- USS Bebas (DE-10)
USS "Bebas" (BDE-10/DE-10) was an "Evarts"-class short-hull
destroyer escort in the service of theUnited States Navy . She was named for Ensign Gus George Bebas.Originally allocated to the
Royal Navy underlend lease , BDE-10 was laid down on27 November 1942 at theBoston Navy Yard ; launched on9 January 1943 ; reallocated to the United States Navy on 25 January 1943; named "Bebas" (DE-10) on 19 February 1943; sponsored by Mrs. Angeline M. Bebas, Ens. Bebas's mother, in a special christening ceremony just before commissioning; and commissioned atBoston, Massachusetts on15 May 1943 , Lieutenant Commander George B. Gilbertson, USNR, in command.After arriving off
Bermuda on 17 June for shakedown, the destroyer escort steamed back to theNew York Navy Yard for repairs between 24 and 29 June. After returning to Bermudan waters to resume her interrupted shakedown training, "Bebas" completed that evolution during July and then spent the next few weeks in coastal escort and patrol operations out ofCasco Bay inMaine , Boston,New York , andNorfolk, Virginia .Upon departing
Hampton Roads on 24 August in company with three of her sister ships, "Bebas" sailed for the Pacific. After transiting thePanama Canal on 1 September, she proceeded via theGalapagos andSociety Islands toEspiritu Santo in theNew Hebrides . The warship operated out of that port during October and November, conducting patrol and escort missions toNoumea ,New Caledonia , and toGuadalcanal in the Solomons. Highlighting this service was her attempt to salvage theLiberty ship "John H. Couch" that had been set ablaze by aJapan ese aerial torpedo during a raid on the night of 11 October."Bebas", patrolling an antisubmarine sector off Lunga and Koli Points, Guadalcanal, went to general quarters at 0149 to investigate a "fire explosion at sea." The destroyer escort then determined the fire to be on board a beached ship, and reduced speed to draw closer. Going alongside at 0600, "Bebas" sent over her fire and rescue party to fight gasoline fires raging in "John H. Couch's" holds two and three, but the flames had gained the upper hand. After recovering her men, the warship backed away and shelled the merchahtman's number two hold, in an attempt to stop the fire or to sink the ship.
"Bebas" was subsequently assigned "killer operations and local escort" duty under the auspices of the Commanding General, Fiji Island garrison, and carried out those tasks through January 1944. She then resumed convoy escort and patrol work in the Solomons,
New Hebrides , andNew Caledonia areas. In April 1944, the destroyer escort returned to the United States for an overhaul at Hunters Point.Clearing the west coast on 30 May, "Bebas" proceeded via
Pearl Harbor to theMarshall Islands and reachedEniwetok on 27 June for convoy escort duty between Pearl Harbor and the Marshalls through the end of July. She then joined a "hunter-killer" task group formed around the escort carrier USS|Hoggatt Bay|CVE-75 and provided support for the occupation of the Western Carolines and for the invasion of thePhilippines at Leyte.Next, after performing screening and escort duties out of the
Palau s andUlithi late in October, "Bebas" underwent repairs at Espiritu Santo and then escorted shipping between the Palaus, Ulithi, and Eniwetok during the first three months of 1945.On 2 February 1945, "Bebas" cleared Eniwetok in company with the tankers USS|Cossatot|AO-77 and SS "Egg Harbor", bound for Ulithi. On the second night out, "Bebas" and her two charges identified another convoy as friendly and then picked up a surface radar contact which a quick exchange of information showed to be "definitely suspicious." Radar plot indicated that the contact was crossing the track of both convoys.
"Bebas" obtained permission from the convoy commodore to pursue the target and went to general quarters. The quarry soon disappeared, only to be picked up on sonar--a definite submarine. Reducing speed to carry out a deliberate attack, "Bebas" stalked the submarine. Soon after her first "hedgehog" attack failed, she followed up with a second and heard one sharp and two muffled detonations soon thereafter. A third "hedgehog" pattern yielded negative results.
An hour later, wood fragments, varying in length from two to ten feet, found on the water near the attack location prompted "Bebas" to carry out a box search through the night; and, the following morning, four other destroyer escorts and an Eniwetok-based PBM Martin Mariner patrol bomber joined the search. Between 0800 and 1525, they searched over convert|600|sqmi|km2 of ocean. Late in the search, the PBM sent them to a concentrated oil slick about four miles (6 km) from the site of the "hedgehog" attack on the previous night. "Bebas" took samples of the slick--heavy sludge or a mixture of lubricating oil and fuel oil--as well as a piece of wood. That afternoon, the four destroyer escorts parted company with "Bebas", but USS|Bond|AM-152 joined her to continue the hunt. Further investigations yielded no additional evidence, and the search was terminated at noon on 6 February. Postwar accounting indicated no Japanese submarine losses that day, so the identity of "Bebas"' target remains a mystery.
"Bebas" then participated in the invasion of
Okinawa , escorting transports and patrolling in the antisubmarine screen off the beachhead. While so engaged on 12 May, she rescued Lt. Robert R. Klingman, USMC, ofVMF-312 , after hisF4U Corsair had suffered hydraulic system failure. Later that same morning, while "Bebas" witnessed the kamikaze attack on USS|New Mexico|BB-40, one of her 20-millimeter guns scored hits on the "Oscar" before it crashed into the nearby battleship. The destroyer escort then screened refueling groups supporting carrier strikes on the Japanese homeland in July before proceeding toHawaii for repairs and alterations.She entered Pearl Harbor on 3 August and was still there on 15 August when Japan agreed to capitulate, ending the war. On 4 September, "Bebas" departed
Oahu for the west coast of the United States. ReachingSan Francisco, California on 9 September, "Bebas" shifted to San Pedro and was decommissioned there on18 October 1945 . Her name was struck from the Navy list on1 November 1945 , and she was sold to the Pacific Bridge Co., San Francisco, in January 1947 for scrapping."Bebas" (DE-10) was awarded three
battle star s for her World War II service.Awards
References
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