USS Wileman (DE-22) was an constructed for 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...

. It was promptly sent off into the 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...

 to protect 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...

s and other ships from 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...

 submarines and fighter aircraft

Aircraft

An aircraft is a vehicle that is able to fly by gaining support from the air, or, in general, the atmosphere of a planet. An aircraft counters the force of gravity by using either static lift or by using the dynamic lift of an airfoil, or in a few cases the downward thrust from jet engines.Although...

. At the end of the war, she returned to the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 proudly displaying four battle stars.

She was laid down on 30 April 1942 at the Mare Island Navy Yard, Vallejo, California

Vallejo, California

Vallejo is the largest city in Solano County, California, United States. The population was 115,942 at the 2010 census. It is located in the San Francisco Bay Area on the northeastern shore of San Pablo Bay...

, as BDE-22, a destroyer escort allocated to the United Kingdom

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 under the Lend-Lease

Lend-Lease

Lend-Lease was the program under which the United States of America supplied the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union, China, Free France, and other Allied nations with materiel between 1941 and 1945. It was signed into law on March 11, 1941, a year and a half after the outbreak of war in Europe in...

 program; launched on 19 December 1942; sponsored by Mrs. Fred Yam; reallocated to 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...

 and redesignated DE-22 on 25 January 1942; named Wileman on 19 February 1943; and commissioned on 11 June 1943, Lt. Aaron F. Beyer, USNR

United States Navy Reserve

The United States Navy Reserve, until 2005 known as the United States Naval Reserve, is the Reserve Component of the United States Navy...

, in command.

World War II Pacific Theatre operations

Following shakedown

Sea trial

A sea trial is the testing phase of a watercraft . It is also referred to as a "shakedown cruise" by many naval personnel. It is usually the last phase of construction and takes place on open water, and can last from a few hours to many days.Sea trials are conducted to measure a vessel’s...

 along the U.S. West Coast, Wileman departed San Francisco, California

California

California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

, on 20 August in company with and a three-ship convoy. The five ships arrived in 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 27 August, but Wileman departed again a week later to escort on a voyage to the South Pacific. Ports of call during the cruise included Tutuila

Tutuila

Tutuila is the largest and the main island of American Samoa in the archipelago of Samoan Islands. It is the third largest island in the Samoan Islands chain of the Central Pacific located roughly northeast of Brisbane, Australia and over northeast of Fiji. It contains a large, natural harbor,...

, Samoa

Samoa

Samoa , officially the Independent State of Samoa, formerly known as Western Samoa is a country encompassing the western part of the Samoan Islands in the South Pacific Ocean. It became independent from New Zealand in 1962. The two main islands of Samoa are Upolu and one of the biggest islands in...

; Nouméa

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...

; and Suva

Suva

Suva features a tropical rainforest climate under the Koppen climate classification. The city sees a copious amount of precipitation during the course of the year. Suva averages 3,000 mm of precipitation annually with its driest month, July averaging 125 mm of rain per year. In fact,...

 in the Fiji Islands. Wharton and Wileman parted company at Suva.

The transport returned to San Francisco while the destroyer escort reported for a month of patrol and escort duty in the Ellice Islands. On 25 October, she departed the Ellice Islands to return to Oahu

Oahu

Oahu or Oahu , known as "The Gathering Place", is the third largest of the Hawaiian Islands and most populous of the islands in the U.S. state of Hawaii. The state capital Honolulu is located on the southeast coast...

. The warship entered Pearl Harbor on 2 November and began preparations for her role in the upcoming 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.

Under attack by Japanese bombers

After about two weeks at Hawaii, Wileman stood out of Pearl Harbor as part of the screen of a convoy carrying garrison

Garrison

Garrison is the collective term for a body of troops stationed in a particular location, originally to guard it, but now often simply using it as a home base....

 troops to the Gilberts. She reached Makin Island

Makin (islands)

Makin is the name of a chain of islands located in the Pacific Ocean island nation of Kiribati, specifically in the Gilbert Islands.-Geography:...

 at midday on the 24th. As a greeting, the Japanese launched an air attack on Makin from nearby Jaluit and Mili. Three twin-engine "Betty

Mitsubishi G4M

The Mitsubishi G4M 一式陸上攻撃機, 一式陸攻 Isshiki rikujō kōgeki ki, Isshikirikkō was the main twin-engine, land-based bomber used by the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service in World War II. The Allies gave the G4M the reporting name Betty...

" bombers picked out the Wileman convoy and attempted 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...

 attack. Wileman, the other destroyer escort, and the ships of the convoy themselves all went to general quarters

General quarters

General Quarters or Battle Stations is an announcement made aboard a naval warship to signal the crew to prepare for battle or imminent damage....

 and opened fire on the intruders. Their gunfire dissuaded two of the Japanese planes from pressing home their attack, and only the third succeeded in making his drop. Neither side, however, drew any blood during the encounter. The single torpedo passed wide of the entire convoy, and American anti-aircraft gunners brought down no Japanese planes.

After seeing her charges safely to Makin, Wileman began about a month of convoy escort and patrol duty between the islands of the Gilberts, Phoenix

Phoenix Islands

The Phoenix Islands are a group of eight atolls and two submerged coral reefs, lying in the central Pacific Ocean east of the Gilbert Islands and west of the Line Islands. They are a part of the Republic of Kiribati. During the late 1930s they became the site of the last attempted colonial...

, and Ellice groups as part of the Americans' effort to consolidate their position in the Gilberts in preparation for the conquest of 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...

, the next hop in the Navy's leapfrog thrust through the Central Pacific toward Japan.

Operation Flintlock support

On 8 January 1944, the destroyer escort returned to Pearl Harbor to prepare for her role in "Operation Flintlock", the Marshalls invasion. Twenty days later, she departed Oahu in the screen of a convoy bound for the Central Pacific. As in the case of the Gilberts operation, Wileman took no part in the actual assault phase of Operation Flintlock. Instead, she again escorted the ships carrying part of the garrison troops — the 16th Marine Defense Battalion

Marine defense battalions

Marine defense battalions were United States Marine Corps battalions charged with coastal defense of various naval bases in the Pacific during World War II...

 and a Construction Battalion

Seabee

Seabees are members of the United States Navy construction battalions. The word Seabee is a proper noun that comes from the initials of Construction Battalion, of the United States Navy...

 unit — 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...

 Atoll

Atoll

An atoll is a coral island that encircles a lagoon partially or completely.- Usage :The word atoll comes from the Dhivehi word atholhu OED...

. The assault itself went forward just three days after Wileman left Pearl Harbor, and Kwajalein had been secured for three days when she reached the atoll on 10 February. The convoy 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,...

 upon arrival, and Wileman began an uneventful 18 days on anti-submarine patrol in and around the atoll and later at 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...

. The warship

Warship

A warship is a ship that is built and primarily intended for combat. Warships are usually built in a completely different way from merchant ships. As well as being armed, warships are designed to withstand damage and are usually faster and more maneuvrable than merchant ships...

 departed the Marshalls on 28 February and reentered Pearl Harbor on 8 March.

After three weeks of gunnery drills and sonar

Sonar

Sonar is a technique that uses sound propagation to navigate, communicate with or detect other vessels...

 exercises, Wileman left the Hawaiian Islands on 30 March in an antisubmarine hunter-killer task group built around . The unit arrived in the eastern Marshalls at the end of the first week in April and began its search for Japanese submarines. The hunting proved less than good. During the voyage from Oahu, a plane from Altamaha claimed to have attacked an enemy submarine and took credit for a probable kill. While actually on patrol in the Marshalls, the group's only contact with the enemy almost proved to be a disaster.

Japanese torpedo misses U.S. carrier

Just after sunset on 15 April, one of the ships in the screen sighted a torpedo heading straight for the carrier. Warned in time by voice radio, Altamaha maneuvered out of the torpedo's path, and it passed harmlessly ahead. The group failed to make contact with the torpedo's launcher — probably a 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...

 — and continued its patrol.

Later in the month, Wileman and her colleagues in the screen traded carriers with Task Group (TG) 11.2 and Altamaha headed back to Pearl Harbor with and while her former screen continued the patrol with . also joined the hunter-killer group just before the conclusion of the operation; but, despite the additional escort carrier, success eluded the unit. The task group concluded its patrol of the eastern Marshalls on 6 May and headed back to Pearl Harbor. The warships arrived at Oahu on 13 May, and the task group was dissolved.

Marianas Campaign operations

Training exercises occupied the two weeks the destroyer escort spent at Pearl Harbor before her 27 May departure for the Central Pacific. Wileman entered the lagoon at Eniwetok on 4 June with her convoy of 11 oilers and one tanker. From there, she moved to Majuro, arriving on the 15th. For the opening phase of the Marianas campaign, Wileman again drew escort duty rather than participation in the actual assault. On 18 June, she left Majuro lagoon to escort transports to the anchorage 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...

. Arriving there on 22 June, she departed again on the 26th to screen a task group back to Eniwetok. She reached the atoll on 30 June and remained in the area for three weeks.

Late in July, she put to sea with a group of oilers operating as a replenishment group for the Fast Carrier Task Force. For the next two months, she cruised between the Marianas

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 Eniwetok escorting convoys and replenishment groups in support of the Marianas campaign and the fast carrier sweeps of Japan's inner defense line and logistics routes. On 15 September, her duty in the forward area ended when she headed via Pearl Harbor to San Francisco where she arrived on 6 November.

Duties at Pearl Harbor

Less than a week later, the destroyer escort put to sea to return to Oahu with a convoy of six LSM's and three merchant ships. The warship entered Pearl Harbor on 21 November and soon began intensive sound and gunnery training. During her stay in the Hawaiian Islands

Hawaiian Islands

The Hawaiian Islands are an archipelago of eight major islands, several atolls, numerous smaller islets, and undersea seamounts in the North Pacific Ocean, extending some 1,500 miles from the island of Hawaii in the south to northernmost Kure Atoll...

, she also served a tour as a school ship

School ship

A training ship is a ship used to train students as sailors. The term is especially used for ships employed by navies to train future officers. Essentially there are two types: those used for training at sea and old hulks used to house classrooms....

 for gunnery officers and another as a target and adversary for Pacific Fleet submarines undergoing type training.

Wileman began 1945 with a round-trip voyage to Majuro, departing Pearl Harbor on 5 January and returning on the 21st. She remained at Oahu only briefly, getting underway again that same day for the west coast and an overhaul. She arrived at Terminal Island

Terminal Island

Terminal Island is an island located in Los Angeles County, California between Los Angeles Harbor and Long Beach Harbor. Originally a mudflat known to the Spanish as Isla Raza de Buena Gente, and later called Rattlesnake Island, it has officially been Terminal Island since 1918...

, California

California

California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

, on the 29th. She began repairs and modifications on the 31st and completed them in mid-April. On 19 April, the warship shaped a course back to Pearl Harbor, where she arrived on the 25th. There, she resumed duty as a school ship, again training gunnery personnel and acting as target ship and surface opponent for Pacific Fleet submarines. Later, she also served as escort and plane guard for and during air training operations conducted northeast of Oahu in June 1945.

Return to Central Pacific operations

On 22 June, she stood out of Pearl Harbor to return to the Central Pacific. She arrived at Eniwetok on 30 June and began duty as a unit of the Marshalls and Gilberts Escort and Patrol Force (TG 96.3). For just over a month, she escorted convoys between 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...

 and conducted antisubmarine patrols in the Marshalls. On 2 and 3 August, the destroyer escort voyaged to Kwajalein where she was assigned hunter-killer and air-sea rescue duty. While at Kwajalein, Wileman received word of the Japanese capitulation on 14 August.

However, the destroyer escort continued to operate with TG 96.3 until mid-September. On 14 September, she quit her Eniwetok-Kwajalein-Ulithi circuit and headed for home. She stopped overnight at Pearl Harbor on 20 and 21 September and then continued on to the U.S. West Coast. The warship arrived in San Pedro, California, on 27 September.

Post-War decommissioning

The destroyer escort was decommissioned on 16 November 1945 at Terminal Island, California, and her name 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 28 November 1945. In January 1947, she was sold to the Pacific Bridge Co. and was scrapped by that firm on 23 June 1947.

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 four 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