USS Richard M. Rowell

History
United States
Name	Richard M. Rowell
Laid down	18 August 1943
Launched	17 November 1943
Commissioned	9 March 1944
Decommissioned	2 July 1946
Stricken	30 June 1968
Honours and; awards	6 battle stars
Fate	Sold for scrapping, June 1969
General characteristics
Class and type	John C. Butler-class destroyer escort; WGT (geared-turbine drive, 5" guns);
Displacement	1,350/1,745 tons
Length	306 ft (93 m), overall
Beam	36 ft 10 in (11.23 m)
Draft	13 ft 4 in (4.06 m) (max)
Propulsion	2 boilers,; 2 geared turbine engines,; 12,000 shp (8,900 kW),; 2 screws;
Speed	24 knots (44 km/h; 28 mph)
Range	6,000 nautical miles (11,000 km) at 12 knots (22 km/h)
Complement	14 officers, 201 enlisted
Armament	2 DP guns,; 4 (2×2) AA guns,; 10 20 mm cannon,; 3 21 in (533 mm) torpedo tubes,; 1 Hedgehog projector,; 2 depth charge tracks,; 8 K-gun depth charge projectors;

USS Richard M. Rowell (DE-403) was a

battle stars

to her credit.

Namesake

Richard Merrill Rowell was born on 6 August 1916 in

gold star

in lieu of a second Distinguished Flying Cross, before failing to return from his last mission.

Construction and commissioning

The ship's keel was laid down 18 August 1943 by Brown Shipbuilding Co. at their yard in Houston, Texas; Launched on 17 November 1943, sponsored by Mrs. Agnes M. Rowell, the ship was commissioned on 9 March 1944.

History

World War II

Following

escort carriers to Manus. In September she protected an air support task force during the landings on Morotai

on 15 September, saving two pilots.

Richard M. Rowell rescued survivors from the destroyer escort

Philippine Islands

on 20 October.

On 23 October, Richard M. Rowell sank the

Taffy 3, which bore the brunt of the Japanese attack; Richard M. Rowell did fight off another kamikaze attack on 26 October.^[4] Returning to the carrier formation, she donated blood plasma from her own supply, and medical supplies from USS Petrof Bay, to Suwanee

. On 27 October, Richard M. Rowell escorted Santee to Manus, and arrived at Pearl Harbor on 19 November.

She joined anti-air- and

Eniwetok

and Pearl Harbor to San Diego, arriving 6 November.

Sinking of USS Seawolf

Seawolf and Narwhal exchanged radar recognition signals at 0756 on 3 October in the Morotai area. Shortly thereafter, a 7th Fleet task group was attacked by Ro-41. The destroyer escort Shelton was torpedoed and sunk, and Richard M. Rowell began to search for the enemy.

Since there were four friendly submarines in the vicinity of this attack, they were directed to give their positions and the other three did, but Seawolf was not heard from. On 4 October, Seawolf again was directed to report her position, and again she failed to do so. One of two planes from the escort carrier Midway sighted a submarine submerging and dropped two bombs on it even though it was in a safety zone for American submarines. The site was marked by dye. Rowell's commanding officer knew he was in a safety lane,^[5] but, having failed to get word Seawolf was behind schedule,^[6] believed there was no U.S. submarine nearby and chose to attack. Rowell established sonar contact on the submarine, which then sent a series of dashes and dots which Rowell stated bore no resemblance to the existing recognition signals. Believing this an attempt to jam her sonar,^[7] Rowell attacked with Hedgehog. The second attack was followed by underwater explosions, and debris rose to the surface.

Post-war examination of Japanese records shows no attack listed that could account for the loss of Seawolf. While it is possible Seawolf was lost to an operational casualty or as a result of an unrecorded enemy attack, it is more likely she was sunk by friendly fire. 83 officers and men as well as 17 Army passengers were lost. She was the thirty-fourth U.S. submarine lost in the Pacific War, the second (after Dorado in the Caribbean) to friendly fire.^[8] One of the Army passengers was Captain Howell S. Kopp, an Alamo Scout. Kopp was en route to an undisclosed location in the Philippines to conduct a clandestine mission in support of the upcoming Allied landing on Leyte.^[9]^[10]

Post-war decommissioning

Navy list

on 30 June 1968. In June 1969, she was sold for scrapping.

Awards

Richard M. Rowell received six

battle stars

for World War II service.

References

^ Her skipper, Barnard, was not disciplined. Blair, Silent Victory.
^ Stille, Mark. Imperial Japanese Navy Submarines 1941-45 (Osprey, 2007), p.33;
^ Fitzsimons, Bernard, ed. Encyclopedia of 20th Century Weapons and Warfare (London: Phoebus, 1978), Vol. 13, p.1409, "I54".
^ There is some doubt about the date of this and the sinking of I-54. DANFS has both 26 October, which is contradicted by Fitzsimons.
^ Blair, p. 736.
^ Blair, pp. 736-737.
^ Blair, p. 737.
^ Blair, pp. 552fn, 737, 817, & 992.
^ "Alamo Scouts Photograph 320-339". www.alamoscouts.org. Archived from the original on 21 October 2007.
^ "On Eternal Patrol - Howell Stewart Kopp".

This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be found here.
Blair, Clay, Jr. Silent Victory (Bantam, 1976)

External links

NavSource Online: Destroyer Escort Photo Archive – USS Richard M. Rowell (DE-403)

[1] Her skipper, Barnard, was not disciplined. Blair, Silent Victory.

[2] Stille, Mark. Imperial Japanese Navy Submarines 1941-45 (Osprey, 2007), p.33;

[3] Fitzsimons, Bernard, ed. Encyclopedia of 20th Century Weapons and Warfare (London: Phoebus, 1978), Vol. 13, p.1409, "I54".

[4] There is some doubt about the date of this and the sinking of I-54. DANFS has both 26 October, which is contradicted by Fitzsimons.

[5] Blair, p. 736.

[6] Blair, pp. 736-737.

[7] Blair, p. 737.

[8] Blair, pp. 552fn, 737, 817, & 992.

[9] "Alamo Scouts Photograph 320-339". www.alamoscouts.org. Archived from the original on 21 October 2007.

[10] "On Eternal Patrol - Howell Stewart Kopp".

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