USS Lamons (DE-743) was a built for 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 served in the Pacific Ocean

Pacific Ocean

The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic in the north to the Southern Ocean in the south, bounded by Asia and Australia in the west, and the Americas in the east.At 165.2 million square kilometres in area, this largest division of the World...

 and provided escort service against 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...

 and air attack for Navy vessels and convoys. She returned home after the war with nine battle stars, far more than the average for destroyer escorts.

She was named in honor of Kenneth Tafe Lamons, whose brave actions led to his death from wounds received in the Japanese

Empire of Japan

The Empire of Japan is the name of the state of Japan that existed from the Meiji Restoration on 3 January 1868 to the enactment of the post-World War II Constitution of...

 attack on Pearl Harbor

Attack on Pearl Harbor

The attack on Pearl Harbor was a surprise military strike conducted by the Imperial Japanese Navy against the United States naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on the morning of December 7, 1941...

 on 7 December 1941. The ship was laid down on 10 April 1943 by the Western Pipe and Steel Company

Western Pipe and Steel Company

The Western Pipe and Steel Company was an American manufacturing company that is best remembered today for its construction of ships for the Maritime Commission in World War II. It also built ships for the U.S...

, San Pedro, California; launched on 1 August 1943; sponsored by Mrs. Leora M. Lamons, widow of Boatswain Mate Second Class Lamons; and commissioned on 29 February 1944, Lt. Comdr. C. K. Hutchison in command.

World War II Pacific Theatre operations

After shakedown

Shakedown (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...

 Lamons departed 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...

, on 10 May 1944, escorting three merchant ships to the western Pacific. She arrived Majuro

Majuro

Majuro , is a large coral atoll of 64 islands in the Pacific Ocean, and forms a legislative district of the Ratak Chain of the Marshall Islands. The atoll itself has a land area of and encloses a lagoon of...

 Atoll

Atoll

An atoll is a coral island that encircles a lagoon partially or completely.- Usage :The word atoll comes from the Dhivehi word atholhu OED...

, Marshall Islands

Marshall 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...

, on 3 June, and joined the screen of fueling groups supporting the invasion of Saipan

Battle of Saipan

The Battle of Saipan was a battle of the Pacific campaign of World War II, fought on the island of Saipan in the Mariana Islands from 15 June-9 July 1944. The Allied invasion fleet embarking the expeditionary forces left Pearl Harbor on 5 June 1944, the day before Operation Overlord in Europe was...

. The destroyer escort remained in the Marianas until Saipan was secure.

The fleet next turned to the Palau Islands which were needed as staging points for ships and aircraft during the forthcoming Leyte landings

Battle of Leyte

The Battle of Leyte in the Pacific campaign of World War II was the invasion and conquest of the island of Leyte in the Philippines by American and Filipino guerrilla forces under the command of General Douglas MacArthur, who fought against the Imperial Japanese Army in the Philippines led by...

. During September Lamons screened fueling groups which replenished ships en route to the Peleliu assault

Battle of Peleliu

The Battle of Peleliu, codenamed Operation Stalemate II, was fought between the United States and the Empire of Japan in the Pacific Theater of World War II, from September–November 1944 on the island of Peleliu, present-day Palau. U.S...

.

Supporting Philippine Islands invasion

Returning 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...

 on 1 October, the destroyer escort prepared for the vital Philippine Islands invasion. Sailing on 4 October with Task Group 30.8, Lamons steamed toward the fueling areas off 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...

. For the next three months she operated-as a screen for oilers replenishing the fleet during the Philippine campaign. With Leyte secured, Lamons departed 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...

 on 29 December as screen for a refueling group supporting the Luzon landings

Battle of Luzon

The Battle of Luzon was a land battle fought as part of the Pacific Theater of Operations of World War II by the Allied forces of the U.S., its colony The Philippines, and Mexico against forces of the Empire of Japan. The battle resulted in a U.S. and Filipino victory...

.

Supporting Iwo Jima Invasion

The destroyer escort returned to Ulithi on 27 January 1945 and prepared for her next assignment, the invasion of Iwo Jima

Battle of Iwo Jima

The Battle of Iwo Jima , or Operation Detachment, was a major battle in which the United States fought for and captured the island of Iwo Jima from the Empire of Japan. The U.S...

. Departing Ulithi on 8 February, she steamed toward the tiny volcanic island which was needed as a stop-over base for B-29

B-29 Superfortress

The B-29 Superfortress is a four-engine propeller-driven heavy bomber designed by Boeing that was flown primarily by the United States Air Forces in late-World War II and through the Korean War. The B-29 was one of the largest aircraft to see service during World War II...

 air raids on Japan. Lamons remained in the fueling areas until early March supporting the bloody but inspiring struggle which wrested this invaluable strategic base from Japanese hands.

Supporting Okinawa Invasion

Preparations for the invasion of Okinawa

Battle of Okinawa

The Battle of Okinawa, codenamed Operation Iceberg, was fought on the Ryukyu Islands of Okinawa and was the largest amphibious assault in the Pacific War of World War II. The 82-day-long battle lasted from early April until mid-June 1945...

, the last remaining barrier on the road to Japan, were now complete. Lamons sailed on 19 March to screen oilers as they refueled the ships of the greatest armada

Naval fleet

A fleet, or naval fleet, is a large formation of warships, and the largest formation in any navy. A fleet at sea is the direct equivalent of an army on land....

 assembled during the Pacific war. After remaining in the vicinity throughout the Okinawa campaign, she sailed on 26 June to protect the escort carriers which assured troops of the U.S. 8th Army air superiority during landings in Balikpapan

Battle of Balikpapan (1945)

The Battle of Balikpapan was the concluding stage of the Borneo campaign . The landings took place on 1 July 1945. The Australian 7th Division, composed of the 18th, 21st and 25th Infantry Brigades, with support troops, made an amphibious landing, codenamed Operation Oboe Two a few miles north of...

, Borneo

Borneo

Borneo is the third largest island in the world and is located north of Java Island, Indonesia, at the geographic centre of Maritime Southeast Asia....

.

End-of-War Activity

The Navy now turned to Japan itself. In mid-July, Lamons sailed with Task Group 30.8 to fuel carriers engaged in air raids on the enemy homeland. The destroyer escort continued these operations until after Japan capitulated

Surrender of Japan

The surrender of Japan in 1945 brought hostilities of World War II to a close. By the end of July 1945, the Imperial Japanese Navy was incapable of conducting operations and an Allied invasion of Japan was imminent...

. She arrived at Ulithi on 31 August for a brief respite but was at sea again on 10 September escorting the oiler  to Okinawa before sailing for home on 1 October.

Post-War Decommissioning

After a brief stop at San Pedro, California, the destroyer escort sailed for the east coast, arriving Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Philadelphia is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Philadelphia County, with which it is coterminous. The city is located in the Northeastern United States along the Delaware and Schuylkill rivers. It is the fifth-most-populous city in the United States,...

, on 23 November. Lamons decommissioned at Green Cove Springs, Florida

Green Cove Springs, Florida

Green Cove Springs is a city in Clay County, Florida, United States. The population was 5,378 at the 2000 census. As of 2010, the population recorded by the U.S. Census Bureau is 6,908. It is the county seat of Clay County....

, on 14 June 1946, and joined the Atlantic Reserve Fleet in February 1951. She was berthed at Philadelphia until sold for scrapping, on 15 October 1973.