USS ''Bache'' (DD/DDE-470), a , was the second ship 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 ...

of that name. The destroyer was named for

Commander Commander (commonly abbreviated as Cmdr.) is a common naval officer rank. Commander is also used as a rank or title in other formal organizations, including several police forces. In several countries this naval rank is termed frigate captain. ...

George M. Bache George Mifflin Bache, Jr. (November 12, 1841 – February 11, 1896) was an officer in the United States Navy, fighting on the Union side in the American Civil War and continuing to serve for a decade after the war's end. The ''Fletcher''-class d ...

. ''Bache'' was launched on 7 July 1942 by

Bethlehem Steel Co. The Bethlehem Steel Corporation was an American steelmaking company headquartered in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. For most of the 20th century, it was one of the world's largest steel producing and shipbuilding companies. At the height of its succe ...

at Staten Island, New York and sponsored by Miss Louise Bache, daughter of Commander Bache. The destroyer was commissioned on 14 November 1942.

Service history

Reporting to the Atlantic Fleet, she acted as escort to a westbound convoy to

Halifax, Nova Scotia Halifax is the capital and largest municipality of the Canadian province of Nova Scotia, and the largest municipality in Atlantic Canada. As of the 2021 Census, the municipal population was 439,819, with 348,634 people in its urban area. The ...

, and then returned to

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

for her post-shakedown overhaul. On 6 February 1943, she left

Norfolk Norfolk () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in East Anglia in England. It borders Lincolnshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the west and south-west, and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the No ...

as escort for . The vessels arrived at

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 4 March 1943. On 10 May, after a training period, ''Bache'' departed for the

Aleutian Islands The Aleutian Islands (; ; ale, Unangam Tanangin,”Land of the Aleuts", possibly from Chukchi language, Chukchi ''aliat'', "island"), also called the Aleut Islands or Aleutic Islands and known before 1867 as the Catherine Archipelago, are a cha ...

. She served in the Aleutian area until December 1943, taking part in the bombardment of

Kiska Kiska ( ale, Qisxa, russian: Кыска) is one of the Rat Islands, a group of the Aleutian Islands of Alaska. It is about long and varies in width from . It is part of Aleutian Islands Wilderness and as such, special permission is required ...

. After a brief overhaul at Pearl Harbor she joined the 7th Fleet 23 December 1943. Until 29 October 1944, ''Bache'' operated with the 7th Fleet taking part in the bombardment of

New Britain New Britain ( tpi, Niu Briten) is the largest island in the Bismarck Archipelago, part of the Islands Region of Papua New Guinea. It is separated from New Guinea by a northwest corner of the Solomon Sea (or with an island hop of Umboi the Dam ...

Islands (26 December 1943)

Los Negros Island Los Negros Island is the third largest of the Admiralty Islands. It is significant because it contains the main airport of Manus Province on its eastern coastline, at Momote. It is connected to Lorengau, the capital of the province, on Manus I ...

, Admiralty Islands, landings (29 February 1944); bombardment of Ndrillo and Karunia Islands in the Admiralties (4–7 March), bombardment of various assault beaches and targets of opportunity on

New Guinea New Guinea (; Hiri Motu Hiri Motu, also known as Police Motu, Pidgin Motu, or just Hiri, is a language of Papua New Guinea, which is spoken in surrounding areas of Port Moresby (Capital of Papua New Guinea). It is a simplified version of ...

and adjacent islands (10 April – 15 September); bombardment of Leyte Island Philippine Islands (20 October); and finally, 25 October 1944, as a unit of Task Group 77.3 she took part in the overwhelming victory of

Battle of Surigao Strait The Battle of Leyte Gulf ( fil, Labanan sa golpo ng Leyte, lit=Battle of Leyte gulf; ) was the largest naval battle of World War II and by some criteria the largest naval battle in history, with over 200,000 naval personnel involved. It was fou ...

. On 29 October, ''Bache'' departed Leyte en route to the United States for yard overhaul.

Marshall Islands, Okinawa

Upon completion of her overhaul, she joined the

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 ...

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 20 February 1945. Between 28 February and 5 March, she provided air support at

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. ...

. On 1 April, ''Bache'' arrived off

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 ...

for screening and picket duty. She suffered slight damage on 3 May, when an enemy ''

kamikaze , officially , were a part of the Japanese Special Attack Units of military aviators who flew suicide attacks for the Empire of Japan against Allied naval vessels in the closing stages of the Pacific campaign of World War II, intending to d ...

'' aircraft overshot the ship and crashed into the sea. That same day, she went to the aid of the stricken and rescued her crew of 74. Remaining on this duty, she helped destroy several enemy planes. On 13 May, several enemy

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 ...

s attacked the picket station and one completed a successful ''kamikaze'' attack on ''Bache''. The wing of the plane struck near number two

stack Stack may refer to: Places * Stack Island, an island game reserve in Bass Strait, south-eastern Australia, in Tasmania’s Hunter Island Group * Blue Stack Mountains, in Co. Donegal, Ireland People * Stack (surname) (including a list of people ...

, catapulting the plane down on the main deck amidships, with its bomb exploding about above the main deck. Forty-one of the crew were killed (16 missing in action) and 32 were injured. All steam and electrical power were lost. Fires were brought under control within 20 minutes and she was towed to

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 ...

, Okinawa, for temporary repairs. ''Bache'' arrived at

New York Navy Yard The Brooklyn Navy Yard (originally known as the New York Navy Yard) is a shipyard and industrial complex located in northwest Brooklyn in New York City, New York (state), New York. The Navy Yard is located on the East River in Wallabout Bay, a ...

on 13 July 1945 for permanent repairs and then went to Charleston, S.C., for inactivation. On 4 February 1946, ''Bache'' went out of commission in reserve at Charleston. In 1950, ''Bache'' was converted to an

escort destroyer An escort destroyer with United States Navy hull classification symbol DDE was a destroyer (DD) modified for and assigned to a fleet escort role after World War II. These destroyers retained their original hull numbers. Later, in March 1950, th ...

at Boston Navy Yard (reclassified DDE-470 on 2 January 1951) and recommissioned on 1 October 1951. ''Bache'' was assigned to the Atlantic Fleet, and since that time made six cruises to the

Caribbean Sea The Caribbean Sea ( es, Mar Caribe; french: Mer des Caraïbes; ht, Lanmè Karayib; jam, Kiaribiyan Sii; nl, Caraïbische Zee; pap, Laman Karibe) is a sea of the Atlantic Ocean in the tropics of the Western Hemisphere. It is bounded by Mexico ...

for operations and training exercises and three cruises in the Mediterranean Sea, where she operated as a unit of the 6th Fleet. ''Bache'' reverted to DD-470 on 30 June 1962. At some point, ''Bache'' was equipped with a

Weapon Alpha The RUR-4 "Weapon Alpha" (originally ''Weapon Able'') was an American naval ahead-throwing anti-submarine warfare (ASW) rocket launcher. It was designed between 1946 and 1949, and was installed on warships from 1951 to 1969. Unlike depth charges, ...

anti-submarine rocket launcher, in place of gun turret number 2, as a means of modernizing her capabilities. ''Bache'' was blown aground outside of the Rhodes harbor by a gale during a three-day port visit to the Island of

Rhodes Rhodes (; el, Ρόδος , translit=Ródos ) is the largest and the historical capital of the Dodecanese islands of Greece. Administratively, the island forms a separate municipality within the Rhodes regional unit, which is part of the So ...

, Greece on 6 February 1968. She was declared a

constructive total loss Marine insurance covers the physical loss or damage of ships, cargo, terminals, and any transport by which the property is transferred, acquired, or held between the points of origin and the final destination. Cargo insurance is the sub-branch o ...

and

scrapped Scrap consists of recyclable materials, usually metals, left over from product manufacturing and consumption, such as parts of vehicles, building supplies, and surplus materials. Unlike waste, scrap has monetary value, especially recovered me ...

there. ''Bache'' was decommissioned and stricken from the Naval Vessel Register on 1 March 1968.

Honors

''Bache'' received eight

battle star A service star is a miniature bronze or silver five-pointed star inch (4.8 mm) in diameter that is authorized to be worn by members of the eight uniformed services of the United States on medals and ribbons to denote an additional award or ser ...

s 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

navsource.org: USS ''Bache''

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bache (Dd-470) World War II destroyers of the United States Cold War destroyers of the United States Ships built in Staten Island 1942 ships Fletcher-class destroyers of the United States Navy Shipwrecks in the Mediterranean Sea