- USS John A. Bole (DD-755)
-
Career (United States) 
Name: USS John A. Bole (DD-755) Namesake: John A. Bole Builder: Bethlehem Steel, Staten Island Laid down: 20 May 1944 Launched: 1 November 1944 Commissioned: 3 March 1945 Decommissioned: 6 November 1970 Struck: 1 February 1974 Fate: To Taiwan 6 May 1974 and cannibalized for spare parts General characteristics Class and type: Allen M. Sumner class destroyer Displacement: 2,200 tons Length: 376 ft 6 in (114.8 m) Beam: 40 ft (12.2 m) Draft: 15 ft 8 in (4.8 m) Propulsion: 60,000 shp (45 MW);
2 propellersSpeed: 34 knots (63 km/h) Range: 6500 nmi. (12,000 km) @ 15 kt Complement: 336 Armament: 6 × 5 in (127 mm)/38 cal guns,
12 × 40 mm AA guns,
11 × 20 mm AA guns,
10 × 21 in torpedo tubes,
6 × depth charge projectors,
2 × depth charge tracksUSS John A. Bole (DD-755), an Allen M. Sumner-class destroyer, was the only ship of the United States Navy to be named for Lieutenant Commander John Archibald Bole, Jr., who was the commanding officer of Amberjack which is thought to be lost on 16 February 1943.
John A. Bole was renamed Gurke on 15 June 1944 prior to being launched 15 February 1945.
John A. Bole, was laid down on 20 May 1944 by Bethlehem Steel Co., Staten Island, New York; launched on 1 November 1944; sponsored by Mrs. John A. Bole, Jr., widow of Lieutenant Commander Bole; and commissioned on 3 March 1945, Commander E. B. Billingsley in command.
Contents
Service history
World War II
Following shakedown training out of Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, John A. Bole escorted Template:USS Franklin north to New York, arriving on 24 April 1945. After moving to Boston to join Saint Paul, she sailed on 15 May for the Pacific during the final push in the war against Japan. Steaming via the Panama Canal, she arrived Pearl Harbor on 7 June 1945. The ship joined a carrier group in Hawaiian waters, took part in the air strike on Wake Island on 20 June, and escorted a carrier to Eniwetok, arriving on 21 June.
Bole arrived Okinawa on 29 June for picket and patrol duty; and, although ground fighting had virtually ceased, weeks of intermittent air raids and dangerous picket duty were still in store for the fleet. The ship remained off Okinawa until the Japanese acceptance of surrender terms on 15 August, then departed for the East China and Yellow Seas to support the occupation and to take part in minesweeping operations. Bole joined a cruiser-destroyer force on 8 September off Jinsen, Korea, to cover the landings of troops at that important port. She remained until 25 September, and arrived 3 days later at Saishu To, south of the Korean Peninsula, to accept the surrender of the island and demilitarize it.
The veteran destroyer remained in the Far East after the end of the war to carry mail and passengers between Japan, Korea, and Chinese ports, supporting the efforts of American marines to protect Allied lives and stabilize the Chinese situation. While at Tsingtao on 20 February 1946, upon receiving a distress signal from a sinking merchantmen, she succeeded in rescuing 13 survivors. Bole departed on 5 March for San Francisco and, after stopping at Guam and Pearl Harbor, arrived on 27 March 1946.
Following a long repair period to prepare her for peacetime service, the destroyer arrived San Diego on 10 April 1947 to begin a regular schedule of training maneuvers and cruises for Naval Reservists. She continued to operate on the West Coast, with occasional visits to Hawaii, through 1949.
Korean War
With the outbreak of the Korean War in June 1950, John A. Bole began intensive preparations for combat service. Sailing from San Diego on 30 September, she steamed via Japan to join Task Force 77 off the Korean coast. With the brilliant amphibious assault on Inchon on 15 September, an end run made possible by control of the sea, the tide of the ground war rapidly reversed. The nearly victorious enemy armies far to the south collapsed. Bole, exemplifying the flexibility of seapower promptly shifted from amphibious attack to fire support of our advancing troops. She then screened carriers during the vital air operations, helping to support both battle-line air strikes and interdiction of northern supply lines. On 11 April 1951, Bole was stationed near the coast of mainland China, three miles off Swatow (Shantou), China, on the orders of General Douglas MacArthur, in an unsuccessful attempt by him to provoke China into a war with the United States. (See James Edwin Alexander, Naval History: Jan/Feb 1997, Vol. 11, Iss. 1; pg. 48, 3 pgs, U.S. Naval Institute Press, Annapolis, MD). Bole also steamed with support convoys into Inchon before returning to San Diego in mid-June 1951.
The veteran ship was underway again for Korea on 3 January 1952. Upon arrival she helped maintain the pressure on Communist troops in the stalemated land war by screening carriers during air attacks. Bole also took part in shore bombardment along both the east and west coasts of North Korea, operating with British and Dutch ships. The ship moved to the Formosa Straits for patrol duty designed to deter Chinese Communist aggression there, finally returning to San Diego on 11 July 1952.
Following a yard period in which she added 3-inch rapid fire guns to her armament, Bole departed on 21 February 1953 for her third Korean tour. During March she operated off the coast with Saint Paul, and sailed on 10 April for the Formosa Straits to resume patrol duty. Then after returning to Korean waters, the destroyer sailed on 1 June to Wonsan harbor for 6 days dueling with shore batteries while protecting the Allied-held offshore islands. She then screened New Jersey before the Korean armistice on 27 July 1953, after which she returned to Japan. Escort duty with Princeton closed her cruise, and Bole arrived San Diego on 22 September 1953.
1954-1967
The veteran ship returned to the Far East again in 1954, taking part in the continuing Formosa Patrol and in amphibious training exercises. She sailed from San Diego on 20 April and returned 17 October, adding carrier operations in the South China Sea and antisubmarine warfare exercises off Okinawa to her busy schedule. In 1955, and again in 1956, she spent 6 month periods in these familiar waters, training and showing graphically the value of seapower to the security of the United States and her allies.
John A. Bole sailed on 29 July 1957 for the Western Pacific, this time visiting Pago Pago; Auckland, New Zealand; and Manus en route to Japan. She took part in carrier operations with Bon Homme Richard and in December again steamed Formosa Strait. The ship returned to San Diego on 8 January 1958 and took part in exercises off California until July. Bole again sailed westward on 23 August 1958, this time amid mounting chaos from revolt in Indonesia and growing trouble in southeast Asia. She operated in the Philippines and on Formosa Patrol, helping to stabilize affairs in this strategic region, returning to San Diego on 16 February 1959.
The destroyer made still another cruise to the Far East 1959-60, sailing on 30 October. She operated with the 7th Fleet's hunter-killer force off Okinawa during November and December, arriving Formosa on 4 January 1960 for patrol duty. She returned to San Diego on 12 March 1960. In June, Bole served as an air-sea rescue station ship for President Eisenhower's flight across the Pacific, and during the summer she embarked NROTC Midshipman for training. In October she was assigned to a hunter-killer group built around Kearsarge, and after training, departed on 4 March 1961 for the Far East. The ships carried out further training, this time with Canadian ships out of Pearl Harbor, but with a worsening of the Laos situation, steamed to Subic Bay to bolster Navy strength and deter more serious trouble. Hunter-killer operations continued until September, and Bole returned to California via the northern great-circle route to help gather hydrographic data, arriving her home port on 18 September.
Bole entered San Francisco Naval Shipyard in late 1961 to undergo a major Fleet-Rehabilitation-and-Modernization overhaul, designed to equip her with the latest equipment and lengthen her active service life several years. Emerging in July 1962, she took part in training operations for the remainder of the year, interrupted by several weeks of alert at sea during the Cuban Missile Crisis in October. During the first few months of 1963, she operated out of San Diego, sailing 1 April 1963 for Pearl Harbor and the Western Pacific. This cruise helped to maintain the vital American presence in the Far East, and she returned to San Diego on 3 December 1963. In the first half of 1964, she was engaged in antisubmarine operations, including tests of her new DASH. Bole sailed 23 October 1964 for the Western Pacific with a group composed of Yorktown and other destroyers. After maneuvers in Hawaiian waters, she reported to Commander 7th Fleet on 2 January 1965 to resume peacekeeping operations in the troubled region. During the deployment, Bole operated with a carrier task group and an ASW hunter-killer group, then patrolled Taiwan Straits. From 9–25 February, she operated off Vietnam.
Returning to San Diego on 24 May, the destroyer entered Hunter's Point Naval Shipyard late in June for overhaul and stayed there through the remaining summer. She operated out of San Diego until sailing on 22 March 1966 for the Far East. On 18 April, she began naval gunfire support duties off Vietnam which continued until she began plane guard patrol at Yankee Station on 4 May. On the 8th, the destroyer sailed to Japan for repairs but was back at Yankee Station on the 25th. But for brief runs to Hong Kong and Subic, Bole remained in the war zone until 27 July, when she headed for Taiwan. She visited Malaysia before heading home via Subic Bay, Guam, and Pearl Harbor, arriving San Diego on 24 September. She operated out of home port for the remainder of the year, and in 1967 prepared for future action.
Awards
John A. Bole received one battle star for World War II service and seven for Korean service. She was also the recipient of the Gold A for excellence in Anti-Submarine Warfare
References
- This article includes text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be found here.
External links
Categories:- Allen M. Sumner class destroyers of the United States Navy
- Ships built in New York
- 1944 ships
- World War II destroyers of the United States
- Cold War destroyers of the United States
- Korean War destroyers of the United States
- United States Navy New York-related ships
- Lo Yang class destroyers
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