USS Swearer (DE-186) was a in 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 was later transferred to the French Navy

French Navy

The French Navy, officially the Marine nationale and often called La Royale is the maritime arm of the French military. It includes a full range of fighting vessels, from patrol boats to a nuclear powered aircraft carrier and 10 nuclear-powered submarines, four of which are capable of launching...

 as Bambara.

Swearer was laid down 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...

 of Newark, New Jersey

Newark, New Jersey

Newark is the largest city in the American state of New Jersey, and the seat of Essex County. As of the 2010 United States Census, Newark had a population of 277,140, maintaining its status as the largest municipality in New Jersey. It is the 68th largest city in the U.S...

 on 12 August 1943, launched on 31 October 1943, and commissioned on 23 November 1943. Swearer was named for Lt. Walter John Swearer who was killed in action aboard during the Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands

Santa Cruz Islands

The Santa Cruz Islands are a group of islands in the Pacific Ocean, part of Temotu Province of the Solomon Islands. They lie approximately 250 miles to the southeast of the Solomon Islands Chain...

 in October 1942.

1944

From commissioning until mid-January 1944, Swearer was attached to the Operational Training Command, Atlantic Fleet for shakedown training and post-shakedown availability. On 19 January 1944, she put to sea from New York City in the screen of a convoy of troop transports bound for 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...

. She transited the canal at the end of January and continued on to Hawaii. Swearer arrived in Pearl Harbor on 15 February and remained there until the 29th, conducting training and undergoing repairs. On the 29th, she set sail for Eniwetok Atoll in the screen of a convoy and, after a stop at 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...

, reached her destination on 8 March.

For a little more than ten months, Swearer contributed to America's war effort in the Pacific by shepherding the logistics groups which supported the fighting. During the bulk of the time, she operated from Eniwetok and 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...

 atolls, screening the fueling group of the 3rd/5th fleets to and from fueling rendezvous. In being so engaged, the destroyer escort participated in the raids on 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...

, Yap, Woleai, Truk, Sata-wan, and Ponape in March and April 1944.

In early April, she also screened escort carriers from Manus to resupply rendezvous with the larger carriers then engaged in operations in western New Guinea. After a month at Pearl Harbor in repairs, she returned to the central Pacific and to screening duty with the fueling group. She participated in the capture and occupation of 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...

 between June and August, then moved south to Manus to screen escort carriers during the western Carolines

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...

 and 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...

 operations. In November, Swearer resumed duty with the fueling group. During these last three months with the fueling groups, she supported the fast carriers as they struck 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...

 in the 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...

 and as they made their sweep of Formosa, the China coast, and of the Nansei Shoto.

1945

After repairs and upkeep at Ulithi in the western Carolines, from 21 January to 6 February 1945, Swearer joined a convoy of cargo and troopships bound for 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...

. The convoy stopped at Guam for a week, then headed for Iwo Jima on 6 February. Swearer and her convoy arrived off the island on 19 February, the date of the assault. For five days, she patrolled the transport area and helped fight off Japanese air attacks, before departing on the 23rd for Leyte Gulf in the Philippines.

The destroyer escort remained in San Pedro Bay until 19 March, preparing 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...

. Between the 19–26 March, she screened a convoy of cargo, troop, and amphibious warfare ships to the Okinawa staging area at Kerama Retto

Kerama Retto

The are a group of 22 islands located southwest of Okinawa Island in Japan. Four of the islands are inhabited:,., and. The islands are within Shimajiri District. The Kerama-shotō coral reef is a Ramsar Site....

. Swearer remained in the vicinity of Okinawa for three months, patrolling, screening, escorting, and fighting off kamikaze attacks. She was attacked by a "Zeke

A6M Zero

The Mitsubishi A6M Zero was a long-range fighter aircraft operated by the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service from 1940 to 1945. The A6M was designated as the , and also designated as the Mitsubishi A6M Rei-sen and Mitsubishi Navy 12-shi Carrier Fighter. The A6M was usually referred to by the...

" on the day of the invasion, but her gunners brought him down before he could crash her. On 16 April, a "Val

Aichi D3A

The , Allied reporting name "Val") was a World War II carrier-borne dive bomber of the Imperial Japanese Navy . It was the primary dive bomber in the Imperial Japanese Navy, and participated in almost all actions, including Pearl Harbor....

" tried to crash-dive Swearer, but again her gunners brought him down. The destroyer escort continued to patrol Kerama Retto until 5 July. She suffered two more air attacks during that time, one by a bomber on 13 May and another by a torpedo bomber on 27 June. In both cases, however, neither plane nor ship inflicted damage upon the other.

For the duration of the war the Swearer was under the command of Captains John M. Trent and Kenneth H. Hannan. During her long tour of duty the Swearer received a total of 9 battle stars, 7 for the Philippine liberation and 2 for surviving without injury or damage following actions of aerial strafing, aerial torpedo

Aerial torpedo

The aerial torpedo, airborne torpedo or air-dropped torpedo is a naval weapon, the torpedo, designed to be dropped into water from an aircraft after which it propels itself to the target. First used in World War I, air-dropped torpedoes were used extensively in World War II, and remain in limited...

, dive-bombing, two kamikaze attacks, and Typhoon Cobra.

Swearer returned to Eniwetok on 12 July, and headed for the United States on the following day. After a stop at Pearl Harbor, she entered San Diego on 27 July, and commenced overhaul. Three months later, she headed south to the Panama Canal, transited it on 4 November, and headed north to Norfolk, where she arrived on 10 November.

Decommissioning and transfer

On 25 February 1946, Swearer was placed out of commission and berthed 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....

. She remained there until the spring of 1950, when she was moved to Philadelphia to repair for turnover to the Republic of France. On 16 September 1950, she joined the French Navy as Bambara (F-719), and her name was struck from the Naval Vessel Register

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 20 October 1950. Bambara was stricken by the French Navy and broken up in 1959.

External links

• Standby Arnold - review of book by former crewmen Chesty Arnold