- USS Gillespie (DD-609)
USS "Gillespie" (DD-609) was a "Benson"-class
destroyer in theUnited States Navy duringWorld War II . She was named for CommodoreArchibald H. Gillespie ."Gillespie" was launched
1 November 1942 by theBethlehem Steel Corporation ,San Francisco, California ; sponsored by Mrs. Hugo W. Osterhaus, wife of Rear AdmiralHugo W. Osterhaus ; and commissioned18 September 1942 , Lieutenant Commander C. L. Clement in command.After shakedown the destroyer sailed from San Francisco 28 December 1942 for the fog-shrouded
Aleutian Islands and reached Sand Bay,Great Sitkin Island , 9 January 1943. After conducting escort, ASW, and patrolling duties among the scattered Aleutians, she saw her first action 18 February when, with "Indianapolis" and "Richmond", she bombardedAttu Island , without return fire. The destroyer shot over 400 rounds of 5-inch intoJapan ese installations atHoltz Bay andChicagof Harbor , and on the evening of the same day began an anti-shipping patrol southwest of Attu with "Indianapolis" and "Coghlan". At 2225 "Coglan's" lookouts spotted smoke on the horizon and "Gillespie" responded. The smoking ship was "Akagane Maru", a 3100-ton cargo ship bound for Attu with troops, munitions, and supplies, but she was not to close her port of call. She answered "Indianapolis"' challenge inJapanese Morse Code ; the American warships opened fire at 2316 and scored repeatedly. Within 3 minutes the cargo ship was burning forward; a salvo by "Indianapolis" set her afire from stem to stern. Malfunctioningtorpedo es failed to sink the gutted maru, but she finally slid under at 0126 20 February in 53-05 N, 171-22 E.After further patrolling, "Gillespie" returned to San Francisco 4 March for overhaul and subsequently sailed via
San Diego, California and thePanama Canal to moor atNew York 11 April 1943. Through the spring, summer, and fall of 1943 the destroyer made four round-trip transatlantic escort voyages toCasablanca ,French Morocco , and return, shepherding troop and cargo ships to theNorth Africa n theater. On 2 January 1944 she departedNorfolk, Virginia for the Pacific, reachingFunafuti atoll 20 days later, and escorting troop ships thence toMilne Bay ,New Guinea , where she put in 7 February. As part of the 7th Fleet the destroyer supported the consolidation ofSaidor in late February and escorted LST's fromCape Sudest , New Guinea, toCape Gloucester ,New Britain , andLos Negros in theAdmiralty Islands . On 6 March the LST's made landings in Hayne Bay, Los Negros, while "Gillespie" patrolled from five to fifteen miles off the northeast coast. While acting as a call fire ship for Army forces in Seeadler Harbor,Manus Island , she bombarded the eastern tip ofPityilu Island on 14 March and until the 16th continued to support the Manus assault by bombarding installations and gun emplacements on Manus. On 24-25 March "Gillespie" bombarded targets on Pityilu, Manus, andRambutyo Island s, returning to Oro Bay, New Guinea, 26 March.Training exercises and patrolling occupied her until 27 May, when she lent fire support for the initial landings on
Biak Island . From 31 May to 2 June 1944 she served as a fighter director and warning picket off Biak, and bombarded that island. "Gillespie" came under repeated air attacks, but escaped damage or casualties. Duties in New Guinean waters continued; 5-6 July she bombarded positions on the west coast ofNoemfoor Island to speed the advance of the 6th Army toward the Namber Drone area, and 20 July her 5-inchers attacked Insomeken Point and Arimi Island on the east coast of Noemfoor following the initial landings.Through the summer of 1944 the destroyer continued patrolling and training exercises off New Guinea and the
Solomon Islands , and was on hand from 15 September-14 October for screening activities during the amphibious assault onPeleliu in the Palau Islands. "Gillespie" sailed 14 October 1944 for overhaul atBremerton, Washington , mooring there 5 November, and after refresher training, sailed from San Diego 3 January 1945. She conducted training exercises at Pearl Harbor and closed Ulithi 8 February, and subsequently as part of the Logistic Support Forces she escorted supply ships and units of the 5th Fleet during the seizure ofIwo Jima .From 13 March-28 May 1945 "Gillespie" participated in the landings and occupation of
Okinawa and adjacent islands of the Nansei-Shoto group. 8 April the destroyer came under attack by two Japanese planes, the first of which tried tokamikaze her. At dawn, just before 0600, an enemy fighter swooped down and "Gillespie's" 5-inch battery opened fire at a range of 9,800 yards. As the plane closed the 2,500 yards, her automatic weapons took up the hail of fire and the destroyer turned hard to port to keep the batteries unmasked. The smoking plane passed low over the fantail and made an abrupt wingover in an attempt to crash the ship, but the plane spun off into the sea. Minutes later, another plane came in and was quickly downed. The destroyer put in at Ulithi 31 May and from 1 July to 15 August 1945 screened other warships during the pre-invasion bombardment of the Japanese home islands. From 16 August to 2 September she continued her escort and patrolling duties, and anchored inTokyo Bay 10 September 1945. Underway once more 12 October, she sailed viaManila and Pearl Harbor to moor at San Diego 23 November, and steamed thence to closeBoston, Massachusetts 11 December.Following overhaul there, she reached
Charleston, South Carolina , 14 January 1946 and she decommissioned at that port17 April 1946 . In reserve, she was assigned to the Texas Group, U.S. Atlantic Reserve Fleet,Orange, Texas . She was struck from theNaval Vessel Register on1 July 1971 and sunk as a target in 1973."Gillespie" earned nine
battle star s during World War II.
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