- USS Cooper (DD-695)
USS "Cooper" (DD-695), a sclass|Allen M. Sumner|destroyer, is the only ship of the
United States Navy to be named forElmer Glenn Cooper , a naval aviator who died in a seaplane accident in 1938. The "Cooper" was launched9 February 1944 by Federal Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Co., Kearny, N.J.; sponsored by Mrs. Elmer G. Cooper; and commissioned27 March 1944 , CommanderJ. W. Schmidt in command."Cooper" cleared Boston
23 July 1944 forPearl Harbor arriving4 September . After operational training, she sailed23 October forUlithi , arriving5 November , and put to sea at once to screen carriers in air attacks onLuzon ,Ormoc Bay , andManila Bay until19 November .After repairs at Ulithi, she entered San Pedro Bay, Philippines,
29 November and joined in patrols inLeyte Gulf until2 December , when she sailed with "Allen M. Sumner" (DD-692) and "Moale" (DD-693) to destroy shipping in Japanese-held Ormoc Bay. Here the ships engaged two small enemy destroyers and numerous small craft. At about 00:13 on3 December , "Cooper" was torpedoed by the Japanese destroyer "Take". ["Cooper" was probably sunk by "Kuwa" according to this source:
*]Reports state that she suffered an explosion on her starboard side, then it broke in two, and sank within a minute. The presence of enemy forces prevented rescue of survivors until about 14:00, when "Black Cat" airplanes were able to save 168 of Cooper's crew; 191 were lost.
In the
Battle of Ormoc Bay , "Kuwa" was sunk and "Take" was damaged by the American destroyers. In addition to the loss of "Cooper", "Allen M. Sumner" and "Moale" were both damaged.A documentary TV film on the "Cooper" was produced by
Bigfoot Entertainment and made its debut in mid-2006. It featured deep-sea diver Rob Lalumiere and survivors of the "Cooper" sinking. For further information, seeBattle of Ormoc Bay ."Cooper" was awarded one
battle star forWorld War II service.References
*DANFS|http://history.navy.mil/danfs/c13/cooper.htm
* Griggs, William F., "Prelude to Victory"External links
* [http://www.usscooper.com usscooper.com: USS "Cooper"] documentary site
* [http://www.dd-692.com/lalumiere.htm Return to History - the dive on the USS "Cooper" by Rob Lalumiere]
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* [http://www.hazegray.org/danfs/destroy/dd695txt.htm hazegray.org: USS "Cooper"]
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