USS Dionne (DE-261)
Encyclopedia
USS Dionne (DE-261) was an 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...
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 sent off into the Pacific Ocean to protect 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...
s and other ships from Japanese
Empire of Japan
The Empire of Japan is the name of the state of Japan that existed from the Meiji Restoration on 3 January 1868 to the enactment of the post-World War II Constitution of...
submarines and fighter aircraft
Aircraft
An aircraft is a vehicle that is able to fly by gaining support from the air, or, in general, the atmosphere of a planet. An aircraft counters the force of gravity by using either static lift or by using the dynamic lift of an airfoil, or in a few cases the downward thrust from jet engines.Although...
. She performed escort and antisubmarine operations in dangerous battle areas and returned home with six battle stars, a high number for a ship of her type.
She was launched on 10 March 1943 by Boston Navy Yard
Boston Navy Yard
The Boston Navy Yard, originally called the Charlestown Navy Yard and later Boston Naval Shipyard, was one of the oldest shipbuilding facilities in the United States Navy. Established in 1801, it was officially closed as an active naval installation on July 1, 1974, and the property was...
; sponsored by Mrs. L. A. Dionne, mother of Ensign Dionne; and commissioned on 16 July 1943, Lieutenant Commander R. S. Paret, USNR, in command.
World War II Pacific Theatre operations
Dionne sailed from Boston, Massachusetts, on 7 September 1943 to escort a convoy to Norfolk, VirginiaNorfolk, 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....
. She conducted training 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...
area until 2 October when she got underway for the Pacific Ocean. Arriving at 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...
on 26 October she was assigned to night radar
Radar
Radar is an object-detection system which uses radio waves to determine the range, altitude, direction, or speed of objects. It can be used to detect aircraft, ships, spacecraft, guided missiles, motor vehicles, weather formations, and terrain. The radar dish or antenna transmits pulses of radio...
picket duty and on 15 November she sortied for the invasion of the 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...
. Dionne screened a group of tankers serving the ships engaged in this operation until her return to Pearl Harbor on 12 January 1944 for repairs.
From 4 February to 1 March 1944 Dionne served in the Marshalls
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...
operation, escorting convoys and acting as harbor guard at 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...
. After an overhaul at Mare Island, California, from 9 March to 8 April she sailed to Kwajalein and Eniwetok as convoy escort, then returned to Pearl Harbor on 10 May to rehearse amphibious
Amphibious warfare
Amphibious warfare is the use of naval firepower, logistics and strategy to project military power ashore. In previous eras it stood as the primary method of delivering troops to non-contiguous enemy-held terrain...
landings.
Invasion of the Marianas
Dionne sailed from Pearl Harbor on 1 June 1944 for the invasion of the MarianasMariana 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...
. She patrolled by day and screened transports at night, picking up seven Japanese prisoners and a 9-year-old Japanese girl. On 21 June she screened during her bombardment of Saipan
Saipan
Saipan is the largest island of the United States Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands , a chain of 15 tropical islands belonging to the Marianas archipelago in the western Pacific Ocean with a total area of . The 2000 census population was 62,392...
. From 25 June to 16 July she was at Eniwetok to replenish, returning to 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...
for a pre-invasion bombardment on 20 and 21 July and to provide fire support for the landings of 21 July. Three days later she bombarded Tinian
Tinian
Tinian is one of the three principal islands of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.-Geography:Tinian is about 5 miles southwest of its sister island, Saipan, from which it is separated by the Saipan Channel. It has a land area of 39 sq.mi....
, off which she patrolled until returning to Pearl Harbor on 3 September.
On 23 September 1944 Dionne departed for 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...
carrying garrison
Garrison
Garrison is the collective term for a body of troops stationed in a particular location, originally to guard it, but now often simply using it as a home base....
forces. She remained there from 8 to 24 October on patrol and local escort duty. After escorting ships to Eniwetok and Saipan, she returned to Pearl Harbor on 23 November as screen for , damaged by Japanese depth charges, and . Dionne served in anti-submarine warfare exercises and amphibious training in the Hawaiian Islands
Hawaiian Islands
The Hawaiian Islands are an archipelago of eight major islands, several atolls, numerous smaller islets, and undersea seamounts in the North Pacific Ocean, extending some 1,500 miles from the island of Hawaii in the south to northernmost Kure Atoll...
until 20 January 1945 when she began convoy duty between Pearl Harbor and Eniwetok.
Supporting Saipan and Iwo Jima operations
Dionne sailed from Eniwetok on 21 February 1945 for Saipan and Iwo JimaIwo 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...
, landing her garrison group there on 7 March. She patrolled off Iwo Jima until 20 March, then sailed for Pearl Harbor with evacuated combat troops, arriving on 4 April. Four days later she got underway for 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...
, and overhaul.
Returning to Pearl Harbor on 15 June 1945 Dionne escorted convoys to Eniwetok and Ulithi. On 25 July she departed Ulithi to join the oilers serving the 3rd Fleet during their strikes on the Japanese mainland, duty which occupied her until the end of the war.
End-of-War activity
From 4 September she screened oilers fueling ships of the 7th FleetUnited States Seventh Fleet
The Seventh Fleet is the United States Navy's permanent forward projection force based in Yokosuka, Japan, with units positioned near Japan and South Korea. It is a component fleet force under the United States Pacific Fleet. At present, it is the largest of the forward-deployed U.S. fleets, with...
operating in 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...
and off Jinsen, Korea
Korea
Korea ) is an East Asian geographic region that is currently divided into two separate sovereign states — North Korea and South Korea. Located on the Korean Peninsula, Korea is bordered by the People's Republic of China to the northwest, Russia to the northeast, and is separated from Japan to the...
. Dionne sailed from Jinsen on 5 October for Pearl Harbor and the west coast, arriving at San Francisco on 25 November.