- USS Eversole (DE-404)
The USS "Eversole" (DE-404) was a "John C. Butler"-class
destroyer escort built for theUnited States Navy duringWorld War II . Named for Lieutenant (junior grade)John Thomas Eversole , (a naval aviator who was killed in the opening phases of theBattle of Midway ), she was the first of two U.S. Naval vessels to bear the name."Eversole" was laid down
15 September 1943 byBrown Shipbuilding ofHouston, Texas ; launched3 December ; sponsored by Mrs. Sarah R. Eversole, mother of Lieutenant (junior grade) Eversole; and commissioned21 March 1944 with Lieutenant Commander G. E. Marix in command. "Eversole" sailed fromBoston 20 May 1944 forPearl Harbor , arriving19 June . After training withsubmarine s in theHawaiian Islands , she made an escort voyage toEniwetok , then sailed to Eniwetok and Manus on escort duty. She returned to Eniwetok forantisubmarine patrols until9 August , when she put to sea screening carriers for the attack onMorotai . She continued this duty, serving with theescort carrier s in the initial assaults inLeyte Gulf on20 October . During theBattle of Leyte Gulf , when a decisive victory was won after great hazard to the escort carriers and their screens, "Eversole" screened two of the damaged carriers, rescued downed pilots, and took wounded off one of the carriers. In the early morning of28 October , "Eversole" made contact bysonar with a submarine, and only half a minute later suffered the first of twotorpedo hits. The ship was ordered abandoned, and after the men were all in the water, the submarine surfaced and opened fire, then dived once more. Five minutes later there was a tremendous underwater explosion which killed or wounded all of "Eversole's" men. Lights from the survivors' flashlights attracted two other escorts, one of which rescued the 139 wounded survivors, as the other began a series of attacks which sank "I-45", presumably theJapan ese submarine which had torpedoed "Eversole". "Eversole" received twobattle star s for World War II service. Over 40 of her crew were lost with the ship.References
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* cite web|title=USS "Eversole" (DE-404)|work=Destroyer Escort Photo Archive
url=http://www.navsource.org/archives/06/404.htm|accessdate=March 14|accessyear=2007ee also
* See
List of U.S. Navy losses in World War II for other Navy ships lost in WWII.
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