destroyer escort
Destroyer escort (DE) was the United States Navy mid-20th-century classification for a warship designed with the endurance necessary to escort mid-ocean convoys of merchant marine ships.
Development of the destroyer escort was promoted by th ...
in the service 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 ...
.
Namesake
John M. Steele was born on 24 August 1920 at
Bruno, Minnesota
Bruno is a city in Pine County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 102 at the 2010 census.
Minnesota State Highway 23 serves as a main route in the community.
Geography
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a to ...
. He enlisted in the
United States Marine Corps
The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting expeditionary and amphibious operations through combi ...
on 29 December 1941. He was a member of the Marine Detachment on board and was killed during the
Battle of the Coral Sea
The Battle of the Coral Sea, from 4 to 8 May 1942, was a major naval battle between the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) and naval and air forces of the United States and Australia. Taking place in the Pacific Theatre of World War II, the batt ...
on 8 May 1942. He was commended by the Commanding Officer of ''Lexington'' for remaining at his antiaircraft battery during strafing and the explosion of four torpedoes near the battery, and after a bomb had burst and set fire to a locker of heavy ammunition at the battery. He and other members of the gun crew extinguished the fire and readied the only remaining serviceable gun for further defense of the ship.
Construction and commissioning
''Steele'' was laid down on 27 January 1942 by the
Boston Navy Yard
The Boston Navy Yard, originally called the Charlestown Navy Yard and later Boston Naval Shipyard, was one of the oldest shipbuilding facilities in the United States Navy. It was established in 1801 as part of the recent establishment of t ...
; launched on 9 January 1943; sponsored by Mrs. John Steele; and commissioned on 4 May 1943.
Service history
''Steele'' sailed from Boston for
Bermuda
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, anthem = "God Save the King"
, song_type = National song
, song = " Hail to Bermuda"
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to begin her shakedown cruise on 25 May and returned on 27 June for post-shakedown availability. She stood out of port on 6 July en route to the Pacific war zone. After making port calls at the
Society
A society is a group of individuals involved in persistent social interaction, or a large social group sharing the same spatial or social territory, typically subject to the same political authority and dominant cultural expectations. Socie ...
and
Tonga
Tonga (, ; ), officially the Kingdom of Tonga ( to, Puleʻanga Fakatuʻi ʻo Tonga), is a Polynesian country and archipelago. The country has 171 islands – of which 45 are inhabited. Its total surface area is about , scattered over in ...
islands, ''Steele'' arrived at
Nouméa
Nouméa () is the capital and largest city of the French special collectivity of New Caledonia and is also the largest francophone city in Oceania. It is situated on a peninsula in the south of New Caledonia's main island, Grande Terre, a ...
,
New Caledonia
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, image_map = New Caledonia on the globe (small islands magnified) (Polynesia centered).svg
, map_alt = Location of New Caledonia
, map_caption = Location of New Caledonia
, mapsize = 290px
, subdivision_type = Sovereign st ...
, on 10 August. She escorted merchant ships and transports among the
New Hebrides
New Hebrides, officially the New Hebrides Condominium (french: link=no, Condominium des Nouvelles-Hébrides, "Condominium of the New Hebrides") and named after the Hebrides Scottish archipelago, was the colonial name for the island group ...
,
Fiji
Fiji ( , ,; fj, Viti, ; Fiji Hindi: फ़िजी, ''Fijī''), officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists ...
, and
Solomon Islands
Solomon Islands is an island country consisting of six major islands and over 900 smaller islands in Oceania, to the east of Papua New Guinea and north-west of Vanuatu. It has a land area of , and a population of approx. 700,000. Its capita ...
until 13 December 1943 when she got underway for the west coast of the United States to be repaired.
''Steele'' arrived at
Mare Island, California
Mare Island (Spanish language, Spanish: ''Isla de la Yegua'') is a peninsula in the United States in the city of Vallejo, California, about northeast of San Francisco. The Napa River forms its eastern side as it enters the Carquinez Strait junc ...
, on 3 January 1944 and headed for
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 ...
exactly one month later. 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 9 February and sailed with a convoy to 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 the 14th. They reached
Majuro
Majuro (; Marshallese: ' ) is the capital and largest city of the Marshall Islands. It is also a large coral atoll of 64 islands in the Pacific Ocean. It forms a legislative district of the Ratak (Sunrise) Chain of the Marshall Islands. The ato ...
on the 22nd. The DE performed escort and patrol duty in the Marshalls until 7 May, when she sailed for the
Gilbert Islands
The Gilbert Islands ( gil, Tungaru;Reilly Ridgell. ''Pacific Nations and Territories: The Islands of Micronesia, Melanesia, and Polynesia.'' 3rd. Ed. Honolulu: Bess Press, 1995. p. 95. formerly Kingsmill or King's-Mill IslandsVery often, this n ...
to serve in the destroyer screen at
Tarawa
Tarawa is an atoll and the capital of the Republic of Kiribati,Kiribati ''
aircraft carrier
An aircraft carrier is a warship that serves as a seagoing airbase, equipped with a full-length flight deck and facilities for carrying, arming, deploying, and recovering aircraft. Typically, it is the capital ship of a fleet, as it allows a ...
s of Task Force (TF) 58, which was conducting air strikes against
Marcus Island
, also known as Marcus Island, is an isolated Japanese coral atoll in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, located some southeast of Tokyo and east of the closest Japanese island, South Iwo Jima of the Ogasawara Islands, and nearly on a straight line ...
and
Wake Island
Wake Island ( mh, Ānen Kio, translation=island of the kio flower; also known as Wake Atoll) is a coral atoll in the western Pacific Ocean in the northeastern area of the Micronesia subregion, east of Guam, west of Honolulu, southeast of To ...
.
Upon completion of this assignment, the ship was routed to
Kwajalein
Kwajalein Atoll (; Marshallese: ) is part of the Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI). The southernmost and largest island in the atoll is named Kwajalein Island, which its majority English-speaking residents (about 1,000 mostly U.S. civilia ...
for tender availability. ''Steele'' sailed on 5 June for Kusaie Island in the eastern
Caroline Islands
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 ...
to observe enemy activity and possibly to intercept a
Japan
Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
ese
submarine
A submarine (or sub) is a watercraft capable of independent operation underwater. It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability. The term is also sometimes used historically or colloquially to refer to remotely op ...
believed to be due there on the 6th. The submarine did not arrive, so the destroyer bombarded Lele Harbor on the east coast of the island and ascertained that the island was lightly fortified. She returned to the Marshalls and operated there until 23 June.
''Steele'' escorted to the
Mariana Islands
The Mariana Islands (; also the Marianas; in Chamorro: ''Manislan Mariånas'') are a crescent-shaped archipelago comprising the summits of fifteen longitudinally oriented, mostly dormant volcanic mountains in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, betw ...
and arrived off
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 ...
the morning of 26 June. She was assigned to the antisubmarine screen and then joined a convoy for the return trip to the Marshall Islands. She made another escort voyage to the Mariana Islands in early August. After a short upkeep period, ''Steele'' was assigned to a hunter-killer group centered on . The group sortied on 21 August and was designated as one of the eight groups of
Admiral
Admiral is one of the highest ranks in some navies. In the Commonwealth nations and the United States, a "full" admiral is equivalent to a "full" general in the army or the air force, and is above vice admiral and below admiral of the fleet, ...
William Halsey
William Frederick "Bull" Halsey Jr. (October 30, 1882 – August 16, 1959) was an American United States Navy, Navy admiral during World War II. He is one of four officers to have attained the rank of five-star Fleet admiral (United States), f ...
's Western Carolines Forces which supported the fast carriers of TF 38.
''Steele'', with her group, supported the amphibious assault on
Peleliu
Peleliu (or Beliliou) is an island in the island nation of Palau. Peleliu, along with two small islands to its northeast, forms one of the sixteen states of Palau. The island is notable as the location of the Battle of Peleliu in World War II.
H ...
,
Palau Islands
Palau,, officially the Republic of Palau and historically ''Belau'', ''Palaos'' or ''Pelew'', is an island country and microstate in the western Pacific. The nation has approximately 340 islands and connects the western chain of the Caro ...
, by patrolling between there and
Mindanao
Mindanao ( ) ( Jawi: مينداناو) is the second-largest island in the Philippines, after Luzon, and seventh-most populous island in the world. Located in the southern region of the archipelago, the island is part of an island group of ...
,
Philippine Islands
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 ...
. After refueling on 23 September, the group shifted their patrol area to the northeast of the Palaus. On 3 October, made a surface contact which was identified as a Japanese submarine. ''Steele'' was detached from the screen to assist the escort. The submarine had submerged, but ''Samuel S. Miles'' made
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 fired two
Hedgehog
A hedgehog is a spiny mammal of the subfamily Erinaceinae, in the eulipotyphlan family Erinaceidae. There are seventeen species of hedgehog in five genera found throughout parts of Europe, Asia, and Africa, and in New Zealand by introducti ...
patterns. The second pattern produced two underwater explosions which ''Steele''s sonar equipment picked up and a third explosion so violent that it damaged some of ''Miles sonar and radar. ''Steele'' made more runs over the area but could not make contact. ''Miles'' had sunk the Japanese submarine ''I-364''.
''Steele'' made a logistics stop at Manus from 9 to 13 October and sallied with the group for the Philippine Islands. As the fast carriers launched strikes against
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 ...
,
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 ...
, and
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 ...
, the aircraft from ''Hoggatt Bay'' protected the refueling operations. On the 20th, ''Steele'' and her group rendezvoused with and , which had been hit off Formosa while serving with the 3rd Fleet. After furnishing protection for the cruisers for two days, the group was detached to rejoin the 3rd Fleet fueling group which was then supporting the liberation of Leyte. The group arrived at
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 ...
on 27 October and was dissolved the following day. On 1 November, ''Steele'' returned to the Palaus and operated from there until 8 January 1945, when she arrived at Ulithi for upkeep. After escorting a convoy to Saipan, the escort headed for Pearl Harbor.
''Steele'' was there for a month and then escorted ships to
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 ...
,
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 ...
, Ulithi, and
Guam
Guam (; ch, Guåhan ) is an organized, unincorporated territory of the United States in the Micronesia subregion of the western Pacific Ocean. It is the westernmost point and territory of the United States (reckoned from the geographic cent ...
. She arrived at
Apra Harbor
Apra Harbor, also called Port Apra, is a deep-water port on the western side of the United States territory of Guam. It is considered one of the best natural ports in the Pacific Ocean. The harbor is bounded by Cabras Island and the Glass Breakwa ...
on 5 May and operated from there until 18 September, when she sailed for the west coast. The destroyer escort arrived at
San Pedro, Los Angeles
San Pedro ( ; Spanish: " St. Peter") is a neighborhood within the City of Los Angeles, California. Formerly a separate city, it consolidated with Los Angeles in 1909. The Port of Los Angeles, a major international seaport, is partially located wi ...
, on 5 October. An inspection team checked the ship on the 23rd and recommended that she be scrapped.
''Steele'' decommissioned on 21 November and 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 ...