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USS Lloyd E. Acree (DE-356)
Encyclopedia
USS Lloyd E. Acree (DE-356) was a 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
.
She was named in honor of Lloyd Edgar Acree
who received the Navy Cross
for his brave actions during the Battle of Cape Esperance
. She was laid down by Consolidated Steel Corp., Orange, Texas
, 24 January 1944; launched 21 March 1944; sponsored by Mrs. Ora A. Acree; and commissioned 1 August 1944, Lt. Comdr. John E. Greenbacker in command.
out of Bermuda
and convoy operations, Lloyd E. Acree was assigned to CortDiv 82 and departed Norfolk, Virginia
, for the South Pacific Ocean
21 October. Steaming via the Panama Canal
, the Societies
, and the New Hebrides
, she reached Hollandia
, New Guinea
, 28 November for duty with the U.S. 7th Fleet.
, Philippines
. She arrived San Pedro Bay
21 December and after an escort run to the Palau
s and back, she returned to Hollandia as convoy escort 13 January 1945. During the first 3 months of 1945, she continued to escort the vital troop and supply convoys which were important to the success of the Allied offensive in Luzon
. The destroyer escort arrived Mangarin Bay
, Mindoro
, 18 March and began ASW patrol duty in the South China Sea
. During the next 4 months she cruised in search of enemy submarines from Mindoro to Subic Bay
.
which had exploded en route to a bombing mission over Formosa
. In addition she supported the training of U.S. 7th Fleet submarines off the Philippines.
until 12 September when she began weather patrols off the Philippines. For more than 5 months she operated out of various Philippine ports from Manila
, Luzon, to Guiuan, Samar
while gathering important weather information in the Philippine Sea
.
Departing Manila 15 February 1946, Lloyd B. Acree steamed to the coast of China
and arrived Tsingtao 20 February. For almost 2 months she operated in the Yellow
and East China Sea
s in ASW training and supporting Chinese Nationalists during their struggle with Chinese Communists.
, Marshalls
, and Pearl Harbor
, and reached San Pedro, California, 11 May. There she decommissioned 10 October, was inactivated at San Diego, California
, 20 November, and joined the Pacific Reserve Fleet. She was berthed at Mare Island, California, and struck on 15 January 1972. She was sold for scrap on 13 June 1973.
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...
.
She was named in honor of Lloyd Edgar Acree
Lloyd Edgar Acree
Lloyd Edgar Acree was a member of the United States Navy and a posthumous awardee of the Navy Cross.-Navy career:Acree was born on July 31, 1920 in Beggs, Oklahoma. He enlisted in the Navy October 17, 1940. After training at San Diego, California, he was assigned to USS Salt Lake City December 10,...
who 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...
for his brave actions during the Battle of Cape Esperance
Battle of Cape Esperance
The Battle of Cape Esperance, also known as the Second Battle of Savo Island and, in Japanese sources, as the , took place on 11–12 October 1942, and was a naval battle of the Pacific campaign of World War II between the Imperial Japanese Navy and United States Navy...
. She was laid down by Consolidated Steel Corp., 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...
, 24 January 1944; launched 21 March 1944; sponsored by Mrs. Ora A. Acree; and commissioned 1 August 1944, Lt. Comdr. John E. Greenbacker 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...
and convoy operations, Lloyd E. Acree was assigned to CortDiv 82 and 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....
, for the South 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...
21 October. Steaming via the Panama Canal
Panama Canal
The Panama Canal is a ship canal in Panama that joins the Atlantic Ocean and the Pacific Ocean and is a key conduit for international maritime trade. Built from 1904 to 1914, the canal has seen annual traffic rise from about 1,000 ships early on to 14,702 vessels measuring a total of 309.6...
, the Societies
Society Islands
The Society Islands are a group of islands in the South Pacific Ocean. They are politically part of French Polynesia. The archipelago is generally believed to have been named by Captain James Cook in honor of the Royal Society, the sponsor of the first British scientific survey of the islands;...
, and 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...
, she reached Hollandia
Jayapura
Jayapura City is the capital of Papua province, Indonesia, on the island of New Guinea. It is situated on Yos Sudarso Bay . Its approximate population in 2002 was 200,000....
, New Guinea
New Guinea
New Guinea is the world's second largest island, after Greenland, covering a land area of 786,000 km2. Located in the southwest Pacific Ocean, it lies geographically to the east of the Malay Archipelago, with which it is sometimes included as part of a greater Indo-Australian Archipelago...
, 28 November for duty with the U.S. 7th Fleet.
Invasion of the Philippines operations
Following antisubmarine warfare (ASW) training off New Guinea, Lloyd E. Acree sailed 13 December as escort for a 44-ship convoy bound for LeyteLeyte
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...
, Philippines
Philippines
The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...
. She arrived 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...
21 December and after an escort run to the Palau
Palau
Palau , officially the Republic of Palau , is an island nation in the Pacific Ocean, east of the Philippines and south of Tokyo. In 1978, after three decades as being part of the United Nations trusteeship, Palau chose independence instead of becoming part of the Federated States of Micronesia, a...
s and back, she returned to Hollandia as convoy escort 13 January 1945. During the first 3 months of 1945, she continued to escort the vital troop and supply convoys which were important to the success of the Allied offensive in 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...
. The destroyer escort arrived 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
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:...
, 18 March and began ASW patrol duty in the South China Sea
South China Sea
The South China Sea is a marginal sea that is part of the Pacific Ocean, encompassing an area from the Singapore and Malacca Straits to the Strait of Taiwan of around...
. During the next 4 months she cruised in search of enemy submarines from Mindoro to Subic Bay
Subic Bay
Subic Bay is a bay forming part of Luzon Sea on the west coast of the island of Luzon in Zambales, Philippines, about 100 kilometers northwest of Manila Bay. Its shores were formerly the site of a major United States Navy facility named U.S...
.
Rescuing downed flyers
While on patrol off Mindoro 8 April, she rescued survivors of a LiberatorB-24 Liberator
The Consolidated B-24 Liberator was an American heavy bomber, designed by Consolidated Aircraft of San Diego, California. It was known within the company as the Model 32, and a small number of early models were sold under the name LB-30, for Land Bomber...
which had exploded en route to a bombing mission over 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...
. In addition she supported the training of U.S. 7th Fleet submarines off the Philippines.
End-of-war operations
Lloyd E. Acree resumed convoy escort duty in the closing weeks of the war. She departed Subic Bay 12 July as escort for a convoy bound for Okinawa. She continued operating between the Philippines and the RyūkyūsRyukyu Islands
The , also known as the , is a chain of islands in the western Pacific, on the eastern limit of the East China Sea and to the southwest of the island of Kyushu in Japan. From about 1829 until the mid 20th century, they were alternately called Luchu, Loochoo, or Lewchew, akin to the Mandarin...
until 12 September when she began weather patrols off the Philippines. For more than 5 months she operated out of various Philippine ports from Manila
Manila
Manila is the capital of the Philippines. It is one of the sixteen cities forming Metro Manila.Manila is located on the eastern shores of Manila Bay and is bordered by Navotas and Caloocan to the north, Quezon City to the northeast, San Juan and Mandaluyong to the east, Makati on the southeast,...
, Luzon, to Guiuan, Samar
Samar
Samar, formerly and also known as Western Samar, is a province in the Philippines located in the Eastern Visayas region. Its capital is Catbalogan City and covers the western portion of Samar as well as several islands in the Samar Sea located to the west of the mainland...
while gathering important weather information in the Philippine Sea
Philippine Sea
The Philippine Sea is a marginal sea east and north of the Philippines occupying an estimated surface area of 2 million mi² on the western part of the North Pacific Ocean...
.
Departing Manila 15 February 1946, Lloyd B. Acree steamed to the coast of China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
and arrived Tsingtao 20 February. For almost 2 months she operated in the Yellow
Yellow Sea
The Yellow Sea is the name given to the northern part of the East China Sea, which is a marginal sea of the Pacific Ocean. It is located between mainland China and the Korean Peninsula. Its name comes from the sand particles from Gobi Desert sand storms that turn the surface of the water golden...
and East China Sea
East China Sea
The East China Sea is a marginal sea east of China. It is a part of the Pacific Ocean and covers an area of 1,249,000 km² or 750,000 square miles.-Geography:...
s in ASW training and supporting Chinese Nationalists during their struggle with Chinese Communists.
Post-war decommissioning
On 15 April she departed Tsingtao via the MarianasMariana Islands
The Mariana Islands are an arc-shaped archipelago made up by the summits of 15 volcanic mountains in the north-western Pacific Ocean between the 12th and 21st parallels north and along the 145th meridian east...
, Marshalls
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...
, and 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...
, and reached San Pedro, California, 11 May. There she decommissioned 10 October, was inactivated 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...
, 20 November, and joined the Pacific Reserve Fleet. She was berthed at Mare Island, California, and struck on 15 January 1972. She was sold for scrap on 13 June 1973.