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 ...
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 opposing ...
. She served in the
Atlantic Ocean
The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe ...
and then the
Pacific Ocean
The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the contin ...
and provided escort service against submarine and air attack for Navy vessels and convoys.
She was laid down on 30 January 1943 at
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.Federal Shipbuilding and Drydock Co.; launched on 21 June 1943; named for Ensign Robert Sinclair Booth, who was assigned to 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 R ...
, the first
Washington, DC
)
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serviceman to die in the war; sponsored by Mrs. Annie L. Booth; towed by ocean-going tug from her building yard to Norfolk, Virginia, via the Cape Cod Canal (24–26 June 1943), completed at the
Norfolk Navy Yard
The Norfolk Naval Shipyard, often called the Norfolk Navy Yard and abbreviated as NNSY, is a U.S. Navy facility in Portsmouth, Virginia, for building, remodeling and repairing the Navy's ships. It is the oldest and largest industrial facility tha ...
; and commissioned there on 18 September 1943.
World War II Atlantic Ocean operations
After fitting out, ''Booth'' put to sea from
Hampton Roads, Virginia
Hampton Roads is the name of both a body of water in the United States that serves as a wide channel for the James, Nansemond and Elizabeth rivers between Old Point Comfort and Sewell's Point where the Chesapeake Bay flows into the Atlantic O ...
, on 14 October 1943 for her
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, ...
. The
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 ...
returned to Norfolk from the
Bermuda
)
, anthem = "God Save the King"
, song_type = National song
, song = "Hail to Bermuda"
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area on 13 November and entered the navy yard for post-shakedown availability. From 1 December to the 17th, she was at
Washington, D.C.
)
, image_skyline =
, image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...
, taking part in experimental work at the
Naval Research Laboratory
The United States Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) is the corporate research laboratory for the United States Navy and the United States Marine Corps. It was founded in 1923 and conducts basic scientific research, applied research, technological ...
at
Bellevue Bellevue means "beautiful view" in French. It may refer to:
Placenames
Australia
* Bellevue, Western Australia
* Bellevue Hill, New South Wales
* Bellevue, Queensland
* Bellevue, Glebe, an historic house in Sydney, New South Wales
Canada ...
and the
Washington Navy Yard
The Washington Navy Yard (WNY) is the former shipyard and Weapon, ordnance plant of the United States Navy in Southeast, Washington, D.C., Southeast Washington, D.C. It is the oldest shore establishment of the U.S. Navy.
The Yard currently serv ...
. During the latter part of the month, ''Booth'' helped to train prospective destroyer escort crews in the Hampton Roads area.
At the beginning of 1944, the
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 forces of a state. As well as being armed, warships are designed to withstand damage and are usually faster ...
's division, Escort Division (
CortDiv
The structure of the United States Navy consists of four main bodies: the Office of the Secretary of the Navy, the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations, the operating forces (described below), and the Shore Establishment.
Office of the Chief of ...
) 15, became a part of Task Force (TF) 62. Over the next 16 months, ''Booth'' and her division mates completed eight round-trip voyages to the
Mediterranean
The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western Europe, Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa ...
and back escorting UGS (Slow Eastbound) and GUS (Slow Westbound)
convoys
A convoy is a group of vehicles, typically motor vehicles or ships, traveling together for mutual support and protection. Often, a convoy is organized with armed defensive support and can help maintain cohesion within a unit. It may also be used ...
, and she logged
Gibraltar
)
, anthem = " God Save the King"
, song = " Gibraltar Anthem"
, image_map = Gibraltar location in Europe.svg
, map_alt = Location of Gibraltar in Europe
, map_caption = United Kingdom shown in pale green
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, Casablanca, Bizerte, Palermo, and Oran, as eastern termini. Though she investigated a number of sound contacts for possible enemy submarines, her only verifiable scrape with the Germans came from the air when planes attacked Convoy UGS-48 off Cape Bengut, Algeria, on the night of 1 August 1944. The convoy's anti-aircraft gunners repulsed the attack quickly, and none of the ships in the convoy suffered any damage.
World War II Pacific Theatre operations
With the end of the war in Europe in May 1945, ''Booth'' began preparations for service in the Pacific theater. After a week of training near Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, the destroyer escort set course for the
Panama Canal
The Panama Canal ( es, Canal de Panamá, link=no) is an artificial waterway in Panama that connects the Atlantic Ocean with the Pacific Ocean and divides North and South America. The canal cuts across the Isthmus of Panama and is a condui ...
. She transited the isthmian waterway on 10 June and, after visiting
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 eighth most populous city in the United State ...
and
San Francisco, California
San Francisco (; Spanish for " 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 fourth most populous in California and 17th ...
, departed the latter port on 26 June. The warship escorted motor vessel to Pearl Harbor, arriving there on 2 July.
''Booth'' then trained in the Hawaiian Islands for almost two weeks before getting underway on the 15th to proceed
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 i ...
, in 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 Intern ...
, for the Marianas. She arrived at Saipan on 26 July. After making one round-trip convoy escort mission between Saipan and Iwo Jima with convoys SIW-62 and IWS-54, ''Booth'' put to sea on 9 August for
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 larges ...
Atoll
An atoll () is a ring-shaped island, including a coral rim that encircles a lagoon partially or completely. There may be coral islands or cays on the rim. Atolls are located in warm tropical or subtropical oceans and seas where corals can gr ...
,
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 ce ...
. She reported in at Ulithi the following day and, on the 12th, embarked upon the first of two convoy runs to
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 ...
, beginning with convoy UOK-47 and returning with OKU-20. On the same day the surrender document was being executed on board 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 ...
(2 September), ''Booth'' was getting underway at Okinawa to return to Ulithi with convoy OKU-25 (her Okinawa-bound leg having been with UOK-52) from the second of those convoy screening missions.
End-of-War Occupation Duties
During the autumn of 1945, ''Booth'' assisted occupation forces in accepting the surrender of bypassed islands and in repatriating their
garrisons
A garrison (from the French ''garnison'', itself from the verb ''garnir'', "to equip") is any body of troops stationed in a particular location, originally to guard it. The term now often applies to certain facilities that constitute a mil ...
. On 8 September 1945, she set out from Ulithi with Lt. Kumura Fumio and Cpl. Kanichi Suzuki, representatives of the
Imperial Japanese Army
The was the official ground-based armed force of the Empire of Japan from 1868 to 1945. It was controlled by the Imperial Japanese Army General Staff Office and the Ministry of the Army, both of which were nominally subordinate to the Emperor o ...
, embarked, to investigate Japanese installations and activities on Sorol Island, in the Western Carolines. Manning her 3-inch and 40-millimeter guns, ''Booth'' put ashore a landing party under Comdr. J.W. Buxton later that day, recovering the men a little over two hours later. The destroyer escort put the landing party ashore on Sorol again the following morning, recovering them soon thereafter and moving on to proceed toward
Eauripik
Eauripik Island is a coral atoll of three islands in the western Caroline Islands in the Pacific Ocean, and forms a legislative district in Yap State in the Federated States of Micronesia.
Its total land area is only 23.6 hectares , but it encl ...
Island, arriving there the following day to put a force ashore to reconnoiter the island. After recovering her men shortly before noon, ''Booth'' arrived off Ifalik Island that afternoon. Her landing party visited that island during the day on 11 September, and then returned to
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 larges ...
the following day (12 September).
On 11 October, ''Booth'' put to sea with Lt. Col. Lyman D. Spurlock, USMC (who was relieved by Maj. Robert J. J. Picardi on 30 October), and party, on a four-week assignment evacuating Japanese forces from Truk, Nomoi, and Puluwat atolls and preparing those places for the arrival of U.S. occupation forces. The warship arrived at
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 ...
on 7 November but returned to sea the following day bound for the United States with 2 officers and 45 enlisted marines for transportation.
Post-War decommissioning
Steaming via Pearl Harbor, San Diego, and the
Panama Canal
The Panama Canal ( es, Canal de Panamá, link=no) is an artificial waterway in Panama that connects the Atlantic Ocean with the Pacific Ocean and divides North and South America. The canal cuts across the Isthmus of Panama and is a condui ...
, the destroyer escort arrived in
Green Cove Springs, Florida
Green Cove Springs is a city in and the county seat of Clay County, Florida, United States. The population was 5,378 at the 2000 census. As of 2010, the population recorded by the U.S. Census Bureau was 6,908.
The city is named after the portio ...
, on 28 January 1946, where she was decommissioned on 14 June 1946. Towed from
Mayport, Florida Mayport is a small community located between Naval Station Mayport and the St. Johns River in Jacksonville, Florida. It is part of the Jacksonville Beaches communities. The only public road to Mayport is State Road A1A, which crosses the St. Joh ...
, to Charleston, South Carolina, by the auxiliary ocean tug (10–11 April 1947) ''Booth'' was placed in "deferred disposal status pending possible transfer to a foreign government" on 7 July 1947, and two days later was towed back to Mayport by ''ATA-209'', where the former convoy escort was inactivated on 28 July 1947.
''Booth'' converted to ''Datu Kalantiaw'' (PS-76)
''Booth''s "possible transfer to foreign government" ultimately came to pass. Reconditioned by the Brewer Dry Dock Co.,
Staten Island, New York
Staten Island ( ) is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Richmond County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located in the city's southwest portion, the borough is separated from New Jersey by the Arthur Kill and the Kill Van Kull and ...
, the ship was loaned to the Republic of 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 ...
under the
Military Assistance Program
The Mutual Defense Assistance Act was a United States Act of Congress signed by President Harry S. Truman on 6 October 1949. For US Foreign policy, it was the first U.S. military foreign aid legislation of the Cold War era, and initially to Eu ...
on 15 December 1967. The Philippine Navy commissioned her on that day at the
Philadelphia Navy Yard
The Philadelphia Naval Shipyard was an important naval shipyard of the United States for almost two centuries.
Philadelphia's original navy yard, begun in 1776 on Front Street and Federal Street in what is now the Pennsport section of the ci ...
as . On 30 June 1975, while she was still operating on loan under a foreign flag, the destroyer escort was re-designated a frigate, FF-170. Subsequently, given the Philippine Navy's continuing need for the ship "in the interest of National Defense Requirements and in the furtherance of the Security Alliance between the hilippinesand the United States," the U.S. Navy disposed of her by Foreign Military Sale and ''Booth'' was stricken from the
Naval Vessel Register
The ''Naval Vessel Register'' (NVR) is the official inventory of ships and service craft in custody of or titled by the United States Navy. It contains information on ships and service craft that make up the official inventory of the Navy from t ...
on 15 July 1978.
''Datu Kalantiaw'' continued to serve under the Philippine flag until Typhoon Clara drove her aground on 21 September 1981 on the rocky northern shore of
Calayan Island
Calayan Island is located about west-south-west of Babuyan Island off the north coast of the Philippines and belongs to the Babuyan Islands group in the Luzon Strait. The island is hemmed between Aparri and Batanes islands and it is larger than ...
, in the northern Philippines. The ammunition ship , as she neared
Subic Bay
Subic Bay is a bay on the west coast of the island of Luzon in the Philippines, about northwest of Manila Bay. An extension of the South China Sea, its shores were formerly the site of a major United States Navy facility, U.S. Naval Base Sub ...
that day, slated for a period of upkeep, received orders to "get underway again that evening to coordinate rescue operations" at the scene of the tragedy. Consequently, ''Mount Hood'', working in concert with Philippine Navy units "in a most adverse weather environment," retrieved 49 bodies in two days of operations, and ultimately sailed for
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 ...
to turn them over to Philippine authorities, rescuers no longer hearing tapping from inside the ship that lay on her beam ends where Clara had cast her. Soon thereafter, Rear Admiral Simeon Alejandro, Flag Officer in Command of the Philippine Navy, "made an emotional address to the officers and men of Mount Hood upon the ship's arrival on Manila," the auxiliary's historian records, "thanking each man for his part in the mission and offering the gratitude of the Philippine nation to the Captain and crew." One contemporary account called the loss of ''Datu Kalantiaw'' "one of the worst disasters in the history of the Philippine Navy," 79 of the 97-man crew perishing.