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USS Richard M. Rowell (DE-403)
Encyclopedia
USS Richard M. Rowell (DE-403) was a John C. Butler-class
destroyer escort
acquired by the United States 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 returned home with six battle stars to her credit.
She was named in honor of Ensign Richard M. Rowell
(1916–1942) who was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross
for downing a Japanese
plane 20 February 1942. She was laid down 18 August 1943 by Brown Shipbuilding
Co., Houston, Texas
; Launched 17 November 1943; sponsored by Mrs. Agnes M. Rowell; and commissioned 9 March 1944, Lieutenant Commander Harry A. Barnard, Jr., in command.
off Bermuda
, Rowell departed Boston, Massachusetts on 6 May 1944 and proceeded via the Panama Canal
and San Diego, California
to Pearl Harbor
, arriving there on 31 May. In July 1944 she escorted a convoy to Eniwetok and screened escort carriers returning to Pearl Harbor. In August she protected a transport group on its voyage to Tulagi
, Solomons, and screened escort carriers to Manus
. In September she protected an air support task force during the landings on Morotai
on the 15th, saving two pilots.
Rowell rescued survivors from USS Shelton
(DE-407), hit by a torpedo
from Japanese
submarine
RO-41, on 3 October 1944. Later that day, thinking she was attacking the culprit of the Shelton attack, she mistakenly attacked USS Seawolf
(SS-197) in a submarine safety lane and sank her. Rowell next screened a carrier group providing air support for the landings on Leyte
, Philippine Islands, 20 October.
On 23 October, Rowell sank I-54. She then took part in the Battle off Samar
. 25 October, Rowell was a member of the escort of Taffy One, which was operating off Surigao Island about 130 miles (209.2 km) south of Task Force 3, which was the subject of the main Japanese attack. Taffy One had just launched planes to the south to attack the Japanese retiring from the Battle of Surigao Strait, when she was subjected to a kamikaze
attach by six Japanese planes from Davao
. Responding to this emergency, Rowell rescued one survivor from Santee
(CVE-29). Taffy One arrived too late to be of much assistance to Taffy Three, which bore the brunt of the Japanese attack; Rowell did fight off another kamikaze attack on 26 October. Returning to the carrier formation, she donated blood plasma
from her own supply, and medical supplies from Petrof Bay
(CVE-80), to Suwanee (CVE-27). On 27 October, Rowell she escorted Santee to Manus, and arrived at Pearl Harbor 19 November.
She joined antiair- and ASW patrols for the landings 9 January 1945 at Lingayen Gulf
, Luzon
, Philippine Islands. After protecting underwater demolition drills at Ulithi
in late January and early February, she guarded transports to Iwo Jima
, and supported air units during the landings there 19 February. Departing Ulithi 21 March, she protected air units during the landings 1 April upon Okinawa, before returning to Guam
11 May. In July she patrolled in Leyte Gulf
, Philippine Islands, and escorted Hoggatt Bay
(CVE-75) to Ulithi
, before escorting three transports to San Pedro Bay
, Philippine Islands, in August. Following duty at Leyte Gulf and Okinawa in September, she proceeded via Eniwetok and Pearl Harbor to San Diego, arriving 6 November.
30 June 1968. In June 1969, she was sold for scrapping.
John C. Butler class destroyer escort
The John C. Butler class destroyer escort originated during World War II. The lead ship was the , commissioned on 31 March 1944. The class was also known as the WGT type from their Westinghouse Geared Turbine drive...
destroyer escort
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 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...
. 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 returned home with six battle stars to her credit.
She was named in honor of Ensign Richard M. Rowell
Richard M. Rowell
-Navy career:Enlisted in the U.S. Naval Reserve 8 August 1939, he was commissioned ensign 20 August 1940. He reported for duty as a fighter pilot to USS Lexington on 5 November 1940.-Awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross:...
(1916–1942) who was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross
Distinguished Flying Cross (United States)
The Distinguished Flying Cross is a medal awarded to any officer or enlisted member of the United States armed forces who distinguishes himself or herself in support of operations by "heroism or extraordinary achievement while participating in an aerial flight, subsequent to November 11, 1918." The...
for downing a 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...
plane 20 February 1942. She was laid down 18 August 1943 by Brown Shipbuilding
Brown Shipbuilding
The Brown Shipbuilding Company was founded in Houston, Texas in 1942 as a subsidiary of Brown and Root by brothers Herman and George R. Brown to build ships for the US Navy during World War II....
Co., Houston, Texas
Houston, Texas
Houston is the fourth-largest city in the United States, and the largest city in the state of Texas. According to the 2010 U.S. Census, the city had a population of 2.1 million people within an area of . Houston is the seat of Harris County and the economic center of , which is the ...
; Launched 17 November 1943; sponsored by Mrs. Agnes M. Rowell; and commissioned 9 March 1944, Lieutenant Commander Harry A. Barnard, Jr., in command.
World War II
Following 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...
off 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...
, Rowell departed Boston, Massachusetts on 6 May 1944 and proceeded 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...
and 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...
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...
, arriving there on 31 May. In July 1944 she escorted a convoy to Eniwetok and screened escort carriers returning to Pearl Harbor. In August she protected a transport group on its voyage to Tulagi
Tulagi
Tulagi, less commonly Tulaghi, is a small island in the Solomon Islands, just off the south coast of Florida Island. The town of the same name on the island Tulagi, less commonly Tulaghi, is a small island (5.5 km by 1 km) in the Solomon Islands, just off the south coast of Florida...
, Solomons, and screened escort carriers 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...
. In September she protected an air support task force during the landings on Morotai
Morotai
Morotai Island Regency is a regency of North Maluku province, Indonesia, located on Morotai Island. The population was 54,876 in 2007.-History:...
on the 15th, saving two pilots.
Rowell rescued survivors from USS Shelton
USS Shelton (DE-407)
The USS Shelton was a John C. Butler-class destroyer escort built for the United States Navy during World War II. Named for Ensign James A. Shelton, , she was the first of two U.S...
(DE-407), hit by a 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...
from Japanese
Imperial Japanese Navy
The Imperial Japanese Navy was the navy of the Empire of Japan from 1869 until 1947, when it was dissolved following Japan's constitutional renunciation of the use of force as a means of settling international disputes...
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...
RO-41, on 3 October 1944. Later that day, thinking she was attacking the culprit of the Shelton attack, she mistakenly attacked USS Seawolf
USS Seawolf (SS-197)
USS Seawolf , a Sargo-class submarine, was the second submarine of the United States Navy named for the seawolf.Her keel was laid down on 27 September 1938 by the Portsmouth Navy Yard in Kittery, Maine. She was launched on 15 August 1939 sponsored by Mrs. Edward C. Kalbfus and commissioned on 1...
(SS-197) in a submarine safety lane and sank her. Rowell next screened a carrier group providing air support for the landings on 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...
, Philippine Islands, 20 October.
On 23 October, Rowell sank I-54. She then took part in the Battle off Samar
Battle off Samar
The Battle off Samar was the centermost action of the Battle of Leyte Gulf, one of the largest naval battles in history, which took place in the Philippine Sea off Samar Island, in the Philippines on 25 October 1944...
. 25 October, Rowell was a member of the escort of Taffy One, which was operating off Surigao Island about 130 miles (209.2 km) south of Task Force 3, which was the subject of the main Japanese attack. Taffy One had just launched planes to the south to attack the Japanese retiring from the Battle of Surigao Strait, when she was subjected to 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....
attach by six Japanese planes from Davao
Davao
Davao refers to several closely related places in Mindanao in the Philippines. The term is used most often to refer to the city.*Davao Region, an administrative region*Davao del Norte province*Davao del Sur province*Davao Oriental province...
. Responding to this emergency, Rowell rescued one survivor from Santee
USS Santee (CVE-29)
The second USS Santee was launched on 4 March 1939 as Esso Seakay under a Maritime Commission contract by the Sun Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company at Chester, Pennsylvania, sponsored by Mrs...
(CVE-29). Taffy One arrived too late to be of much assistance to Taffy Three, which bore the brunt of the Japanese attack; Rowell did fight off another kamikaze attack on 26 October. Returning to the carrier formation, she donated blood plasma
Blood plasma
Blood plasma is the straw-colored liquid component of blood in which the blood cells in whole blood are normally suspended. It makes up about 55% of the total blood volume. It is the intravascular fluid part of extracellular fluid...
from her own supply, and medical supplies from Petrof Bay
USS Petrof Bay (CVE-80)
USS Petrof Bay was an Casablanca class escort carrier of the United States Navy.She was laid down under a Maritime Commission contract by the Kaiser Shipbuilding Company, Vancouver, Washington, 15 October 1943; launched 5 January 1944; sponsored by Mrs. J. G. Atkins; acquired 18 February 1944 and...
(CVE-80), to Suwanee (CVE-27). On 27 October, Rowell she escorted Santee to Manus, and arrived at Pearl Harbor 19 November.
She joined antiair- and ASW patrols for the landings 9 January 1945 at Lingayen Gulf
Lingayen 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...
, 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...
, Philippine Islands. After protecting underwater demolition drills at 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...
in late January and early February, she guarded transports to 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...
, and supported air units during the landings there 19 February. Departing Ulithi 21 March, she protected air units during the landings 1 April upon Okinawa, before returning 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...
11 May. In July she patrolled in Leyte Gulf
Leyte Gulf
Leyte Gulf is a body of water immediately east of the island of Leyte in the Philippines, adjoining the Philippine Sea of the Pacific Ocean, at . The Gulf is bounded on the north by the island of Samar, which is separated from Leyte on the west by the narrow San Juanico Strait, and on the south by...
, Philippine Islands, and escorted Hoggatt Bay
USS Hoggatt Bay (CVE-75)
USS Hoggatt Bay was a Casablanca class escort carrier of the United States Navy.She was launched under Maritime Commission contract by Kaiser Co. Inc., Vancouver, Washington, on 4 December 1943. Originally classified AVG-75, she had been reclassified ACV-75 on 20 August 1942. Sponsored by Mrs...
(CVE-75) 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...
, before escorting three transports 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...
, Philippine Islands, in August. Following duty at Leyte Gulf and Okinawa in September, she proceeded via Eniwetok and Pearl Harbor to San Diego, arriving 6 November.
Post-war decommissioning
Decommissioned 2 July 1946, Rowell remained in the Pacific Reserve Fleet until stricken from the Navy listNavy 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....
30 June 1968. In June 1969, 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...