Kenneth Cecil Bunch
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

USS ''Bunch'' (DE-694) was a of 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 ...
, named after Kenneth Cecil Bunch, killed in action on 6 June 1942 while flying as radioman-gunner in an
SBD Dauntless The Douglas SBD Dauntless is a World War II American naval scout plane and dive bomber that was manufactured by Douglas Aircraft from 1940 through 1944. The SBD ("Scout Bomber Douglas") was the United States Navy's main carrier-based scout/dive ...
dive bomber A dive bomber is a bomber aircraft that dives directly at its targets in order to provide greater accuracy for the bomb it drops. Diving towards the target simplifies the bomb's trajectory and allows the pilot to keep visual contact througho ...
during the
Battle of Midway The Battle of Midway was a major naval battle in the Pacific Theater of World War II that took place on 4–7 June 1942, six months after Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor and one month after the Battle of the Coral Sea. The U.S. Navy under Adm ...
. Bunch was a native of Norman County,
Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...
.


Construction

''Bunch'' was launched on 29 May 1943, by the Defoe Shipbuilding Company, in
Bay City, Michigan Bay City is a city and county seat of Bay County in the U.S. state of Michigan, located near the base of the Saginaw Bay on Lake Huron. As of the 2010 census, the city's population was 34,932, and it is the principal city of the Bay City Metropol ...
, sponsored by Mrs. Kenneth C. Bunch, widow of Aviation Radioman Kenneth Cecil Bunch; and commissioned on 21 August 1943.


Service history


Atlantic convoy escort, 1943–1944

After fitting out, ''Bunch'' departed Southwest Pass on 12 September 1943. She proceeded via
Key West, Florida Key West ( es, Cayo Hueso) is an island in the Straits of Florida, within the U.S. state of Florida. Together with all or parts of the separate islands of Sigsbee Park, Dredgers Key, Fleming Key, Sunset Key, and the northern part of Stock Isla ...
, and carried out her shakedown training near
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 ...
until 15 October when she set course for
Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...
. Following post-shakedown availability at the Boston Navy Yard, the warship moved to New York whence she began her escort work on 1 November by shepherding the New York section of Convoy UGS-23 out of coastal waters. That same day, she made a
sonar Sonar (sound navigation and ranging or sonic navigation and ranging) is a technique that uses sound propagation (usually underwater, as in submarine navigation) to navigation, navigate, measure distances (ranging), communicate with or detect o ...
contact and attacked it with two " Hedgehog" patterns, though she later evaluated it as "non-submarine." Released the following day, ''Bunch'' proceeded to
Hampton Roads Hampton Roads is the name of both a body of water in the United States that serves as a wide channel for the James River, James, Nansemond River, Nansemond and Elizabeth River (Virginia), Elizabeth rivers between Old Point Comfort and Sewell's ...
, where she reported for duty with Task Force (TF) 23. Over the next eight months, the destroyer escort made six round-trip voyages across the Atlantic escorting convoys between New York and
Derry Derry, officially Londonderry (), is the second-largest city in Northern Ireland and the fifth-largest city on the island of Ireland. The name ''Derry'' is an anglicisation of the Old Irish name (modern Irish: ) meaning 'oak grove'. The ...
, punctuating that work with refresher training at
Casco Bay Casco Bay is an inlet of the Gulf of Maine on the southern coast of Maine, New England, United States. Its easternmost approach is Cape Small and its westernmost approach is Two Lights in Cape Elizabeth. The city of Portland sits along its south ...
, Maine, and availabilities at Boston.


Conversion to a high-speed transport, 1944

On 28 July, ''Bunch'' began conversion to a
high speed transport High-speed transports were converted destroyers and destroyer escorts used in US Navy amphibious operations in World War II and afterward. They received the US Hull classification symbol APD; "AP" for transport and "D" for destroyer. In 1969, the ...
at the Naval Frontier Base, Tompkinsville, Staten Island. Redesignated APD-79 on 31 July 1944, she was also fitted out as a flagship during the 11 weeks of modifications. She completed conversion on 12 October and departed New York on the 13th. Steaming first to Hampton Roads and thence up the
Chesapeake Bay The Chesapeake Bay ( ) is the largest estuary in the United States. The Bay is located in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region and is primarily separated from the Atlantic Ocean by the Delmarva Peninsula (including the parts: the ...
, ''Bunch'' briefly visited
Annapolis, Maryland Annapolis ( ) is the capital city of the U.S. state of Maryland and the county seat of, and only incorporated city in, Anne Arundel County. Situated on the Chesapeake Bay at the mouth of the Severn River, south of Baltimore and about east o ...
, before she began training duty in the Bay. Between 23 October and 10 December, ''Bunch'' helped to prepare 11 other crews for their service in high-speed transports.


Pacific Fleet, 1943–1944

Following an availability at the St. Helena Annex, ''Bunch'' departed Norfolk on 20 December 1944 in company with to escort the transports , and , to the Canal Zone. Arriving in Panama on Christmas Day 1944, she transited the canal the following day, reported to the Commander in Chief, Pacific Fleet, for duty and ultimately reached
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 ...
on 3 January 1945. Underway for Hawaii on the 9th, she arrived in
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 ...
on the 15th. ''Bunch'' then exercised at
Maui The island of Maui (; Hawaiian: ) is the second-largest of the islands of the state of Hawaii at 727.2 square miles (1,883 km2) and is the 17th largest island in the United States. Maui is the largest of Maui County's four islands, which ...
's Ma'alaea Bay with
Underwater Demolition Team Underwater Demolition Teams (UDT), or frogmen, were amphibious units created by the United States Navy during World War II with specialized non-tactical missions. They were predecessors of the navy's current SEAL teams. Their primary WWII func ...
s (UDT) 18 and 21. With UDT-21 remaining on board, ''Bunch'' sailed for the
Marshall Islands The Marshall Islands ( mh, Ṃajeḷ), officially the Republic of the Marshall Islands ( mh, Aolepān Aorōkin Ṃajeḷ),'' () is an independent island country and microstate near the Equator in the Pacific Ocean, slightly west of the Internati ...
on 14 February, arriving at
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 ...
on the 22nd. After fueling, the high-speed transport put to sea the next day in the screen of a convoy of which part was bound for the
Western Carolines The Caroline Islands (or the Carolines) are a widely scattered archipelago of tiny islands in the western Pacific Ocean, to the north of New Guinea. Politically, they are divided between the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM) in the centra ...
and the rest for the
Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...
. The convoy's
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 ...
-bound portion parted company on 28 February, but ''Bunch'' remained with the
Leyte Leyte ( ) is an island in the Visayas group of islands in the Philippines. It is eighth-largest and sixth-most populous island in the Philippines, with a total population of 2,626,970 as of 2020 census. Since the accessibility of land has be ...
-bound part and arrived in Tarraguna Anchorage near San Pedro Bay on 4 March.


Preparations for Okinawa

At Leyte, the warship began preparations to carry out her part in the
invasion of Okinawa The , codenamed Operation Iceberg, was a major battle of the Pacific War fought on the island of Okinawa by United States Army (USA) and United States Marine Corps (USMC) forces against the Imperial Japanese Army (IJA). The initial invasion of ...
. After UDT-21 received a briefing on the mission ahead on the 7th, ''Bunch'' spent the period 9 to 13 March engaged in exercises at nearby Homonhon Island with seven other high-speed transports and some landing craft. Later, she took part in landing rehearsals on the 14th, conducted tactical exercises in Leyte Gulf early on the 15th, and then joined TG 52.13 in practice lowering and recovering LCP(R)s off Cabugan Grande Island. After a final conference on the upcoming landings on the 20th, ''Bunch'' set out for the
Ryukyu Islands The , also known as the or the , are a chain of Japanese islands that stretch southwest from Kyushu to Taiwan: the Ōsumi, Tokara, Amami, Okinawa, and Sakishima Islands (further divided into the Miyako and Yaeyama Islands), with Yonaguni ...
on the 21st, screening Transport Group "Easy," Western Islands Attack Force (TG 51.1).


Invasion of Kerama Islands

At 0330 on 26 March 1945, ''Bunch'' went to
general quarters General quarters, battle stations, or action stations is an announcement made aboard a naval warship A warship or combatant ship is a naval ship that is built and primarily intended for naval warfare. Usually they belong to the armed ...
and proceeded into Transport Area "Easy," five miles west of Kube Shima in the
Kerama Retto The are a subtropical island group southwest of Okinawa Island in Japan. Geography Four islands are inhabited: Tokashiki Island, Zamami Island, Aka Island, and Geruma Island. The islands are administered as Tokashiki Village and Zamami Vill ...
group of the Ryukyus. Detached at 0500, she and ''Hopping'' escorted the attack transport to her rendezvous with the control boat, ''SC-1328'', in Area "Jig." Relieved of that task at 0600, the pair took up screening stations in the transport area and spent the remainder of the day screening the troopships. That night, she experienced a couple of desultory air attacks. At 0130 on the 27th, ''Bunch'' fired on a single enemy plane, which soon disappeared out of range. Securing from battle stations at 0210, the high-speed transport nevertheless remained on the alert. At 0338, she opened fire with her 40-millimeter battery on another intruder approaching on the port quarter. Although the ship went to general quarters, no attack developed, and she stood down at 0400. Released from the transport screen later in the day, ''Bunch'' left TG 52.13's formation early in the first
dog watch A dog watch is a work shift, also known as a "watch", in a maritime watch system that is half the length of a standard watch period. This is typically formed by splitting a single four-hour watch period between 16:00 and 20:00 (4 pm and 8 pm) to fo ...
for a high-speed observation sweep of the objective beaches – White 1, 2, and 3 – on
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 ...
. Delays in sweeping the waters off the beaches for mines and the consequent crowding of heavy fire support units on the outer edge of the unswept area prevented ''Bunch'' from getting closer than five miles to the objective. She retired from the scene at 1637 to permit the other ships of TG 52.13 to do their own reconnoitering. After spending the night with the fire support night retirement unit, ''Bunch'' went to general quarters for the dawn alert at 0555 on 28 March. From her ringside seat, the fast transport observed splash two Aichi D3A "Val" carrier dive bombers and watched a suicide plane attempt to crash the nearby . ''Bunch'' secured from general quarters at 0655 and, after being detached from the night retirement group's screen, moved to cover the fire support units off the main invasion beaches. That assignment occupied her through the afternoon watch and into the first dog watch. At about 1635, the warship left the fire support units for Kerama Retto where she assumed patrol station R-16 off Mae Shima. At 2314 on 28 March, lookouts sighted enemy planes on ''Bunch''s starboard beam at extreme range, and she immediately went to general quarters. Still, the high-speed transport did not commence firing – on a plane that she identified as a Mitsubishi G4M "Betty" twin-engined bomber – until 0110 on the 29th. Even then, the plane fell to gunfire from the ships astern, and ''Bunch'' secured from battle stations soon thereafter. Going back to general quarters for the dawn alert at 0525 on the 29th, ''Bunch'' spotted planes at 0605, but they remained out of range. Just seven minutes later, however, danger approached from an entirely different quarter. Her lookouts and SL radar operator picked up a small boat, 2,200 yards away on the port bow, and ''Bunch'' rang up full speed and altered course to investigate. After identifying the boat as enemy, she opened fire with .50-caliber, 20- and 40-millimeter batteries and destroyed it 500 yards away. At 0631, ''Bunch'' detected a second suicide motorboat – later judged to have come from Mae Shima, which was still in enemy hands – bearing down upon the ship. Machine gun fire from the fast transport stopped the craft dead in the water, however, and its crew jettisoned the explosive charge which immediately blew up. ''Bunch'' altered course to capture the suicide boat's crew, but a nearby destroyer "eradicated" both boat and swimmers with a well-placed 5-inch shell. After reporting the incident, ''Bunch'' resumed patrolling until detached at 0730 to await word to execute her pre-landing mission. In the afternoon of 29 March, she carried out a reconnaissance of the "White" beaches the results of which indicated no need for demolition work there. Accordingly, ''Bunch'' retired to seaward and resumed screening until needed elsewhere. At 0645 on 30 March, the high-speed transport left that duty and steamed toward the "Orange" beaches. Lying 5,800 yards off the objective, ''Bunch'' put her boats in the water at 0905 and retired to a patrol area to await their return, while LCI(G)s gave close fire support for the demolition operations. The "Orange" beach charges went off at 1137, and ''Bunch'' recovered her boats by 1225. After standing by for further orders, she distributed passengers from the command ship among several other high-speed transports, which then transferred them to ships of the main northern and southern attack forces early the next day. Completing the task at 1700, she cleared Kerama Retto at 1930 and took up patrol station R-7. Still patrolling her station 17 minutes into the mid-watch on the 31st, ''Bunch'' received word of an incoming air raid and reduced speed to 10 knots to hide her wake in the darkness. Not long thereafter, an enemy twin-engined bomber passed along her port side, some 150 yards away. ''Bunch'' opened fire with her .50-caliber and 40-millimeter batteries and went to general quarters, but no enemy plane attacked her at that time. Finally, her relief arrived at 0550, and ''Bunch'' proceeded with TG 52.13 to transfer a UDT-21 passenger to . From there, she returned to Kerama Retto with ''Crosley'' and and anchored there for the night with her engines on half-hour standby and with an armed watch posted against suicide swimmers.


Okinawa landings

Underway again at 0254 on 1 April, ''Bunch'' cleared Kerama Retto with TG 52.13 and headed east toward the transport area off the Hagushi beaches. Once there, the formation dissolved at 0500, and ''Bunch'' steamed to the line of departure to transfer UDT-21 liaison personnel to the "White" beach control vessel, PC-578. Passing south of the transport area and north of the LST area, she accomplished the transfer at 0616 and then cleared the area rapidly to avoid the waves of landing craft forming for the run to the beach. The warship screened the transports for the remainder of the first day of the Okinawa landings and, after being relieved of that duty the following dawn, visited "White" beach for a conference between UDT-21's commanding officer and the beachmaster on post-assault demolition needs. ''Bunch'' then left the beachhead at 1500 and took up night screening station A-20. Around dusk, however, she went to general quarters after observing a small convoy under attack by five enemy planes. ''Bunch'' took two of them under fire despite the fact that they were just out of range. One crashed the attack transport , and the other started a run on ''Bunch'' but turned away when she opened fire. Instead, he tried to bomb but missed. At that point, he turned and crashed ''Dickerson''. The fire on board ''Dickerson'' grew rapidly as ''Bunch'' maneuvered to help but was "fairly well under control" by 1930. Seeing that she was "receiving considerable structural damage" alongside the stricken ship, ''Bunch'' pulled away but sent a fire and rescue party over in one of her LCPRs. In the meantime, UDT-21 swimmers used their rubber boats to rescue many of the ''Dickerson'' survivors forced over the side by the flames. Back on board ''Dickersion'' where the fire had burst forth again, ''Bunch''s fire and rescue party – aided by a contingent from ''Crosley'' – succeeded in getting gasoline-driven handy-billies in operation to battle them. ''Bunch'' passed a towline and three fire hoses across to ''Dickerson'' and began to tow her, while men cut away ''Dickerson''s port-side boats to lessen the list. Soon, however, the towline and hoses parted, and the salvagers lost their hard-won gains when the fires broke out with renewed vigor as a result. To make matters worse, a freshening wind made getting another hawser across to her even more difficult. Eventually, arrived, took ''Dickerson'' in tow, put out her fires, and brought her into Kerama Retto. After screening ''Arikara'' and ''Dickerson'' to Kerama Retto and transferring 61 survivors to ''PCE-852'', ''Bunch'' returned to station A-20 where the rest of the day passed mercifully quietly. On the afternoon of 4 April, ''Bunch'' steamed to Kerama Retto where she relieved as flagship for TG 52.11 comprising all fast transports present in the Okinawa area. At 1600, the warship departed Kerama Retto to rendezvous with east of Okinawa for a conference on board the command ship. ''Bunch'' then screened ''Estes'' until 2300 when she received orders to patrol a station 20 miles south of Mae Shima. That duty lasted until 1045 on 5 April when ''Bunch'' rushed to another meeting with ''Estes''. At 1230, she joined the Eastern Islands Bombardment Group, comprising ''Estes'', , and ''Arikara''. While ''Bunch'' screened that unit, the embarked staff of TG 52.11 supervised UDT reconnaissance and demolition operations at the eastern islands and in Nakagusuku Wan (Buckner Bay). ''Bunch'' continued her duties in the screen into the 6th, when she received orders to rendezvous with off Okinawa's western beaches for a conference on board that ship. She remained close by during the conference and, at 1605, received a report of enemy planes in the area. While anti-aircraft fire blossomed in the sky on her port quarter, ''Bunch'' spotted a Mitsubishi A6M5 "Zeke" carrier fighter on her starboard quarter at long range. Her starboard 40-millimeter guns took the fighter under fire at a range of 700 yards and soon disintegrated his tail. The "Zeke" then went out of control, splashing into the sea 100 yards from the warship on her port beam. After returning passengers to ''Estes'' during the first dog watch, ''Bunch'' resumed screening and remained with ''Estes'' through the 7th and into the 8th. Leaving the screen at 1000 on the 8th, she delivered the TG 52.11 staff to a conference on board Vice Admiral Richmond K. Turner's flagship, ''Eldorado''. The staff returned from that meeting just before 1800, and ''Bunch'' resumed screening station about an hour later. Another conference – this one on board – took her away from the screening station on the 9th, and she returned to Kerama Retto on the 10th to transfer the idle UDT-21 out of harm's way to while it waited for another mission. She spent the rest of the 10th on an auxiliary radar picket station.


Ie Shima

That same day, ''Bunch'' received her orders for the scheduled capture of
Ie Shima , previously romanized in English as Ie Shima, is an island in Okinawa Prefecture, Japan, lying a few kilometers off the Motobu Peninsula on Okinawa Island. The island measures in circumference and covers . As of December 2012 the island had ...
. On the 11th, she rejoined ''Panamint'' to deliver the TG 52.11 staff to confer on the Ie Shima operation and then reembarked UDT-21. Preparations for the Ie Shima mission continued on the 12th, but ''Bunch'' finally set out for the objective early on the 13th. Between 0830 and 1100 on the 13th, UDT 21 carried out its reconnaissance of the beach and returned on board ''Bunch'', reporting having met only small arms fire in the course of their work. After yet another conference on board ''Panamint'' that night, ''Bunch'' returned to Ie Shima the next morning, and UDT-21 resumed its pre-invasion work. That night, the warship retired to Okinawa, and another conference, that time on board ''Eldorado''. Except for a fuel run to just before midday, ''Bunch'' remained at anchor off Okinawa on the 15th. However, she received a report of enemy aircraft in the vicinity at 1830 and went to battle stations. Opening fire with her 5-inch and 40-millimeter battery, she join a barrage of fire that splashed an enemy plane off the beach. Securing from general quarters at 2000, she again manned battle stations an hour later; and sporadic enemy air activity kept her on alert until 2220. Air attacks on Yontan airfield, however, continued throughout the night. Early the next day, ''Bunch'' returned to Ie Shima where she transferred some UDT-21 men to the beach control vessel, , for duty guiding the assault boats to their assigned beaches. She then stood out to screen the transports. At 0811, she went to battle stations when she overheard reports of radar picket destroyers to the northwest battling heavy enemy aircraft attacks. At 0935, ''Bunch'' spotted two Nakajima B5N Type 97 "Kate" carrier attack planes closing the transport area at low speed. One approached from the northeast, and ''Bunch'' joined the nearby transports in splashing that attacker promptly. Thereupon, the second "Kate" fled to the south but fell victim to a Vought F4U Corsair. The warship retrieved the men from UDT-21 late in the afternoon watch and then returned to the Hagushi anchorage. ''Bunch'' continued to support UDT-21's operations for the next few days, retiring nightly to Okinawa to anchor, and finally wrapping up post-assault demolition work at Ie Shima on the 20th. After concluding the Ie Shima operation, the high-speed transport resumed screening duty off the Hagushi beaches on the 21st. That assignment lasted until the 25th when she received orders to join a Ulithi-bound convoy. Early the next day, ''Bunch'' rendezvoused with the convoy near the western beaches of Okinawa and set sail for Ulithi. The convoy reached Ulithi just after noon on the 30th, but ''Bunch'' returned to sea on 1 May and made Guam early on the 2nd. There, the warship disembarked UDT-21 and then enjoyed an availability between the 3rd and the 17th, while her crew enjoyed recreation parties ashore whenever the work allowed.


Iheya Shima

''Bunch'' sailed for Okinawa on the 19th, and reached Hagushi on the 22nd. She remained at anchor off Hagushi until the 25th, when she moved to Kerama Retto for a four-day availability to make repairs to her sonar which had failed during the voyage back from Guam. On the 30th, the high-speed transport received orders for her next mission, the occupation of Iheya Shima. Though scheduled to begin early on the 31st, the Iheya Shima operation had to be postponed because of foggy weather. The action finally began on 2 June with ''Bunch'' in a standby role. Inclement weather and an excellent combat air patrol (CAP) took care of enemy planes, and ''Bunch'' remained at anchor during the night and forenoon. A pair of approaching typhoons, though, compelled the assault group to get underway and seek shelter in the lee provided by a small bay north of the Motobu Peninsula. Returning to Iheya Shima with the assault group the following morning, ''Bunch'' started out for the northern part of the island only to be re-deployed to the assault area where she remained at anchor through the night. The next day, she carried out the reconnaissance of the northern beaches, finding that heavy equipment could be landed there without any demolition work by the UDTs. On 7 June, the high-speed transport escorted a local convoy to Hagushi where, except for a fuel run to Kerama Retto early on the 8th, she remained until setting out to support the occupation of Aguni Shima just after midnight on the 9th.


Aguni Shima

''Bunch'' sailed for Aguni Shima at 0115 on 9 June, taking some shots at an enemy plane during the passage. The assault group arrived off the objective around 0445, and the landings proceeded against little or no resistance. At 0600, ''Bunch'' joined ''PCE(R)-855'' to escort and ''LST-95'' to Hagushi, returning to Aguni Shima once that brief mission was completed. She remained there until the 11th when she and survey ship conducted a reconnaissance of Naha Harbor, followed by the necessary charting and demolition operations. She completed that assignment on the 14th and then shifted to Kerama Retto for logistics before starting similar work at Ie Shima. Except for a trip to Hagushi on the 19th for more explosives, the fast transport spent the week from 15 to 22 June at Ie Shima conducting demolition work.


Kume Shima

''Bunch'' next participated in the assault on
Kume Shima is a town located in Shimajiri District, Okinawa Prefecture, Japan. The town consists of the islands of Kume, Ōjima, Ōhajima, Torishima, and Iōtorishima. Among the islands, only Kumejima and Ōjima are populated. Kumejima is located approx ...
on 26 June. Once again, no enemy opposed the landings; and, after UDT-21 concluded its mission getting the LSTs safely into the bay and unloaded, the high-speed transport returned to Hagushi. She then resumed the demolition work at Ie Shima and remained so engaged through the end of the month.


Return to the United States

On 1 July, the high-speed transport sailed from Okinawa, screening to
Saipan Saipan ( ch, Sa’ipan, cal, Seipél, formerly in es, Saipán, and in ja, 彩帆島, Saipan-tō) is the largest island of the Northern Mariana Islands, a Commonwealth (U.S. insular area), commonwealth of the United States in the western Pa ...
, where the pair arrived on 5 July. From there, ''Bunch'' continued on alone via Eniwetok and Hawaii to the west coast of the United States. She made port at
Oceanside, California Oceanside is a city on the South Coast (California), South Coast of California, located in San Diego County, California, San Diego County. The city had a population of 167,086 at the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census. The city is a popular ...
, on 24 July and disembarked UDT-21 and its gear there. She then shifted berths to begin an overhaul at the Standard Shipbuilding yard in San Pedro. She was just finishing those repairs in mid-August when the war with Japan ended.


Post-war activities, 1945–1946

The warship completed post-repair trials late in August, fueled and provisioned early in September and set sail for the western Pacific in company with five other fast transports on the 6th. At 0130 on 10 September, ''Bunchs air search radar picked up emergency signals, and the group carried out a search for the imperiled plane until receiving word of its safe return from the Commander,
Hawaiian Sea Frontier Sea Frontiers were several, now disestablished, commands of the United States Navy as areas of defense against enemy vessels, especially submarines, along the U.S. coasts. They existed from 1 July 1941 until in some cases the 1970s. Sea Frontiers ...
. ''Bunch'' reached Pearl Harbor on the afternoon of 12 September. The following day, ''Bunch'' reported to Commander, Mine Force, Pacific (ComMinPac) for duty. Soon thereafter, she began loading five LCPRs equipped to sweep shallow-water moored mines and taking on the men assigned to carry out the minesweeping operations. On 15 September, she embarked on the voyage via Eniwetok back to the Ryukyus. ''Bunch'' arrived off Okinawa on the 28th, just in time to rendezvous with ''Bibb'' (AGC-31) off
Buckner Bay is a bay on the southern coast of Okinawa Island on the Pacific Ocean in Japan. The bay covers and ranges between to deep. The bay is surrounded by the municipalities of Uruma, Kitanakagusuku, Nakagusuku, Nishihara, Yonabaru, Nanjō, all in ...
and form part of a typhoon sortie group. The high-speed transport remained at sea with that group until 1 October, when she finally dropped anchor in Buckner Bay. After loading more minesweeping gear and obtaining fuel and stores, ''Bunch'' sailed for Chinese waters on 6 October. Reaching
Shanghai Shanghai (; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four direct-administered municipalities of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the Huangpu River flow ...
on 10 October, the fast transport unloaded cargo to be distributed to the variety of minesweeping craft operating there. She also made voyage repairs while her crew enjoyed liberty in the fabled Far Eastern city. Underway for Okinawa on 16 October, she returned to Buckner Bay on the 18th. In the next few days, ''Bunch'' assisted in the salvage of ships grounded by a succession of typhoons over the past weeks and loaded cargo for her return to Shanghai. Her LCPRs came in handy in the salvage operations despite the effort required to remove and then replace their specialized minesweeping gear. After nearly a week engaged in salvage duty, ''Bunch'' got underway for Shanghai on 26 October. She reached her destination on the 28th and spent the rest of October and the first week of November undergoing voyage repairs alongside . On 8 November 1945, ''Bunch'' departed Shanghai for Hangchow Bay, where she led a small minesweeping and mine disposal unit of three motor minesweepers and two
submarine chaser A submarine chaser or subchaser is a small naval vessel that is specifically intended for anti-submarine warfare. Many of the American submarine chasers used in World War I found their way to Allied nations by way of Lend-Lease in World War II. ...
s in clearing Japanese mines from a channel twelve miles long and a mile wide. After completing this mission, she departed Hangchow Bay on 15 November and set course for Okinawa, arriving at Buckner Bay on the 20th. Though she reported to the Commander, Minecraft, Okinawa, ''Bunch'' did not remain there for long. After loading cargo, she set out for
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 ...
on the 26th. The warship reached Kiirun, Formosa, the next day and remained there through the end of the month. Returning to sea on 1 December, ''Bunch'' escorted ''YMS-72'' to Shanghai for hull repairs. The ships encountered gale force winds and heavy seas en route but succeeded in weathering the passage. ''Bunch'' remained at Shanghai until early on 6 December when she headed back to Kiirun with six motor minesweepers and an
LCS LCS may refer to: Schools and organizations * Laboratory for Computer Science, research institute at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology * Lake County Schools school district of Lake County, Florida * Lakefield College School an independe ...
. After making her destination on the 9th, she moved to the naval port of Takao, Formosa, on the 11th. There, she discharged cargo until the 12th, when she shifted back to Kiirun. She spent several days there supporting the motor minesweepers actually carrying out the sweep. Her prime function was to provide navigational assistance to the motor minesweepers by lying to about 20 miles north of the harbor entrance and directing them by radar and voice radio. Completing that task on 18 December, the high-speed transport sailed for Shanghai on the 19th in company with , , ''YMS-259'', ''LCS(L)-58'' and two other landing vessels – ''LC(FF)-45'' and ''LCS(L)-22'' – under tow by the larger minesweepers. ''Bunch'' served as convoy guide for the passage, which was undertaken to permit the two craft in tow to receive repairs. The high-speed transport and her charges reached Shanghai on 22 December, and ''Bunch'' spent the remainder of the month at moored to a succession of buoys in the port. In January 1946, ''Bunch'' moved to Taichow, China, where she carried out minesweeping duties in cooperation with ''YMS-338'', ''YMS-329'', and ''YMS-366'' before shifting to Wenchow Bay to do a minesweep radar plot. At the completion of these tasks, the high-speed transport set out by way of Hong Kong to return to Okinawa. She entered Buckner Bay on 20 January and began loading Japan-bound minesweeping gear. ''Bunch'' reached her first Japanese port of call,
Sasebo is a core city located in Nagasaki Prefecture, Japan. It is also the second largest city in Nagasaki Prefecture, after its capital, Nagasaki. On 1 June 2019, the city had an estimated population of 247,739 and a population density of 581 persons p ...
, on the 26th and then went on to visit
Wakayama Wakayama may refer to: *Wakayama Prefecture, a prefecture of Japan *Wakayama (city), the capital city of Wakayama Prefecture, Japan *Wakayama Station, a train station in Wakayama, Wakayama *Wakayama University , or , is a national university loc ...
and
Kobe Kobe ( , ; officially , ) is the capital city of Hyōgo Prefecture Japan. With a population around 1.5 million, Kobe is Japan's seventh-largest city and the third-largest port city after Tokyo and Yokohama. It is located in Kansai region, whic ...
before leaving on 21 February to return to the United States.


Decommissioning and sale

Steaming by way of Eniwetok and
Oahu Oahu () (Hawaiian language, Hawaiian: ''Oʻahu'' ()), also known as "The Gathering place#Island of Oʻahu as The Gathering Place, Gathering Place", is the third-largest of the Hawaiian Islands. It is home to roughly one million people—over t ...
, ''Bunch'' returned to the United States at
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 ...
on 14 March 1946. Three days later, she sailed south to
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 ...
, arriving there on the 20th. ''Bunch'' was decommissioned at San Diego on 31 May 1946 and was placed in reserve in July 1947. She never returned to active service. Her name 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 ...
on 1 April 1964, and she was sold for scrap in June 1965.


Awards

''Bunch'' received two battle stars for her
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

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bunch (DE-694) Buckley-class destroyer escorts Charles Lawrence-class high speed transports World War II frigates and destroyer escorts of the United States World War II amphibious warfare vessels of the United States Ships built in Bay City, Michigan 1943 ships