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USS Steele (DE-8)
Encyclopedia
USS Steele (BDE-8/DE-8) was an Evarts-class
short-hull destroyer escort
in the service of the United States Navy
, named for Private John M. Steele, US Marines, killed during the Battle of the Coral Sea
on 8 May 1942.
Steele was laid down on 27 January 1942 by the Boston Navy Yard
; launched on 9 January 1943; sponsored by Mrs. John Steele; and commissioned on 4 May 1943, Lieutenant Commander
Mark E. Dennett in command.
to begin her shakedown cruise on 25 May and returned on 27 June for post-shakedown availability. She stood out of port on 6 July en route to the Pacific war zone. After making port calls at the Society
and Tonga
islands, Steele arrived at Noumea
, New Caledonia
, on 10 August. She escorted merchant ships and transports among the New Hebrides
, Fiji
, and Solomon Islands
until 13 December 1943 when she got underway for the west coast of the United States to be repaired.
Steele arrived at Mare Island, California, on 3 January 1944 and headed for Hawaii
exactly one month later. She arrived at Pearl Harbor
on 9 February and sailed with a convoy to the Marshall Islands
on the 14th. They reached Majuro
on the 22nd. The DE performed escort and patrol duty in the Marshalls until 7 May, when she sailed for the Gilbert Islands
to serve in the destroyer screen at Tarawa
. These orders were countermanded the day after her arrival, and she returned to Majuro on 12 May. Two days later, the escort put to sea with two tankers for a fueling rendezvous with aircraft carrier
s of Task Force (TF) 58, which was conducting air strikes against Marcus Island and Wake Island
.
Upon completion of this assignment, the ship was routed to Kwajalein
for tender availability. Steele sailed on 5 June for Kusaie Island
in the eastern Caroline Islands
to observe enemy activity and possibly to intercept a Japan
ese submarine
believed to be due there on the 6th. The submarine did not arrive, so the destroyer bombarded Lele Harbor on the east coast of the island and ascertained that the island was lightly fortified. She returned to the Marshalls and operated there until 23 June.
Steele escorted to the Mariana Islands
and arrived off Saipan
the morning of 26 June. She was assigned to the antisubmarine screen and then joined a convoy for the return trip to the Marshall Islands. She made another escort voyage to the Mariana Islands in early August. After a short upkeep period, Steele was assigned to a hunter-killer group centered on . The group sortied on 21 August and was designated as one of the eight groups of Admiral
William Halsey
's Western Carolines Forces which supported the fast carriers of TF 38.
Steele, with her group, supported the amphibious assault on Peleliu
, Palau Islands, by patrolling between there and Mindanao
, Philippine Islands. After refueling on 23 September, the group shifted their patrol area to the northeast of the Palaus. On 3 October, made a surface contact which was identified as a Japanese submarine. Steele was detached from the screen to assist the escort. The submarine had submerged, but Samuel S. Miles made sonar
contact and fired two hedgehog patterns. The second pattern produced two underwater explosions which Steeles sonar equipment picked up and a third explosion so violent that it damaged some of Miles sonar and radar. Steele made more runs over the area but could not make contact. Miles had sunk the Japanese submarine I-364.
Steele made a logistics stop at Manus
from 9 to 13 October and sallied with the group for the Philippine Islands. As the fast carriers launched strikes against Leyte
, Luzon
, and Formosa
, the aircraft from Hoggatt Bay protected the refueling operations. On the 20th, Steele and her group rendezvoused with and , which had been hit off Formosa while serving with the 3rd Fleet. After furnishing protection for the cruisers for two days, the group was detached to rejoin the 3rd Fleet fueling group which was then supporting the liberation of Leyte. The group arrived at Ulithi
on 27 October and was dissolved the following day. On 1 November, Steele returned to the Palaus and operated from there until 8 January 1945 when she arrived at Ulithi for upkeep. After escorting a convoy to Saipan, the escort headed for Pearl Harbor.
Steele was there for a month and then escorted ships to Eniwetok, Saipan
, Ulithi, and Guam
. She arrived at Apra Harbor
on 5 May and operated from there until 18 September when she sailed for the west coast. The destroyer escort arrived at San Pedro, California, on 5 October. An inspection team checked the ship on the 23d and recommended that she be scrapped.
Steele decommissioned on 21 November and was struck from the Navy list
on 5 December 1945.
Evarts class destroyer escort
The Evarts class destroyer escorts were destroyer escorts launched in the United States in 1942–1944. They served in World War II as convoy escorts and anti-submarine warfare ships. They were also known as the GMT or "short hull" DE class, with GMT standing for General Motors Tandem Diesel...
short-hull 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...
in the service of 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...
, named for Private John M. Steele, US Marines, killed during the Battle of the Coral Sea
Battle of the Coral Sea
The Battle of the Coral Sea, fought from 4–8 May 1942, was a major naval battle in the Pacific Theater of World War II between the Imperial Japanese Navy and Allied naval and air forces from the United States and Australia. The battle was the first fleet action in which aircraft carriers engaged...
on 8 May 1942.
Steele was laid down on 27 January 1942 by the Boston Navy Yard
Boston Navy Yard
The Boston Navy Yard, originally called the Charlestown Navy Yard and later Boston Naval Shipyard, was one of the oldest shipbuilding facilities in the United States Navy. Established in 1801, it was officially closed as an active naval installation on July 1, 1974, and the property was...
; launched on 9 January 1943; sponsored by Mrs. John Steele; and commissioned on 4 May 1943, Lieutenant Commander
Lieutenant Commander
Lieutenant Commander is a commissioned officer rank in many navies. The rank is superior to a lieutenant and subordinate to a commander...
Mark E. Dennett in command.
Service history
Steele sailed from Boston for BermudaBermuda
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...
to begin her shakedown cruise on 25 May and returned on 27 June for post-shakedown availability. She stood out of port on 6 July en route to the Pacific war zone. After making port calls at the Society
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 Tonga
Tonga
Tonga, officially the Kingdom of Tonga , is a state and an archipelago in the South Pacific Ocean, comprising 176 islands scattered over of ocean in the South Pacific...
islands, Steele arrived at Noumea
Nouméa
Nouméa is the capital city of the French territory of New Caledonia. It is situated on a peninsula in the south of New Caledonia's main island, Grande Terre, and is home to the majority of the island's European, Polynesian , Indonesian, and Vietnamese populations, as well as many Melanesians,...
, New Caledonia
New Caledonia
New Caledonia is a special collectivity of France located in the southwest Pacific Ocean, east of Australia and about from Metropolitan France. The archipelago, part of the Melanesia subregion, includes the main island of Grande Terre, the Loyalty Islands, the Belep archipelago, the Isle of...
, on 10 August. She escorted merchant ships and transports among 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...
, Fiji
Fiji
Fiji , officially the Republic of Fiji , is an island nation in Melanesia in the South Pacific Ocean about northeast of New Zealand's North Island...
, and Solomon Islands
Solomon Islands
Solomon Islands is a sovereign state in Oceania, east of Papua New Guinea, consisting of nearly one thousand islands. It covers a land mass of . The capital, Honiara, is located on the island of Guadalcanal...
until 13 December 1943 when she got underway for the west coast of the United States to be repaired.
Steele arrived at Mare Island, California, on 3 January 1944 and headed for 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...
exactly one month later. She arrived 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 9 February and sailed with a convoy to the 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 the 14th. They reached 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...
on the 22nd. The DE performed escort and patrol duty in the Marshalls until 7 May, when she sailed for 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...
to serve in the destroyer screen at Tarawa
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...
. These orders were countermanded the day after her arrival, and she returned to Majuro on 12 May. Two days later, the escort put to sea with two tankers for a fueling rendezvous with aircraft carrier
Aircraft 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 of Task Force (TF) 58, which was conducting air strikes against Marcus Island and 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...
.
Upon completion of this assignment, the ship was routed to 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...
for tender availability. Steele sailed on 5 June for Kusaie Island
Kosrae
Kosrae , formerly known as Kusaie, is an island in Micronesia. The State of Kosrae is one of four states of the Federated States of Micronesia, and includes, besides the island of Kosrae, about a dozen satellite islands and islets, the most significant of which is Lelu Island.-Geography:With a...
in the eastern Caroline Islands
Caroline Islands
The Caroline Islands are a widely scattered archipelago of tiny islands in the western Pacific Ocean, to the north of New Guinea. Politically they are divided between the Federated States of Micronesia in the eastern part of the group, and Palau at the extreme western end...
to observe enemy activity and possibly to intercept a Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
ese 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...
believed to be due there on the 6th. The submarine did not arrive, so the destroyer bombarded Lele Harbor on the east coast of the island and ascertained that the island was lightly fortified. She returned to the Marshalls and operated there until 23 June.
Steele escorted to 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...
and arrived off Saipan
Saipan
Saipan is the largest island of the United States Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands , a chain of 15 tropical islands belonging to the Marianas archipelago in the western Pacific Ocean with a total area of . The 2000 census population was 62,392...
the morning of 26 June. She was assigned to the antisubmarine screen and then joined a convoy for the return trip to the Marshall Islands. She made another escort voyage to the Mariana Islands in early August. After a short upkeep period, Steele was assigned to a hunter-killer group centered on . The group sortied on 21 August and was designated as one of the eight groups of Admiral
Admiral
Admiral is the rank, or part of the name of the ranks, of the highest naval officers. It is usually considered a full admiral and above vice admiral and below admiral of the fleet . It is usually abbreviated to "Adm" or "ADM"...
William Halsey
William Halsey, Jr.
Fleet Admiral William Frederick Halsey, Jr., United States Navy, , was a U.S. Naval officer. He commanded the South Pacific Area during the early stages of the Pacific War against Japan...
's Western Carolines Forces which supported the fast carriers of TF 38.
Steele, with her group, supported the amphibious assault on Peleliu
Peleliu
Peleliu is an island in the island nation of Palau. Peleliu forms, along with two small islands to its northeast, one of the sixteen states of Palau. It is located northeast of Angaur and southwest of Koror....
, Palau Islands, by patrolling between there and Mindanao
Mindanao
Mindanao is the second largest and easternmost island in the Philippines. It is also the name of one of the three island groups in the country, which consists of the island of Mindanao and smaller surrounding islands. The other two are Luzon and the Visayas. The island of Mindanao is called The...
, Philippine Islands. After refueling on 23 September, the group shifted their patrol area to the northeast of the Palaus. On 3 October, made a surface contact which was identified as a Japanese submarine. Steele was detached from the screen to assist the escort. The submarine had submerged, but Samuel S. Miles made sonar
Sonar
Sonar is a technique that uses sound propagation to navigate, communicate with or detect other vessels...
contact and fired two hedgehog patterns. The second pattern produced two underwater explosions which Steeles sonar equipment picked up and a third explosion so violent that it damaged some of Miles sonar and radar. Steele made more runs over the area but could not make contact. Miles had sunk the Japanese submarine I-364.
Steele made a logistics stop at 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...
from 9 to 13 October and sallied with the group for the Philippine Islands. As the fast carriers launched strikes against Leyte
Leyte Island
Leyte is an island in the Visayas group of the Philippines.The island measures about 180 km north-south and about 65 km at its widest point. In the north it nearly joins Samar, separated by the San Juanico Strait, which becomes as narrow as 2 km in some places...
, 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...
, and 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...
, the aircraft from Hoggatt Bay protected the refueling operations. On the 20th, Steele and her group rendezvoused with and , which had been hit off Formosa while serving with the 3rd Fleet. After furnishing protection for the cruisers for two days, the group was detached to rejoin the 3rd Fleet fueling group which was then supporting the liberation of Leyte. The group arrived 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...
on 27 October and was dissolved the following day. On 1 November, Steele returned to the Palaus and operated from there until 8 January 1945 when she arrived at Ulithi for upkeep. After escorting a convoy to Saipan, the escort headed for Pearl Harbor.
Steele was there for a month and then escorted ships to Eniwetok, Saipan
Saipan
Saipan is the largest island of the United States Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands , a chain of 15 tropical islands belonging to the Marianas archipelago in the western Pacific Ocean with a total area of . The 2000 census population was 62,392...
, Ulithi, and 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...
. She arrived at Apra Harbor
Apra Harbor
Apra Harbor is a deep-water port on the western side of Guam in the Mariana Islands. The harbor is formed by Orote Peninsula in the south and Cabras Island in the north. To the south, the harbor narrows and then widens again to form an inner harbor. The southern end of the harbor is the location...
on 5 May and operated from there until 18 September when she sailed for the west coast. The destroyer escort arrived at San Pedro, California, on 5 October. An inspection team checked the ship on the 23d and recommended that she be scrapped.
Steele decommissioned on 21 November and 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...
on 5 December 1945.
Awards
 |
Combat Action Ribbon Combat Action Ribbon The Combat Action Ribbon is a personal military decoration of the United States Navy, United States Marine Corps, and United States Coast Guard which is awarded to those who, in any grade including and below that of a Captain in the Navy and Coast Guard , have actively participated in ground or... (retroactive) |
 |
American Campaign Medal American Campaign Medal The American Campaign Medal was a military decoration of the United States armed forces which was first created on November 6, 1942 by issued by President Franklin D. Roosevelt... |
| Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal The Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal is a service decoration of the Second World War which was awarded to any member of the United States military who served in the Pacific Theater from 1941 to 1945 and was created on November 6, 1942 by issued by President Franklin D. Roosevelt. The medal was... (with two service star Service star A service star, also referred to as a battle star, campaign star, or engagement star, is an attachment to a United States military decoration which denotes participation in military campaigns or multiple bestowals of the same award. Service stars are typically issued for campaign medals, service... s) |
|
 |
World War II Victory Medal |
External links
- Photo gallery at navsource.org