel. Some of the ships had extra Oerlikons fitted on top of the superstructure amidships. The Captain -class units had additional 20 mm guns fitted in 'X' position, and on the director stand for 'X' position. For antisubmarine weapons, the Buckley class carried a Hedgehog , a British designed spigot mortar that fired 24 bombs ahead of

429-615: The Far East and touched at Guam, Formosa , Hong Kong , and Sasebo, Japan , before representing the United States Navy at the graduation ceremonies of the Republic of Korea Naval Academy on 10 April. She returned to Sasebo before shifting to Yokosuka en route to Midway and Hawaii. Arriving at Pearl Harbor on 30 April 1957, Whitehurst underwent four weeks of upkeep and repairs before beginning six weeks of duty with 20th Century Fox during

462-696: The Far East, where she remained until 1955, when she returned to Pearl Harbor via Midway . After working locally out of Pearl Harbor for a year, she operated between Hawaii and Guam into 1956. Early in that year, she performed surveillance duties among the islands and atolls assigned the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands , performed search and rescue missions in the Marianas and Carolines, stopping at islands to provide medical care and record population changes. Departing Guam on 22 February for Yokosuka, Japan ,

495-662: The Pacific Fleet, Whitehurst operated with the fleet after being "called to the colors" as a result of the Berlin Crisis that autumn, she departed Seattle on the 4th, bound for her new homeport of Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. After a period of training in the Hawaiian area, Whitehurst departed Pearl Harbor on 10 February 1962 for deployment to the Western Pacific. She operated with the 7th Fleet out of Subic Bay , Philippines, and made

528-473: The United States in 1943–44. They served in World War II as convoy escorts and antisubmarine warfare ships. The lead ship was USS  Buckley which was launched on 9 January 1943. The ships had General Electric steam turbo-electric transmission . The ships were prefabricated at various factories in the United States, and the units brought together in the shipyards, where they were welded together on

561-742: The Vancouver narrows, Whitehurst collided with the Norwegian freighter SS Hoyanger . Both ships then ran aground in shallow water. The destroyer escort suffered a five-foot gash in her stern above the waterline while the freighter had three feet of scraped bow plates. The following day, both ships were pulled off by tugs. Whitehurst operated locally out of Seattle and ranged to San Diego and San Francisco into 1969. The ship transported astronaut Commander Richard F. Gordon, Jr. and his family from Seattle to his home town of Bremerton on 18 November before she returned to her home port. Whitehurst ' s home port

594-463: The amphibious operation against Wakde Island, screening the amphibious ships. Whitehurst , with Task Unit (TU) 72.2.9, later escorted echelon S-4 of the invasion force to Humboldt Bay . The destroyer escort subsequently joined Wilkes  (DD-441) , Nicholson  (DD-442) , and Swanson  (DD-443) , to screen echelon H-2 as it steamed toward Bosnic, Biak, in the Schouten Islands , for

627-490: The attack and she moved to Kerama Retto for temporary repairs and when seaworthy reached Pearl Harbor on 10 May for repairs and alterations. Whitehurst departed Pearl Harbor on 25 July 1945, for the Philippine Islands. Soon after she reached Luzon, Japan surrendered . The ship supplied the city of Manila with power from August through October 1945. She was scheduled to depart Manila on 1 November, bound for Guam but

660-508: The beachhead and later screened echelon H-2 as it retired from Biak to Humboldt Bay. Whitehurst carried out escort duties and trained through the summer of 1944. She was tasked with the anti-submarine and anti-aircraft screen of TU 77.7.1, a group of fleet tankers supplying the 7th Fleet . On 29 October, Whitehurst received word that, the previous day, Eversole  (DE-404) had been torpedoed and sunk by I-45 . While Bull  (DE-693) picked up survivors, Whitehurst detected

693-611: The filming of the World War II adventure film The Enemy Below . During that time, she portrayed the fictional destroyer escort "USS Haynes (DE-181)". Upon completion of filming, Whitehurst operated off Oahu until September, when she was ordered to Seattle, Washington, for duty as a training ship with the 13th Naval District making an extended cruise to Guaymas , Mexico , in November 1957. After an overhaul from February to April 1958, Whitehurst returned to training duties, becoming

SECTION 20

#1733093620939

726-496: The landings there. Arriving off Biak on 28 May, Whitehurst took up a patrol station off the western entrance to the channel between Owi Island and Biak. While there, she received an urgent message from LCI-34 which was under fire by Japanese shore batteries. Whitehurst provided counter-battery fire and was herself targeted but all rounds missed and she was relieved by Stockton  (DD-646) and Swanson . Whitehurst then escorted LCT-260 while she evacuated casualties from

759-451: The ship and exploded some 50 feet off her starboard bow. As Whitehurst circled, out of control, the minesweeper Vigilance  (AM-324) , approached from a nearby sector to render assistance. By the time Vigilance had caught up with Whitehurst , her crew had put out the most serious fires, but the minesweeper proved invaluable in aiding the wounded and 21 of 23 wounded transferred to Vigilance were saved. 42 of her crew of 213 died in

792-456: The ship extending to midships, each set holding 60 depth charges (these ready rails were added after the ships first arrived in the UK). They also carried three 21-inch (533 mm) torpedo tubes in a triple mount mounted just aft of the stack. [REDACTED] Media related to Buckley class destroyer escorts at Wikimedia Commons Motor vessel Engines for motorships were developed during

825-471: The ship received two major changes in her configuration when her 40-mm guns and ship-to-shore power reels that enabled her to function as a floating power station , were removed. In subsequent years, Whitehurst visited San Diego , California; Bellingham, Port Angeles, Everett, Washington ; and Esquimalt, British Columbia . On 17 January 1965 while operating in the Strait of Juan de Fuca , steaming in fog off

858-618: The ship sailed via the northern Marianas, the Bonins and Volcano Islands. She spent two weeks in Japanese waters before returning to Guam on 17 March. Returning to the Central Carolines for patrol duties in early April 1956, Whitehurst stood by a damaged seaplane at the island of Lamotrek for two weeks before returning to Guam on 14 April, en route to Pearl Harbor. After a period of local operations out of Pearl Harbor, Whitehurst headed back to

891-471: The ship. This was situated on the main deck just aft of 'A' mount. They also carried up to 200 depth charges . Two sets of double rails mounted on each side of the ship at the stern, each holding 24 charges and eight (two on Captain -class units) K-gun depth-charge throwers each holding five charges were on each side of the ship forward of the stern rails. On Captain -class ships, just forward of these, double sets of ready racks were fitted along each side of

924-422: The south, one detached itself from the group and headed for Whitehurst and commenced a steep dive, two others also attacked, one from the starboard beam and the other from astern, this aircraft was claimed shot down. The original attacker crashed into the ship's forward superstructure on the port side of the pilothouse , penetrating bulkheads and starting fires on the bridge, while the aircraft's bomb went through

957-643: The summer of 1950 as a result of the outbreak of war in Korea , Whitehurst was recommissioned on 1 September 1950 and sailed for the Far East . The destroyer escort earned three battle stars for her activities during the Korean War between 25 February and 19 September 1951. On 3 August 1952, Whitehurst collided with the submarine USS  Bugara  (SS-331) during antisubmarine warfare exercises south of Barbers Point , Oahu , Hawaii . After repairs, she returned to

990-426: The transports and cargo vessels. On 6 April, while on patrol station off Kerama Retto , she drove off an enemy aircraft that had attacked the cargo vessel SS Pierre . Three days later, the escort vessel was relieved of her escort duties off Kerama Retto to operate off the southwest coast of Okinawa. On the 12th, a low-flying enemy aircraft closed but was driven off. At 1430, four "Val" dive-bombers approached from

1023-837: The west coast, Whitehurst proceeded to Hawaii, arriving at Pearl Harbor on 4 February 1944. Underway for the Solomons on the 7th, she sailed via Majuro and Funafuti with James E. Craig  (DE-201) and SC-502 , escorting SS George Ross , SS George Constantine and SS Robert Lucas , arriving on 23 February at Espiritu Santo in the New Hebrides . After shifting to Nouméa , New Caledonia, and back to Espiritu Santo, Whitehurst joined Osterhaus  (DE-164) and Acree  (DE-167) on 22 March to escort oilers Kankakee  (AO-39) , Escambia  (AO-80) , and Atascosa  (AO-66) . Whitehurst and Atascosa were detached from that task unit on 26 March to proceed independently to

USS Whitehurst - Misplaced Pages Continue

1056-524: Was replaced with a diesel-electric plant to yield the design of the successor Cannon class ("DET"). In total, 154 were ordered with six being completed as high-speed transport ("APD"). A further 37 were later converted after completion, while 46 of the Buckley s were delivered to the Royal Navy under the Lend-Lease agreement. These 46 were classed as frigates and named after Royal Navy captains of

1089-683: Was shifted to Portland, Oregon , from Seattle. The ship she replaced, McGinty  (DE-365) , was being deactivated as a Naval Reserve Force ship as part of an economy drive due to funding requirements for the Vietnam War and Whitehurst was soon deactivated. On 12 July 1969, she was taken out of service, struck from the Navy List and stripped of any usable equipment. She was sunk as a target by Trigger  (SS-564) on 28 April 1971. Buckley-class destroyer escort The Buckley -class destroyer escorts were 102 destroyer escorts launched in

#938061