USS Wilhoite
History | |
---|---|
United States | |
Namesake | Thomas Mack Wilhoite |
Builder | Brown Shipbuilding, Houston, Texas |
Laid down | 4 August 1943 |
Launched | 5 October 1943 |
Commissioned | 16 December 1943 |
Decommissioned | 2 July 1969 |
Reclassified | DER-397, 2 September 1954 |
Stricken | 2 July 1969 |
Fate | Sold for scrapping, 19 July 1972 |
General characteristics | |
Class and type | Edsall-class destroyer escort |
Displacement |
|
Length | 306 feet (93.27 m) |
Beam | 36.58 feet (11.15 m) |
Draft | 10.42 full load feet (3.18 m) |
Propulsion |
|
Speed | 21 knots (39 km/h) |
Range |
|
Complement | 8 officers, 201 enlisted |
Armament |
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USS Wilhoite (DE-397) was an Edsall-class destroyer escort built for the United States Navy during World War II. She served in the Atlantic Ocean and the Pacific Ocean and provided destroyer escort protection against submarine and air attack for Navy vessels and convoys.
Namesake
Thomas Mack Wilhoite was born on 12 February 1921 in
Construction and commissioning
She was laid down on 4 August 1943 at Houston, Texas, by the Brown Shipbuilding Co.; launched on 5 October 1943; sponsored by Mrs. Corinne M. Wilhoite, the mother of Ensign Wilhoite; and commissioned at Houston on 16 December 1943.
World War II North Atlantic operations
After her shakedown out of
After a 10-day availability at the
The
, joined the convoy. A recent increase in German air activity had prompted concern over the safety of UGS-40, a large and important convoy consisting of some 80 vessels.Attacked by Luftwaffe aircraft
At 2106 on 11 May, Wilhoite's search radar picked up "bogeys" some 18 miles (29 km) northeast of UGS-40. Two minutes later, the screening ships commenced their barrage. Observers in Wilhoite saw the attacking planes, torpedo-carrying
About 2123, one Ju. 88 singled out Wilhoite as her target and attacked. The destroyer escort responded by bringing all her guns to bear and fired such a heavy and accurate barrage that the German pilot dropped his torpedo about 2,000 yards (1,800 m) from its target. The plane, apparently damaged by the flak, then banked sharply and disappeared in the ship's smoke screen.
Heavy Luftwaffe losses
The heavy antiaircraft fire from the convoy's escorts and the support by friendly fighters downed an estimated 17 of the enemy torpedo planes. The convoy itself suffered no losses and safely reached its destination, Bizerte, Tunisia. For his part in directing Wilhoite's highly successful sector defense of UGS-40, Lt. Roth, the ship's commanding officer, received a Letter of Commendation.
Sinking of Block Island
Wilhoite rested at Bizerte from 13 to 21 May before getting underway to return to the United States with Convoy GUS-40. At 21:05 on 29 May, however, Wilhoite and Evarts were detached from the screen of GUS-40 to go to the aid of Task Group (TG) 21.11 which the German submarine U-549 had brazenly attacked northwest of the Canary Islands, torpedoing Block Island and Barr. The former sank quickly, but the latter remained afloat while Ahrens and Eugene E. Elmore cooperated in sinking the U-boat. The latter then took the stricken Barr in tow.
Wilhoite and Evarts arrived on the scene at 17:15 on the 30th; soon thereafter, Robert I. Paine and Ahrens sailed for Casablanca, Morocco. The remaining ships then set course for Casablanca as well, avoiding the track of two homeward-bound U-boats reportedly in the area. On the 31st, the small seaplane tender Humboldt arrived and assumed command over the little force.
At 09:30 on 1 June, Eugene E. Elmore cast off the tow of Barr, and Wilhoite picked it up. Moving ahead at eight knots, Wilhoite towed the damaged Barr, despite the letter's cracked hull which made the task of pulling the ship immeasurably more difficult by causing the damaged ship to yaw. Good damage control in Barr later lessened that problem; and, as the convoy neared Casablanca on 5 June, a Dutch tug, HMRT Antic, joined and took the damaged destroyer escort in tow, relieving Wilhoite. PC-480 then relieved Wilhoite and Evarts of screening duties as the ships neared the swept channel at their destination.
Commended for towing Barr to safety
Upon finishing fueling at Casablanca, Wilhoite departed that Moroccan port, her commanding officer, Lt. Roth, having earned a second Letter of Commendation for his ship's performance in towing Barr to safety, and sailed to New York with GUS-41. After her arrival there, the ship received repairs at the
Four days after her assignment to Bogue's group, TG 22.3, Wilhoite sortied with that carrier and the rest of her screen,
At 06:30 on 3 August, however, a message arrived that abruptly cut short the training. TG 22.3 was to proceed to the vicinity of 46°15′N 21°15′W / 46.250°N 21.250°W for offensive operations against a westbound enemy submarine. At 1646 on the next day, Wilhoite picked up a sound contact and attacked at 17:02; listeners picked up seven detonations but could ascertain no positive results. At 14:05 on the 7th, the destroyer escort laid two "hedgehog" projectile patterns and one standard depth charge pattern on a target later evaluated as a school of fish.
Undaunted, the Bogue group pressed on with the hunt. Their vigilance and training ultimately paid off. At 00:43 on 19 August, night-flying aircraft from Bogue attacked a submarine running on the surface. Wilhoite was the first ship to hear the transmission and relayed it to Bogue. Six minutes later, Haverfield, Janssen, and Swenning headed for the scene, detached to take part in the hunt while Wilhoite and Willis remained with Bogue as her screen. Meanwhile, the carrier launched planes, maintaining the start of a continuous air patrol over the area.
Unfortunately, the trio of destroyer escorts returned empty handed at 12:25 on the 20th. However, no sooner had they returned, when carrier aircraft reported attacking a submarine that had just surfaced. Wilhoite, Janssen, Haverfield, and Willis headed for the scene, a spot some 60 nautical miles (110 km) distant, hearing a report at 14:43 that the submarine (which had apparently submerged but had been damaged and brought to the surface) had again surfaced and was under attack.
Sinking of German Submarine U-1229
Ultimately, the planes from Composite Squadron 42, flying from Bogue, inflicted enough damage on the submarine, later identified as German submarine U-1229, to force the German crew to abandon ship. While Bogue's airmen watched, U-1229's crew went over the side. The submarine, scuttling charges apparently set, exploded and settled into the Atlantic. Later, at 16:10, the destroyer escorts arrived on the scene; Wilhoite picked up one body of a German sailor, who was summarily buried at sea. Janssen picked up U-1229's survivors.
Wilhoite, along with the other units of TG 22.3, later received the Presidential Unit Citation for the group's submarine-hunting activities. Wilhoite had been a part of the powerful and sustained offensive during a period of heavy U-boat activity threatening the uninterrupted flow of supplies to the European theater that, since the Allied invasion of France in June 1944, had assumed great importance. As the citation text concluded: "The gallantry and superb teamwork of the officers and men who fought the embarked planes and who manned Bogue and her escort vessels were largely instrumental in forcing the complete withdrawal of enemy submarines from supply routes essential to the maintenance of our established military supremacy."
But, for ships like Wilhoite, there was little time to rest on her laurels. Germany was not beaten yet; there would still be more U-boats to fight. Proceeding to
Upon completion of her yard period on 7 October, Wilhoite trained off
Wilhoite returned to New York with TG 33.3 before the unit put to sea for a "barrier patrol" between Brown's Bank and the Nova Scotia entrance to the Gulf of Maine in early December. Detached from Bogue's screen at 12:35 on 7 December, Wilhoite assisted Cockrill in developing a sonar contact until 11 December, when Wilhoite headed for Norfolk.
Wilhoite rejoined Bogue's screen and departed Norfolk on the day after
Detached from that duty on the 21st, Wilhoite sailed for Casco Bay, Maine, where she exercised in ASW and gunnery for a week. She again screened and plane-guarded for Bogue off Quonset Point into early February, while the carrier once more ran carquals for her embarked air group. The destroyer escort then spent a period of availability at the
Wilhoite departed Casco Bay on 28 March and, on the. following day, rendezvoused with TG 22.14—the unit assigned the task of hunting a reported southbound U-boat placed by intelligence information at 46°45′N 41°30′W / 46.750°N 41.500°W. At 11:39 on 31 March, Janssen's part of Task Unit (TU) 22.3.1—made a sound contact. Wilhoite picked it up soon thereafter and attacked at 1146, her "hedgehog" hurling a pattern of projectiles six minutes later. She left two deep explosions soon thereafter but could ascertain no evidence of having scored any hits.
Attacked by an iceberg
After another brief period of unsuccessful "barrier patrols" between 1 and 6 April, Wilhoite trained out of New London, Connecticut, in ASW tactics with
Meanwhile, the war on the European continent had been nearing its end; but the Battle of the Atlantic continued. Soon after the encounter with the iceberg, Wilhoite resumed "barrier patrols" with Bogue's TG 22.3. She was screening the carrier when Bogue's planes spotted a U-boat running on the surface at 1300 on 23 April. The aircraft attacked, but the U-boat "pulled the plug" and went deep in time to escape.
U-546 sinks Frederick C. Davis
The next day, U-546 torpedoed and sank Frederick C. Davis, the last American combatant ship loss in the Battle of the Atlantic. However, the U-boat had little time to savor the victory, for the entire scouting line of destroyer escorts moved swiftly to the scene to rescue their sistership's survivors and to commence ASW operations. U-546 was brought to the surface, damaged, and sunk by gunfire from the destroyer escorts, quickly avenging Frederick C. Davis's loss.
Over the next few days, Wilhoite conducted more "barrier patrols" as part of a group of
At 20:00 on 7 May, Wilhoite, Haverfield, and Flaherty proceeded to the scene of a "disappearing radar contact" that had been made by Otter. At 2125, Wilhoite reached the point of contact and commenced a search in company with Haverfield, Flaherty, Otter, Swenning and Varian. At 22:02, however, the search was cancelled abruptly, and the ships returned to their previous scouting line stations. While the ships had been engaged in their search, Germany, worn down by pressure from the western Allies on the one hand and the ceaseless heavy pressure by the Russians on the other, surrendered at Reims, France, on 7 May. World War II, as far as the European theater was concerned, was over.
Stateside repairs
Nevertheless, Wilhoite remained at sea on "barrier patrol" until 9 May, when she headed for New York City. The destroyer escort was repaired there from 11 to 19 May before she shifted south for more major repairs and alterations at the Charleston Naval Shipyard in preparation for the ship's upcoming deployment to the Pacific, still very much an active theater of war in the spring of 1945.
Transfer to Pacific Theatre operations
Wilhoite trained at Guantánamo Bay after her refit at Charleston and then headed for the Pacific, transiting the Panama Canal on 16 July. Arriving at San Diego, California, on the 24th, Wilhoite sailed for Hawaii with CortDiv 59 -- Edsall, Stewart, and Moore—arriving there on 5 August. In ensuing days, Wilhoite and her consorts trained in Hawaiian waters.
Wilhoite had arrived too late to participate in active operations, however, because the war in the Pacific ended while she was training in the
Wilhoite departed
Meanwhile, the surrender of Japanese garrisons was proceeding apace. In late September, Wilhoite sailed for
Wilhoite subsequently operated on local escort missions to
Converted to Radar Picket Ship
Her sojourn in reserve was to last through the Korean War of 1950 to 1953. Taken out of reserve and reactivated in 1954, Wilhoite underwent an extensive conversion to a radar picket ship, receiving sophisticated radar equipment.
Reclassified to DER-397 on 2 September 1954, Wilhoite was recommissioned on 29 January 1955 at the Charleston Naval Shipyard but remained in dockyard hands at Charleston for final installation of equipment and further tests until 22 March. She then proceeded, via Norfolk, Virginia, to Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, for a rigorous 10-week shakedown. After her post-shakedown availability, Wilhoite sailed for the Pacific on 20 July; she officially became part of the Pacific Fleet's Cruiser-Destroyer Force on the 24th.
Upon her arrival at her new home port,
Support North Pacific and Deep Freeze '61 operations
For the next four years, Wilhoite operated out of Pearl Harbor on "barrier patrols" and special operations; ranging as far north as Adak, Alaska, where, on one occasion in December 1964, a heavy storm with 50-knot (93 km/h) winds buffeted the ship against a pier, causing some damage. In 1961, Wilhoite took part in Operation "Deep Freeze '61", crossing the Antarctic Circle on 8 February. During that cruise, she visited ports in New Zealand and Australia before she returned to Pearl Harbor via Pago Pago, Samoa.
Mission of mercy
Besides "special operations" on "barrier patrols" from Pearl Harbor, Wilhoite carried out search and rescue (SAR) missions, ready for any eventuality while on station. During her third SAR patrol, in the autumn of 1963, the ship sighted an approaching Japanese fishing vessel, Kayo Maru. Wilhoite subsequently took on board Eichi Nakata, a man who had been bitten by a
Supporting Vietnam War operations
By the mid-1960s, however, further changes were in store for the veteran warship. The growing pace of incursions by
Wilhoite conducted intermittent WestPac deployments, with corresponding
On 19 June 1967, Wilhoite relieved
At approximately 20:00 on 11 July, a "Market Time" patrol aircraft detected a steel-hulled
Throughout the night, Wilhoite and the other ships intermittently fired into the beached trawler; the following morning, a party went on board the wreck to inspect the damage and learn the nature of her cargo. The holds were found jammed with guns, ammunition, and explosives—the largest arms cache captured during the Vietnam War. Ultimately relieved of her "Market Time" patrol duties on 26 July, Wilhoite sailed for Hong Kong and a period of recreation.
Alternating the tours of duty on Market Time stations with periods in port at Hong Kong,
.On 6 September 1968, Wilhoite was called upon to perform an SAR mission, while she was riding out the tail-end of Typhoon Bess. Assigned to locate a lost Vietnamese Navy PGM, Wilhoite centered her search on a point some 30 miles (48 km) from the port of Da Nang. Although she never sighted the PGM, however, the radar picket destroyer escort maintained contact via voice radio; and ultimately, the PGM was able to reorient herself and continue on her voyage. Later, while returning to her patrol station, Wilhoite came across an Army landing craft, LCU-1481, which had been adrift and lost for some 48 hours. Typhoon "Bess" had proved a nuisance to the LCU, for it had caused damage that had rendered the craft powerless. Wilhoite stood by while another LCU was dispatched from Da Nang to take the stricken LCU-1481 in tow and bring her to port safely.
Later that autumn, Wilhoite received an availability alongside the veteran
Wilhoite departed Vietnamese waters on 15 January 1969, bound for Hawaii. She stopped for fuel at Subic Bay and at Apra Harbor, Guam, before she continued on, arriving at Pearl Harbor on 1 February. After a period of tender availability alongside Isle Royale, from 17 February to 3 March, Wilhoite underwent a restricted availability at the Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard before she conducted her sea trials at the end of May. On 2 June, the radar picket destroyer escort departed the Hawaiian Islands for the west coast; and she arrived at Bremerton, Washington, a week later. There, on 2 July, Wilhoite was decommissioned.
Final deactivation
Simultaneously struck from the Navy List, Wilhoite was sold on 19 July 1972 to General Metals Corp., Tacoma, Washington, and subsequently scrapped.
Awards
Wilhoite received the Presidential Unit Citation, a
References
- This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be found here.