USS ''Bulmer'' (DD-222/AG-86) was a ''Clemson''-class

destroyer In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast, manoeuvrable, long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy or battle group and defend them against powerful short range attackers. They were originally developed in ...

in the

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during

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 ...

. It was the last warship of the

Asiatic Fleet The United States Asiatic Fleet was a fleet of the United States Navy during much of the first half of the 20th century. Before World War II, the fleet patrolled the Philippine Islands. Much of the fleet was destroyed by the Japanese by Februar ...

in USN commission.

Namesake

Roscoe Carlyle Bulmer was born on 4 November 1874 in

Virginia City, Nevada Virginia City is a census-designated place (CDP) that is the county seat of Storey County, Nevada, and the largest community in the county. The city is a part of the Reno– Sparks Metropolitan Statistical Area. Virginia City developed as a boom ...

. He graduated from the

United States Naval Academy The United States Naval Academy (US Naval Academy, USNA, or Navy) is a federal service academy in Annapolis, Maryland. It was established on 10 October 1845 during the tenure of George Bancroft as Secretary of the Navy. The Naval Academy ...

in 1894. After

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, he served as United States naval representative at a conference which met at the

British Admiralty The Admiralty was a department of the Government of the United Kingdom responsible for the command of the Royal Navy until 1964, historically under its titular head, the Lord High Admiral – one of the Great Officers of State. For much of it ...

to consider clearing the seas of

mine Mine, mines, miners or mining may refer to: Extraction or digging * Miner, a person engaged in mining or digging *Mining, extraction of mineral resources from the ground through a mine Grammar *Mine, a first-person English possessive pronoun ...

s after the war. On 5 January 1919 he assumed command of that operation.

Captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

Bulmer died at Kirkwall,

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

on 5 August 1919.

Construction and commissioning

''Bulmer'' was launched 22 January 1920 by William Cramp & Sons; sponsored by Miss Anita Paor Bulmer, daughter of Captain Bulmer; and commissioned on 16 August 1920.

Service history

Inter-War Period

In 1920, ''Bulmer'' joined the Pacific Fleet, based at

San Diego, California 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 eighth most populous city in the United States ...

. In 1923, she joined the U.S. Naval Forces, Europe, and later the U.S. Naval Detachment in Turkish Waters. Early in 1925, she was assigned to the

. She operated as a unit of Destroyer Squadron 5 (DesRon 5), Destroyer Division 14 (DesDiv 14), alternately based in the winter at

Manila Manila ( , ; fil, Maynila, ), officially the City of Manila ( fil, Lungsod ng Maynila, ), is the capital of the Philippines, and its second-most populous city. It is highly urbanized and, as of 2019, was the world's most densely populate ...

and

Cavite Cavite, officially the Province of Cavite ( tl, Lalawigan ng Kabite; Chavacano: ''Provincia de Cavite''), is a province in the Philippines located in the Calabarzon region in Luzon. Located on the southern shores of Manila Bay and southwest ...

, Philippine Islands, and in the summer at Chefoo, China. Early in 1939, ''Bulmer'' was assigned to the

South China Patrol South is one of the cardinal directions or compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both east and west. Etymology The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Proto-Germanic ''*sunþaz ...

and was later reassigned to DesRon 29, DesDiv 58, on Neutrality Patrol under the Commandant, 16th Naval District. In January 1941, she participated in the Asiatic Fleet Problem and then continued patrolling in the Philippines.

World War II

When the United States entered

, ''Bulmer'' was still assigned to the Asiatic Fleet and stationed in the Philippines. During the early months of the war she engaged in patrol, escort, and antisubmarine duties throughout the southwest Pacific. On 9 January 1942 ''Bulmer'' was one of five destroyers in an escort composed of the cruisers and , with the other destroyers , , , and departing from Darwin to

Surabaya Surabaya ( jv, ꦱꦸꦫꦧꦪ or jv, ꦯꦹꦫꦨꦪ; ; ) is the capital city of the Provinces of Indonesia, Indonesian province of East Java and the List of Indonesian cities by population, second-largest city in Indonesia, after Jakarta. L ...

escorting the transport ''Bloemfontein''. That transport had been part of the

Pensacola Convoy The Pensacola Convoy is a colloquialism for a United States military shipping convoy that took place in late 1941 as the Pacific War began. The name was derived from that of its primary escort ship, the heavy cruiser . ''Pensacola'' was official ...

and had left

Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the states and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland, and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a populati ...

30 December 1941 with Army reinforcements composed of the 26th Field Artillery Brigade and Headquarters Battery, the 1st Battalion, 131st Field Artillery and supplies from that convoy destined for

Java Java (; id, Jawa, ; jv, ꦗꦮ; su, ) is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea to the north. With a population of 151.6 million people, Java is the world's List ...

. As a unit of Task Force 5 (TF 5), DesRon 29, ''Bulmer'' took part in the

Battle of Bali Sea The Battle of Makassar Strait, also known as the Action of Madura Strait, the Action North of Lombok Strait and the Battle of the Flores Sea, was a naval battle of the Pacific theater of World War II. An American-British-Dutch-Australian (AB ...

on 4 February 1942, where the allies were defeated. She also took part in the unsuccessful Allied attempt to intercept Japanese invasion convoys off

Palembang Palembang () is the capital city of the Indonesian province of South Sumatra. The city proper covers on both banks of the Musi River on the eastern lowland of southern Sumatra. It had a population of 1,668,848 at the 2020 Census. Palembang ...

Sumatra Sumatra is one of the Sunda Islands of western Indonesia. It is the largest island that is fully within Indonesian territory, as well as the sixth-largest island in the world at 473,481 km2 (182,812 mi.2), not including adjacent i ...

. On 19 February, along with and , she departed

Tjilatjap Cilacap Regency ( jv, ꦏꦨꦸꦥꦠꦺꦤ꧀ꦕꦶꦭꦕꦥ꧀, also spelt: Chilachap, old spelling: Tjilatjap, Sundanese language, Sundanese: ) is a Regencies of Indonesia, regency () in the southwestern part of Central Java province in Indon ...

, for

Exmouth Gulf Exmouth Gulf is a gulf in the north-west of Western Australia. It lies between North West Cape and the main coastline of Western Australia. It is considered to be part of the Pilbara Coast and Northwest Shelf, and the Carnarvon Basin geologi ...

, Australia, and an overhaul. ''Bulmer'' served on patrol duty at various Australian ports until May. She 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 16 June and reported to Commander, Service Force, Pacific Fleet, for duty. From June 1942 to May 1943, she operated as an escort vessel for convoys sailing between Pearl Harbor 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 ...

and return. ''Bulmer'' was assigned to the Atlantic Fleet in May and arrived at

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 * '' ...

on 14 June. Her first Atlantic assignment was as a unit of Task Group 21.12 (TG 21.12) from 14 June to 22 September. During this sweep of the North Atlantic, aircraft from sank on 13 July. ''Bulmer'' next made a trans-Atlantic voyage to

Swansea Swansea (; cy, Abertawe ) is a coastal city and the second-largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Swansea ( cy, links=no, Dinas a Sir Abertawe). The city is the twenty-fifth largest in ...

Wales and then commenced convoy escort duty between northeastern Atlantic ports and

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from 4 October 1943 to 31 July 1944. On 13–14 January, during one of these voyages, ''Bulmer'' and other escorts made several attacks against a German wolf pack of submarines in the eastern Atlantic. ''Bulmer'' conducted her attacks very aggressively and although not officially credited there is a chance that she sank or severely damaged . On the morning of 14 January, under the command of Lt. Cdr. George Towne Baker (USNA,'35), she rescued 17 German survivors, including the captain, of a sunken German submarine believed to have been , which was sunk on 13 January by a British flying boat. (On at least one occasion after the war, at a reunion of the officers and crew of the Bulmer, the German captain attended. When he was no long able to travel, his daughter attended a reunion. "Had it not been for the rescue of my father, I would not have been born.") From 1 August to 4 October 1944, she conducted operations in

Narragansett Bay Narragansett Bay is a bay and estuary on the north side of Rhode Island Sound covering , of which is in Rhode Island. The bay forms New England's largest estuary, which functions as an expansive natural harbor and includes a small archipelago. Sma ...

. ''Bulmer's'' designation was changed to AG-86 on 1 December. She reported to 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 ...

on 27 December for training duty with newly commissioned submarines. In July 1945, she returned to the United States and was assigned to the operational control of Commander, Air Force, Atlantic Fleet, and operated out of

Port Everglades, Florida Port Everglades is a seaport in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, located in Broward County. Port Everglades is one of South Florida's foremost economic engines, as it is the gateway for both international trade and cruise vacations. In 2019, Port Eve ...

. ''Bulmer'' was decommissioned on 16 August 1946 and sold on 19 February 1947.

Awards

She received two

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 service. As of 2005, no other ship has been named ''Bulmer''.

References

* * *

External links

*http://www.navsource.org/archives/05/222.htm {{DEFAULTSORT:Bulmer Clemson-class destroyers World War II destroyers of the United States Ships built by William Cramp & Sons 1920 ships