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USS Schroeder (DD-501)
Encyclopedia
USS Schroeder (DD-501), a , was a ship of the United States Navy
, named for Rear Admiral Seaton Schroeder
(1849–1922).
Schroeder was laid down on 25 June 1942 by the Federal Shipbuilding and Drydock Company
Kearny, N.J.; launched
on 11 November 1942, sponsored by Miss Grace Wainwright Schroeder, and commissioned
on 1 January 1943, Commander J. T. Bowers in command.
s making shakedown cruises to the Caribbean
and a convoy
of merchant ships bound for Casablanca
before steaming to the Pacific.
After an overhaul at Mare Island Navy Yard, she steamed west and joined Destroyer Squadron 25 (DesRon 25) at Pearl Harbor
on 28 July 1943. Schroeder assisted in screening the carrier task force which attacked Marcus Island on 1 September. While bombarding Wake Island
early the next month, she was taken under fire for the first time but suffered no casualties.
After the Wake Island bombardment, Schroeder sailed to the New Hebrides Islands for training with amphibious forces. In early November, she joined the Gilbert Islands
invasion force. On the morning of 20 November, Schroeder was in the bombardment group that shelled the eastern coast of Tarawa Atoll
. She entered the lagoon
early the next morning to provide fire support for the Marines landing on Tarawa
. In addition to fire support, the DD also acted as a first aid
ship for wounded Marines
. Schroeder departed Tarawa on the 24th for Pearl Harbor for repairs, as she had damaged her screws on a coral
reef
in the lagoon.
. She remained in the Marshalls
for several weeks and, from 20 to 24 February, bombarded Maloelap and Wotje Atolls. On 1 March, she sailed to the New Hebrides Islands where she participated in more training exercises.
On 20 March, Schroeder and her division bombarded Japanese coast defenses at Kavieng
, New Ireland
, with nearly 900 rounds of ammunition; departing for Efate
in the evening.
Schroeder loaded ammunition at Espiritu Santo
and on 1 April, escorted Pocomoke and S.S. Red Rover to Guadalcanal
; joined a merchant convoy there, and escorted it to Milne Bay
, New Guinea
. Later in the month, she participated in the bombardment of enemy positions at Hollandia
; and, then screened transports and LSTs at Humboldt Bay
. She performed fighter director duties until the 30th when she departed with a convoy for Cape Sudest
and, later, to Buna
.
Schroeder operated in the Purvis Bay
-Guadalcanal area until she departed for Kwajalein
, on 4 June, as a unit of Task Group 53.1 (TG 53.1). The TG was at Eniwetok on the 28th where Schroeder underwent a period of upkeep and logistics.
On 11 July the DD and her division departed for the Mariana Islands
. From 16 to 20 July, the division bombarded the Tumon area of Guam
. Schroeder then served on picket duty until 4 August when she escorted a convoy back to Eniwetok. After returning to Espiritu Santo for a period of upkeep and logistics, she sailed for Humboldt Bay on 22 August.
Schroeder was assigned to TG 77.5 which sortied, on 13 September, for the invasion of Morotai
, Netherlands East Indies. She screened LSTs in their approach to Pitoe Bay and then served on picket duty until departing for Humboldt Bay on the 21st.
The destroyer sailed, on 13 October, with TF 78 for Panoan Island, P.I.
She entered Leyte Gulf
at midnight, 19 October, with a group of transports, and, the next morning, began performing ASW and fighter director duties. On the 25th, she withdrew from the area and sailed for San Francisco. She arrived there on 23 November and underwent a period of overhaul and availability.
on 7 February where she joined TF 58, the Fast Carrier Task Force
. The task force sortied on 10 February. On the 16th and 17th, the carriers launched attacks against airfields, aircraft factories, and shipping in the Tokyo
area. The next day, the flattops launched strikes against the Volcano Islands
in preparation for the forthcoming assault against that Japanese bastion.
Schroeder returned to Ulithi in early March, but, by the 23d, was again operating off the Japanese home islands. Detached from the task group on the 31st, she and proceeded to Ulithi. She sailed from there on 10 April as a unit of TG 50.8, which was proceeding to Okinawa to support the landings there. On the 16th, the DD, supporting the landing on Ie Shima, was at general quarters nine different times to repel enemy air attacks. Five days later, Schroeder with DesDiv 49, bombarded the western side of Minami Daito Shima. The bombardment caused many fires ashore but brought no return gunfire from the enemy positions.
Schroeder returned to Ulithi, from 27 April to 9 May, for a period of upkeep, replenishment, and recreation. She rejoined the fast carriers three days later as they conducted bombing and photographic missions over Kyūshū
. Four days later, they supported the troops on southern Okinawa.
Task Force 58 entered San Pedro Bay
, on 13 June for an upkeep period. It sortied on 1 July, and, on the 10 July, the carriers launched sustained strikes against Tokyo. On 17–18 July, strikes were launched against targets in the Tokyo-Yokohama
area. On the 31st Schroeder shelled Shimizu
, Honshū
Island.
On 6 September, with hostilities ended, the task force entered Tokyo Bay
and dissolved its units. Schroeder was ordered to join TF 11 at Okinawa and proceed to Pearl Harbor. She departed Pearl Harbor on 1 October, with orders assigning her to the east coast. On 2 November 1945, the destroyer entered the Charleston Navy Yard, S.C.
, and prepared for deactivation.
Schroeder was decommissioned on 29 April 1946 and placed in the Atlantic Reserve Fleet. She remained in reserve until 1 October 1972 when she was struck from the Navy List
. Schroeder was sold to Southern Materials Co., Ltd., New Orleans, Louisiana
, on 1 January 1974.
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...
, named for Rear Admiral Seaton Schroeder
Seaton Schroeder
Seaton Schroeder was an admiral of the United States Navy.-Biography:Schroeder was born in Washington, D.C., on 17 August 1849 the son of Frances Schroeder, who was the United States Ambassador to Sweden...
(1849–1922).
Schroeder was laid down on 25 June 1942 by the Federal Shipbuilding and Drydock Company
Federal Shipbuilding and Drydock Company
The Federal Shipbuilding and Drydock Company was a United States shipyard, active from 1917 to 1949. During World War II, it built ships as part of the U.S. Government's Emergency Shipbuilding Program. Operated by a subsidiary of the United States Steel Corporation, the shipyard was located at...
Kearny, N.J.; launched
Ship naming and launching
The ceremonies involved in naming and launching naval ships are based in traditions thousands of years old.-Methods of launch:There are three principal methods of conveying a new ship from building site to water, only two of which are called "launching." The oldest, most familiar, and most widely...
on 11 November 1942, sponsored by Miss Grace Wainwright Schroeder, and commissioned
Ship commissioning
Ship commissioning is the act or ceremony of placing a ship in active service, and may be regarded as a particular application of the general concepts and practices of project commissioning. The term is most commonly applied to the placing of a warship in active duty with its country's military...
on 1 January 1943, Commander J. T. Bowers in command.
1943
Schroeder provided escort for two separate aircraft carrierAircraft carrier
An aircraft carrier is a warship designed with a primary mission of deploying and recovering aircraft, acting as a seagoing airbase. Aircraft carriers thus allow a naval force to project air power worldwide without having to depend on local bases for staging aircraft operations...
s making shakedown cruises to the Caribbean
Caribbean
The Caribbean is a crescent-shaped group of islands more than 2,000 miles long separating the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea, to the west and south, from the Atlantic Ocean, to the east and north...
and a 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...
of merchant ships bound for Casablanca
Casablanca
Casablanca is a city in western Morocco, located on the Atlantic Ocean. It is the capital of the Grand Casablanca region.Casablanca is Morocco's largest city as well as its chief port. It is also the biggest city in the Maghreb. The 2004 census recorded a population of 2,949,805 in the prefecture...
before steaming to the Pacific.
After an overhaul at Mare Island Navy Yard, she steamed west and joined Destroyer Squadron 25 (DesRon 25) 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...
on 28 July 1943. Schroeder assisted in screening the carrier task force which attacked Marcus Island on 1 September. While bombarding Wake Island
Wake Island
Wake Island is a coral atoll having a coastline of in the North Pacific Ocean, located about two-thirds of the way from Honolulu west to Guam east. It is an unorganized, unincorporated territory of the United States, administered by the Office of Insular Affairs, U.S. Department of the Interior...
early the next month, she was taken under fire for the first time but suffered no casualties.
After the Wake Island bombardment, Schroeder sailed to the New Hebrides Islands for training with amphibious forces. In early November, she joined the 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...
invasion force. On the morning of 20 November, Schroeder was in the bombardment group that shelled the eastern coast of 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...
. She entered the lagoon
Lagoon
A lagoon is a body of shallow sea water or brackish water separated from the sea by some form of barrier. The EU's habitat directive defines lagoons as "expanses of shallow coastal salt water, of varying salinity or water volume, wholly or partially separated from the sea by sand banks or shingle,...
early the next morning to provide fire support for the Marines landing on Tarawa
Battle of Tarawa
The Battle of Tarawa, code named Operation Galvanic, was a battle in the Pacific Theater of World War II, largely fought from November 20 to November 23, 1943. It was the first American offensive in the critical central Pacific region....
. In addition to fire support, the DD also acted as a first aid
First aid
First aid is the provision of initial care for an illness or injury. It is usually performed by non-expert, but trained personnel to a sick or injured person until definitive medical treatment can be accessed. Certain self-limiting illnesses or minor injuries may not require further medical care...
ship for wounded Marines
United States Marine Corps
The United States Marine Corps is a branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for providing power projection from the sea, using the mobility of the United States Navy to deliver combined-arms task forces rapidly. It is one of seven uniformed services of the United States...
. Schroeder departed Tarawa on the 24th for Pearl Harbor for repairs, as she had damaged her screws on a coral
Coral
Corals are marine animals in class Anthozoa of phylum Cnidaria typically living in compact colonies of many identical individual "polyps". The group includes the important reef builders that inhabit tropical oceans and secrete calcium carbonate to form a hard skeleton.A coral "head" is a colony of...
reef
Reef
In nautical terminology, a reef is a rock, sandbar, or other feature lying beneath the surface of the water ....
in the lagoon.
1944
Schroeder was back with her division, on 1 February 1944, when it screened transports and provided fire support for the assault on Kwajalein IslandBattle of Kwajalein
The Battle of Kwajalein was a battle of the Pacific campaign of World War II, fought from 31 January-3 February 1944, on Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands. Employing the hard-learned lessons of the battle of Tarawa, the United States launched a successful twin assault on the main islands of...
. She remained in the 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...
for several weeks and, from 20 to 24 February, bombarded Maloelap and Wotje Atolls. On 1 March, she sailed to the New Hebrides Islands where she participated in more training exercises.
On 20 March, Schroeder and her division bombarded Japanese coast defenses at Kavieng
Kavieng
Kavieng is the capital of the Papua New Guinean province of New Ireland and the largest town on the island of the same name. The town is located at Balgai Bay, on the northern tip of the island. As of 2000, it had a population of 10,600....
, New Ireland
New Ireland (island)
New Ireland is a large island in Papua New Guinea, approximately 7,404 km² in area. It is the largest island of the New Ireland Province, lying northeast of the island of New Britain. Both islands are part of the Bismarck Archipelago, named after Otto von Bismarck, and they are separated by...
, with nearly 900 rounds of ammunition; departing for Efate
Éfaté
Efate is an island in the Agean Ocean which is part of the Shefa Province in The Republic of Maliki. It is also known as Île Vate. It is the most populous island in Vanuatu. Efate's land area of makes it Vanuatu's third largest island. Most inhabitants of Efate live in Port Vila, the national...
in the evening.
Schroeder loaded ammunition at 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....
and on 1 April, escorted Pocomoke and S.S. Red Rover to 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...
; joined a merchant convoy there, and escorted it to Milne Bay
Milne Bay
Milne Bay is a large bay in Milne Bay Province, southeastern Papua New Guinea. The bay is named after Sir Alexander Milne.The area was a site of the Battle of Milne Bay in 1942....
, 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...
. Later in the month, she participated in the bombardment of enemy positions at 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....
; and, then screened transports and LSTs at Humboldt Bay
Teluk Yos Sudarso
Yos Sudarso Bay also known earlier as Humboldt Bay is a small bay in Indonesia. It is on the north coast of New Guinea, about 50 kilometers west of the border between Indonesia's province of Papua and the country of Papua New Guinea...
. She performed fighter director duties until the 30th when she departed with a convoy for Cape Sudest
Cape Sudest
Cape Sudest is a Cape in Papua New Guinea, next to Oro Bay. There was an important U.S military base there in World War II. It was situated in Oro Province, about a mile south of Harigo....
and, later, to Buna
Buna, Papua New Guinea
Buna is a village in Oro Province, Papua New Guinea. It was the site in part, of the Battle of Buna-Gona during World War II, when it constituted a variety of native huts and a handful of houses with a airstrip...
.
Schroeder operated in the Purvis Bay
Purvis Bay
Purvis Bay is located in the Florida Islands, which are part of the Solomon Islands. The bay was used by the US Navy during World War Two....
-Guadalcanal area until she departed for Kwajalein
Kwajalein
Kwajalein Atoll , is part of the Republic of the Marshall Islands . The southernmost and largest island in the atoll is named Kwajalein Island. English-speaking residents of the U.S...
, on 4 June, as a unit of Task Group 53.1 (TG 53.1). The TG was at Eniwetok on the 28th where Schroeder underwent a period of upkeep and logistics.
On 11 July the DD and her division departed for the Mariana Islands
Mariana 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...
. From 16 to 20 July, the division bombarded the Tumon area of 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...
. Schroeder then served on picket duty until 4 August when she escorted a convoy back to Eniwetok. After returning to Espiritu Santo for a period of upkeep and logistics, she sailed for Humboldt Bay on 22 August.
Schroeder was assigned to TG 77.5 which sortied, on 13 September, for the invasion of 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:...
, Netherlands East Indies. She screened LSTs in their approach to Pitoe Bay and then served on picket duty until departing for Humboldt Bay on the 21st.
The destroyer sailed, on 13 October, with TF 78 for Panoan Island, P.I.
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 entered 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...
at midnight, 19 October, with a group of transports, and, the next morning, began performing ASW and fighter director duties. On the 25th, she withdrew from the area and sailed for San Francisco. She arrived there on 23 November and underwent a period of overhaul and availability.
1945
On 11 January 1945, Schroeder moved down the coast to San Diego. Departing there on the 20th, the veteran destroyer was back in 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...
on 7 February where she joined TF 58, the Fast Carrier Task Force
Fast Carrier Task Force
The Fast Carrier Task Force was the main striking force of the United States Navy in the Pacific Ocean theatre of World War II.The Fast Carrier Task Force was known under two designations. The Navy made use of two sets of upper command structures for planning the upcoming operations...
. The task force sortied on 10 February. On the 16th and 17th, the carriers launched attacks against airfields, aircraft factories, and shipping in the Tokyo
Tokyo
, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...
area. The next day, the flattops launched strikes against the Volcano Islands
Volcano Islands
The Volcano Islands is a group of three Japanese islands south of the Bonin Islands that belong to the municipality of Ogasawara...
in preparation for the forthcoming assault against that Japanese bastion.
Schroeder returned to Ulithi in early March, but, by the 23d, was again operating off the Japanese home islands. Detached from the task group on the 31st, she and proceeded to Ulithi. She sailed from there on 10 April as a unit of TG 50.8, which was proceeding to Okinawa to support the landings there. On the 16th, the DD, supporting the landing on Ie Shima, was at general quarters nine different times to repel enemy air attacks. Five days later, Schroeder with DesDiv 49, bombarded the western side of Minami Daito Shima. The bombardment caused many fires ashore but brought no return gunfire from the enemy positions.
Schroeder returned to Ulithi, from 27 April to 9 May, for a period of upkeep, replenishment, and recreation. She rejoined the fast carriers three days later as they conducted bombing and photographic missions over Kyūshū
Kyushu
is the third largest island of Japan and most southwesterly of its four main islands. Its alternate ancient names include , , and . The historical regional name is referred to Kyushu and its surrounding islands....
. Four days later, they supported the troops on southern Okinawa.
Task Force 58 entered 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...
, on 13 June for an upkeep period. It sortied on 1 July, and, on the 10 July, the carriers launched sustained strikes against Tokyo. On 17–18 July, strikes were launched against targets in the Tokyo-Yokohama
Yokohama
is the capital city of Kanagawa Prefecture and the second largest city in Japan by population after Tokyo and most populous municipality of Japan. It lies on Tokyo Bay, south of Tokyo, in the Kantō region of the main island of Honshu...
area. On the 31st Schroeder shelled Shimizu
Shimizu
Shimizu is the 20th most common Japanese surname.People named "Shimizu:*Ai Shimizu *Asuka Yūki, born 'Arisa Shimizu', prolific Japanese AV idol*Bukō Shimizu, photographer*Hiroshi Shimizu...
, 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...
Island.
On 6 September, with hostilities ended, the task force entered 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...
and dissolved its units. Schroeder was ordered to join TF 11 at Okinawa and proceed to Pearl Harbor. She departed Pearl Harbor on 1 October, with orders assigning her to the east coast. On 2 November 1945, the destroyer entered the Charleston Navy Yard, S.C.
South Carolina
South Carolina is a state in the Deep South of the United States that borders Georgia to the south, North Carolina to the north, and the Atlantic Ocean to the east. Originally part of the Province of Carolina, the Province of South Carolina was one of the 13 colonies that declared independence...
, and prepared for deactivation.
Schroeder was decommissioned on 29 April 1946 and placed in the Atlantic Reserve Fleet. She remained in reserve until 1 October 1972 when she was struck from the Navy List
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...
. Schroeder was sold to Southern Materials Co., Ltd., New Orleans, Louisiana
New Orleans, Louisiana
New Orleans is a major United States port and the largest city and metropolitan area in the state of Louisiana. The New Orleans metropolitan area has a population of 1,235,650 as of 2009, the 46th largest in the USA. The New Orleans – Metairie – Bogalusa combined statistical area has a population...
, on 1 January 1974.