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USS Fullam (DD-474)
Encyclopedia
USS Fullam (DD-474) was a Fletcher-class
destroyer
in the United States Navy
during World War II
. Fullam was named for Rear Admiral William Fullam
(1855-1926).
Fullam was launched 16 April 1942 by Boston Navy Yard
; sponsored by Miss Mariana F. Welch, granddaughter of Rear Admiral William Fullam
; and commissioned 2 March 1943, Commander H. C. Daniel in command.
, 28 June 1943. After training in the Hawaiian Islands
, she arrived at Efate
, New Hebrides
, 28 August for escort and patrol duties in the Solomons. From 1 November, when she covered the landings on Cape Torokina
, Fullam guarded convoys carrying reinforcements and supplies to Bougainville
as well as bombarding enemy installations in the Empress Augusta Bay
area 25 January 1944. Four days later, at Vella Lavella
, transports Fullam screened, embarked a mixed reconnaissance party of New Zealand
ers and American sailors, which was landed on the Green Islands, 30 January. The party was reembarked that night, and the landings in force by New Zealand troops on the Green Islands took place 15 February, as Fullam and her task force provided protective cover.
Through the next 3 months, Fullam continued her patrol, escort, and bombardment missions in the Solomons, joining in the landings on Emirau
20 March 1944. After training and replenishment at Port Purvis and Espiritu Santo
, the destroyer joined the 5th Fleet for the assault on the Marianas. She arrived off Tinian
12 June for the bombardments on Tinian and Saipan
which began the next day and continued until the landings of 15th. Ordered west to search for an enemy task force known to be moving into position to oppose the landings, Fullam rejoined the carrier task force 19 June as the Battle of the Philippine Sea
opened. During this 2-day engagement, she joined in the general firing which combined with fighter actions brought down the vast majority of the Japan
ese naval aviation as an effective element in the war. Completing her assignment in the Marianas with duty screening the cruisers bombarding Guam as well as firing on targets there herself, Fullam departed the Marianas 10 August for Eniwetok.
After training at Guadalcanal, Fullam sortied from Port Purvis 6 September 1944 for the assault on the Palau Islands. Six days out, she and Noa (APD-24) collided, Noa sinking in 6 hours, and Fullam being badly damaged. Despite this, Fullam not only rescued all of Noa's men, but also carried out daily shore bombardment and night harassing fire, as well as covering the work of underwater demolition teams, as Peleliu
was assaulted, then sailed for temporary repairs at Manus
and a west coast overhaul.
Fullam returned to Pearl Harbor
for training 24 December 1944, then sailed for picket duty off Pagan Island
before reaching Saipan 15 February 1945. Here she joined a task group for the Iwo Jima
assault, sailing 16 February to serve as screen and fire-support ship during the assault and the bitter fighting which followed until 28 February. After replenishing at Leyte, she sailed 27 March in the screen of an escort carrier group for the Okinawa operation. After providing air cover to the landings of 1 April, her group began continual strikes on the airfields on the Sakashima Clunto from which suicide flights were launched by the Japanese. On 4 May, while screening Sangamon (CVE-26)
with another destroyer, Fullam fired on a group of four kamikaze
s attacking the carrier. The screening destroyers shot down three of the attackers, but the fourth crashed the escort carrier
's flight deck, forcing many of her men over the side. Three were saved by the destroyers, who stood by as Sangamon extinguished the huge fire.
From 13 May 1945, Fullam was assigned to antisubmarine patrol and antiaircraft fire support off Hagushi Beach, as well as antiaircraft fire support ship for fighter-director ships on radar picket stations away from the island. She sailed from Okinawa 1 July to escort landing craft to Guam
, and an escort carrier from Guam to Eniwetok. Assigned to operate with carriers against northern Japan, Fullam cleared Eniwetok 11 August for Adak
, but arriving after the close of hostilities, instead took up escort and patrol duties in the Aleutians until entering Puget Sound Naval Shipyard
13 November.
In March 1946 she sailed south to San Diego, where she was placed out of commission in reserve 15 January 1947.
Fletcher class destroyer
The Fletcher class were a class of destroyers built by the United States during World War II. The class was designed in 1939 as a result of dissatisfaction with the earlier destroyer leader types...
destroyer
Destroyer
In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast and maneuverable yet long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy or battle group and defend them against smaller, powerful, short-range attackers. Destroyers, originally called torpedo-boat destroyers in 1892, evolved from...
in the United States Navy
United States Navy
The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...
during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. Fullam was named for Rear Admiral William Fullam
William Fullam
Rear Admiral William Freeland Fullam was an officer in the United States Navy during World War I.-Biography:Born in Pittsford, New York, Fullam was a member of the United States Naval Academy class of 1877...
(1855-1926).
Fullam was launched 16 April 1942 by Boston Navy Yard
Boston Navy Yard
The Boston Navy Yard, originally called the Charlestown Navy Yard and later Boston Naval Shipyard, was one of the oldest shipbuilding facilities in the United States Navy. Established in 1801, it was officially closed as an active naval installation on July 1, 1974, and the property was...
; sponsored by Miss Mariana F. Welch, granddaughter of Rear Admiral William Fullam
William Fullam
Rear Admiral William Freeland Fullam was an officer in the United States Navy during World War I.-Biography:Born in Pittsford, New York, Fullam was a member of the United States Naval Academy class of 1877...
; and commissioned 2 March 1943, Commander H. C. Daniel in command.
History
Fullam served briefly as an east coast escort, then arrived at San Diego, CaliforniaSan Diego, California
San Diego is the eighth-largest city in the United States and second-largest city in California. The city is located on the coast of the Pacific Ocean in Southern California, immediately adjacent to the Mexican border. The birthplace of California, San Diego is known for its mild year-round...
, 28 June 1943. After training in the Hawaiian Islands
Hawaiian Islands
The Hawaiian Islands are an archipelago of eight major islands, several atolls, numerous smaller islets, and undersea seamounts in the North Pacific Ocean, extending some 1,500 miles from the island of Hawaii in the south to northernmost Kure Atoll...
, she arrived at Efate
Éfaté
Efate is an island in the Agean Ocean which is part of the Shefa Province in The Republic of Maliki. It is also known as Île Vate. It is the most populous island in Vanuatu. Efate's land area of makes it Vanuatu's third largest island. Most inhabitants of Efate live in Port Vila, the national...
, New Hebrides
New Hebrides
New Hebrides was the colonial name for an island group in the South Pacific that now forms the nation of Vanuatu. The New Hebrides were colonized by both the British and French in the 18th century shortly after Captain James Cook visited the islands...
, 28 August for escort and patrol duties in the Solomons. From 1 November, when she covered the landings on Cape Torokina
Cape Torokina
Cape Torokina is a promontory at the north end of Empress Augusta Bay, along the central part of the southeastern coast of Bougainville, in Papua New Guinea....
, Fullam guarded convoys carrying reinforcements and supplies to Bougainville
Bougainville Island
Bougainville Island is the main island of the Autonomous Region of Bougainville of Papua New Guinea. This region is also known as Bougainville Province or the North Solomons. The population of the province is 175,160 , which includes the adjacent island of Buka and assorted outlying islands...
as well as bombarding enemy installations in the Empress Augusta Bay
Empress Augusta Bay
Empress Augusta Bay is a major bay on the western side of the island of Bougainville, in Papua New Guinea, at . It is a major subsistence fishing area for the people of Bougainville. It is named after Augusta Viktoria of Schleswig-Holstein, wife of German Emperor William II.In November 1943, the...
area 25 January 1944. Four days later, at Vella Lavella
Vella Lavella
Vella Lavella is an island in the Western Province of the Solomon Islands. It lies to the west of New Georgia, but is considered one of the New Georgia Group...
, transports Fullam screened, embarked a mixed reconnaissance party of New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
ers and American sailors, which was landed on the Green Islands, 30 January. The party was reembarked that night, and the landings in force by New Zealand troops on the Green Islands took place 15 February, as Fullam and her task force provided protective cover.
Through the next 3 months, Fullam continued her patrol, escort, and bombardment missions in the Solomons, joining in the landings on Emirau
Landing on Emirau
The Landing on Emirau was the last of the series of operations that made up Operation Cartwheel, General Douglas MacArthur's strategy for the encirclement of the major Japanese base at Rabaul. A force of nearly 4,000 United States Marines landed on the island of Emirau on 20 March 1944. The island...
20 March 1944. After training and replenishment at Port Purvis and Espiritu Santo
Espiritu Santo
Espiritu Santo is the largest island in the nation of Vanuatu, with an area of . It belongs to the archipelago of the New Hebrides in the Pacific region of Melanesia. It is in the Sanma Province of Vanuatu....
, the destroyer joined the 5th Fleet for the assault on the Marianas. She arrived off Tinian
Tinian
Tinian is one of the three principal islands of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.-Geography:Tinian is about 5 miles southwest of its sister island, Saipan, from which it is separated by the Saipan Channel. It has a land area of 39 sq.mi....
12 June for the bombardments on Tinian and Saipan
Saipan
Saipan is the largest island of the United States Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands , a chain of 15 tropical islands belonging to the Marianas archipelago in the western Pacific Ocean with a total area of . The 2000 census population was 62,392...
which began the next day and continued until the landings of 15th. Ordered west to search for an enemy task force known to be moving into position to oppose the landings, Fullam rejoined the carrier task force 19 June as the Battle of the Philippine Sea
Battle of the Philippine Sea
The Battle of the Philippine Sea was a decisive naval battle of World War II which effectively eliminated the Imperial Japanese Navy's ability to conduct large-scale carrier actions. It took place during the United States' amphibious invasion of the Mariana Islands during the Pacific War...
opened. During this 2-day engagement, she joined in the general firing which combined with fighter actions brought down the vast majority of the Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
ese naval aviation as an effective element in the war. Completing her assignment in the Marianas with duty screening the cruisers bombarding Guam as well as firing on targets there herself, Fullam departed the Marianas 10 August for Eniwetok.
After training at Guadalcanal, Fullam sortied from Port Purvis 6 September 1944 for the assault on the Palau Islands. Six days out, she and Noa (APD-24) collided, Noa sinking in 6 hours, and Fullam being badly damaged. Despite this, Fullam not only rescued all of Noa's men, but also carried out daily shore bombardment and night harassing fire, as well as covering the work of underwater demolition teams, as Peleliu
Peleliu
Peleliu is an island in the island nation of Palau. Peleliu forms, along with two small islands to its northeast, one of the sixteen states of Palau. It is located northeast of Angaur and southwest of Koror....
was assaulted, then sailed for temporary repairs at Manus
Manus Island
Manus Island is part of Manus Province in northern Papua New Guinea and is the largest island of the Admiralty Islands. It is the fifth largest island in Papua New Guinea with an area of 2,100 km², measuring around 100 km × 30 km. According to the 2000 census, Manus Island had a...
and a west coast overhaul.
Fullam returned to Pearl Harbor
Pearl Harbor
Pearl Harbor, known to Hawaiians as Puuloa, is a lagoon harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu. Much of the harbor and surrounding lands is a United States Navy deep-water naval base. It is also the headquarters of the U.S. Pacific Fleet...
for training 24 December 1944, then sailed for picket duty off Pagan Island
Pagan Island
Pagan is an island of the Northern Mariana Islands chain,located at , approximately 320 kilometers northof Saipan.Pagan has an area of 47.23 km² , making it the fourth largest island of the Northern Marianas, and consists of two stratovolcanoes joined by a narrow strip of land.The...
before reaching Saipan 15 February 1945. Here she joined a task group for the Iwo Jima
Iwo Jima
Iwo Jima, officially , is an island of the Japanese Volcano Islands chain, which lie south of the Ogasawara Islands and together with them form the Ogasawara Archipelago. The island is located south of mainland Tokyo and administered as part of Ogasawara, one of eight villages of Tokyo...
assault, sailing 16 February to serve as screen and fire-support ship during the assault and the bitter fighting which followed until 28 February. After replenishing at Leyte, she sailed 27 March in the screen of an escort carrier group for the Okinawa operation. After providing air cover to the landings of 1 April, her group began continual strikes on the airfields on the Sakashima Clunto from which suicide flights were launched by the Japanese. On 4 May, while screening Sangamon (CVE-26)
USS Sangamon (CVE-26)
USS Sangamon was an escort carrier converted from an oiler, the second ship to carry her name. She was one of 12 Cimarron class oilers built on a joint Navy-Maritime Commission design later duplicated by the T3-S2-A1 type...
with another destroyer, Fullam fired on a group of four kamikaze
Kamikaze
The were suicide attacks by military aviators from the Empire of Japan against Allied naval vessels in the closing stages of the Pacific campaign of World War II, designed to destroy as many warships as possible....
s attacking the carrier. The screening destroyers shot down three of the attackers, but the fourth crashed the escort carrier
Escort aircraft carrier
The escort aircraft carrier or escort carrier, also called a "jeep carrier" or "baby flattop" in the USN or "Woolworth Carrier" by the Royal Navy, was a small and slow type of aircraft carrier used by the British Royal Navy , the Imperial Japanese Navy and Imperial Japanese Army Air Force, and the...
's flight deck, forcing many of her men over the side. Three were saved by the destroyers, who stood by as Sangamon extinguished the huge fire.
From 13 May 1945, Fullam was assigned to antisubmarine patrol and antiaircraft fire support off Hagushi Beach, as well as antiaircraft fire support ship for fighter-director ships on radar picket stations away from the island. She sailed from Okinawa 1 July to escort landing craft to Guam
Guam
Guam is an organized, unincorporated territory of the United States located in the western Pacific Ocean. It is one of five U.S. territories with an established civilian government. Guam is listed as one of 16 Non-Self-Governing Territories by the Special Committee on Decolonization of the United...
, and an escort carrier from Guam to Eniwetok. Assigned to operate with carriers against northern Japan, Fullam cleared Eniwetok 11 August for Adak
Adak Island
Adak Island is an island near the western extent of the Andreanof Islands group of the Aleutian Islands in Alaska. Alaska's southernmost town, Adak, is located on the island...
, but arriving after the close of hostilities, instead took up escort and patrol duties in the Aleutians until entering Puget Sound Naval Shipyard
Puget Sound Naval Shipyard
Puget Sound Naval Shipyard and Intermediate Maintenance Facility is a United States Navy shipyard covering 179 acres on Puget Sound at Bremerton, Washington...
13 November.
In March 1946 she sailed south to San Diego, where she was placed out of commission in reserve 15 January 1947.