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USS Kenneth M. Willett (DE-354)
Encyclopedia
USS Kenneth M. Willett (DE-354) was a acquired by the U.S. Navy during World War II
. The primary purpose of the destroyer escort was to escort and protect ships in convoy
, in addition to other tasks as assigned, such as patrol or radar picket
.
Kenneth M. Willett was named in honor of Kenneth Martin Willett
who was awarded the Navy Cross
for his brave actions in the South Atlantic Ocean
. She was launched 7 March 1944 by Consolidated Steel Corp., Orange, Texas
; sponsored by Mrs. D. C. Willett, mother of Lt. (j.g.) Willett; and commissioned 19 July 1944 at Orange, Lt. Comdr. J. M. Stuart in command.
and training off Bermuda
, Kenneth M. Willett served as a training ship in the Chesapeake Bay
from 1 to 20 October. Joining CortDiv 82, she departed Norfolk, Virginia
, 21 October for duty in the Pacific
with the U.S. 7th Fleet. Steaming via the Panama Canal
, the Galápagos Islands
, and the New Hebrides
, she reached Hollandia
, New Guinea
, 28 November.
Assigned to convoy escort duty between Humboldt Bay, New Guinea, and Leyte Gulf
, Philippines
, Kenneth M. Willett made seven trips from 13 December 1944 to 25 February 1945. On 1 January 1945, while she screened a convoy to Hollandia, Kenneth H. Willetts guns brought down an attacking enemy torpedo plane close aboard one of the merchant ships.
Upon arriving Leyte Gulf 25 February, the destroyer escort was assigned to patrol and ASW
duty. Steaming to Mangarin Bay
, Mindoro
, 6 March, she made hunter-killer patrols off Mindoro and Luzon
, then returned to Leyte Gulf 4 June for escort duty between Leyte
and Ulithi
, Western Carolines
. After two runs to Ulithi, she resumed patrol duty off Mindoro 2 July; and on the 10th she returned to Leyte for a convoy escort run to Okinawa.
Departing 17 July with a convoy of LCI
's and LST's, Kenneth M. Willett steamed via Casiguran Bay, Luzon, for the Ryūkyūs
. After safely passing through a typhoon 30 to 31 July, the convoy reached Okinawa 7 August. Kenneth M. Willett departed the next day for Leyte. During the next 16 weeks she made convoy runs out of Leyte and Manila
to Ulithi, Tokyo
, and Shanghai
. And from 29 December to 29 January 1946 she operated out of Guiuan Roadstead, Samar
, on intermittent weather patrols east of Leyte Gulf.
Steaming to Manila 10 February, Kenneth M. Willett cleared the bay 15 February for patrol duty along the Chinese
coast. She arrived Tsingtao 20 February with five other destroyer escorts and commenced operations from the Yellow Sea
to Shanghai in support of Chinese Nationalists' efforts to wrest control of the northern Chinese Mainland from the Communists. Following ASW operations in the North Yellow Sea 1 to 5 April, she departed Tsingtao 15 April en route to the United States
. Steaming via Guam
, Eniwetok, and Pearl Harbor
, she arrived San Pedro, California, 11 May. She decommissioned 24 October and entered the Pacific Reserve Fleet at San Diego, California
, 10 November.
Kenneth M. Willett recommissioned 25 May 1951 at San Diego, Lt. Comdr. E. N. Weatherly in command. After shakedown along the California
coast, she departed San Diego 4 September and steamed via the Panama Canal en route to New Orleans, Louisiana
, where she arrived 18 September for duty as a Naval Reserve training ship. Assigned to the 8th Naval District, she departed 5 November on a Naval Reserve cruise to San Juan, Puerto Rico
. From then until 16 October 1958 she made 63 training cruises that carried her from New Orleans to South America, Canada
, the eastern seaboard of the United States, and throughout the Caribbean
. During this time she rendered vitally important service, making certain that men of the Naval Reserve remained qualified to serve on a moment's notice to guard the nation's security on the high seas.
. On 1 July 1972 she was struck from the Navy List
, and, on 6 March 1974, she was sunk as a target off the coast of Puerto Rico.
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...
. The primary purpose of the destroyer escort was to escort and protect ships in 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...
, in addition to other tasks as assigned, such as patrol or radar picket
Radar picket
A radar picket is a radar-equipped ship, submarine, aircraft, or vehicle used to increase the radar detection range around a force to protect it from surprise attack. Often several detached radar units encircle a force to provide increased cover in all directions.-World War II:Radar picket ships...
.
Kenneth M. Willett was named in honor of Kenneth Martin Willett
Kenneth Martin Willett
Lt. Kenneth Martin Willett was an American naval reserve officer who died in during World War II in the South Atlantic Ocean. He was posthumously awarded the Navy Cross.-Early naval career:...
who was awarded the Navy Cross
Navy Cross
The Navy Cross is the highest decoration that may be bestowed by the Department of the Navy and the second highest decoration given for valor. It is normally only awarded to members of the United States Navy, United States Marine Corps and United States Coast Guard, but can be awarded to all...
for his brave actions in the South Atlantic Ocean
Atlantic Ocean
The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's oceanic divisions. With a total area of about , it covers approximately 20% of the Earth's surface and about 26% of its water surface area...
. She was launched 7 March 1944 by Consolidated Steel Corp., Orange, Texas
Orange, Texas
Orange is a city in Orange County, Texas, United States. As of the 2000 census, the city population was 18,643. It is the county seat of Orange County, and is the easternmost city in Texas. Located on the Sabine River at the border with Louisiana, it is part of the Beaumont–Port Arthur...
; sponsored by Mrs. D. C. Willett, mother of Lt. (j.g.) Willett; and commissioned 19 July 1944 at Orange, Lt. Comdr. J. M. Stuart in command.
World War II
After shakedownSea 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...
and training off Bermuda
Bermuda
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...
, Kenneth M. Willett served as a training ship in the Chesapeake Bay
Chesapeake Bay
The Chesapeake Bay is the largest estuary in the United States. It lies off the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by Maryland and Virginia. The Chesapeake Bay's drainage basin covers in the District of Columbia and parts of six states: New York, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, and West...
from 1 to 20 October. Joining CortDiv 82, she departed Norfolk, Virginia
Norfolk, Virginia
Norfolk is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. With a population of 242,803 as of the 2010 Census, it is Virginia's second-largest city behind neighboring Virginia Beach....
, 21 October for duty in the Pacific
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...
with the U.S. 7th Fleet. Steaming via 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...
, the Galápagos Islands
Galápagos Islands
The Galápagos Islands are an archipelago of volcanic islands distributed around the equator in the Pacific Ocean, west of continental Ecuador, of which they are a part.The Galápagos Islands and its surrounding waters form an Ecuadorian province, a national park, and a...
, and 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...
, she reached 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....
, 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...
, 28 November.
Assigned to convoy escort duty between Humboldt Bay, New Guinea, and 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...
, 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...
, Kenneth M. Willett made seven trips from 13 December 1944 to 25 February 1945. On 1 January 1945, while she screened a convoy to Hollandia, Kenneth H. Willetts guns brought down an attacking enemy torpedo plane close aboard one of the merchant ships.
Upon arriving Leyte Gulf 25 February, the destroyer escort was assigned to patrol and ASW
Anti-submarine warfare
Anti-submarine warfare is a branch of naval warfare that uses surface warships, aircraft, or other submarines to find, track and deter, damage or destroy enemy submarines....
duty. Steaming to Mangarin Bay
Mangarin Bay
Mangarin Bay is situated to the east of Mangarin Point, on the west coast of Mindoro, among the Philippine Islands. The bay is shoal and sheltered from the wind by the point and Ilin Island. Magarin point terminates in a long sandy pit off which the depth is 4 to 5 fathoms. Farther in the water...
, Mindoro
Mindoro
Mindoro is the seventh-largest island in the Philippines. It is located off the coast of Luzon, and northeast of Palawan. The southern coast of Mindoro forms the northeastern extremum of the Sulu Sea.-History:...
, 6 March, she made hunter-killer patrols off Mindoro and 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...
, then returned to Leyte Gulf 4 June for escort duty between 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...
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...
, 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...
. After two runs to Ulithi, she resumed patrol duty off Mindoro 2 July; and on the 10th she returned to Leyte for a convoy escort run to Okinawa.
Departing 17 July with a convoy of LCI
Landing Craft Infantry
The Landing craft, Infantry or LCI were several classes of sea-going amphibious assault ships of the Second World War utilized to land large numbers of infantry directly onto beaches. They were developed in response to a British request for a vessel capable of carrying and landing substantially...
's and LST's, Kenneth M. Willett steamed via Casiguran Bay, Luzon, for the Ryūkyūs
Ryukyu Islands
The , also known as the , is a chain of islands in the western Pacific, on the eastern limit of the East China Sea and to the southwest of the island of Kyushu in Japan. From about 1829 until the mid 20th century, they were alternately called Luchu, Loochoo, or Lewchew, akin to the Mandarin...
. After safely passing through a typhoon 30 to 31 July, the convoy reached Okinawa 7 August. Kenneth M. Willett departed the next day for Leyte. During the next 16 weeks she made convoy runs out of Leyte and Manila
Manila
Manila is the capital of the Philippines. It is one of the sixteen cities forming Metro Manila.Manila is located on the eastern shores of Manila Bay and is bordered by Navotas and Caloocan to the north, Quezon City to the northeast, San Juan and Mandaluyong to the east, Makati on the southeast,...
to Ulithi, 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...
, and Shanghai
Shanghai
Shanghai is the largest city by population in China and the largest city proper in the world. It is one of the four province-level municipalities in the People's Republic of China, with a total population of over 23 million as of 2010...
. And from 29 December to 29 January 1946 she operated out of Guiuan Roadstead, Samar
Samar
Samar, formerly and also known as Western Samar, is a province in the Philippines located in the Eastern Visayas region. Its capital is Catbalogan City and covers the western portion of Samar as well as several islands in the Samar Sea located to the west of the mainland...
, on intermittent weather patrols east of Leyte Gulf.
Steaming to Manila 10 February, Kenneth M. Willett cleared the bay 15 February for patrol duty along the Chinese
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
coast. She arrived Tsingtao 20 February with five other destroyer escorts and commenced operations from the Yellow Sea
Yellow Sea
The Yellow Sea is the name given to the northern part of the East China Sea, which is a marginal sea of the Pacific Ocean. It is located between mainland China and the Korean Peninsula. Its name comes from the sand particles from Gobi Desert sand storms that turn the surface of the water golden...
to Shanghai in support of Chinese Nationalists' efforts to wrest control of the northern Chinese Mainland from the Communists. Following ASW operations in the North Yellow Sea 1 to 5 April, she departed Tsingtao 15 April en route to the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. Steaming via 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...
, Eniwetok, and 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...
, she arrived San Pedro, California, 11 May. She decommissioned 24 October and entered the Pacific Reserve Fleet at San Diego, California
San Diego, California
San Diego is the eighth-largest city in the United States and second-largest city in California. The city is located on the coast of the Pacific Ocean in Southern California, immediately adjacent to the Mexican border. The birthplace of California, San Diego is known for its mild year-round...
, 10 November.
Korean War operations
During the Korean WarKorean War
The Korean War was a conventional war between South Korea, supported by the United Nations, and North Korea, supported by the People's Republic of China , with military material aid from the Soviet Union...
Kenneth M. Willett recommissioned 25 May 1951 at San Diego, Lt. Comdr. E. N. Weatherly in command. After shakedown along the 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...
coast, she departed San Diego 4 September and steamed via the Panama Canal en route to 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...
, where she arrived 18 September for duty as a Naval Reserve training ship. Assigned to the 8th Naval District, she departed 5 November on a Naval Reserve cruise to San Juan, Puerto Rico
San Juan, Puerto Rico
San Juan , officially Municipio de la Ciudad Capital San Juan Bautista , is the capital and most populous municipality in Puerto Rico, an unincorporated territory of the United States. As of the 2010 census, it had a population of 395,326 making it the 46th-largest city under the jurisdiction of...
. From then until 16 October 1958 she made 63 training cruises that carried her from New Orleans to South America, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, the eastern seaboard of the United States, and throughout 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...
. During this time she rendered vitally important service, making certain that men of the Naval Reserve remained qualified to serve on a moment's notice to guard the nation's security on the high seas.
Final decommissioning
Upon her arrival from Havana, Cuba, 16 October 1958 Kenneth M. Willett completed her final training cruise. She departed New Orleans 30 November, arriving Orange, Texas, the following day. She then operated out of Orange until decommissioning 26 February 1959. Assigned to the Atlantic Reserve Fleet, she was berthed at Philadelphia, PennsylvaniaPhiladelphia, Pennsylvania
Philadelphia is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Philadelphia County, with which it is coterminous. The city is located in the Northeastern United States along the Delaware and Schuylkill rivers. It is the fifth-most-populous city in the United States,...
. On 1 July 1972 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...
, and, on 6 March 1974, she was sunk as a target off the coast of Puerto Rico.