USS Caldwell (DD-605)
Encyclopedia
USS Caldwell (DD-605) was a in the United States Navy
during World War II
. She was named for James R. Caldwell
.
Caldwell was launched 15 January 1942 by Bethlehem Steel Corporation, San Francisco, California
; sponsored by Miss A. Caldwell; and commissioned 10 June 1942, Lieutenant Commander
J. F. Newman, Jr., in command.
n waters. Her guns pounded Attu twice in preparation for the assault which would recapture that American outpost. When soldiers of the 17th and 32d Infantry stormed ashore on 11 May 1943, they were covered to the southward by Caldwell and the other ships of TG 16.6. With Attu
taken, the destroyer returned to convoy escort; Caldwell sailed in the screen of the force which carried reinforcements to Kiska, Alaska on 16 August 1943, the day after the first landings on that rugged island.
Caldwell left the fog, mists, and cold of the Aleutians behind in September 1943, and steamed south to join TF 15 for the 18 September air strikes which destroyed half of the enemy airplanes on Tarawa
. Action followed thick and fast for the next month as the destroyer joined TF 14, the largest fast carrier force yet organized, in blasting Wake Island
. Caldwell bombarded Peale and Wake Islands and screened aircraft carrier
s launching air attacks against those islets.
The destroyer's next mission found her covering LSTs in the followup to the invasion of Makin
, Gilbert Islands
. Her charges safely delivered on 21 November, Caldwell took station on antisubmarine and air defense patrol for the next week. A well-earned rest came in the form of duty escorting a San Francisco-bound convoy. After a brief overhaul, the destroyer returned to action with TF 52 in the invasion of Kwajalein
and Majuro
31 January 1944. During the continual maneuvering, characteristic of carrier task forces, Caldwell and collided; the destroyer remained with the task force another week, then returned to Pearl Harbor for repairs. At sea again, Caldwell joined TF 58 in the Palau
-Yap
-Ulithi
-Woleai
raids (30 March-1 April); strikes on New Guinea in support of Army landings on that island (22–24 April); and the Truk-Satawan-Ponape raids (29 April-1 May). She remained on patrol in the Marshall Islands until mid-August when she sailed to Pearl Harbor for much-needed upkeep.
Caldwells next assignment sent her by way of Ulithi and Manus
to screen convoys supplying the forces which had landed in the Philippines
. On 11 December, Caldwell had a near miss with a kamikaze
, and the next day, while escorting landing craft to Ormoc Bay, she bore the brunt of the air attack. Hit on the bridge simultaneously by a kamikaze and fragments from a two-bomb straddle, the destroyer suffered 33 killed and 40 wounded including the commanding officer. Despite the heavy damage, Caldwells after guns continued to fire on enemy planes, while her damage control parties saved the ship.
Temporary repairs made at San Pedro Bay, Philippines, fitted Caldwell for the voyage to San Francisco where she was again put in fighting trim. April 1945 saw the destroyer once more in her familiar role as convoy escort, this time in support of the invasion of Tarakan
, Borneo
. Caldwell bombarded Tarakan (11–12 May), then moved to cover the minesweeping operations off Brunei Bay. Here, on 27 June, she detonated an influence-type mine, but escaped with moderate damage and no casualties. After temporary repairs at Victoria, Australia, she sailed to San Pedro Bay, P.I., for final repairs. She was there when hostilities ended. Escort of landing craft convoys to Okinawa
and Leyte
followed in September and October 1945. After a visit to Tokyo Bay
, Caldwell returned to the States; she was placed out of commission in reserve at Charleston, South Carolina
, on 24 April 1946. She was struck 1 May 1965 and sold for scrap on 4 November 1966.
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 James R. Caldwell
James R. Caldwell
James R. Caldwell was an officer in the United States Navy who served in the Quasi-War with France and the First Barbary War.-Biography:Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Caldwell was appointed a midshipman 22 May 1798...
.
Caldwell was launched 15 January 1942 by Bethlehem Steel Corporation, 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 Miss A. Caldwell; and commissioned 10 June 1942, Lieutenant Commander
Lieutenant Commander
Lieutenant Commander is a commissioned officer rank in many navies. The rank is superior to a lieutenant and subordinate to a commander...
J. F. Newman, Jr., in command.
Service history
On 11 September 1942, Caldwell turned her bow northward from San Francisco and joined the screen of an Aleutians-bound convoy. For the next 9 months the destroyer battled foul weather as she shepherded shipping and cruised with TG 8.6 in unrewarded search for the enemy in AlaskaAlaska
Alaska is the largest state in the United States by area. It is situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent, with Canada to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, with Russia further west across the Bering Strait...
n waters. Her guns pounded Attu twice in preparation for the assault which would recapture that American outpost. When soldiers of the 17th and 32d Infantry stormed ashore on 11 May 1943, they were covered to the southward by Caldwell and the other ships of TG 16.6. With Attu
Attu Island
Attu is the westernmost and largest island in the Near Islands group of the Aleutian Islands of Alaska, making it the westernmost point of land relative to Alaska and the United States. It was the site of the only World War II land battle fought on the incorporated territory of the United States ,...
taken, the destroyer returned to convoy escort; Caldwell sailed in the screen of the force which carried reinforcements to Kiska, Alaska on 16 August 1943, the day after the first landings on that rugged island.
Caldwell left the fog, mists, and cold of the Aleutians behind in September 1943, and steamed south to join TF 15 for the 18 September air strikes which destroyed half of the enemy airplanes on Tarawa
Tarawa Atoll
Tarawa is an atoll in the central Pacific Ocean, previously the capital of the former British colony of the Gilbert and Ellice Islands. It is the location of the capital of the Republic of Kiribati, South Tarawa...
. Action followed thick and fast for the next month as the destroyer joined TF 14, the largest fast carrier force yet organized, in blasting Wake Island
Wake Island
Wake Island is a coral atoll having a coastline of in the North Pacific Ocean, located about two-thirds of the way from Honolulu west to Guam east. It is an unorganized, unincorporated territory of the United States, administered by the Office of Insular Affairs, U.S. Department of the Interior...
. Caldwell bombarded Peale and Wake Islands and screened 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...
s launching air attacks against those islets.
The destroyer's next mission found her covering LSTs in the followup to the invasion of Makin
Makin (islands)
Makin is the name of a chain of islands located in the Pacific Ocean island nation of Kiribati, specifically in the Gilbert Islands.-Geography:...
, Gilbert Islands
Gilbert Islands
The Gilbert Islands are a chain of sixteen atolls and coral islands in the Pacific Ocean. They are the main part of Republic of Kiribati and include Tarawa, the site of the country's capital and residence of almost half of the population.-Geography:The atolls and islands of the Gilbert Islands...
. Her charges safely delivered on 21 November, Caldwell took station on antisubmarine and air defense patrol for the next week. A well-earned rest came in the form of duty escorting a San Francisco-bound convoy. After a brief overhaul, the destroyer returned to action with TF 52 in the invasion of Kwajalein
Kwajalein
Kwajalein Atoll , is part of the Republic of the Marshall Islands . The southernmost and largest island in the atoll is named Kwajalein Island. English-speaking residents of the U.S...
and Majuro
Majuro
Majuro , is a large coral atoll of 64 islands in the Pacific Ocean, and forms a legislative district of the Ratak Chain of the Marshall Islands. The atoll itself has a land area of and encloses a lagoon of...
31 January 1944. During the continual maneuvering, characteristic of carrier task forces, Caldwell and collided; the destroyer remained with the task force another week, then returned to Pearl Harbor for repairs. At sea again, Caldwell joined TF 58 in the Palau
Palau
Palau , officially the Republic of Palau , is an island nation in the Pacific Ocean, east of the Philippines and south of Tokyo. In 1978, after three decades as being part of the United Nations trusteeship, Palau chose independence instead of becoming part of the Federated States of Micronesia, a...
-Yap
Yap
Yap, also known as Wa'ab by locals, is an island in the Caroline Islands of the western Pacific Ocean. It is a state of the Federated States of Micronesia. Yap's indigenous cultures and traditions are still strong compared to other neighboring islands. The island of Yap actually consists of four...
-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...
-Woleai
Woleai
Woleai is a coral atoll of twenty-two islands in the eastern Caroline Islands in the Pacific Ocean, and forms a legislative district in Yap State in the Federated States of Micronesia and is located approximately west-northwest of Ifalik and northeast of Eauripik...
raids (30 March-1 April); strikes on New Guinea in support of Army landings on that island (22–24 April); and the Truk-Satawan-Ponape raids (29 April-1 May). She remained on patrol in the Marshall Islands until mid-August when she sailed to Pearl Harbor for much-needed upkeep.
Caldwells next assignment sent her by way of Ulithi and Manus
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...
to screen convoys supplying the forces which had landed in 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...
. On 11 December, Caldwell had a near miss with a 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....
, and the next day, while escorting landing craft to Ormoc Bay, she bore the brunt of the air attack. Hit on the bridge simultaneously by a kamikaze and fragments from a two-bomb straddle, the destroyer suffered 33 killed and 40 wounded including the commanding officer. Despite the heavy damage, Caldwells after guns continued to fire on enemy planes, while her damage control parties saved the ship.
Temporary repairs made at San Pedro Bay, Philippines, fitted Caldwell for the voyage to San Francisco where she was again put in fighting trim. April 1945 saw the destroyer once more in her familiar role as convoy escort, this time in support of the invasion of Tarakan
Battle of Tarakan (1945)
The Battle of Tarakan was the first stage in the Borneo campaign of 1945. It began with an amphibious landing by Australian forces on 1 May, code-named Operation Oboe One...
, Borneo
Borneo
Borneo is the third largest island in the world and is located north of Java Island, Indonesia, at the geographic centre of Maritime Southeast Asia....
. Caldwell bombarded Tarakan (11–12 May), then moved to cover the minesweeping operations off Brunei Bay. Here, on 27 June, she detonated an influence-type mine, but escaped with moderate damage and no casualties. After temporary repairs at Victoria, Australia, she sailed to San Pedro Bay, P.I., for final repairs. She was there when hostilities ended. Escort of landing craft convoys to Okinawa
Okinawa Island
Okinawa Island is the largest of the Okinawa Islands and the Ryukyu Islands of Japan, and is home to Naha, the capital of Okinawa Prefecture. The island has an area of...
and Leyte
Leyte Island
Leyte is an island in the Visayas group of the Philippines.The island measures about 180 km north-south and about 65 km at its widest point. In the north it nearly joins Samar, separated by the San Juanico Strait, which becomes as narrow as 2 km in some places...
followed in September and October 1945. After a visit to Tokyo Bay
Tokyo Bay
is a bay in the southern Kantō region of Japan. Its old name was .-Geography:Tokyo Bay is surrounded by the Bōsō Peninsula to the east and the Miura Peninsula to the west. In a narrow sense, Tokyo Bay is the area north of the straight line formed by the on the Miura Peninsula on one end and on...
, Caldwell returned to the States; she was placed out of commission in reserve at Charleston, South Carolina
Charleston, South Carolina
Charleston is the second largest city in the U.S. state of South Carolina. It was made the county seat of Charleston County in 1901 when Charleston County was founded. The city's original name was Charles Towne in 1670, and it moved to its present location from a location on the west bank of the...
, on 24 April 1946. She was struck 1 May 1965 and sold for scrap on 4 November 1966.