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USS Gansevoort (DD-608)
Encyclopedia
USS Gansevoort (DD-608) was a Benson-class
destroyer
in the United States Navy
during World War II
. She was named for Commodore
Guert Gansevoort
.
Gansevoort was laid down 16 June 1941 by the Bethlehem Steel Corporation, San Francisco, California
; launched 11 April 1942; sponsored by Mrs. Robert C. Sofio, wife of a great-grandnephew of Commodore Gansevoort; and commissioned at San Francisco 25 August 1942, Lieutenant Commander
E. A. McFall in command.
to Noumea
, New Caledonia
, where she arrived 9 December. Assigned to the South Pacific forces, she spent the next three months giving convoy protection to troop and supply ships reinforcing Guadalcanal
from New Caledonia; the New Hebrides
; Wellington
and Auckland
, New Zealand
.
This duty terminated 18 March 1943, when Gansevoort departed Espiritu Santo
, New Hebrides, to become a unit of Rear Admiral
Charles H. McMorris' Northern Covering Group of cruiser
s and destroyers in the approaches to Attu
, Aleutian Islands. She took part in the preinvasion bombardment of Attu 26 April; made several depth charge attacks on a Japan
ese submarine
in that area 14 May for unconfirmed results; screened convoys on the northern and southern approaches around the Aleutian chain; and twice participated in the bombardment of Kiska, Alaska (2 and 12 August).
She departed Kulka Bay 24 August for repairs in the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard
until 28 September, then steamed via Hawaii with Destroyer Division 27 to Wellington, New Zealand. Here, Gansevoort became a unit of Rear Admiral Hill's Southern Attack Force which carried Major General Julian Smith's 2d Marine Division to Tarawa Atoll
, Gilbert Islands
.
Gansevoort provided continuous gunfire support to Marines during the initial landings on Tarawa 20 November, closing the beach to blast enemy strongpoints with point blank fire. On 24 November, she sped to support Marine forces occupying Apamama Atoll
. After embarking Marine wounded, she opened an accurate bombardment that destroyed the entire Japanese garrison on that atoll. She conducted antisubmarine patrol around Tarawa until 4 December, then proceeded via Hawaii to San Francisco where both her high pressure turbines were replaced.
where she arrived 1 April. During several months of blockade and antisubmarine patrol in waters off the bypassed enemy garrisons in the eastern Marshalls, she rescued several Marine aviators. Once she closed to within 500 yards of a beach to shell shore batteries while her whaleboat
picked up an aviator. She also helped reduce enemy coastal defenses by assisting in the bombardment of Mille Atoll (26 May and 9 June) and Taroa Atoll
(8 August). Detached from this duty 19 August, she replenished in Pearl Harbor, then sailed via New Guinea to Manus
, Admiralty Islands
, to join forces staging for the liberation of the Philippine Islands.
Gansevoort joined Destroyer Squadron 48 in guarding transports of Vice Admiral
Theodore S. Wilkinson
's Southern Attack Force off the beachhead of Leyte
20-21 October. From 27 October until 13 December she escorted troop and supply convoys between New Guinea and the Philippines. On 27 December she joined a large supply convoy at Dulag
, Leyte. Comprising 99 naval and merchant ships, this important supply convoy departed the 27th to carry men and material to Mindoro. Steaming via Surigao Strait
, the ships came under heavy, constant attacks from Japanese bombers and torpedo and suicide planes. As the convoy steamed through the Mindanao and Sulu Sea
s, the enemy attacked by day and night between 28 December and 30 December and created nearly 72 hours of hell and hard work for sailors in nearly a hundred ships.
Called to General Quarters 49 times in 72 hours, Gansevoorts gunners splashed 5 enemy planes and assisted in splashing 12 others. Although enemy planes sank one merchant ship and one LST and severely damaged another merchant ship and , their desperate attacks could not halt this powerful force.
She entered Mangarin Bay
, Mindoro, with the convey the morning of 30 December 1944. That afternoon, a kamikaze
crashed Gansevoorts main deck to port. A terrific explosion cut steering and electric power, started several fires, and killed or wounded 34 of her crew. Damage control parties could not get aft as her main deck was blown upward.
Destroyers and helped fight her fires, then she was towed to the Mindoro PT base anchorage. Here, Gansevoort was given the unusual assignment of knocking off the stern of Porcupine with torpedo
es, in an attempt to extinguish a fire before it reached the aviation gasoline stowed forward. The water was too shoal for torpedoes to be effective, and in spite of one torpedo hit, fire ignited the gasoline, spreading flames across the water to endanger Gansevoort.
Gansevoort was towed to safety in another anchorage off White Beach. With living quarters gutted, her crew made temporary camp on shore. Her engineering officer, damage control officer, and some twenty men remained on board working to save the ship. Despite recurring air attacks and several near misses by bombs, the destroyer escaped further damage and was made seaworthy after a full month of hazardous and exhausting repairs.
, thence to Ulithi
where emergency repairs were completed by 21 April. Steaming via Pearl Harbor, she returned to San Francisco 19 May for battle damage repairs. She then departed San Diego, California
for the East Coast 3 October, arriving New York 20 October.
After participating in the Navy Day
celebration in New York, Gansevoort departed 1 November for inactivation overhaul in the Charleston Naval Shipyard
. She decommissioned there 1 February 1946 and entered the Atlantic Reserve Fleet. She was then berthed at Orange, Texas
. Gansevoort was stricken from the Naval Vessel Register
on 1 July 1971 and sunk as a target off Florida
on 23 March 1972.
Benson class destroyer
The Benson class was a class of 30 destroyers of the U.S. Navy built 1939–1943. The first ship of the class was the . The U.S. Navy customarily names a class of ships after the first ship of the class; hence the Benson class....
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...
. She was named for Commodore
Commodore (rank)
Commodore is a military rank used in many navies that is superior to a navy captain, but below a rear admiral. Non-English-speaking nations often use the rank of flotilla admiral or counter admiral as an equivalent .It is often regarded as a one-star rank with a NATO code of OF-6, but is not always...
Guert Gansevoort
Guert Gansevoort
Commodore Guert Gansevoort was an officer in the United States Navy during the Mexican-American War and the American Civil War.-Biography:...
.
Gansevoort was laid down 16 June 1941 by the Bethlehem Steel Corporation, San Francisco, California
San Francisco, California
San Francisco , officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the financial, cultural, and transportation center of the San Francisco Bay Area, a region of 7.15 million people which includes San Jose and Oakland...
; launched 11 April 1942; sponsored by Mrs. Robert C. Sofio, wife of a great-grandnephew of Commodore Gansevoort; and commissioned at San Francisco 25 August 1942, Lieutenant Commander
Lieutenant Commander
Lieutenant Commander is a commissioned officer rank in many navies. The rank is superior to a lieutenant and subordinate to a commander...
E. A. McFall in command.
1942 and 1943
After shakedown, Gansevoort departed San Francisco 18 November 1942 in the screen of a convoy bound via HawaiiHawaii
Hawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states , and is the only U.S. state made up entirely of islands. It is the northernmost island group in Polynesia, occupying most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of...
to Noumea
Nouméa
Nouméa is the capital city of the French territory of New Caledonia. It is situated on a peninsula in the south of New Caledonia's main island, Grande Terre, and is home to the majority of the island's European, Polynesian , Indonesian, and Vietnamese populations, as well as many Melanesians,...
, New Caledonia
New Caledonia
New Caledonia is a special collectivity of France located in the southwest Pacific Ocean, east of Australia and about from Metropolitan France. The archipelago, part of the Melanesia subregion, includes the main island of Grande Terre, the Loyalty Islands, the Belep archipelago, the Isle of...
, where she arrived 9 December. Assigned to the South Pacific forces, she spent the next three months giving convoy protection to troop and supply ships reinforcing Guadalcanal
Guadalcanal
Guadalcanal is a tropical island in the South-Western Pacific. The largest island in the Solomons, it was discovered by the Spanish expedition of Alvaro de Mendaña in 1568...
from New Caledonia; the 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...
; Wellington
Wellington
Wellington is the capital city and third most populous urban area of New Zealand, although it is likely to have surpassed Christchurch due to the exodus following the Canterbury Earthquake. It is at the southwestern tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Rimutaka Range...
and Auckland
Auckland
The Auckland metropolitan area , in the North Island of New Zealand, is the largest and most populous urban area in the country with residents, percent of the country's population. Auckland also has the largest Polynesian population of any city in the world...
, 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...
.
This duty terminated 18 March 1943, when Gansevoort departed 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....
, New Hebrides, to become a unit of Rear Admiral
Rear Admiral
Rear admiral is a naval commissioned officer rank above that of a commodore and captain, and below that of a vice admiral. It is generally regarded as the lowest of the "admiral" ranks, which are also sometimes referred to as "flag officers" or "flag ranks"...
Charles H. McMorris' Northern Covering Group of cruiser
Cruiser
A cruiser is a type of warship. The term has been in use for several hundreds of years, and has had different meanings throughout this period...
s and destroyers in the approaches to Attu
Attu Island
Attu is the westernmost and largest island in the Near Islands group of the Aleutian Islands of Alaska, making it the westernmost point of land relative to Alaska and the United States. It was the site of the only World War II land battle fought on the incorporated territory of the United States ,...
, Aleutian Islands. She took part in the preinvasion bombardment of Attu 26 April; made several depth charge attacks on a 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 submarine
Submarine
A submarine is a watercraft capable of independent operation below the surface of the water. It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability...
in that area 14 May for unconfirmed results; screened convoys on the northern and southern approaches around the Aleutian chain; and twice participated in the bombardment of Kiska, Alaska (2 and 12 August).
She departed Kulka Bay 24 August for repairs in the 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...
until 28 September, then steamed via Hawaii with Destroyer Division 27 to Wellington, New Zealand. Here, Gansevoort became a unit of Rear Admiral Hill's Southern Attack Force which carried Major General Julian Smith's 2d Marine Division to Tarawa Atoll
Tarawa Atoll
Tarawa is an atoll in the central Pacific Ocean, previously the capital of the former British colony of the Gilbert and Ellice Islands. It is the location of the capital of the Republic of Kiribati, South Tarawa...
, Gilbert Islands
Gilbert Islands
The Gilbert Islands are a chain of sixteen atolls and coral islands in the Pacific Ocean. They are the main part of Republic of Kiribati and include Tarawa, the site of the country's capital and residence of almost half of the population.-Geography:The atolls and islands of the Gilbert Islands...
.
Gansevoort provided continuous gunfire support to Marines during the initial landings on Tarawa 20 November, closing the beach to blast enemy strongpoints with point blank fire. On 24 November, she sped to support Marine forces occupying Apamama Atoll
Abemama
Abemama is an atoll in the central part of the Kiribati Group located 152 kilometres southeast of Tarawa and just north of the Equator.- Geography :...
. After embarking Marine wounded, she opened an accurate bombardment that destroyed the entire Japanese garrison on that atoll. She conducted antisubmarine patrol around Tarawa until 4 December, then proceeded via Hawaii to San Francisco where both her high pressure turbines were replaced.
1944
Gansevoort departed San Francisco 13 March 1944 to join the screen of a convoy bound from Hawaii to Majuro Atoll in the Marshall IslandsMarshall Islands
The Republic of the Marshall Islands , , is a Micronesian nation of atolls and islands in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, just west of the International Date Line and just north of the Equator. As of July 2011 the population was 67,182...
where she arrived 1 April. During several months of blockade and antisubmarine patrol in waters off the bypassed enemy garrisons in the eastern Marshalls, she rescued several Marine aviators. Once she closed to within 500 yards of a beach to shell shore batteries while her whaleboat
Whaleboat
A whaleboat is a type of open boat that is relatively narrow and pointed at both ends, enabling it to move either forwards or backwards equally well. It was originally developed for whaling, and later became popular for work along beaches, since it does not need to be turned around for beaching or...
picked up an aviator. She also helped reduce enemy coastal defenses by assisting in the bombardment of Mille Atoll (26 May and 9 June) and Taroa Atoll
Taroa
Taroa, also known as Tarawa, is an island in the east of Maloelap Atoll in the Marshall Islands. During World War II, it was the site of a major Japanese airfield...
(8 August). Detached from this duty 19 August, she replenished in Pearl Harbor, then sailed via New Guinea to 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...
, Admiralty Islands
Admiralty Islands
The Admiralty Islands are a group of eighteen islands in the Bismarck Archipelago, to the north of New Guinea in the south Pacific Ocean. These are also sometimes called the Manus Islands, after the largest island. These rainforest-covered islands form part of Manus Province, the smallest and...
, to join forces staging for the liberation of the Philippine Islands.
Gansevoort joined Destroyer Squadron 48 in guarding transports of Vice Admiral
Vice Admiral
Vice admiral is a senior naval rank of a three-star flag officer, which is equivalent to lieutenant general in the other uniformed services. A vice admiral is typically senior to a rear admiral and junior to an admiral...
Theodore S. Wilkinson
Theodore S. Wilkinson
Theodore Stark "Ping" Wilkinson was a Vice-Admiral of the United States Navy during World War II. He also received the Medal of Honor for his actions in Veracruz, Mexico.-Early life and career:...
's Southern Attack Force off the beachhead of Leyte
Leyte
Leyte is a province of the Philippines located in the Eastern Visayas region. Its capital is Tacloban City and occupies the northern three-quarters of the Leyte Island. Leyte is located west of Samar Island, north of Southern Leyte and south of Biliran...
20-21 October. From 27 October until 13 December she escorted troop and supply convoys between New Guinea and the Philippines. On 27 December she joined a large supply convoy at Dulag
Dulag, Leyte
Dulag is a third-class municipality in the province of Leyte in Eastern Visayas in the Philippines. This coastal town covering 11,007 hectares of land is home to 44,143 residents...
, Leyte. Comprising 99 naval and merchant ships, this important supply convoy departed the 27th to carry men and material to Mindoro. Steaming via Surigao Strait
Surigao Strait
Surigao Strait is a body of water in the Philippines located between the islands of Mindanao and Leyte. This strait connects the Bohol Sea with Leyte Gulf and is regularly crossed by ferries that transport goods and people between Visayas and Mindanao...
, the ships came under heavy, constant attacks from Japanese bombers and torpedo and suicide planes. As the convoy steamed through the Mindanao and Sulu Sea
Sulu Sea
The Sulu Sea is a body of water in the southwestern area of the Philippines, separated from the South China Sea in the northwest by Palawan and from the Celebes Sea in the southeast by the Sulu Archipelago. Borneo is found to the southwest and Visayas to the northeast.Sulu Sea contains a number of...
s, the enemy attacked by day and night between 28 December and 30 December and created nearly 72 hours of hell and hard work for sailors in nearly a hundred ships.
Called to General Quarters 49 times in 72 hours, Gansevoorts gunners splashed 5 enemy planes and assisted in splashing 12 others. Although enemy planes sank one merchant ship and one LST and severely damaged another merchant ship and , their desperate attacks could not halt this powerful force.
She entered Mangarin Bay
Mangarin Bay
Mangarin Bay is situated to the east of Mangarin Point, on the west coast of Mindoro, among the Philippine Islands. The bay is shoal and sheltered from the wind by the point and Ilin Island. Magarin point terminates in a long sandy pit off which the depth is 4 to 5 fathoms. Farther in the water...
, Mindoro, with the convey the morning of 30 December 1944. That afternoon, a 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....
crashed Gansevoorts main deck to port. A terrific explosion cut steering and electric power, started several fires, and killed or wounded 34 of her crew. Damage control parties could not get aft as her main deck was blown upward.
Destroyers and helped fight her fires, then she was towed to the Mindoro PT base anchorage. Here, Gansevoort was given the unusual assignment of knocking off the stern of Porcupine with torpedo
Torpedo
The modern torpedo is a self-propelled missile weapon with an explosive warhead, launched above or below the water surface, propelled underwater towards a target, and designed to detonate either on contact with it or in proximity to it.The term torpedo was originally employed for...
es, in an attempt to extinguish a fire before it reached the aviation gasoline stowed forward. The water was too shoal for torpedoes to be effective, and in spite of one torpedo hit, fire ignited the gasoline, spreading flames across the water to endanger Gansevoort.
Gansevoort was towed to safety in another anchorage off White Beach. With living quarters gutted, her crew made temporary camp on shore. Her engineering officer, damage control officer, and some twenty men remained on board working to save the ship. Despite recurring air attacks and several near misses by bombs, the destroyer escaped further damage and was made seaworthy after a full month of hazardous and exhausting repairs.
1945, end of World War II and fate
Despite periodic air attacks, salvage operations continued until 2 February 1945 when Gansevoort was taken in tow for San Pedro BaySan Pedro Bay (Philippines)
San Pedro Bay is a bay in the Philippines, at the northwest end of Leyte Gulf, about 15 km east-west and 20 km north-south. The bay is bounded on the north and east by Samar and on the east by Leyte Island. It is connected by San Juanico Strait to Carigara Bay of the Samar Sea. The...
, thence to Ulithi
Ulithi
Ulithi is an atoll in the Caroline Islands of the western Pacific Ocean, about 191 km east of Yap. It consists of 40 islets totalling , surrounding a lagoon about long and up to wide—at one of the largest in the world. It is administered by the state of Yap in the Federated States of...
where emergency repairs were completed by 21 April. Steaming via Pearl Harbor, she returned to San Francisco 19 May for battle damage repairs. She then departed San Diego, California
San 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...
for the East Coast 3 October, arriving New York 20 October.
After participating in the Navy Day
Navy Day
Several nations observe or have observed a Navy Day to recognize their navy. The term is also used in Britain to mean an open day at a dockyard such as HMNB Portsmouth, when the public can visit military ships and see air displays, roughly along the lines of an American Fleet Week .- Argentina...
celebration in New York, Gansevoort departed 1 November for inactivation overhaul in the Charleston Naval Shipyard
Charleston Naval Shipyard
Charleston Naval Shipyard was a U.S. Navy ship building and repair facility located along the west bank of the Cooper River, in North Charleston, South Carolina and part of Naval Base Charleston...
. She decommissioned there 1 February 1946 and entered the Atlantic Reserve Fleet. She was then berthed at Orange, Texas
Orange, Texas
Orange is a city in Orange County, Texas, United States. As of the 2000 census, the city population was 18,643. It is the county seat of Orange County, and is the easternmost city in Texas. Located on the Sabine River at the border with Louisiana, it is part of the Beaumont–Port Arthur...
. Gansevoort was stricken from the Naval Vessel Register
Naval Vessel Register
The Naval Vessel Register is the official inventory of ships and service craft in custody of or titled by the United States Navy. It contains information on ships and service craft that make up the official inventory of the Navy from the time a vessel is authorized through its life cycle and...
on 1 July 1971 and sunk as a target off Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
on 23 March 1972.