Most of the records date between 1941 and 1946. Welford Charles Blinn, USN) departs Surabaya, Netherlands East Indies on 28 February 1942 together with the British heavy cruiser HMS Exeter and the British destroyer HMS Encounter. It was expected that the Japanese would soon land (night of 19/20 February 1942) on the south-east coast of Bali (Badoeng Strait). This was attempted in a final effort to save the ship. These forces were split into two groups. Coordinates: 0400S 11130E / 4S 111.5E / -4; 111.5. When the stern of the ship was completely under water, and the bow pointing to the sky, an eight inch salvo from one of the cruisers hit her at the waterline, which tended to speed up her sinking. She departed Okinawa the following day and on 22 September 1967 disembarking the 1st Battalion, 50th Infantry at Qui Nhon. The enemy cruisers to the north-west were the first to open fire from long range. This effort seemed futile, we were taking water on faster that we could pump it out. 's) and started dive-bombing / strafing runs against us. S. Kohama), Nenohi (Lt.Cdr. The Allied ships therefore turned stern on to avoid being sighted. These were engaged with AA fire whenever possible. was also part of this force but acted as 'rescue boat'. General John Pope: Glenn G. Griswold: General LeRoy Eltinge: Glynn: General Maurice Rose - See "Admiral Hugh Rodman" Golden City: General M. B. Stewart: Goodhue: General M. C. Meigs: Goshen: . US Navy adds powerful new missile in Pacific. We had fought the enemy from about 0800 until about 1350 hours. From 1965 through 1970, she transported troops to bases in the Pacific and Far East, supporting the anti-communist struggle in South Vietnam. P.B.M van Straelen, RNN), escorted by the Dutch destroyers HrMs Piet Hein (Lt.Cdr. The veteran transport was returned to the Maritime Administration (MARAD) and entered the National Defense Reserve Fleet at Olympia, Washington, 5 September 1958. K. Kikkawa) Arashio (Cdr. I felt assured that our well trained crew would give their all, even though the task was hot and demanding. http://www.soshisha.com/book_search/detail/1_1499.html, "Kudo Shunsaku and the Destroyer Ikazuchi", http://forum.axishistory.com/viewtopic.php?f=65&t=120892&start=0&st=0&sk=t&sda.+Retrieved, "The Untold story of Captain Kudo Shunsaku and the Destroyer Ikazuchi", http://www.japanprobe.com/?p1772.+Retrieved, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wRcOmYgdp4E, http://www2s.biglobe.ne.jp/~nippon/jogdb_h18/jog458.html.+Retrieved, Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships, http://www.awm.gov.au/histories/second_world_war/volume.asp?levelID=67910, http://www.navsource.org/archives/05/225.htm, http://www.uboat.net/allies/warships/ship/2334.html, List of destroyers of the United States Navy, List of destroyer classes of the United States Navy, Articles incorporating text from the Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships, Articles incorporating text from Wikipedia, World War II destroyers of the United States, Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information, 4 x 4", 1 x 3", 2 .30 cal, 12 x 21" (533 mm) torpedo tubes. Due to a malfunction in the fire control table all salvoes fired by HMS Exeter missed the enemy ships. These also turned towards at once. We in the engine room were surprised when told that we were surrounded by enemy ships, thirteen to be exact, five cruisers and eight destroyers. After a brief stop in San Pedro California, she made passage through the Panama Canal on 15 June 2010, continuing on to ESCO Marine in Brownsville, Texas where she arrived at her final destination for dismantling. G. Yoshii), Oshio (Cdr. The balance of the task force was made up of about 20 destroyers from the fleets of three countries. P. van Rees, RNN), HrMs TM-8 (Lt. J.G. Action continued by the sole remaining Allied ship, USS Pope. All hands were alive, with the exception of one who had been killed instantly by shrapnel to the head. Departing Okinawa the following day, she disembarked the 64th TC at Qui Nhon, South Vietnam on 10 August 1966. During the day the Japanese transports were attacked from the air and the Sagami Maru was damaged. Steerage could now be re-established by varying the speed of the two propeller shafts. All power failed in the ship shortly afterwards, and with it the whole main armament and also the secondary armamant control. By now most of us realized we were going to lose the ship: "we were finished". She was reassigned to Squadron 5, Division 15 on 3 February 1933. E.E.B. Squier Class Troop Transport C4-S-A1, ap130.pdf (2.8 MB PDF) On 21 July 1967, she arrived in Okinawa to disembark partial elements of the 3rd Marine Regiment. There was no pain connected with it, it was more like someone had touched with a hot iron; luckily it did not hit bone. After two surprise encounters against two rather large Japanese fleets that had left her unscathed and with no casualties to the crew, it seemed that the Pope must certainly be leading a charmed life. 6.832. $2400.00. There are four charges of TNT, ten pounds to the charge, placed next to the skin or hull of the ship, which when blown, allows the water to pour in at a rapid rate and speed up the sinking of the ship, better known as scuttling. On 6 June 1966, elements of the 503rd Parachute Infantry Regiment boarded the General John Pope at Oakland Army Base. As they sought to escape the three Allied ships fought four Japanese heavy cruisers and four destroyers throughout a fierce three-hour action, and they damaged a number of enemy ships. Sometimes the things that almost happened are as interesting as the things that did. Soon she was illuminated by a searchlight and the Japanese opened fire. She arrived at Vung Tau on 29 July 1967 to disembark the 244th Aviation Company and the 2nd Battalion, 28th Infantry Regiment. Another shipmate by the name of Mathews and myself went with him to set off the charges. They contented themselves with lobbing six and eight inch shells at us. Troopships were operated by the Army Transportation Service, with "civilian" mariners; by the U.S. Navy; and the War Shipping Administration. [5] Pope remained afloat long enough to be sunk about 2pm[6] by the sixth salvo of a Japanese cruiser arriving on the scene. After the war she was transferred to the Army and redesignated USAT General John Pope. We had received a message from the C-in-C (commander in chief), with the instructions to "defend the isle of Java to the last". After the destroyer's single 3-inch anti-aircraft gun failed, one of six dive-bombers scored a near miss which wrecked the port engine shaft and started flooding from damaged hull plating. On December 23rd, Rear Admiral Abe Koki's two fleet destroyers ( Hiryu and Soryu) supported by heavy cruisers and destroyers (on the way back from Pearl Harbor) attacked. The AWM caption suggests this is a "local modification" of Measure 12 camouflage (which no Asiatic Fleet vessel ever carried) or a locally applied scheme. HNLMSWitte de With was unable to recall her crew from shore leave in time to join their retreat to Ceylon. Course was immediately altered to try to evade and it was though possible that with the advantage of the light HMS Exeter had not been sighted. In the early fall, another voyage out of San Francisco 14 August brought General John Pope on a troop rotation run to New Guinean ports; and subsequently, after embarking 5,000 Army troops at San Pedro, California, she sailed via Melbourne for Bombay. Pope was transferred to Division 59 of the Asiatic Fleet 6 May 1940, and resumed patrolling off China during 11 May 24 June. The fire rooms and the engine rooms were secured, valves were shut, fires extinguished under the boilers, etc.. Then we made our way topside. They were steering to the south-south-west and were thought to be two transports escorted by a cruiser or a destroyer. Both destroyers then retired to the south-east to return to Tjilatjap. Piet Hein was a little ahead of the US destroyers and opened fire with her 4.7 guns and also fired two torpedoes. Steam pressure dropped rapidly and in the end the main engines had to be stopped. Hoeksel, RNN), HrMs TM-6 (S.Lt. When the two British ships were destroyed by gunfire shortly before noon 1 March 1942, Pope found temporary refuge in a rain squall. Getting back to the action itself, while this was taking place, we were being continuously bombed, shelled, and strafed. Commanded by Captain Daniel V. Gallery, the task force was alerted to the presence of U-boats in the area by Allied . It would mean a break in the monotony, but it could just as well be certain death. USS POPE (DE-134) Crew Links. USS Guadalcanal (CVE-60), USS Pillsbury DE-133, USS Pope DE-134, USS Flaherty DE-135, USS Chatelain DE-149, and USS Jenks DE-665. Unfortunately they are spotted by Japanese warships and the Exeter and Encounter are sunk during the following engagement. Eventually, they dropped a bomb that narrowly missed the ship and exploded in the water on our after port quarter. Oil-rich Borneo had been invaded and the tatters of the American, British, Dutch and Australian fleets had been reorganized into a single ABDA command. It is not completely clear but it is possible that one of these US destroyers then engaged Piet Hein with gunfire thinking she was Japanese. Around this time all the Allied ships also engaged Japanese destroyers with gunfire. As the Dutch naval base at Surabaya was now under daily air attack it was deemed wise to sent the Tromp to Australia for repairs. The final years of the General John Pope began when she was placed out of commission once again on 1 May 1970, transferred to MARAD, and laid up in the National Defense Reserve Fleet at Suisun Bay, California. Two Japanese bombs had penetrated the main deck, one detonating 15 feet aft of the wardroom and the other wrecking the after steering house. J.W. They were located in the hangar, and the aircraft, usually a scout . Repairs however were under way and while at sea speed could eventually be increased to 23 knots. A couple minutes later, I guess the Japs realized we were abandoning ship and they ceased firing at us. The following day, Ikazuchi rescued 442 survivors from Pope and Encounter. Naval Base San Diego, transporting elements of the U.S. Army 244th Aviation Company (aerial surveillance), elements of D Company, 2nd Battalion, 28th Infantry Regiment, and elements of the 3rd Battalion, 9th Marines. HMS Encounter followed suit and the resulting smoke screen proved effective. From 1931 until 1937, the Pope continued to "show the flag" off the China coast, during the summers and spent the winters in the Philippines engaging in division maneuvers. I would like to describe the weaponry at our disposal to fight this battle. . She proceeded to receive temporary repairs here in Surbaja. In the evening of the 19th they departed for Badoeng Strait. Their turn towards was perhaps only for flying off operations to launch their aircraft to conduct a search. With a top speed of . Asheville does not strike her colors, raise a white flag, jump into the lifeboats or scuttle . The events as they're presented in Saving Private Ryan would never happen that way. Pope was laid down 9 September 1919 and launched 23 March 1920 from William Cramp & Sons; sponsored by Mrs. William S. Benson; and commissioned 27 October 1920 at Philadelphia. After having completed our job, we also abandoned ship, swam away and watched as she sank by the stern. Japanese Rear-Admiral Kubo, on board the Nagara, had meanwhile ordered the Arashio and Michishio to return to Badoeng Strait (Nagara and her three escorting destroyers were too far off). HMS Encounter could not make a torpedo attack, she had none on board having fired all her torpedoes during the Battle of the Java Sea. Pope was heavily engaged in fighting in the Dutch East Indies in the early days of World War II. US Navy Roughly 250 feet long and displacing about 1,200 tons submerged, U-505 was a Type IXC U-boat with a crew of 60. This was not the case, one Japanese destroyer was heavily damaged and one seriously. Japanese Aircraft Carriers Ww2 - Instead of the devastating eighteen-inch guns of her two sisters, Shinan's main armament would be forty-seven aircraft, quite stingy compared to the 75-100 aircraft for the large US and Japanese carriers. Pius's relations with the Axis and the Allies may have been . Up to 900 men initially survived the sinking, but many succumbed to shark attacks, dehydration, and salt poisoning as they awaited . While doing so her smoke generator was started. The U-boat War in World War Two (Kriegsmarine, 1939-1945) and World War One (Kaiserliche Marine, 1914-1918) and the Allied efforts to counter the threat. Though Marblehead had been knocked out of action and Houston and De Ruyter damaged, Doorman still had a sizable fighting force under his command. USS Pope had been unable to take part in the Battle of the Java Sea as she had been repairing at Surabaya. After serving in the Pacific Theater throughout the warbeing there from Pearl Harbor to Saipan, and then Okinawahe carried a quiet lifelong interest in documentaries about the World War II American . AP-110 - USS General John Pope - Booklet of General Plans, 1943, General John Pope Class Troop Transport, ap110.pdf (8.1 MB PDF) AP-130 - USS General G.O. Unfortunately commercial salvage divers had discovered Pope previously and save for a skeleton, little now remains of her wreck. Prior to hearing the abandon ship order, I was attempting to seek cover from the strafing by ducking under the torpedo mounts, which offered some protection. Others made contact with the natives of Java, who alerted the Japanese to the sailors' presence. The USS Pope (DD-225) was a Clemson -class destroyer in the United States Navy that served during World War II. As an Amazon Associate uboat.net earns a commission from qualifying purchases. The Arisan Maru went down with 1,774 mostly American POWs of Japan. General John Pope debarked them at Nouma 23 December and returned via Pago Pago to San Francisco 10 January 1944 with 2,500 veterans. We also dropped our depth charges in an effort to lighten the ship, with the hopes of increasing our speed. One group was made up of the heavy cruisers Nachi and Haguro with the destroyers Kawakaze and Yamakaze. E.J. Coordinates: .mw-parser-output .geo-default,.mw-parser-output .geo-dms,.mw-parser-output .geo-dec{display:inline}.mw-parser-output .geo-nondefault,.mw-parser-output .geo-multi-punct{display:none}.mw-parser-output .longitude,.mw-parser-output .latitude{white-space:nowrap}0400S 11130E / 4.000S 111.500E / -4.000; 111.500, Last edited on 20 December 2022, at 06:10, Learn how and when to remove this template message, http://www.combinedfleet.com/inazum_t.htm, "The Untold story of Captain Kudo Shunsaku and the Destroyer Ikazuchi | Japan Probe", Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships, http://www.navsource.org/archives/05/225.htm, http://www.uboat.net/allies/warships/ship/2334.html, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=USS_Pope_(DD-225)&oldid=1128453682, This page was last edited on 20 December 2022, at 06:10. Three hours after nightfall on Sept. 15, 1942, the U.S.S. Seawolf herself was then counter attacked with depth charges by the destroyers but managed to escape. Submit events/comments/updates for this vessel, William Cramp and Sons (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.A.). On 12 December 1966, the 199th Light Infantry Brigade and 9th Infantry Division disembarked the General John Pope in Vung Tau, South Vietnam. The action was later the subject of several books and articles [13][11][12] HrMs TM-13 (?) Pope was heavily engaged in fighting in the Dutch East Indies in the early days of World War II. Stewart ; and DesDiv-59 with USS Pope (DD-225), Peary (DD-226), Pillsbury (DD-227) and John D. Ford (DD-228).4 USS Paul Jones (DD-230) was the nominal flagship of DesRon-29, but Capt. In a very few minutes, an aircraft was spotted; it was identified as an enemy. At 0930 the inevitable happened. Pope was stationed off Swatow and Pehtaiho during 14 June 19 August, observing the Japanese Navy en route to Swatow and the subsequent bombing and occupation of the city. Framed stained glass panel. These started making bombing runs at our ship. As soon as the rain dispersed, we were spotted by their aircraft, they were on us like a bunch of vultures again. Stewart was then hit with gunfire. It was not until about 0935 hours that the topmasts of two enemy heavy cruisers were sighted bearing about 170 degrees, steering to the westward. The three of us left Surbaja at about 2200 hours, the night of the 29th of February. They used a firing pattern that is known as "the ladder". During the naval battle of Balikpapan she made close-quarter torpedo and gun attacks which helped delay Japanese landings at Balikpapan and later in the Battle of Badung Strait she impeded the invasion of the island of Bali. Thy obtained eleven hits on the Tromp causing heavy damage to the Dutch cruiser. U.S. Military. Their fire was immediately returned by HMS Exeter. She served for many years with the Asiatic Fleet . There are 3 cities on earth that come under no national authority, they have separate laws, they pay no taxes, they have their own police force and even possess their own flag of "independence" the City of London, the Vatican City in Rome and District of Columbia. .Japan remained an innovator in aircraft carrier design and construction during the years leading to World War II, operating nine of them by 1941. . The first part of the night of 28 February / 1 MArch was uneventful. Finally, missions accomplished, General John Pope departed San Francisco 15 May bound for New York, where she decommissioned 12 June 1946 and was returned to the War Shipping Administration (WSA). The two ships proved to be HMS Exeter and HMS Encounter, a heavy cruiser and a destroyer. We had, of course, our main battery, four nests of three torpedoes each, two nests on the port and starboard each. Poor. We were hopelessly outnumbered and outgunned by the enemy. Our guns were now firing again as they had moved within range of our four-inch guns. She passed through the Straits of Gibraltar 3 July and transited the Suez Canal 1525 July. In May 2011, the National Personnel Records Center (NPRC) completed construction of its new facility in St. Louis, Mo. The motor whaleboat went out and brought him back to the group. She was the first ship named for John Pope. With the odds being so heavily in their favor, we felt we were fighting a losing battle. His ship, the U.S.S. Dazed and oblivious to a neck wound and the charred skin hanging from his burns, Goggins ran aft only to find the steering engines completely demolished. She was then transferred to the Army where she served as USAT General John Pope. The man was told to watch the bombers and let the skipper know the minute the planes released their bombs. Many of us found time to say few prayers of our own. After earning two battle stars and ferrying soldiers and aircraft in the European and Pacific theaters of World War II, it was downed by Japanese torpedoes while transporting reinforcements to . By now it seemed that our only salvation lay in heading for the rain that loomed ahead. Of the 1068 crew members on the USS Houston, 368 survived the sinking of the ship and the hours-long swim to the shore of Java. The transport returned to Seattle 17 August following this long voyage, but she was underway again 11 days later via Ulithi, Cebu, and Leyte for Yokohama, returning to San Francisco 8 October with over 5,000 veterans. This humanitarian decision by Lieutenant Commander Shunsaku Kud placed Ikazuchi at risk of attack, and it interfered with her fighting ability, due to the sheer load of rescued sailors. We then got the feeling that things would start getting a little tougher for us, and that we would probably be engaging the enemy in more and more sea battles in the future. For the full action report see this website (offsite link). Besides the ships themselves their crews were also suffering from fatigue due the immense strain they had been under the past weeks. Navy muster rolls from 1860 to 1939 are found in two different series in Record Group 24, Records of the Bureau of Naval Personnel: Muster Rolls of Ships, 1860-1900 (Entry PI-123 132; National Archives Identifier 563603 ) This series is arranged in three chronological segments (1860-1879, 1880-1891, and 1892 . H.E. The US destroyers then set course to the east to leave Badoeng Strait. With saddened hearts, we knew we would never walk the decks of the Pope again. From 15 July to 20 September 1938, she cruised in Chinese waters off Chinwangtao and returned 5 June 1939 with the South China Patrol force removing American consulates and nationals. After about fifteen minutes more at battle stations, and not spotting any additional enemy planes or ships, general quarters were secured and we returned to our quarters to eat breakfast. The spring of 1945 saw a round-trip troop-carrying voyage begin in San Francisco 26 March, which took her to Manila, Leyte, and Biak before returning 21 May. On 9 January 1942 Pope was one of five destroyers in an escort composed of the cruisers USSBoise(CL-47) and USSMarblehead(CL-12), with the other destroyers USSStewart(DD-224), USSBulmer(DD-222), USSParrott(DD-218), and USSBarker(DD-213) departing from Darwin to Surabaya escorting the transport Bloemfontein. Schmitz, RNN), HrMs TM-15 (Lt. H.C. Jorissen, RNN). After shakedown General John Pope sailed for Newport News 5 September 1943 with over 6,000 troops and civilians bound for Greenock, Scotland; and, after disembarking her passengers there, returned to Norfolk, Virginia 25 September. On May 15, 1944, antisubmarine task force TG 22.3, consisting of the escort carrier USS Guadalcanal (CVE-60) and the destroyer escorts USS Pillsbury, USS Pope, USS Chatelain, USS Jenks, and USS Flaherty, departed Norfolk for a patrol near the Canary Islands. Click here to Submit events/comments/updates for this vessel. When north of Bali she went to full speed and returned to Surabaya for repairs. My ship, the USS Pope, developed a bad leak in the hotwell (an evaporator to make fresh water, without which a ship cannot operate), and was unable to accompany the task force. The U-boat War in World War Two (Kriegsmarine, 1939-1945) and World War One (Kaiserliche Marine, 1914-1918) and the Allied efforts to counter the threat. They thought to have sunk a Japanese cruiser and have damaged two more cruisers and two destroyers. Movements of the Allied ships during the night. We had to get away from her fast to keep from being sucked under as she sunk. Pope was initially placed in reduced commission at Philadelphia and assigned to Squadron 3, Division 39 of the Atlantic Reserve Fleet. National Defense Service Medal (w/2 service stars), Korean Service Medal (w/6 service stars), Vietnam Service Medal, HullNumber.com's mission is to provide a means for shipmates to keep in touch with one another. An enemy report was therefore made. Unknown to the Allies at this time was that the ships had already been spotted by Japanese aircraft shortly after they had left the harbour and the Japanese deployed their forces in the eastern part of the Java Sea to intercept them. The POW Camps. Two flights of nine bombers each approached Houston and Marblehead. Hit by two or . They had arrived south of Bali around 0100/20. They were steaming in column, on both our port and starboard sides. I prefer to believe the latter. The destroyer eventually turned away to the westward under the cover of smoke. Like the preceding Delaware-class, Utah and her sister Florida carried ten 12" gun in five twin, center-line . This order was carried out in an orderly manner. USS General John Pope (AP-110), 1943-. The Asashio turned a searchlight on which was quickly taken out by a salvo from the Java. The message received was to " Defend the Isle of Java to the Last. Finally the third wave was made up of the Dutch Motor Torpedo Boats; HrMs TM-4 (Lt. J.E. Pound, USN) and USS John D. Edwards (Lt.Cdr. This section includes over 21.000 Allied Warships and over 11.000 Allied Commanders of WWII, from the US Navy, Royal Navy, Royal Canadian Navy, Royal Australian Navy, The Polish Navy and others. P. Schotel, RNN) was to have sailed with these ships ass well to try to escape but she remained behind with either damage to her propellers and / or an incomplete crew (shore leave had been granted, sources vary on this) and was eventually scuttled to prevent her capture by the Japanese. 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