The first USS Pillsbury (DD-227) was a Clemson-class

Clemson class destroyer

The Clemson class was a series of 156 destroyers which served with the United States Navy from after World War I through World War II.The Clemson-class ships were commissioned by the United States Navy from 1919 to 1922, built by Newport News Shipbuilding & Dry Dock Company, New York Shipbuilding...

 destroyer

Destroyer

In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast and maneuverable yet long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy or battle group and defend them against smaller, powerful, short-range attackers. Destroyers, originally called torpedo-boat destroyers in 1892, evolved from...

 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 named for John E. Pillsbury

John E. Pillsbury

John Elliott Pillsbury was a Rear Admiral in the United States Navy.-Biography:Born in Lowell, Massachusetts, Pillsbury was appointed midshipman in 1862 and commissioned an ensign in 1868...

.

History

Pillsbury was laid down by William Cramp and Sons

William Cramp and Sons

thumb | upright | 1899 advertisement for William Cramp & Sons William Cramp & Sons Shipbuilding Company of Philadelphia was founded in 1825 by William Cramp, and was the preeminent U.S. iron shipbuilder in the 19th century. The American Ship & Commerce Corporation bought the yard in 1919 but closed...

 of Philadelphia on 23 October 1919; launched on 3 August 1920, sponsored by Miss Helen Langdon Richardson; and commissioned on 15 December 1920, Lieutenant H. W. Barnes in command.

Pillsbury served for many years with the Asiatic Fleet. On 27 November 1941, by order of the Commander Asiatic Fleet, Admiral Thomas C. Hart

Thomas C. Hart

Thomas Charles Hart was an admiral of the United States Navy, whose service extended from the Spanish-American War through World War II. Following his retirement from the Navy, he served briefly as a United States Senator from Connecticut.-Life and career:Hart was born in Genesee County, Michigan...

, Pillsbury departed from 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,...

 under the command of Lt. Commander Harold C. Pound, together with other units of the fleet. When the Japanese struck at 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, she was operating in the vicinity of Borneo, and had done so for some time.

After the war commenced, Pillsbury, together with United States, Dutch

Netherlands

The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...

 and 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...

n naval vessels, operated out of Balikpapan

Balikpapan

Balikpapan is a seaport city on the eastern coast of the island of Borneo, Indonesia, in the East Kalimantan province, a resource-rich region well known for its timber, mining, and petroleum export products. Two harbors, Semayang and Kariangau , and the Sepinggan International Airport are the main...

 on reconnaissance sorties and on anti-submarine patrols. Later she moved to Surabaya

Surabaya

Surabaya is Indonesia's second-largest city with a population of over 2.7 million , and the capital of the province of East Java...

, Java, and from there made night patrols with 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 and and destroyers of Division 58, including the Battle of Badoeng Strait on 4 February 1942.

On 18 February the Japanese began moving ashore on Bali

Bali

Bali is an Indonesian island located in the westernmost end of the Lesser Sunda Islands, lying between Java to the west and Lombok to the east...

 and the American-British-Dutch-Australian Command

American-British-Dutch-Australian Command

The American-British-Dutch-Australian Command, or ABDACOM, was a short-lived, supreme command for all Allied forces in South East Asia, in early 1942, during the Pacific War in World War II...

 (ABDA) surface forces including Pillsbury set out to disrupt further landings from a Japanese convoy reported in the area.

While steaming through Badoeng Strait on the night of 19/20 February during the Battle of Badoeng Strait, Pillsbury fired three torpedoes at a Japanese ship without result. A searchlight was trained on Pillsbury, and several shots were fired at her. She turned to starboard and make smoke to escape the light. The relatively small Allied forces at this time were forced to lightning strikes and rapid evasive retirement in the face of superior Japanese forces in the dim hope of disrupting the enemy advance.

At 02:10 Pillsbury sighted a ship dead ahead and opened up with her main battery and .50 caliber guns. The amidships gun crew of the Japanese ship was put out of action by the first burst of the .50 caliber machine guns. The target ship then received a direct hit with a shell from either Pillsbury or from the destroyer in the opposite column. This caused the Japanese destroyer to swing to starboard. The spotter then observed three sure hits from Pillsbury: one on the bridge, one amidships and one on the fantail. As soon as the last shot hit, the Japanese ship erupted in flames, and her firing ceased.

At this time Pillsbury and were detached from the striking force and sent to Tjilatjap. After the action around Bali the ships had few torpedoes and were badly in need of overhaul.

Fate

A few days later Pillsbury met her end. There are no US logs or battle reports giving the details of the action in which Pillsbury, and were sunk, and their fates were mysterious until after the war when Japanese logs could be examined. A powerful force of Japanese ships was operating to the south of Java to prevent the escape of Allied ships from that area. The Japanese force consisted of four battleships, five cruisers of Cruiser Division 4, the 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...

  and the destroyers of Destroyer Squadron 4.

Edsall was sunk in the Battle of the Java Sea

Battle of the Java Sea

The Battle of the Java Sea was a decisive naval battle of the Pacific campaign of World War II, that sealed the fate of the Netherlands East Indies....

 on 1 March 1942. At 18:24 she received a direct hit from the battleship and at 18:35 another from the cruiser . Edsall was also attacked by nine Aichi D3A

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....

 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 from Sōryū and eight from , which hit her with several bombs, leaving her dead in the water by 18:50. She was destroyed by the cruiser and sank at 19:00 with 5-8 survivors. The remains of 5 executed sailors from the Edsall were recovered in Indonesia in 1952.

In a night surface action on 2 March 1942 Pillsbury was overtaken by two Japanese cruisers of Cruiser Division 4. She was engaged by and , and at 21:02 sank with the loss of all hands.

Asheville, slowed by engine troubles, was caught at 09:06 on 3 March by the destroyers and and sunk after a 30-minute battle. One crew member was rescued from the water, but died later in a prisoner of war

Prisoner of war

A prisoner of war or enemy prisoner of war is a person, whether civilian or combatant, who is held in custody by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict...

 camp.

All three sinkings took place approximately 200 miles east of Christmas Island

Christmas Island

The Territory of Christmas Island is a territory of Australia in the Indian Ocean. It is located northwest of the Western Australian city of Perth, south of the Indonesian capital, Jakarta, and ENE of the Cocos Islands....

. After sinking the three U.S. ships, the Japanese forces retired from the scene.

Pillsbury received two battle stars for World War II service.

External links

• USS Pillsbury (DD 227)
• Movement records for Takao, Atago and Tone from combinedfleet.com