USS O'Toole (DE-527)

Career
Name:	USS O'Toole
Laid down:	25 September 1943
Launched:	2 November 1943
Commissioned:	22 January 1944
Decommissioned:	18 October 1945
Struck:	1 November 1945
Fate:	Sold for scrapping, 1946
General characteristics
Type:	Evarts-class destroyer escort
Displacement:	1,140 long tons (1,158 t) standard 1,430 long tons (1,453 t) full
Length:	289 ft 5 in (88.21 m) o/a 283 ft 6 in (86.41 m) w/l
Beam:	35 ft 2 in (10.72 m)
Draft:	11 ft (3.4 m) (max)
Propulsion:	4 × General Motors Model 16-278A diesel engines with electric drive, 6,000 shp (4,474 kW) 2 screws
Speed:	19 knots (35 km/h; 22 mph)
Range:	4,150 nmi (7,690 km)
Complement:	15 officers and 183 enlisted
Armament:	• 3 × single 3"/50 Mk.22 dual purpose guns • 1 × quad 1.1"/75 Mk.2 AA gun • 9 × 20 mm Mk.4 AA guns • 1 × Hedgehog Projector Mk.10 (144 rounds) • 8 × Mk.6 depth charge projectors • 2 × Mk.9 depth charge tracks

USS O'Toole (DE-527) was an Evarts-class destroyer escort of the United States Navy during World War II. She was sent off into dangerous North Atlantic Ocean waters to protect convoys and other ships from German submarines and fighter aircraft. She performed escort and anti-submarine operations in battle areas before sailing home victorious at the end of the conflict.

She was named after John Albert O'Toole who was awarded the Navy Cross after being killed in a North Africa Naval Operation. The O'Toole was laid down at the Boston Navy Yard on 25 September 1943; launched on 2 November 1943; sponsored by Mrs. John A. O'Toole, and commissioned on 22 January 1944, Lt. Comdr. J. G. Enzensperger, Jr. in command.

World War II North Atlantic operations

Following shakedown off Bermuda, O'Toole served as a training ship for the Fleet Sound School, Key West, Florida. Detached on 15 July, she sailed north to Casco Bay, thence proceeded south to Norfolk, Virginia, to escort Tripoli (CVE-64) to Recife, Brazil. Escorting Solomons (CVE-67) on the return voyage, she arrived at Norfolk, on 25 August, and continued on to New York where she joined CortDiv 80 for transatlantic convoy duty, with Lt. Comdr. V. S. Mauldin in command.

On 9 September, O'Toole stood out of New York Harbor on her first escort of convoy mission. Acting as communication liaison ship between Commander, Task Group 27.5 and convoy NY 119, she shepherded the small craft convoy to the Azores, thence to Falmouth, England, arriving on 18 October. On 8 November she departed for Reykjavík as escort to Abnaki (ATF-96). From Iceland she proceeded to Norfolk, Virginia, and New York, where she rejoined CortDiv 80. In mid-December the escort sailed with convoy UGS 64 for North Africa, returning on 23 January 1945. Completing another Mediterranean run in April, she was en route home from Algeria when the war in Europe ended.

End-of-War activity

Arriving at New York on 23 May, she operated off the New England coast until mid-July when she proceeded to Miami, Florida, for a brief tour as school ship. In September, she moved north, reporting for inactivation at Charleston, South Carolina, on the 10th. Her final commander was Lt. Comdr. Lanson B. Ditto. Decommissioned at Charleston on 18 October, she was struck from the Navy List on 1 November, and scrapped in March 1946.

References

• This article includes text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be found here.

See also

• List of United States Navy ships
• World War II
• Convoy
• Destroyer escort
• Destroyer

External links

• Photo gallery of USS O'Toole (DE-527) at NavSource Naval History