USS Roe (DD-418)
Encyclopedia
USS Roe (DD-418) was a 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...

-era Sims-class
Sims class destroyer
The Sims-class consisted of 12 destroyers in the United States Navy, built in seven various shipyards, and commissioned in 1939 and 1940. It was the last United States destroyer class completed prior to World War II. All Sims-class ships saw action in World War II, and seven survived the war...

 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 service of 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...

, named after Rear Admiral
Rear admiral (United States)
Rear admiral is a naval commissioned officer rank above that of a commodore and captain, and below that of a vice admiral. The uniformed services of the United States are unique in having two grades of rear admirals.- Rear admiral :...

 Francis Asbury Roe
Francis Asbury Roe
Francis Asbury Roe was an admiral in the United States Navy who served during the American Civil War.-Biography:...

.

Roe was laid down on 23 April 1938 by the Charleston Navy Yard; launched on 21 June 1939; sponsored by Mrs. Eleanor Roe Hilton; and commissioned on 5 January 1940, Lieutenant Commander
Lieutenant commander (United States)
Lieutenant commander is a mid-ranking officer rank in the United States Navy, the United States Coast Guard, the United States Public Health Service Commissioned Corps, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Commissioned Corps, with the pay grade of O-4 and NATO rank code OF-3...

 R. M. Scruggs in command.

Inter-War Period

Following shakedown, Roe conducted exercises along the east coast
East Coast of the United States
The East Coast of the United States, also known as the Eastern Seaboard, refers to the easternmost coastal states in the United States, which touch the Atlantic Ocean and stretch up to Canada. The term includes the U.S...

 and 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...

. In the spring of 1941, she returned to the east coast and, during the summer remained primarily in the mid-Atlantic seaboard
Mid-Atlantic seaboard
The mid-Atlantic Seaboard is an area of the eastern United States along the Atlantic Ocean. The term's meaning changes depending on the user, but generally it always includes the seaports, coastal plains and United States territorial waters of Maryland, Delaware, and Virginia...

 area. In the fall, she moved northward, to Naval Station Argentia
Naval Station Argentia
Naval Station Argentia is a former base of the United States Navy that operated from 1941-1994. It was established in the community of Argentia in what was then the Dominion of Newfoundland, which later became the tenth Canadian province .-Construction:Established under the British-U.S...

, to escort merchant convoys between Newfoundland
Dominion of Newfoundland
The Dominion of Newfoundland was a British Dominion from 1907 to 1949 . The Dominion of Newfoundland was situated in northeastern North America along the Atlantic coast and comprised the island of Newfoundland and Labrador on the continental mainland...

 and Iceland
Iceland
Iceland , described as the Republic of Iceland, is a Nordic and European island country in the North Atlantic Ocean, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. Iceland also refers to the main island of the country, which contains almost all the population and almost all the land area. The country has a population...

.

World War II

On that duty when the United States entered World War II, Roe headed south in January 1942, patrolled the approaches to 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...

 and to 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....

, and in mid-February entered New York harbor
New York Harbor
New York Harbor refers to the waterways of the estuary near the mouth of the Hudson River that empty into New York Bay. It is one of the largest natural harbors in the world. Although the U.S. Board of Geographic Names does not use the term, New York Harbor has important historical, governmental,...

, where she resumed North Atlantic convoy runs. Arriving off Iceland on 3 March, she remained until midmonth, in port and on patrol off that island and in the Denmark Strait
Denmark Strait
The Denmark Strait or Greenland Strait |Sound]]) is an oceanic strait between Greenland and Iceland...

. Toward the end of the month, Roe returned to New York. In April, she escorted ships to Panama
Panama
Panama , officially the Republic of Panama , is the southernmost country of Central America. Situated on the isthmus connecting North and South America, it is bordered by Costa Rica to the northwest, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north and the Pacific Ocean to the south. The...

, then spent May in New England
New England
New England is a region in the northeastern corner of the United States consisting of the six states of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut...

 waters. In June, she completed another North Atlantic run, this time 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...

, and in July, she screened larger ships in coastal and Caribbean Sea
Caribbean Sea
The Caribbean Sea is a sea of the Atlantic Ocean located in the tropics of the Western hemisphere. It is bounded by Mexico and Central America to the west and southwest, to the north by the Greater Antilles, and to the east by the Lesser Antilles....

 training operations.

In mid-August the destroyer again pointed her bow south. Into October she operated between Trinidad
Trinidad
Trinidad is the larger and more populous of the two major islands and numerous landforms which make up the island nation of Trinidad and Tobago. It is the southernmost island in the Caribbean and lies just off the northeastern coast of Venezuela. With an area of it is also the fifth largest in...

 and ports in Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...

, then returned to Norfolk to prepare for Operation Torch
Operation Torch
Operation Torch was the British-American invasion of French North Africa in World War II during the North African Campaign, started on 8 November 1942....

, the landings in North Africa.

Assigned to the Northern Attack Group, Roe screened the transports to Mehedia
Mahdia
Mahdia is a provincial centre north of Sfax. It is important for the associated fish-processing industry, as well as weaving. It is the capital of Mahdia Governorate.- History :...

, then provided gunfire support for the troops as they pushed to take Port Lyautey
Kenitra
Kenitra is a city in Morocco, formerly known as Port Lyautey. It is a port on the Sebou River, has a population in 2004 of 359,142 and is the capital of the Gharb-Chrarda-Béni Hssen region. During the Cold War Kenitra's U.S...

 in the Sebou River
Sebou River
Sebou is a river in northern Morocco. The river is 458 kilometres long and has an average water flow of 137 m3/s, which makes it the largest North African river by volume. The source is in the Middle Atlas mountains. It passes near the city of Fes and discharges to the Atlantic Ocean in Mehdia...

 and the Salé
Salé
Salé is a city in north-western Morocco, on the right bank of the Bou Regreg river, opposite the national capital Rabat, for which it serves as a commuter town...

 airfield. She arrived off the assault area on the night of 7/8 November, ahead of the main group, and with her SG radar, attempted to locate the beacon submarine, . Unsuccessful, she fixed her own position relative to the jetties and beaches of the landing area, and returned to the main force to help guide it to the transport area. During the early morning landings, she acted as control destroyer off Blue and Yellow beaches, then shifted to gunfire support duties. Shortly after sunrise she assisted in temporarily silencing hostile fire from the Kasba, an old citadel situated on a cliff commanding the mouth of the Sebou.

Until 15 November, Roe remained in the area to provide gunfire support and screen the larger ships. She then turned westward, arriving back at Hampton Roads, Virginia on 26 November. In the winter and the following spring, 1943, Roe again performed escort work with tanker runs to Gulf of Mexico
Gulf of Mexico
The Gulf of Mexico is a partially landlocked ocean basin largely surrounded by the North American continent and the island of Cuba. It is bounded on the northeast, north and northwest by the Gulf Coast of the United States, on the southwest and south by Mexico, and on the southeast by Cuba. In...

 and Caribbean oil ports and resupply and reinforcement convoys to Casablanca
Casablanca
Casablanca is a city in western Morocco, located on the Atlantic Ocean. It is the capital of the Grand Casablanca region.Casablanca is Morocco's largest city as well as its chief port. It is also the biggest city in the Maghreb. The 2004 census recorded a population of 2,949,805 in the prefecture...

. On 10 June, she departed New York for the Mediterranean and her second assault, the Allied invasion of Sicily
Allied invasion of Sicily
The Allied invasion of Sicily, codenamed Operation Husky, was a major World War II campaign, in which the Allies took Sicily from the Axis . It was a large scale amphibious and airborne operation, followed by six weeks of land combat. It launched the Italian Campaign.Husky began on the night of...

.

Arriving at Oran
Oran
Oran is a major city on the northwestern Mediterranean coast of Algeria, and the second largest city of the country.It is the capital of the Oran Province . The city has a population of 759,645 , while the metropolitan area has a population of approximately 1,500,000, making it the second largest...

 toward the end of the month, she continued on to Bizerte
Bizerte
Bizerte or Benzert , is the capital city of Bizerte Governorate in Tunisia and the northernmost city in Africa. It has a population of 230,879 .-History:...

, whence she steamed north with the JOSS force for Licata
Licata
Licata is a city and comune located on the south coast of Sicily, at the mouth of the Salso River , about midway between Agrigento and Gela...

 on 8 July. On 9 July, she took up her position in the fire support area off beach Red, near the Torre di Gaffe. Early on 10 July, she and moved toward Porto Empedocle
Porto Empedocle
Porto Empedocle is a town and comune in Italy on the coast of the Strait of Sicily, administratively part of the province of Agrigento. It is the namesake of Empedocles , a Greek pre-Socratic philosopher and a citizen of the city of Agrigentum , in his day a Greek colony in Sicily...

, an Italian
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

 motor torpedo boat base guarded by a minefield 24 miles west of Licata, to investigate small pips which had registered on their radar screens. As both destroyers prepared to open fire on the "enemy" boats, Roe swerved to avoid the minefield and, at the same time, to fall in astern of Swanson. Her speed, however, exceeded Swansons and, just before 0300, Roe hit Swanson at right angles on the port side shearing off a portion of her own bow and causing Swansons fireroom to flood. Both ships went dead in the water. Fortunately, by 0500, both were mobile.

As daylight increased, the Luftwaffe
Luftwaffe
Luftwaffe is a generic German term for an air force. It is also the official name for two of the four historic German air forces, the Wehrmacht air arm founded in 1935 and disbanded in 1946; and the current Bundeswehr air arm founded in 1956....

attempted to finish the damaged ships. The destroyers defended themselves and in the process shot down one Junkers Ju 88
Junkers Ju 88
The Junkers Ju 88 was a World War II German Luftwaffe twin-engine, multi-role aircraft. Designed by Hugo Junkers' company through the services of two American aviation engineers in the mid-1930s, it suffered from a number of technical problems during the later stages of its development and early...

 with 13 rounds of proximity-influence-fused 5 inch fire to prove the worth of the new fuse in antiaircraft fighting.

Following temporary patching at Oran, Roe returned to New York for permanent repairs. In mid-September, she resumed transatlantic convoy duty and completed two runs to North Africa before the end of the year.

Convoys escorted

Convoy Escort Group Dates Notes
HX 155
HX convoys
The HX convoys were a series of North Atlantic convoys which ran during the Battle of the Atlantic in World War II. They were east-bound convoys and originated in Halifax, Nova Scotia from where they sailed to ports in the United Kingdom...

18-25 Oct 1941 from Newfoundland
Dominion of Newfoundland
The Dominion of Newfoundland was a British Dominion from 1907 to 1949 . The Dominion of Newfoundland was situated in northeastern North America along the Atlantic coast and comprised the island of Newfoundland and Labrador on the continental mainland...

 to Iceland
Iceland
Iceland , described as the Republic of Iceland, is a Nordic and European island country in the North Atlantic Ocean, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. Iceland also refers to the main island of the country, which contains almost all the population and almost all the land area. The country has a population...

 prior to US declaration of war
ON 31
ON convoys
The ON convoys were a series of North Atlantic trade convoys running Outbound from the British Isles to North America during the Battle of the Atlantic .-History:...

4-15 Nov 1941 from Iceland to Newfoundland prior to US declaration of war
HX 161
HX convoys
The HX convoys were a series of North Atlantic convoys which ran during the Battle of the Atlantic in World War II. They were east-bound convoys and originated in Halifax, Nova Scotia from where they sailed to ports in the United Kingdom...

23 Nov-3 Dec 1941 from Newfoundland to Iceland prior to US declaration of war
ON 43
ON convoys
The ON convoys were a series of North Atlantic trade convoys running Outbound from the British Isles to North America during the Battle of the Atlantic .-History:...

11-15 Dec 1941 from Iceland to Newfoundland

Pacific theatre

With the new year, 1944, Roe was transferred to the Pacific. Departing New York on 26 January, she transited 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...

 and traversed the Pacific to report to Commander, TF 76 at Cape Sudest
Cape Sudest
Cape Sudest is a Cape in Papua New Guinea, next to Oro Bay. There was an important U.S military base there in World War II. It was situated in Oro Province, about a mile south of Harigo....

 on 12 March. From there, and other 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...

 ports and anchorages, she escorted 7th Phib Force ships transporting Allied troops up the coast and through neighboring islands, and provided gunfire support in target areas. From 16–21 March, she supported operations on Manus Island
Manus 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...

. In early April, she transported Army
United States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...

 personnel from Manus to Rambutyo Island
Rambutyo Island
Rambutyo Island is one of the Admiralty Islands in the Bismarck Archipelago, located at . Politically, Rambutyo Island is part of Manus Province, Papua New Guinea....

, then prepared for the landings at Humboldt Bay
Teluk Yos Sudarso
Yos Sudarso Bay also known earlier as Humboldt Bay is a small bay in Indonesia. It is on the north coast of New Guinea, about 50 kilometers west of the border between Indonesia's province of Papua and the country of Papua New Guinea...

, which she supported on 22 April. In mid-May, she assisted the offensive in the Toem-Wakde
Wakde
Wakde is an island of Indonesia, part of the province of West Papua, between the districts of Pantai Timur and Tor Atas.Occupied by Japanese forces in April 1942, Wakde served as an airbase...

 area; then, at the end of the month, screened LSTs to Biak
Biak
Biak features a tropical rainforest climate with nearly identical temperatures throughout the course of the year. The average annual temperature in the city is 27 degrees celsius, which is also generally the average temperature of each day in Biak...

. Fire support duty and escort of reinforcements and supplies to Biak continued into June. On 29 April, she provided call-fire support for Army units fighting northeast of the Driniumor River. Then, in July, the destroyer shifted to Noemfoor
Noemfoor
Numfor is one of the Biak Islands in Papua province, Indonesia. It was the site of conflict between Japanese and the Allied forces during World War II, and was major airbase for both sides.-Geography:The island is situated just north of the large Cenderawasih Bay...

 to conduct a prelanding bombardment and to give postlanding support fire.

Relieved at midmonth, Roe departed the Admiralties and steamed for Majuro, where she joined the 5th Fleet
United States 5th Fleet
The Fifth Fleet of the United States Navy is responsible for naval forces in the Persian Gulf, Red Sea, Arabian Sea, and coast off East Africa as far south as Kenya. It shares a commander and headquarters with U.S. Naval Forces Central Command . The commander of the 5th Fleet is currently Vice...

. For the next 6 weeks, she served as an aircraft rescue ship in areas off Maloelap, Wotje, Mili, and Jaluit. Patrol, picket, and escort duties then kept her shuttling between and amongst the Marshall
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...

 and 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...

, primarily the latter, until early December when she joined TG 94.9 for a bombardment of Iwo Jima
Iwo Jima
Iwo Jima, officially , is an island of the Japanese Volcano Islands chain, which lie south of the Ogasawara Islands and together with them form the Ogasawara Archipelago. The island is located south of mainland Tokyo and administered as part of Ogasawara, one of eight villages of Tokyo...

.

Completing the assignment on 8 December, the force returned to Saipan, whence Roe conducted two search and rescue missions and one mercy run, carrying a doctor to a convoy bound for Saipan, before heading out for further strikes against Iwo Jima on 24 December and 27 December. On 24 December, Roe sank a small trawler and, with , sent to the bottom another ship, believed to have been a destroyer converted for fast transport service. On 27 December, she destroyed several small craft and damaged buildings and antiaircraft installations in and near the island's west boat basin.

Another strike on the Volcano
Volcano Islands
The Volcano Islands is a group of three Japanese islands south of the Bonin Islands that belong to the municipality of Ogasawara...

 and Bonin Islands during the first week in January 1945, was followed by availability at 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 resumption of patrol and escort work from 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...

. In late April, she returned to the Volcano-Bonin area for radar picket and search and rescue operations during air strikes against the Japanese home islands. At the end of May she resumed operations in the Marianas and in June she received orders to the west coast.

Roe arrived in San Francisco Bay on 29 July, and was undergoing a yard overhaul when the war ended on 14 August. Then designated for inactivation, Roe was decommissioned on 30 October 1945 and was struck from the Navy list on 16 November. She was sold in August 1947.
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