USS ''Goss'' (DE-444) was a ''John C. Butler''-class destroyer escort in service with the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

from 1944 to 1946 and from 1951 to 1958. She was scrapped in 1972.

History

''Goss'' (DE-444) was named in honor of

Marine Gunner In the United States Armed Forces, the ranks of warrant officer ( grades W‑1 to W‑5; see '' NATO: WO1–WO5'') are rated as officers above all non-commissioned officers, candidates, cadets, and midshipmen, but subordinate to the lowest o ...

Angus R. Goss who posthumously received the Navy Cross and Britain's Conspicuous Gallantry Medal for charging into a cave where the enemy was entrenched and single-handedly destroying the Japanese with a Reising sub-machine gun. She was laid down 16 December 1943 by the

Federal Shipbuilding & Dry Dock The Federal Shipbuilding and Drydock Company was a United States shipyard, active from 1917 to 1948. It was founded during World War I to build ships for the United States Shipping Board. During World War II, it built ships as part of the U.S. Gov ...

Co.,

Newark, New Jersey Newark ( , ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of New Jersey and the seat of Essex County and the second largest city within the New York metropolitan area.shakedown Shakedown may refer to: * Shakedown (continuum mechanics), a type of plastic deformation * Shakedown (testing) or a shakedown cruise, a period of testing undergone by a ship, airplane or other craft before being declared operational * Extortion, ...

out of

Bermuda ) , anthem = "God Save the King" , song_type = National song , song = " Hail to Bermuda" , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , mapsize2 = , map_caption2 = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = , e ...

, ''Goss'' departed

Norfolk, Virginia Norfolk ( ) is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. Incorporated in 1705, it had a population of 238,005 at the 2020 census, making it the third-most populous city in Virginia after neighboring Virginia Be ...

, 30 October and steamed via the

Panama Canal Zone The Panama Canal Zone ( es, Zona del Canal de Panamá), also simply known as the Canal Zone, was an unincorporated territory of the United States, located in the Isthmus of Panama, that existed from 1903 to 1979. It was located within the terr ...

and

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

, California, to

Pearl Harbor Pearl Harbor is an American lagoon harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu. It was often visited by the Naval fleet of the United States, before it was acquired from the Hawaiian Kingdom by the U.S. with the signing of the Re ...

, where she arrived 2 December and reported for duty. ''Goss'' was underway 5 December 1944 from Pearl Harbor via

Eniwetok Enewetak Atoll (; also spelled Eniwetok Atoll or sometimes Eniewetok; mh, Ānewetak, , or , ; known to the Japanese as Brown Atoll or Brown Island; ja, ブラウン環礁) is a large coral atoll of 40 islands in the Pacific Ocean and with it ...

Kossel Roads Kossol Roads is a large body of reef-enclosed water north of Babeldaob in northern Palau at .Kossol Roads
a ...

, Palau Islands, where she joined and four other destroyer escorts to form a hunter-killer group which operated off the Palau Islands. As a unit of Vice Admiral Oldendorf's Bombardment and Fire Support Group, ''Goss'' sortied from

Kossel Roads Kossol Roads is a large body of reef-enclosed water north of Babeldaob in northern Palau at .Kossol Roads
a ...

1 January 1945 bound for

Lingayen Gulf The Lingayen Gulf is a large gulf on northwestern Luzon in the Philippines, stretching . It is framed by the provinces of Pangasinan and La Union and sits between the Zambales Mountains and the Cordillera Central. The Agno River and the Balili ...

. In the early hours of 5 January, as Oldendorf's ships steamed within 150 miles of Japanese airfields on

Luzon Luzon (; ) is the largest and most populous island in the Philippines. Located in the northern portion of the Philippines archipelago, it is the economic and political center of the nation, being home to the country's capital city, Manila, as ...

, they were spotted by scout planes. At 0758 combat air patrol intercepted 15 to 20 enemy planes 35 miles from the formation, shot down 9, and turned the others back. At noon another raid was intercepted and turned back about 45 miles from the ships. The last and heaviest air attack of the day came at 1650 about 100 miles off

Corregidor Corregidor ( tl, Pulo ng Corregidor, ) is an island located at the entrance of Manila Bay in the southwestern part of Luzon in the Philippines, and is considered part of the Province of Cavite. Due to this location, Corregidor has historically b ...

. Sixteen kamikazes with four escorts broke through combat air patrol to dive at the ships. They succeeded in hitting

heavy cruisers The heavy cruiser was a type of cruiser, a naval warship designed for long range and high speed, armed generally with naval guns of roughly 203 mm (8 inches) in caliber, whose design parameters were dictated by the Washington Naval Tr ...

, and HMAS ''Australia'';

escort carrier The escort carrier or escort aircraft carrier (U.S. hull classification symbol CVE), also called a "jeep carrier" or "baby flattop" in the United States Navy (USN) or "Woolworth Carrier" by the Royal Navy, was a small and slow type of aircraft ...

; and destroyer escort . In the fierce fight to repel this deadly threat, ''Goss'' was credited with shooting down two kamikazes. Next day, cruising about 60 miles off

, the formation began breaking up into units with the

battleships A battleship is a large armored warship with a main battery consisting of large caliber guns. It dominated naval warfare in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The term ''battleship'' came into use in the late 1880s to describe a type of ...

, cruisers, Beach Demolition Group and their escorts starting their separate missions. ''Goss'', as part of the screen for Rear Admiral Durgin's Lingayen Carrier Group, gallantly carried out her mission in support of the Lingayen Landings until 20 January. Retiring from the area, she reached

Mindoro Mindoro is the seventh largest and eighth-most populous island in the Philippines. With a total land area of 10,571 km2 ( 4,082 sq.mi ) and has a population of 1,408,454 as of 2020 census. It is located off the southwestern coast of Luz ...

dawn 21 January. From 21 February to 6 June 1945 ''Goss'' operated as a unit of Admiral Stump's Task Group 52.1 under

U.S. 5th Fleet The Fifth Fleet is a numbered fleet of the United States Navy. It has been responsible for naval forces in the Persian Gulf, Red Sea, Arabian Sea, and parts of the Indian Ocean since 1995 after a 48-year hiatus. It shares a commander and headq ...

as part of the close air support for the invasion of

Iwo Jima Iwo Jima (, also ), known in Japan as , is one of the Japanese Volcano Islands and lies south of the Bonin Islands. Together with other islands, they form the Ogasawara Archipelago. The highest point of Iwo Jima is Mount Suribachi at high. ...

. ''Goss'' continued her escort duties, next taking part in the

Okinawa is a prefecture of Japan. Okinawa Prefecture is the southernmost and westernmost prefecture of Japan, has a population of 1,457,162 (as of 2 February 2020) and a geographic area of 2,281 km2 (880 sq mi). Naha is the capital and largest city ...

operations, last stop on the island road to Japan. This duty lasted until 30 June 1945. ''Goss'' sortied from

Ulithi Ulithi ( yap, Wulthiy, , or ) is an atoll in the Caroline Islands of the western Pacific Ocean, about east of Yap. Overview Ulithi consists of 40 islets totaling , surrounding a lagoon about long and up to wide—at one of the largest i ...

3 July as part of the screen for Admiral D. B. Beary's Logistic Support Group (TG 30.8). This group acted as the replenishment group for Admiral McCain's Carrier Task Force 38 as they struck the main islands of Japan with carrier planes and

battleship A battleship is a large armored warship with a main battery consisting of large caliber guns. It dominated naval warfare in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The term ''battleship'' came into use in the late 1880s to describe a type of ...

guns. The Logistics Group operated in an area from 250 to 500 miles east of

Honshū , historically called , is the largest and most populous island of Japan. It is located south of Hokkaidō across the Tsugaru Strait, north of Shikoku across the Inland Sea, and northeast of Kyūshū across the Kanmon Straits. The island separa ...

, fueling the fast carrier strike force and furnishing replacement aircraft. Late in July ''Goss'' joined Task Group 94.17, a

hunter-killer Hunter-killer may refer to: Military terminology * Hunter-killer team, a team that separates the tasks of "hunting" and "killing" to two or more individuals * Hunter-killer armored-vehicle team, scout vehicles and tanks operating in concert as "hun ...

team, to operate along the shipping lanes southeast of

. From 7 through 24 August she operated with Task Group 75.19 as hunter-killer group east of

Formosa Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is an island country located in East Asia. The main island of Taiwan, formerly known in the Western political circles, press and literature as Formosa, makes up 99% of the land area of the territorie ...

. With the war over, ''Goss'' retired to San Pedro Bay 25 August and cleared that port 2 days later as part of the screen for Task Force 32 and 33, landing units of the U.S. 8th Army in

Tokyo Bay is a bay located in the southern Kantō region of Japan, and spans the coasts of Tokyo, Kanagawa Prefecture, and Chiba Prefecture. Tokyo Bay is connected to the Pacific Ocean by the Uraga Channel. The Tokyo Bay region is both the most populous a ...

2 September.

Post-war activity

''Goss'' continued her duties until 5 November when she departed

for home. After touching at

''Goss'' arrived

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

, California, 22 November 1945. She remained on the U.S. West Coast and decommissioned at

San Diego San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the List of United States cities by population, eigh ...

, California, 15 June 1946 and joined the

Pacific Reserve Fleet The United States Navy maintains a number of its ships as part of a reserve fleet, often called the "Mothball Fleet". While the details of the maintenance activity have changed several times, the basics are constant: keep the ships afloat and ...

Cold War

''Goss'' recommissioned 27 December 1950 at San Diego, Lt. Comdr. L. R. Hayes, commanding. ''Goss'' was assigned duty under Commandant,

11th Naval District The naval district was a U.S. Navy military and administrative command ashore. Apart from Naval District Washington, the Districts were disestablished and renamed Navy Regions about 1999, and are now under Commander, Naval Installations Command ...

as a reserve training ship. Her operations consisted of readiness and tactical cruises on the west coast from

Alaska Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U.S., ...

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the southe ...

as well as visits to

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only stat ...

Cuba Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...

and

Panama Panama ( , ; es, link=no, Panamá ), officially the Republic of Panama ( es, República de Panamá), is a transcontinental country spanning the southern part of North America and the northern part of South America. It is bordered by Cos ...

Final decommissioning

''Goss'' decommissioned at

Astoria, Oregon Astoria is a port city and the seat of Clatsop County, Oregon, United States. Founded in 1811, Astoria is the oldest city in the state and was the first permanent American settlement west of the Rocky Mountains. The county is the northwest corne ...

, 10 October 1958 and again joined the

. She was later transferred to

Bremerton, Washington Bremerton is a city in Kitsap County, Washington. The population was 37,729 at the 2010 census and an estimated 41,405 in 2019, making it the largest city on the Kitsap Peninsula. Bremerton is home to Puget Sound Naval Shipyard and the Bremerto ...

. On 1 March 1972, she was struck from the

Navy list A Navy Directory, formerly the Navy List or Naval Register is an official list of naval officers, their ranks and seniority, the ships which they command or to which they are appointed, etc., that is published by the government or naval author ...

, and, on 20 November 1972, she was sold for scrapping.

Military awards

''Goss'' received four battle stars for

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

service.

References

External links

NavSource Online: Destroyer Escort Photo Archive - USS Goss (DE-444)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Goss (DE-444) John C. Butler-class destroyer escorts World War II frigates and destroyer escorts of the United States Ships built in Kearny, New Jersey 1944 ships