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USS Goss (DE-444)
Encyclopedia
USS Goss (DE-444) was a John C. Butler-class destroyer escort
acquired by the U.S. Navy during World War II
. The primary purpose of the destroyer escort was to escort and protect ships in convoy
, in addition to other tasks as assigned, such as patrol or radar picket
. Post-war she proudly returned home with four battle stars to her credit.
Goss (DE-444) was named in honor of Marine Gunner Angus R. Goss
who posthumously received the Navy Cross
and Britain’s Conspicuous Gallantry Medal
for charging into a cave where the enemy was entrenched and single handedly destroyed the Japanese with a Reising sub-machine gun.
She was laid down 16 December 1943 by the Federal Shipbuilding & Dry Dock Co., Newark, New Jersey
; launched 19 March 1944; sponsored by Mrs. Jamie S. Goss, sister-in-law of Marine Gunner Goss; and commissioned 26 August 1944, Lt. Comdr. Claude A. Kirkpatrick in command.
out of Bermuda
, Goss departed Norfolk, Virginia
, 30 October and steamed via the Panama Canal Zone
and San Francisco, California
, to Pearl Harbor
, where she arrived 2 December and reported for duty. Goss was underway 5 December 1944 from Pearl Harbor via Eniwetok to Kossel Roads, Palau Islands, where she joined and four other destroyer escorts to form a vhunter-killer group which operated off the Palau Islands.
. In the early hours of 5 January, as Oldendorf's ships steamed within 150 miles of Japanese airfields on Luzon
, they were spotted by scout planes. At 0758 combat air patrol intercepted 15 to 20 enemy planes 35 miles from the formation, shot down 9, and turned the others back. At noon another raid was intercepted and turned back about 45 miles from the ships.
. Sixteen kamikazes with four escorts broke through combat air patrol
to dive at the ships. They succeeded in hitting heavy cruisers , and HMAS Australia; escort carrier ; and destroyer escort . In the fierce fight to repel this deadly threat, Goss was credited with shooting down two kamikazes.
, the formation began breaking up into units with the battleships, cruisers, Beach Demolition Group and their escorts starting their separate missions. Goss, as part of the screen for Rear Admiral Durgin's Lingayen Carrier Group, gallantly carried out her mission in support of the Lingayen
Landings until 20 January. Retiring from the area, she reached Mindoro
dawn 21 January.
. Goss continued her escort duties, next taking part in the Okinawa operations, last stop on the island road to Japan. This duty lasted until 30 June 1945.
3 July as part of the screen for Admiral D. B. Beary's Logistic Support Group (TG 30.8). This group acted as the replenishment group for Admiral Mitscher's
Carrier Task Force 38 as they struck the main islands of Japan with carrier planes and battleship
guns. The Logistics Group operated in an area from 250 to 500 miles east of Honshū
, fueling the fast carrier strike force and furnishing replacement aircraft.
Late in July Goss joined Task Group 94.17, a hunter-killer team, to operate along the shipping lanes southeast of Okinawa. From 7 through 24 August she operated with Task Group 75.19 as hunter-killer group east of Formosa
. With the war over, Goss retired to San Pedro Bay
25 August and cleared that port 2 days later as part of the screen for Task Force
32 and 33, landing units of the U.S. 8th Army in Tokyo Bay
2 September.
for home. After touching at Pearl Harbor
Goss arrived Los Angeles, California
, 22 November 1945. She remained on the U.S. West Coast and decommissioned at San Diego, California
, 15 June 1946 and joined the Pacific Reserve Fleet.
to South America
as well as visits to Hawaii
, Cuba
and Panama
.
, 10 October 1958 and again joined the Pacific Reserve Fleet. She was later transferred to Bremerton, Washington
. On 1 March 1972, she was struck from the Navy list
, and, on 20 November 1972, she was sold for scrapping.
Destroyer escort
A destroyer escort is the classification for a smaller, lightly armed warship designed to be used to escort convoys of merchant marine ships, primarily of the United States Merchant Marine in World War II. It is employed primarily for anti-submarine warfare, but also provides some protection...
acquired by the U.S. Navy 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...
. The primary purpose of the destroyer escort was to escort and protect ships in convoy
Convoy
A convoy is a group of vehicles, typically motor vehicles or ships, traveling together for mutual support and protection. Often, a convoy is organized with armed defensive support, though it may also be used in a non-military sense, for example when driving through remote areas.-Age of Sail:Naval...
, in addition to other tasks as assigned, such as patrol or radar picket
Radar picket
A radar picket is a radar-equipped ship, submarine, aircraft, or vehicle used to increase the radar detection range around a force to protect it from surprise attack. Often several detached radar units encircle a force to provide increased cover in all directions.-World War II:Radar picket ships...
. Post-war she proudly returned home with four battle stars to her credit.
Goss (DE-444) was named in honor of Marine Gunner Angus R. Goss
Angus R. Goss
Angus R. Goss was born 8 January 1910 at Tampa, Florida, The United States of America . As a U.S. Marine, he was killed in action while fighting in the Pacific during World War II.-Marine Corps career:...
who posthumously received the Navy Cross
Navy Cross
The Navy Cross is the highest decoration that may be bestowed by the Department of the Navy and the second highest decoration given for valor. It is normally only awarded to members of the United States Navy, United States Marine Corps and United States Coast Guard, but can be awarded to all...
and Britain’s Conspicuous Gallantry Medal
Conspicuous Gallantry Medal
The Conspicuous Gallantry Medal was, until 1993, a military decoration awarded to personnel of the British Armed Forces and formerly also to personnel of other Commonwealth countries, below commissioned rank, for conspicuous gallantry in action against the enemy at sea...
for charging into a cave where the enemy was entrenched and single handedly destroyed the Japanese with a Reising sub-machine gun.
She was laid down 16 December 1943 by the Federal Shipbuilding & Dry Dock Co., Newark, New Jersey
Newark, New Jersey
Newark is the largest city in the American state of New Jersey, and the seat of Essex County. As of the 2010 United States Census, Newark had a population of 277,140, maintaining its status as the largest municipality in New Jersey. It is the 68th largest city in the U.S...
; launched 19 March 1944; sponsored by Mrs. Jamie S. Goss, sister-in-law of Marine Gunner Goss; and commissioned 26 August 1944, Lt. Comdr. Claude A. Kirkpatrick in command.
World War II Pacific Theatre operations
After shakedownShakedown (testing)
A shakedown is a period of testing or a trial journey undergone by a ship, aircraft or other craft and its crew before being declared operational. Statistically, a proportion of the components will fail after a relatively short period of use, and those that survive this period can be expected to...
out of Bermuda
Bermuda
Bermuda is a British overseas territory in the North Atlantic Ocean. Located off the east coast of the United States, its nearest landmass is Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, about to the west-northwest. It is about south of Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, and northeast of Miami, Florida...
, Goss departed Norfolk, Virginia
Norfolk, Virginia
Norfolk is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. With a population of 242,803 as of the 2010 Census, it is Virginia's second-largest city behind neighboring Virginia Beach....
, 30 October and steamed via the Panama Canal Zone
Panama Canal Zone
The Panama Canal Zone was a unorganized U.S. territory located within the Republic of Panama, consisting of the Panama Canal and an area generally extending 5 miles on each side of the centerline, but excluding Panama City and Colón, which otherwise would have been partly within the limits of...
and 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...
, 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...
, where she arrived 2 December and reported for duty. Goss was underway 5 December 1944 from Pearl Harbor via Eniwetok to Kossel Roads, Palau Islands, where she joined and four other destroyer escorts to form a vhunter-killer group which operated off the Palau Islands.
Attacks by kamikazes
As a unit of Vice Admiral Oldendorf's Bombardment and Fire Support Group, Goss sortied from Kossel Roads 1 January 1945 bound for Lingayen GulfLingayen Gulf
The Lingayen Gulf is an extension of the South China Sea on Luzon in the Philippines stretching . It is framed by the provinces of Pangasinan and La Union and sits between the Zambales Mountains and the Cordillera Central...
. In the early hours of 5 January, as Oldendorf's ships steamed within 150 miles of Japanese airfields on Luzon
Luzon
Luzon is the largest island in the Philippines. It is located in the northernmost region of the archipelago, and is also the name for one of the three primary island groups in the country centered on the Island of Luzon...
, they were spotted by scout planes. At 0758 combat air patrol intercepted 15 to 20 enemy planes 35 miles from the formation, shot down 9, and turned the others back. At noon another raid was intercepted and turned back about 45 miles from the ships.
Shoots down two kamikazes
The last and heaviest air attack of the day came at 1650 about 100 miles off CorregidorCorregidor
Corregidor Island, locally called Isla ng Corregidor, is a lofty island located at the entrance of Manila Bay in southwestern part of Luzon Island in the Philippines. Due to this location, Corregidor was fortified with several coastal artillery and ammunition magazines to defend the entrance of...
. Sixteen kamikazes with four escorts broke through combat air patrol
Combat air patrol
Combat air patrol is a type of flying mission for fighter aircraft.A combat air patrol is an aircraft patrol provided over an objective area, over the force protected, over the critical area of a combat zone, or over an air defense area, for the purpose of intercepting and destroying hostile...
to dive at the ships. They succeeded in hitting heavy cruisers , and HMAS Australia; escort carrier ; and destroyer escort . In the fierce fight to repel this deadly threat, Goss was credited with shooting down two kamikazes.
Philippine operations
Next day, cruising about 60 miles off Lingayen GulfLingayen Gulf
The Lingayen Gulf is an extension of the South China Sea on Luzon in the Philippines stretching . It is framed by the provinces of Pangasinan and La Union and sits between the Zambales Mountains and the Cordillera Central...
, the formation began breaking up into units with the battleships, cruisers, Beach Demolition Group and their escorts starting their separate missions. Goss, as part of the screen for Rear Admiral Durgin's Lingayen Carrier Group, gallantly carried out her mission in support of the Lingayen
Invasion of Lingayen Gulf
The Liberation of Lingayen Gulf was an Allied amphibious operation in the Philippines during World War II. In the early morning of 9 January 1945, an Allied force commanded by Admiral Jesse B. Oldendorf began approaching the shores of Lingayen. U.S...
Landings until 20 January. Retiring from the area, she reached Mindoro
Mindoro
Mindoro is the seventh-largest island in the Philippines. It is located off the coast of Luzon, and northeast of Palawan. The southern coast of Mindoro forms the northeastern extremum of the Sulu Sea.-History:...
dawn 21 January.
Iwo Jima and Okinawa operations
From 21 February to 6 June 1945 Goss operated as a unit of Admiral Stump's Task Group 52.1 under U.S. 5th Fleet as part of the close air support for the invasion of Iwo JimaIwo 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...
. Goss continued her escort duties, next taking part in the Okinawa operations, last stop on the island road to Japan. This duty lasted until 30 June 1945.
End-of-war operations
Goss sortied from UlithiUlithi
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...
3 July as part of the screen for Admiral D. B. Beary's Logistic Support Group (TG 30.8). This group acted as the replenishment group for Admiral Mitscher's
Marc Mitscher
Admiral Marc Andrew "Pete" Mitscher was an admiral in the United States Navy who served as commander of the Fast Carrier Task Force in the Pacific in the latter half of World War II.-Early life and career:...
Carrier Task Force 38 as they struck the main islands of Japan with carrier planes and battleship
Battleship
A battleship is a large armored warship with a main battery consisting of heavy caliber guns. Battleships were larger, better armed and armored than cruisers and destroyers. As the largest armed ships in a fleet, battleships were used to attain command of the sea and represented the apex of a...
guns. The Logistics Group operated in an area from 250 to 500 miles east of Honshū
Honshu
is the largest island of Japan. The nation's main island, it is south of Hokkaido across the Tsugaru Strait, north of Shikoku across the Inland Sea, and northeast of Kyushu across the Kanmon Strait...
, fueling the fast carrier strike force and furnishing replacement aircraft.
Late in July Goss joined Task Group 94.17, a hunter-killer team, to operate along the shipping lanes southeast of Okinawa. From 7 through 24 August she operated with Task Group 75.19 as hunter-killer group east of Formosa
Taiwan
Taiwan , also known, especially in the past, as Formosa , is the largest island of the same-named island group of East Asia in the western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. The island forms over 99% of the current territory of the Republic of China following...
. With the war over, Goss retired to San Pedro Bay
San 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...
25 August and cleared that port 2 days later as part of the screen for Task Force
Task force
A task force is a unit or formation established to work on a single defined task or activity. Originally introduced by the United States Navy, the term has now caught on for general usage and is a standard part of NATO terminology...
32 and 33, landing units of the U.S. 8th Army in Tokyo Bay
Tokyo Bay
is a bay in the southern Kantō region of Japan. Its old name was .-Geography:Tokyo Bay is surrounded by the Bōsō Peninsula to the east and the Miura Peninsula to the west. In a narrow sense, Tokyo Bay is the area north of the straight line formed by the on the Miura Peninsula on one end and on...
2 September.
Post-war activity
Goss continued her duties until 5 November when she departed Tokyo BayTokyo Bay
is a bay in the southern Kantō region of Japan. Its old name was .-Geography:Tokyo Bay is surrounded by the Bōsō Peninsula to the east and the Miura Peninsula to the west. In a narrow sense, Tokyo Bay is the area north of the straight line formed by the on the Miura Peninsula on one end and on...
for home. After touching at 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...
Goss arrived Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
, 22 November 1945. She remained on the U.S. West Coast and decommissioned at 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...
, 15 June 1946 and joined the Pacific Reserve Fleet.
Recommissioning during Korean War
Goss recommissioned 27 December 1950 at San Diego, Lt. Comdr. L. R. Hayes, commanding. Goss was assigned duty under Commandant, 11th Naval District as a reserve training ship. Her operations consisted of readiness and tactical cruises on the west coast from AlaskaAlaska
Alaska is the largest state in the United States by area. It is situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent, with Canada to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, with Russia further west across the Bering Strait...
to South America
South America
South America is a continent situated in the Western Hemisphere, mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere. The continent is also considered a subcontinent of the Americas. It is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean and on the north and east...
as well as visits to Hawaii
Hawaii
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...
, Cuba
Cuba
The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...
and Panama
Panama
Panama , officially the Republic of Panama , is the southernmost country of Central America. Situated on the isthmus connecting North and South America, it is bordered by Costa Rica to the northwest, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north and the Pacific Ocean to the south. The...
.
Final decommissioning
Goss decommissioned at Astoria, OregonAstoria, Oregon
Astoria is the county seat of Clatsop County, Oregon, United States. Situated near the mouth of the Columbia River, the city was named after the American investor John Jacob Astor. His American Fur Company founded Fort Astoria at the site in 1811...
, 10 October 1958 and again joined the Pacific Reserve Fleet. She was later transferred to Bremerton, Washington
Bremerton, Washington
Bremerton is a city in Kitsap County, Washington, United States. The population was 38,790 at the 2011 State Estimate, making it the largest city on the Olympic Peninsula. Bremerton is home to Puget Sound Naval Shipyard and the Bremerton Annex of Naval Base Kitsap...
. On 1 March 1972, she was struck from the Navy list
Navy List
A Navy List or Naval Register is an official list of naval officers, their ranks and seniority, the ships which they command or to which they are appointed, etc., that is published by the government or naval authorities of a country....
, and, on 20 November 1972, she was sold for scrapping.
See also
- List of United States Navy ships
- World War IIWorld War IIWorld 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...
- DestroyerDestroyerIn 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...
- Destroyer escortDestroyer escortA destroyer escort is the classification for a smaller, lightly armed warship designed to be used to escort convoys of merchant marine ships, primarily of the United States Merchant Marine in World War II. It is employed primarily for anti-submarine warfare, but also provides some protection...