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USS England (DE-635)
Encyclopedia
USS England (DE-635), a of the United States Navy
, was named in honor of Ensign
John C. England
(1920–1941), who was killed in action aboard the battleship
during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor
on 7 December 1941. Her sinking of six Japanese submarines in twelve days is a feat unparalleled in the history of antisubmarine warfare.
England was launched on 26 September 1943 at the Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corporation
shipyard in San Francisco, California
, sponsored by Mrs. H. B. England, mother of Ensign England; and commissioned on 10 December 1943, with Commander
W. B. Pendleton in command.
England arrived at Espiritu Santo
on 12 March 1944 from San Francisco, Pearl Harbor
, Funafuti
, and Guadalcanal
. She took up escort duty between Espiritu Santo and Guadalcanal, occasionally sailing to Nouméa
, and once to the Marshalls
.
Military intelligence
decoded a 13 May 1944 message from including a scheduled delivery of rice for Japanese troops at Buin on the southern tip of Bougainville Island
. England, and were ordered to intercept I-16. England detected I-16 during calm, sunny weather on the early afternoon of 18 May 1944. The first hedgehog
attack at 1341 was a miss. A second hedgehog attack scored one hit at a depth of 130 feet (39.6 m). A third hedgehog attack at 1410 missed because depth was assumed to be 200 feet (61 m) rather than the 325 feet (99.1 m) revealed by the fathometer
following the attack. I-16 outmaneuvered a fourth hedgehog attack. The fifth hedgehog attack at 1433 scored four to six detonations and was followed by a large underwater explosion which lifted Englands fantail and knocked men off their feet. Debris began floating to the surface twenty minutes later. The following day, a three by six-mile (5 by 10-kilometer) oil slick marked the location on the calm surface of the Pacific.
to intercept an anticipated movement of United States aircraft carriers. , , , , , , and of the Japanese seventh submarine squadron formed a patrol line across a route Admiral Halsey
had used twice before. George detected RO-106 on RADAR
at 0350 on 22 May, saw the submarine dive when located by searchlight, and missed with a hedgehog attack at 0415. England regained contact at 0425, missed with one hedgehog attack, and scored at least three detonations on a second attack at 0501. A large underwater explosion was detected as England prepared to conduct a third attack, and a heavy oil slick with debris was evident after sunrise.
contact at 0610, and missed with four hedgehog attacks beginning at 0617. George missed with a hedgehog attack at 0717. George then missed with four more hedgehog attacks between 0730 and 0810. England then missed with a first hedgehog attack and scored an estimated ten or twelve detonations on a second hedgehog attack at 0834. The hits were followed by noises of the submarine breaking up and a large underwater explosion three minutes later. Debris and oil appeared on the surface at 1045.
contact at 0150, and scored three to five detonations on the first hedgehog attack at 0214. Breaking-up noises were not followed by the major explosions noted on earlier sinkings. A small quantity of oil and debris was evident after sunrise at 0702 and the oil slick had expanded to cover several square miles the following day.
. Raby detected RO-108 on RADAR at 2303 26 May. England made RADAR contact at 2304, SONAR contact at 2318, and scored four to six detonations with the first hedgehog attack. There was no major explosion following the breaking-up noises, but a fountain of oil was observed rising to the surface at dawn.
attack. George and Raby joined Hazelwood and made sixteen hedgehog and depth charge attacks over a period of 25 hours. RO-105 came up for air at 0310 on 31 May and was immediately detected by George and Raby. RO-105 stayed directly between the two destroyer escorts for five minutes before submerging so neither Raby nor George could fire without endangering the other. Sequential hedgehog attacks were then made by Raby, George, Raby, and Spangler. All missed. Division Commander Hains then radioed, "Oh, hell. Go ahead, England." England then scored six to ten detonations in a hedgehog attack at 0736. A major explosion followed at 0741 and a fountain of oil and debris appeared on the surface.
This anti-submarine warfare performance was never matched in World War II
, and won for England a Presidential Unit Citation, and the assurance from the Chief of Naval Operations
, Admiral
E. J. King
, "There'll always be an England in the United States Navy." His pledge was fulfilled on 6 October 1960, when DLG-22
was assigned the name England.
, providing the escort services necessary for the building up of bases, preparations for the renewed assaults on Japanese territories to the north, and provision of supplies to garrison forces on the islands of the southwest Pacific. In August, she underwent repairs at Manus, and between 24 September and 15 October voyaged from the Treasury Islands
to Sydney
, Australia
. From the Treasuries, she sailed guarding a convoy
to Hollandia
, where she arrived on 18 October, and on the 26th got underway on the first of two voyages to escort reinforcement convoys to newly invaded Leyte
. She returned to Manus and local escort duty on 2 December.
From 2 January 1945, England escorted convoys between Manus and Ulithi
, the major base for operations of the carrier task forces
, and later to be the staging point for the assaults on Iwo Jima
and Okinawa
. The escort vessel sailed to Kossol Roads
in February, bringing in a convoy later routed on to the Philippines
, then resumed her duty on the Manus-Ulithi sealanes. She sailed from Ulithi on 23 March for the pre-invasion bombardment of Okinawa, returned to Ulithi to join the screen of two cruiser
s, guarding them back to Okinawa to join the 5th Fleet just after the initial assault on 1 April. Between 6 and 17 April, she voyaged to Saipan
screening unladen transports, then took up a screening and patrol station north of the Kerama Retto.
On 9 May 1945, while on station, England was attacked by three Japanese dive bomber
s. Her anti-aircraft fire set the first of these flaming, but the plane crashed England on her starboard side, just below the bridge. The kamikaze
pilot had remembered his instructions to knock out the ship's nerve center and kill as many as possible of her officers. With the bomb
of the plane exploding just after the crash, Englands men began a dangerous race against time, to quench the fires and save their ship, while the combat air patrol
shot down the two other attackers. One of these men was Walter L. Kabis (1914-2009), a gunnery officer on board. England was able to make Kerama Retto under tow, with 37 of her men killed or missing and 25 wounded.
England sailed on to Leyte, where she received temporary repairs to put her in shape for the long voyage home. On 16 July 1945 she arrived at Philadelphia for permanent repairs and conversion to a High speed transport
. The end of the war, however, halted this work. Because of her extensive damage and a surplus of ships of her type, it was decided not to repair her. She was decommissioned on 15 October 1945 and sold for scrapping on 26 November 1946.
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...
, was named in honor of Ensign
Ensign (rank)
Ensign is a junior rank of a commissioned officer in the armed forces of some countries, normally in the infantry or navy. As the junior officer in an infantry regiment was traditionally the carrier of the ensign flag, the rank itself acquired the name....
John C. England
John C. England
Ensign John Charles England was an officer in the United States Navy.-Biography:John Charles England was born in Harris, Missouri, on December 11, 1920. His family then moved to Alhambra, California. He attended Alhambra High School, as did his sister Lennie England...
(1920–1941), who was killed in action aboard the battleship
Battleship
A battleship is a large armored warship with a main battery consisting of heavy caliber guns. Battleships were larger, better armed and armored than cruisers and destroyers. As the largest armed ships in a fleet, battleships were used to attain command of the sea and represented the apex of a...
during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor
Attack on Pearl Harbor
The attack on Pearl Harbor was a surprise military strike conducted by the Imperial Japanese Navy against the United States naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on the morning of December 7, 1941...
on 7 December 1941. Her sinking of six Japanese submarines in twelve days is a feat unparalleled in the history of antisubmarine warfare.
England was launched on 26 September 1943 at the Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corporation
Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corporation
Bethlehem Steel Corporation Shipbuilding Division was created in 1905 when Bethlehem Steel Corporation acquired the San Francisco shipyard Union Iron Works in 1905...
shipyard in San Francisco, California
San Francisco, California
San Francisco , officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the financial, cultural, and transportation center of the San Francisco Bay Area, a region of 7.15 million people which includes San Jose and Oakland...
, sponsored by Mrs. H. B. England, mother of Ensign England; and commissioned on 10 December 1943, with Commander
Commander
Commander is a naval rank which is also sometimes used as a military title depending on the individual customs of a given military service. Commander is also used as a rank or title in some organizations outside of the armed forces, particularly in police and law enforcement.-Commander as a naval...
W. B. Pendleton in command.
England arrived 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....
on 12 March 1944 from San Francisco, 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...
, Funafuti
Funafuti
Funafuti is an atoll that forms the capital of the island nation of Tuvalu. It has a population of 4,492 , making it the most populated atoll in the country. It is a narrow sweep of land between 20 and 400 metres wide, encircling a large lagoon 18 km long and 14 km wide, with a surface of...
, and 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...
. She took up escort duty between Espiritu Santo and Guadalcanal, occasionally sailing to 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,...
, and once to 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...
.
I-16
United States Pacific FleetUnited States Pacific Fleet
The United States Pacific Fleet is a Pacific Ocean theater-level component command of the United States Navy that provides naval resources under the operational control of the United States Pacific Command. Its home port is at Pearl Harbor Naval Base, Hawaii. It is commanded by Admiral Patrick M...
Military intelligence
Military intelligence
Military intelligence is a military discipline that exploits a number of information collection and analysis approaches to provide guidance and direction to commanders in support of their decisions....
decoded a 13 May 1944 message from including a scheduled delivery of rice for Japanese troops at Buin on the southern tip of Bougainville Island
Bougainville Island
Bougainville Island is the main island of the Autonomous Region of Bougainville of Papua New Guinea. This region is also known as Bougainville Province or the North Solomons. The population of the province is 175,160 , which includes the adjacent island of Buka and assorted outlying islands...
. England, and were ordered to intercept I-16. England detected I-16 during calm, sunny weather on the early afternoon of 18 May 1944. The first hedgehog
Hedgehog (weapon)
The Hedgehog was an anti-submarine weapon developed by the Royal Navy during World War II, that was deployed on convoy escort warships such as destroyers to supplement the depth charge. The weapon worked by firing a number of small spigot mortar bombs from spiked fittings...
attack at 1341 was a miss. A second hedgehog attack scored one hit at a depth of 130 feet (39.6 m). A third hedgehog attack at 1410 missed because depth was assumed to be 200 feet (61 m) rather than the 325 feet (99.1 m) revealed by the fathometer
Fishfinder
A fishfinder is an instrument used to locate fish underwater by detecting reflected pulses of sound energy, as in SONAR. A modern fishfinder displays measurements of reflected sound on a graphical display, allowing an operator to interpret information to locate schools of fish, underwater debris,...
following the attack. I-16 outmaneuvered a fourth hedgehog attack. The fifth hedgehog attack at 1433 scored four to six detonations and was followed by a large underwater explosion which lifted Englands fantail and knocked men off their feet. Debris began floating to the surface twenty minutes later. The following day, a three by six-mile (5 by 10-kilometer) oil slick marked the location on the calm surface of the Pacific.
RO-106
A 20 May 1944 message was decoded revealing Japanese plans for a submarine trap north of the Admiralty IslandsAdmiralty Islands
The Admiralty Islands are a group of eighteen islands in the Bismarck Archipelago, to the north of New Guinea in the south Pacific Ocean. These are also sometimes called the Manus Islands, after the largest island. These rainforest-covered islands form part of Manus Province, the smallest and...
to intercept an anticipated movement of United States aircraft carriers. , , , , , , and of the Japanese seventh submarine squadron formed a patrol line across a route Admiral 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...
had used twice before. George detected RO-106 on RADAR
Radar
Radar is an object-detection system which uses radio waves to determine the range, altitude, direction, or speed of objects. It can be used to detect aircraft, ships, spacecraft, guided missiles, motor vehicles, weather formations, and terrain. The radar dish or antenna transmits pulses of radio...
at 0350 on 22 May, saw the submarine dive when located by searchlight, and missed with a hedgehog attack at 0415. England regained contact at 0425, missed with one hedgehog attack, and scored at least three detonations on a second attack at 0501. A large underwater explosion was detected as England prepared to conduct a third attack, and a heavy oil slick with debris was evident after sunrise.
RO-104
The three destroyer escorts formed a RADAR search line with a scouting interval of 16,000 yards during hours of darkness. Raby detected RO-104 on RADAR at 0600 on 23 May, made SONARSonar
Sonar is a technique that uses sound propagation to navigate, communicate with or detect other vessels...
contact at 0610, and missed with four hedgehog attacks beginning at 0617. George missed with a hedgehog attack at 0717. George then missed with four more hedgehog attacks between 0730 and 0810. England then missed with a first hedgehog attack and scored an estimated ten or twelve detonations on a second hedgehog attack at 0834. The hits were followed by noises of the submarine breaking up and a large underwater explosion three minutes later. Debris and oil appeared on the surface at 1045.
RO-116
George detected RO-116 on RADAR at 0120 24 May. England made SONARSonar
Sonar is a technique that uses sound propagation to navigate, communicate with or detect other vessels...
contact at 0150, and scored three to five detonations on the first hedgehog attack at 0214. Breaking-up noises were not followed by the major explosions noted on earlier sinkings. A small quantity of oil and debris was evident after sunrise at 0702 and the oil slick had expanded to cover several square miles the following day.
RO-108
A hunter-killer group consisting of the escort carrier with destroyers , , , and arrived on 26 May so the three destroyer escorts could leave to refuel and rearm. The destroyer escorts maintained their search formation en route to ManusManus 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...
. Raby detected RO-108 on RADAR at 2303 26 May. England made RADAR contact at 2304, SONAR contact at 2318, and scored four to six detonations with the first hedgehog attack. There was no major explosion following the breaking-up noises, but a fountain of oil was observed rising to the surface at dawn.
RO-105
The three destroyer escorts reached Manus at 1500 on 27 May. After taking on fuel, provisions, and ammunition, they sailed at 1800 28 May with to rejoin the search. Hazelwood detected RO-105 on RADAR at 0156 on 30 May and missed with a depth chargeDepth charge
A depth charge is an anti-submarine warfare weapon intended to destroy or cripple a target submarine by the shock of exploding near it. Most use explosives and a fuze set to go off at a preselected depth in the ocean. Depth charges can be dropped by either surface ships, patrol aircraft, or from...
attack. George and Raby joined Hazelwood and made sixteen hedgehog and depth charge attacks over a period of 25 hours. RO-105 came up for air at 0310 on 31 May and was immediately detected by George and Raby. RO-105 stayed directly between the two destroyer escorts for five minutes before submerging so neither Raby nor George could fire without endangering the other. Sequential hedgehog attacks were then made by Raby, George, Raby, and Spangler. All missed. Division Commander Hains then radioed, "Oh, hell. Go ahead, England." England then scored six to ten detonations in a hedgehog attack at 0736. A major explosion followed at 0741 and a fountain of oil and debris appeared on the surface.
This anti-submarine warfare performance was never matched in 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...
, and won for England a Presidential Unit Citation, and the assurance from the Chief of Naval Operations
Chief of Naval Operations
The Chief of Naval Operations is a statutory office held by a four-star admiral in the United States Navy, and is the most senior uniformed officer assigned to serve in the Department of the Navy. The office is a military adviser and deputy to the Secretary of the Navy...
, 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"...
E. J. King
Ernest King
Fleet Admiral Ernest Joseph King was Commander in Chief, United States Fleet and Chief of Naval Operations during World War II. As COMINCH, he directed the United States Navy's operations, planning, and administration and was a member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. He was the U.S...
, "There'll always be an England in the United States Navy." His pledge was fulfilled on 6 October 1960, when DLG-22
USS England (DLG-22)
The second USS England , a Leahy-class guided missile cruiser, was a ship of the United States Navy named in honor of Ensign John C. England. Originally called a "destroyer leader" or frigate, in 1975 she was re-designated a cruiser in the Navy's 1975 ship reclassification.Ensign John Charles...
was assigned the name England.
Subsequent service
Through the summer of 1944, England sailed throughout the northern SolomonsSolomon 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...
, providing the escort services necessary for the building up of bases, preparations for the renewed assaults on Japanese territories to the north, and provision of supplies to garrison forces on the islands of the southwest Pacific. In August, she underwent repairs at Manus, and between 24 September and 15 October voyaged from the Treasury Islands
Treasury Islands
Treasury Islands are a small group of islands a few kilometers to the south of Bougainville and 24 kilometers from the Shortland Islands. They form part of the Western Province of the Solomon Islands. The two largest islands in the Treasuries are Mono Island and the smaller Stirling Island...
to Sydney
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
. From the Treasuries, she sailed guarding 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...
to 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....
, where she arrived on 18 October, and on the 26th got underway on the first of two voyages to escort reinforcement convoys to newly invaded 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...
. She returned to Manus and local escort duty on 2 December.
From 2 January 1945, England escorted convoys between Manus 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...
, the major base for operations of the carrier task forces
Carrier battle group
A carrier battle group consists of an aircraft carrier and its escorts, together composing the group. The first naval task forces built around carriers appeared just prior to and during World War II. The Imperial Japanese Navy was the first to assemble a large number of carriers into a single...
, and later to be the staging point for the assaults on 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...
and 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...
. The escort vessel sailed to Kossol Roads
Kossol Roads
Kossol Roads, Palau is a large body of reef-enclosed water north of Babeldaob. During World War II, it was used by the United States Navy as the location of a floating resupply and repair base....
in February, bringing in a convoy later routed on to 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...
, then resumed her duty on the Manus-Ulithi sealanes. She sailed from Ulithi on 23 March for the pre-invasion bombardment of Okinawa, returned to Ulithi to join the screen of two cruiser
Cruiser
A cruiser is a type of warship. The term has been in use for several hundreds of years, and has had different meanings throughout this period...
s, guarding them back to Okinawa to join the 5th Fleet just after the initial assault on 1 April. Between 6 and 17 April, she voyaged to 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...
screening unladen transports, then took up a screening and patrol station north of the Kerama Retto.
On 9 May 1945, while on station, England was attacked by three Japanese dive bomber
Dive bomber
A dive bomber is a bomber aircraft that dives directly at its targets in order to provide greater accuracy for the bomb it drops. Diving towards the target reduces the distance the bomb has to fall, which is the primary factor in determining the accuracy of the drop...
s. Her anti-aircraft fire set the first of these flaming, but the plane crashed England on her starboard side, just below the bridge. The 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....
pilot had remembered his instructions to knock out the ship's nerve center and kill as many as possible of her officers. With the bomb
Bomb
A bomb is any of a range of explosive weapons that only rely on the exothermic reaction of an explosive material to provide an extremely sudden and violent release of energy...
of the plane exploding just after the crash, Englands men began a dangerous race against time, to quench the fires and save their ship, while the combat air patrol
Combat air patrol
Combat air patrol is a type of flying mission for fighter aircraft.A combat air patrol is an aircraft patrol provided over an objective area, over the force protected, over the critical area of a combat zone, or over an air defense area, for the purpose of intercepting and destroying hostile...
shot down the two other attackers. One of these men was Walter L. Kabis (1914-2009), a gunnery officer on board. England was able to make Kerama Retto under tow, with 37 of her men killed or missing and 25 wounded.
England sailed on to Leyte, where she received temporary repairs to put her in shape for the long voyage home. On 16 July 1945 she arrived at Philadelphia for permanent repairs and conversion to a High speed transport
High speed transport
High Speed Transports were converted destroyers and destroyer escorts used to support amphibious operations in World War II and afterward. They received the US Hull classification symbol APD; "AP" for transport and "D" for destroyer....
. The end of the war, however, halted this work. Because of her extensive damage and a surplus of ships of her type, it was decided not to repair her. She was decommissioned on 15 October 1945 and sold for scrapping on 26 November 1946.