USS Rooks (DD-804)
Encyclopedia
USS Rooks (DD-804) was a Fletcher-class
Fletcher class destroyer
The Fletcher class were a class of destroyers built by the United States during World War II. The class was designed in 1939 as a result of dissatisfaction with the earlier destroyer leader types...

 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...

 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 for Captain Albert H. Rooks
Albert H. Rooks
Albert Harold Rooks was a Captain in the United States Navy who posthumously received the Medal of Honor during World War II.-Biography:Albert Harold Rooks was born in Colton, Washington, on December 29, 1891...

 (1891–1942) who was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor
Medal of Honor
The Medal of Honor is the highest military decoration awarded by the United States government. It is bestowed by the President, in the name of Congress, upon members of the United States Armed Forces who distinguish themselves through "conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his or her...

 after the Battle of Sunda Strait
Battle of Sunda Strait
The Battle of Sunda Strait was a naval battle which occurred during World War II. On the night of 28 February – 1 March 1942, the Australian light cruiser and the American heavy cruiser faced a major Imperial Japanese Navy task force. After a fierce battle of several hours duration, both Allied...

.

Rooks was laid down on 27 October 1943 by the Todd Pacific Shipyards
Todd Pacific Shipyards
Vigor Shipyards was founded in 1916 as the William H. Todd Corporation through the merger of Robins Dry Dock & Repair Company of Erie Basin, Brooklyn, New York, the Tietjen & Long Dry Dock Company of Hoboken, New Jersey, and the Seattle Construction and Dry Dock Company...

, Seattle, Washington
Seattle, Washington
Seattle is the county seat of King County, Washington. With 608,660 residents as of the 2010 Census, Seattle is the largest city in the Northwestern United States. The Seattle metropolitan area of about 3.4 million inhabitants is the 15th largest metropolitan area in the country...

; launched
Ship naming and launching
The ceremonies involved in naming and launching naval ships are based in traditions thousands of years old.-Methods of launch:There are three principal methods of conveying a new ship from building site to water, only two of which are called "launching." The oldest, most familiar, and most widely...

 on 6 June 1944; sponsored by Mrs. Edith R. Rooks, widow of Captain Rooks; and commissioned
Ship commissioning
Ship commissioning is the act or ceremony of placing a ship in active service, and may be regarded as a particular application of the general concepts and practices of project commissioning. The term is most commonly applied to the placing of a warship in active duty with its country's military...

 on 2 September 1944, Commander Robert F. Martin in command.

World War II

Following shakedown off San Diego, California
San Diego, California
San Diego is the eighth-largest city in the United States and second-largest city in California. The city is located on the coast of the Pacific Ocean in Southern California, immediately adjacent to the Mexican border. The birthplace of California, San Diego is known for its mild year-round...

 and an availability at the Puget Sound Navy Yard, Rooks steamed to 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...

 for amphibious landing rehearsals and shore bombardment exercises. On 22 January 1945, she got under way in company with a flotilla of LSTs for Eniwetok, Marshall Islands
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...

—the first stop en route to the forward battle area. Rooks and her LSTs then proceeded to 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...

 for another landing rehearsal.

Arriving at Iwo Jima
Battle of Iwo Jima
The Battle of Iwo Jima , or Operation Detachment, was a major battle in which the United States fought for and captured the island of Iwo Jima from the Empire of Japan. The U.S...

 on D-Day
D-Day
D-Day is a term often used in military parlance to denote the day on which a combat attack or operation is to be initiated. "D-Day" often represents a variable, designating the day upon which some significant event will occur or has occurred; see Military designation of days and hours for similar...

, 19 February 1945, Rooks sent her LSTs on their way to the beach, then assumed duties as a radar picket
Radar picket
A radar picket is a radar-equipped ship, submarine, aircraft, or vehicle used to increase the radar detection range around a force to protect it from surprise attack. Often several detached radar units encircle a force to provide increased cover in all directions.-World War II:Radar picket ships...

 vessel. In the afternoon she proceeded to the southeastern corner of the island to cover the Marine
United States Marine Corps
The United States Marine Corps is a branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for providing power projection from the sea, using the mobility of the United States Navy to deliver combined-arms task forces rapidly. It is one of seven uniformed services of the United States...

 landings and silenced several enemy batteries. Rooks again fired on the 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...

 beaches 21–22 February and 25–26 February losing one seaman to shrapnel from a mortar
Mortar (weapon)
A mortar is an indirect fire weapon that fires explosive projectiles known as bombs at low velocities, short ranges, and high-arcing ballistic trajectories. It is typically muzzle-loading and has a barrel length less than 15 times its caliber....

 on the 22d. During this period Rooks also provided 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...

 warning and antisubmarine protection on the screening cordon thrown around the island.

On 28 February, Rooks departed Iwo Jima for Saipan in the screen of a group of transports. She then proceeded in company with another destroyer to 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...

; escorted two escort carriers to Leyte; and after training exercises, departed Leyte for Okinawa Gunto on 25 March.

Arriving at Okinawa Jima on Easter Sunday, 1 April 1945, Rooks began 87 consecutive days of shore bombardment during which she fired 18,624 rounds of 5 inch shells. During this period she went to general quarters for bona fide air alerts 131 times, and on four occasions was the direct target of 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....

 attack. She was credited with shooting down six enemy aircraft during the battle of Okinawa
Battle of Okinawa
The Battle of Okinawa, codenamed Operation Iceberg, was fought on the Ryukyu Islands of Okinawa and was the largest amphibious assault in the Pacific War of World War II. The 82-day-long battle lasted from early April until mid-June 1945...

.

In addition to shore bombardment, Rooks also occupied antisubmarine and antiaircraft patrol stations, and for a number of nights steamed with the surface covering force for the island operation. Every second or third day she proceeded to Kerama Retto
Kerama Retto
The are a group of 22 islands located southwest of Okinawa Island in Japan. Four of the islands are inhabited:,., and. The islands are within Shimajiri District. The Kerama-shotō coral reef is a Ramsar Site....

 to replenish ammunition, fuel, and provisions.

6 April was the most critical day in Rooks career. At 01:00 she assisted in shooting down six planes which attacked the Allied force. At about 16:00, her area was subjected to an enemy air attack by at least 110 planes and, between then and 16:48, she shot down one kamikaze and assisted in downing five others. At 17:12 she was called upon to assist and escort to port which had been badly damaged by a Japanese suicide plane. Arriving on the scene, Rooks found Hyman again under attack. After shooting down a Mitsubishi A6M
A6M Zero
The Mitsubishi A6M Zero was a long-range fighter aircraft operated by the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service from 1940 to 1945. The A6M was designated as the , and also designated as the Mitsubishi A6M Rei-sen and Mitsubishi Navy 12-shi Carrier Fighter. The A6M was usually referred to by the...

 "Zeke" and a 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....

 "Val", she escorted
Hyman into the Hagushi
Hagushi
Hagushi bay was the primary unloading point for American supplies during the invasion of Okinawa during World War II. The bay, at the mouth of the Bishi River , was the dividing line between the First and Sixth US Marine divisions, which landed on the Hagushi beaches to the north, and the Seventh...

 anchorage and sent a medical officer and pharmacist's mates aboard to aid the wounded.

On 4 July,
Rooks sortied with minecraft
Minesweeper (ship)
A minesweeper is a small naval warship designed to counter the threat posed by naval mines. Minesweepers generally detect then neutralize mines in advance of other naval operations.-History:...

 of various types and sizes, for a large-scale minesweeping
Naval mine
A naval mine is a self-contained explosive device placed in water to destroy surface ships or submarines. Unlike depth charges, mines are deposited and left to wait until they are triggered by the approach of, or contact with, an enemy vessel...

 operation to open the East China Sea
East China Sea
The East China Sea is a marginal sea east of China. It is a part of the Pacific Ocean and covers an area of 1,249,000 km² or 750,000 square miles.-Geography:...

. The only destroyer in the group, she was assigned as a fire support vessel, but her firing was confined to sinking drifting mines. She acted as a radar picket, as a "pointing" vessel in guiding the sweepers along their track, and was frequently called upon to furnish accurate navigational positions of the buoys laid to mark the limits of the swept area. This operation lasted throughout July.

On 1 August, Rooks sortied from Buckner Bay, Okinawa, to escort and to Saipan. Proceeding on to Ulithi, she then escorted three transports to Leyte and after repairs, departed Leyte on 1 September. She escorted a group of LSTs to Okinawa, then, on the 11th, steamed for Nagasaki to assist in the repatriation of prisoners 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...

. She departed Nagasaki on the 15th for Okinawa with 92 former POWs, mostly British officers captured at Singapore
Singapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...

. She then returned to Nagasaki and carried Rear Admiral William H. P. Blandy
William H. P. Blandy
William Henry Purnell Blandy , known to friends as "Spike", was an admiral in the United States Navy during World War II.-Biography:...

, Commander Destroyers, Pacific Fleet, to inspect the former great Japanese naval base of Sasebo. She continued to operate in Japanese and Okinawan waters until departing Yokosuka on 26 October for 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...

 and San Francisco, where she arrived on 10 November.

On 15 November 1945, Rooks reported to the Pacific Reserve Fleet at Bremerton, Washington
Bremerton, Washington
Bremerton is a city in Kitsap County, Washington, United States. The population was 38,790 at the 2011 State Estimate, making it the largest city on the Olympic Peninsula. Bremerton is home to Puget Sound Naval Shipyard and the Bremerton Annex of Naval Base Kitsap...

 Assigned to the San Diego Group, she was placed out of commission, in reserve, on 11 June 1946 and was completely inactivated by 17 August 1946.

1951 – 1962

Rooks recommissioned at San Diego
Naval Station San Diego
Naval Base San Diego is the largest base of the United States Navy on the west coast of the United States, in San Diego, California. Naval Base San Diego is the principal homeport of the Pacific Fleet, consisting of 54 ships and over 120 tenant commands. The base is composed of 13 piers stretched...

 on 19 May 1951 and after a brief tour of duty with the Pacific Fleet, 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...

 to join the Atlantic Fleet
U.S. Atlantic Fleet
The United States Fleet Forces Command is an Atlantic Ocean theater-level component command of the United States Navy that provides naval resources that are under the operational control of the United States Northern Command...

 and Destroyer Squadron 20 (DesRon 20) at Newport, Rhode Island
Naval Station Newport
The Naval Station Newport is a United States Navy base located in the towns of Newport and Middletown, Rhode Island. Naval Station Newport is home to the Naval War College and the Naval Justice School...

, on 13 October. During the next year she underwent training, particularly in ASW and completed a major overhaul. On 6 September 1952, Destroyer Squadron 20 departed the east coast of the United States for 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...

 where Rooks supported the U.N. effort by serving as escort and planeguard for the fast carrier task force
Fast Carrier Task Force
The Fast Carrier Task Force was the main striking force of the United States Navy in the Pacific Ocean theatre of World War II.The Fast Carrier Task Force was known under two designations. The Navy made use of two sets of upper command structures for planning the upcoming operations...

, TF 77, and the U.N. Blockade and Escort Force, TF 95. She was most active in shore bombardment, shelling the North Korea
North Korea
The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea , , is a country in East Asia, occupying the northern half of the Korean Peninsula. Its capital and largest city is Pyongyang. The Korean Demilitarized Zone serves as the buffer zone between North Korea and South Korea...

n ports of Songjin, Wonsan
Wonsan
Wŏnsan is a port city and naval base in southeastern North Korea. It is the capital of Kangwŏn Province. The population of the city is estimated to have been 331,000 in 2000. Notable people from Wŏnsan include Kim Ki Nam, diplomat and Secretary of the Workers' Party.- History :The original name of...

, and Chongjin
Chongjin
Ch'ŏngjin is the capital of North Korea's North Hamgyŏng Province and the country's third largest city. From 1960 to 1967 and again from 1977 to 1985, Ch'ŏngjin was administered separately from North Hamgyŏng as a Directly Governed City...

. In February 1953 she got under way to return to Newport, Rhode Island, via the Indian Ocean, Mediterranean, and North Atlantic, reaching Newport, Rhode Island, 11 April.

At Newport, Rooks resumed operations with the 2d Fleet. During mid-1954 she underwent overhaul and from September to February 1955 she was deployed to the Mediterranean. On her return to the United States she served as afloat training ship for the students of the Destroyers, Atlantic Gunnery School, then with the summer, shifted to ASW and 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...

 exercises in which she was employed for the balance of the year.

During 1956 Rooks operated off the Atlantic coast and in the Caribbean. During December she served on the Atlantic barrier patrol, then, with the new year, 1957, resumed normal operations off the Atlantic coast, making two separate deployments to the Mediterranean, including one sortie into the Red Sea
Red Sea
The Red Sea is a seawater inlet of the Indian Ocean, lying between Africa and Asia. The connection to the ocean is in the south through the Bab el Mandeb strait and the Gulf of Aden. In the north, there is the Sinai Peninsula, the Gulf of Aqaba, and the Gulf of Suez...

, by September 1958.

Following overhaul and further exercises off the Atlantic coast and in the Caribbean,
Rooks again deployed to the Mediterranean until August 1959. During 1960 she conducted a 2-month midshipman cruise and made a deployment to the Arabian Sea
Arabian Sea
The Arabian Sea is a region of the Indian Ocean bounded on the east by India, on the north by Pakistan and Iran, on the west by the Arabian Peninsula, on the south, approximately, by a line between Cape Guardafui in northeastern Somalia and Kanyakumari in India...

, via the Mediterranean, for a combined CENTO
Cento
Cento is a city and comune in the province of Ferrara, part of the region Emilia-Romagna . In Italian "cento" means 100.-History:The name Cento is a reference to the centuriation of the Po Valley...

 exercise. During 1961 she underwent training in the Caribbean and Atlantic; then stood by, on station, for America's first manned space shot, Freedom 7; conducted a midshipman cruise to Halifax; and participated in ASW operations in the northeast Atlantic, with calls at Portsmouth, England, and Rotterdam
Rotterdam
Rotterdam is the second-largest city in the Netherlands and one of the largest ports in the world. Starting as a dam on the Rotte river, Rotterdam has grown into a major international commercial centre...

.

Rooks continued to operate with the Atlantic Fleet until 26 July 1962, when she was loaned to Chile
Chile
Chile ,officially the Republic of Chile , is a country in South America occupying a long, narrow coastal strip between the Andes mountains to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It borders Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage in the far...

 under the Military Assistance Program.

BACH Cochrane

The ship served in the Chilean Navy
Chilean Navy
-Independence Wars of Chile and Peru :The Chilean Navy dates back to 1817. A year before, following the Battle of Chacabuco, General Bernardo O'Higgins prophetically declared "this victory and another hundred shall be of no significance if we do not gain control of the sea".This led to the...

 (
Armada de Chile) as BACH Cochrane, named after Admiral Thomas Cochrane
Thomas Cochrane, 10th Earl of Dundonald
Admiral Thomas Cochrane, 10th Earl of Dundonald, 1st Marquess of Maranhão, GCB, ODM , styled Lord Cochrane between 1778 and 1831, was a senior British naval flag officer and radical politician....

 (1775–1860), who commanded the Chilean navy (1817–1822).

Cochrane was stricken and broken up for scrap in 1983.

Awards

Rooks earned three battle stars for World War II services and two battle stars for service in the Korean War
Korean War
The Korean War was a conventional war between South Korea, supported by the United Nations, and North Korea, supported by the People's Republic of China , with military material aid from the Soviet Union...

.

External links

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