U.S.S. WALLER (DD466)
WAR RECORD
1 October 1942 to 23 December 1945
The U.S.S. WALLER, a 2100-ton destroyer
built by the Federal Ship-building Company, was commissioned at Kearney, New
Jersey, 1 October 1942, and was in action in the Pacific from January 1943
until December 1945, serving in the Solomons, the Marianas, the Philippines,
the Borneo area, and Chinese waters as a unit of Destroyer Division 43 and
Squadron 22.
In more than two and one-half years of
combat the WALLER accounted for, or assisted in accounting for, 16 enemy
aircraft, at least two light cruisers or destroyers, a submarine and more that
15 troop-carrying barges. She
protected convoys and provided fire support for allied troops in 15 amphibious
landings, bombarding enemy troop concentrations and shore installations in 14
combat areas. The ship rates ten
announced battle stars.
During her war cruise the WALLER’s
powerful engines carried her more than 190,000 nautical miles, the equivalent
of nine times around the earth, and her guns poured nearly 23,000 rounds of
ammunition at the enemy’s land, sea, and air forces, including 10,665
rounds fired from her main 5-inch battery.
Enemy torpedoes sizzled down her sides and
even under her bow, would-be suicide planes were shot into the water close
aboard, her hull was shaken by countless near bomb misses, she steamed through
unswept mine fields and hazardous shoal waters, she was caught in the crossfire
of shore batteries- yet, in all her campaigning, the U.S.S. WALLER never
suffered a single fatality among her personnel. Two men were slightly wounded due to enemy action during the
war and 22 were injured by a mine explosion in the Yangtze River after the
Japanese surrender.
The WALLER received her baptism of fire
while under the command of Comdr. L.H. Frost, USN, near Guadalcanal on 29
January 1943, when enemy torpedo bombers came in at dusk to attack the small
task force with which she was operating.
The cruiser CHICAGO was torpedoed in this
attack and left dead in the water.
One plane strafed the decks of the WALLER, injuring one man, but the
destroyer’s A.A. batteries claimed two possible kills.
The Task Force was attacked by 11 more
planes the following day, and the CHICAGO was sunk. Despite the fact that the attack came in from the opposite
side of the formation, the WALLER’s gunners succeeded in shooting down
one enemy plane and contributed to the demise of two others.
It was a little more than a month later, on
5 March 1943, that the WALLER, with Commander Destroyer Division 43 aboard,
made the first of many expeditions up the famous Solomons “slot”,
leading a force of three cruisers and three destroyers on a night sweep into
Kula Gulf.
Shortly after entering the gulf, the WALLER
detected two enemy light cruisers or heavy destroyers standing out of Blackett
Strait at 24 knots. Closing the
range to less than 8000 yards, the WALLER fired a 5-tube spread of torpedoes;
then all of our ships opened up with gunfire. Brief minutes later the WALLER's “fish” found their
mark, causing a terrific explosion which tore the leading enemy ship into
two parts. It sank immediately.
The second vessel, burning heavily from
gunfire, went to the bottom less than half an hour later. Apparently taken by complete surprise,
the enemy had failed to fire a single damaging shot in return.
Another trip up the “slot” came
the night of 29-30 June 1943, when the WALLER accompanied cruisers and
destroyers of the third fleet on a successful bombardment of Vila-Stanmore,
Kolambangara Island, and the Shortland Islands. Again, on the night of 11-12 July, the WALLER led a column
of ships in the bombardment of Munda Airfield.
While covering the return of forces from New
Georgia a few nights later, the WALLER and other destroyers of Squadron 22,
investigating a patrol plane’s report, encountered three vessels which
were believed to have been enemy destroyers off Vanga Point, Kolambangara
Island. Hit and straddled by
gunfire, two of the targets were believed sunk. Out units were attacked by enemy planes seven times during
the night, without damage. One
plane was shot down.
Serving as a screening vessel during the
occupation of Vella La Vella, from 15 to 18 August 1943, the WALLER went
through numerous heavy air attacks, shooting down at least three enemy planes
and taking credit for three “assists”. The night of 17-18 August enemy bombers and torpedo planes
were overhead almost continuously for eight hours.
Commander FROST’s action report
describes a portion of the battle in these words:
“At 2137 a near bomb miss on
WALLER’s port quarter-75 feet.
Another on starboard quarter.
At 2146 a torpedo plane dropped one torpedo about 200 yards to starboard
and sheared off over forecastle.
This plane was knocked down and fell on port bow in heavy cloud of
smoke. The men below, in engine
room, heard the torpedo and believe it passed under ship.”
“We do not know how many bombs were
dropped on the ship. Most of them
were well clear astern and explosions were hidden in smoke. The planes continued to come in and all
ships were firing and reporting planes from time to time. Flares were being dropped to mark our
position.”
Shortly before midnight, while maneuvering
radically in the smoke screen to avoid bombs, the WALLER and the U.S.S. PHILIP
sideswiped and suffered moderate structural damage. Both ships were able to maintain full power, however, and
the battle continued. At least
five more bombs were dropped on the WALLER later in the night, the nearest
landing 50 yards off the starboard quarter.
Another memorable night up the
“slot” occurred 1-2 October 1943 when the WALLER, Captained by Lt.
Comdr. W.T. DUTTON, USN, accompanied other destroyers of Squadron 22 on a hunt
for enemy destroyers, and encountered a fleet of more than 20 troop-laden
barges, between Kolambangara and Choiseul Islands. Six barges were hit and believed sunk by the WALLER, only
nine escaping from the fire of the squadron. The WALLER tallied at least four more barges in another
“turkey shoot” the following night. One man was wounded by enemy return fire.
While participating in the Bougainville
operation during November 1943, the WALLER helped fight off two heavy air
attacks, each of three hours’ duration, and bombarded Magine Island,
pouring 400 rounds of five-inch ammunition into enemy positions.
Back in the Solomons after a New
Year’s “rest” trip to Sydney, Australia, the WALLER made
itself obnoxious to the Nipponese again during February 1944.
Bombardment of Buka and Choieul Islands early in the month,
during which the ship was unsuccessfully fired upon by three-inch shore
battery, was followed by the Green Island landing. From 0145 until dawn on 15 February the ship was under air
attack. Two bombs fell within 500
yards of her port quarter.
The night of 29 February-1 March the WALLER
bombarded airstrips, a radar station, and gun positions in the Capt St. George,
Borpop Harbor, and Namatanai areas of New Ireland, expending nearly 1200 rounds
of five-inch ammunition. A shore
batter which took the ship under fire was effectively silenced.
The next major operation in which the
destroyer participated was the occupation of Saipan. After convoying D-plus-1 echelon of transports to the
objective area, the WALLER was assigned to fire support and screening duties
from 16 to 22 June, and furnish both direct and call fire against gun
positions, troop concentrations, and small boats. Entering upswept Magicienne Bay 18 June on a bombardment
assignment, the WALLER was taken upon crossfire by shore artillery on both
sides of the Bay. Opening up
immediately with counterbattery fires, the WALLER’s gunners scored a
direct hit on one battery, knocking it out with the first salvo.
After serving as a screening unit during the
landing on Guam, the WALLER returned to fire support duties for the occupation
Tinian, throwing 1468 rounds of five-inch shells into enemy positions.
Following a navy yard overhaul in San
Francisco, the WALLER returned to the combat zone under command of Comdr. H. L.
THOMPSON, Jr., USN, in November 1944, joining the battleships, cruisers, and
destroyers of the Seventh Fleet in Leyte Gulf on 27 November just in time to be
subjected to one of the heaviest suicide-plane raids of the Philippines
campaign. Fifteen planes staged
the attack shortly before noon, and of this number the WALLER was officially
credited with shooting down one and assisting in the destruction of a second.
The night of 27-28 November Capt. Robert
Hall SMITH (Com DesRon 22) aboard the WALLER led four ships of Destroyer
Division 43 on a sweep into Ormoc Bay and the Camotes Sea - the first
penetration of the inland waters of the Philippines by major U.S. surface units
since 1942.
The mission of the task unit was two-fold:
to bombard troop concentrations in the Ormoc Bay area, and to destroy and
shipping encountered. In both respects it was successful.
After pouring shells into the bay area for
an hour with results which the army later described as highly satisfactory, the
division proceeded westward through the Camotes Sea in search of shipping. Shortly after 1 o’clock a radio
report was received revealing that a patrol plane had sighted a surface
submarine south of Pacijan Island, heading toward Ormoc Bay.
The division reversed course to intercept
the submarine, and at 0126 the WALLER’s radar detected the target just
off the northeast coast of Penson Island.
Firing with all five-inch and automatic weapons which would bear, the
WALLER headed directly for the sub, and the word as passed, “standby to
ram.”
The ramming order was countermanded at the
last minute as the target already appeared to be seriously damaged. The WALLER passed the submarine 50
yards to starboard, blanketing it with heavy flow of armor piercing 40mm
projectiles, as well as five-inch fire, and receiving only a few inaccurate
rounds of three-inch shells and light machine gun fire in return. At 0145, while the WALLER was coming
about for another firing run, the submaring sank stern first. A few survivors
were seen to swim away.
The WALLER remained in the Leyte Gulf area
until 2 December, making a second sweep into the Camotes Sea the night of 29-30
November for the purpose of destroying a reported 10 ship enemy convoy. No trace of the convoy could be found,
but half a dozen barges werer smashed with gunfire. The task unit was under sporadic air attack throughout both
Ormac raids, three bombs falling within a few hundred yards of the WALLER.
In mid-December 1944 the WALLER participated
in the Mindoro invasion as a unit in the covering force of battleships, escort
carriers, cruisers, and destroyers.
On 15 December this force successfully repelled a heavy attack by
suicide planes in the Sulu Sea. Of
the eight planes shot down over the formation, one sure kill and one assist
were officially credited to the WALLER.
One plane, a twin-engine bomber, was attempting a suicide run on the
WALLER when it was destroyed.
With ComDesRon 22 aboard as a screen
commander, the WALLER served in the transport screen during the Lingayen Gulf
assault in January 1945. The ship
fired more than 3300 rounds of ammunition at air and surface targets, scoring
hits on two suicide boats and an undetermined number of aircraft.
Occupation of Palawan Island and Zamboanga
Peninsula in February and March 1945 again found the WALLER performing escort
and screening duties. She served
as flagship and fire support ship with a small task unit which carried out the
landing on Basilan Island on 16 March and received additional fire support
assignments in the Tawi Tawi and Jolo (Sulu Archipelago) landing during April.
In the Borneo campaign, from May to July
1945, the WALLER escorted convoys to Tarakan Island, Bruei Bay, and Balikpapan,
and covered minesweeping operations which preceded the landings in the
Miri-Lutong area, below Brunei.
After eight months of Seventh Fleet duty,
the WALLER rejoined the Third Fleet early in August 1945 for the expected
“big push” and was escorting a convoy to the Honshu area when Japan
accepted unconditional surrender.
The destroyer returned to the Seventh Fleet
for duty with the Yangtze Patrol Force and entered Shanghai with the first
Allied naval units 19 September.
The Fleet was given a heroes’ welcome by the liberated Chinese,
who lined the banks of the Hwangpoo River, cheering lustily, waving victory
flags and setting off firecracker salutes.
Two weeks later, while supervising
minesweeping operations in the Chusan Archipelago, off the China coast, the
WALLER climaxed its career by singlehandedly immobilizing a Japanese suicide
boat garrison and assisting Chinese authorities in disarming 2700 Japs near the
city of Tinghai.
The “Kamikaze” unit surrendered
its arms to the WALLER landing force of 21 men, who kept the Japanese at work
all night carrying ammunition and removing explosive charges from 87 suicide
boats.
The anticlimax came a few days later when, on
9 October, the WALLER struck a mine in the Yangtze River while returning to
Shanghai. Twenty-two men were
injured, and the ship received structural damage which necessitated drydocking
in Shanghai.
After another minesweeping assignment and
duty as Yangtze River entrance control vessel and mail courier, the WALLER
hoisted its “homeward bound” pennant 12 December 1945 and left
Shanghai in company with Destroyer Division 43 for decommissioning in the
United States.
The veteran “2100-tonner” is
scheduled to enter the inactive reserve fleet at Charleston, S.C., Navy yard.
NOTE: This history of the U.S.S. WALLER is
being distributed to all hands for their information, but is not to be
construed as an official news release of the Navy Department. However, personal letters or narratives
incorporating the information contained herein may be published in hometown
newspapers or house organs without restriction, in accordance with ALPAC #142.
H.
L. THOMPSON, Jr.,
Commander,
U.S.Navy
Commanding.
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