USS Pillsbury (DD-227)
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USS ''Pillsbury'' (DD-227) was a ''Clemson''-class destroyer 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 ...
that served 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 ...
and the first of two ships named after John E. Pillsbury, a Rear Admiral in the United States Navy. She was sunk by Japanese cruisers, approximately 200 miles east of
Christmas Island Christmas Island, officially the Territory of Christmas Island, is an Australian external territory comprising the island of the same name. It is located in the Indian Ocean, around south of Java and Sumatra and around north-west of the ...
on or around 2 March 1942 with all hands, one of
two 2 (two) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 1 and preceding 3. It is the smallest and only even prime number. Because it forms the basis of a duality, it has religious and spiritual significance in many cultur ...
major American surface warships lost in World War II with no survivors.


History

''Pillsbury'' was laid down by
William Cramp & Sons William Cramp & Sons Shipbuilding Company (also known as William Cramp & Sons Ship & Engine Building Company) of Philadelphia was founded in 1830 by William Cramp, and was the preeminent U.S. iron shipbuilder of the late 19th century. Company hi ...
of
Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...
on 23 October 1919, launched on 3 August 1920, sponsored by Miss Helen Langdon Richardson and commissioned on 15 December 1920. During service in the Asiatic Fleet, ''Pillsbury'' was involved in the 1927 Nanking Incident as part of a U.S. Navy flotilla helping protect American interests around the
Yangtze River The Yangtze or Yangzi ( or ; ) is the longest list of rivers of Asia, river in Asia, the list of rivers by length, third-longest in the world, and the longest in the world to flow entirely within one country. It rises at Jari Hill in th ...
. On 27 November 1941, by order of the Commander Asiatic Fleet, Admiral
Thomas C. Hart Thomas Charles Hart (June 12, 1877July 4, 1971) was an admiral in the United States Navy, whose service extended from the Spanish–American War through World War II. Following his retirement from the navy, he served briefly as a United States Se ...
, ''Pillsbury'' departed
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 ...
under the command of Lt. Commander Harold C. Pound, together with other units of the fleet. When the Japanese struck at Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941, she was operating in the vicinity of
Borneo Borneo (; id, Kalimantan) is the third-largest island in the world and the largest in Asia. At the geographic centre of Maritime Southeast Asia, in relation to major Indonesian islands, it is located north of Java, west of Sulawesi, and ea ...
. After the attack on Pearl Harbor, ''Pillsbury'', together with other United States,
Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...
and Australian naval vessels, operated out of
Balikpapan Balikpapan is a seaport city in East Kalimantan, Indonesia. Located on the east coast of the island of Borneo, the city is the financial center of Kalimantan. Balikpapan is the city with the largest economy in Kalimantan with an estimated ...
on reconnaissance and anti-submarine patrols. Later she moved to Surabaya,
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 mos ...
and from there made night patrols with the cruisers and and destroyers of Division 58. On 18 February the Japanese began moving ashore on Bali and the
American-British-Dutch-Australian Command The American-British-Dutch-Australian (ABDA) Command, or ABDACOM, was a short-lived, supreme command for all Allies of World War II, Allied forces in South East Asia in early 1942, during the Pacific War in World War II. The command consists of ...
(ABDA) surface forces including ''Pillsbury'' set out to disrupt further landings from a Japanese convoy reported to be in the area. While steaming through Badoeng Strait on the night of 19/20 February during the Battle of Badoeng Strait, ''Pillsbury'' fired three torpedoes at a Japanese ship without result. When a searchlight was trained on ''Pillsbury'' and several shots were fired at her, she turned to starboard and made smoke to escape. The relatively small Allied forces chose to make brief strikes then rapid retirement in the face of superior Japanese forces in the hope of disrupting the enemy advance. At 02:10 ''Pillsbury'' sighted a ship ahead and engaged with her main battery and .50 caliber guns. The amidships gun crew of the Japanese ship was put out of action by the first burst of .50 caliber machine guns. The target ship then received a direct hit with a shell from either ''Pillsbury'' or the destroyer in the opposite column. This caused the Japanese destroyer to swing to starboard. The spotter then observed three hits from ''Pillsbury'' one on the bridge, one amidships and one on the fantail. After this hit, the Japanese ship was in flames and ceased firing. At this time ''Pillsbury'' and were detached from the strike force and sent to
Tjilatjap Cilacap Regency ( jv, ꦏꦨꦸꦥꦠꦺꦤ꧀ꦕꦶꦭꦕꦥ꧀, also spelt: Chilachap, old spelling: Tjilatjap, Sundanese: ) is a regency () in the southwestern part of Central Java province in Indonesia. Its capital is the town of Cilacap. ...
. After the action around Bali, the ships had few torpedoes and badly needed an overhaul.


Fate

A few days later ''Pillsbury'' was sunk. There are no US logs or battle reports giving the details of the actions in which ''Pillsbury'', and were lost and their fates were unknown until Japanese logs were examined after the war. A force of Japanese ships was operating to the south of Java to prevent the escape of Allied ships from the area. The force consisted of four battleships, five cruisers of Cruiser Division 4, the aircraft carriers , , and and the destroyers of Destroyer Squadron 4. ''Edsall'' was sunk in the Indian Ocean on 2 March 1942, south of Java. At 18:24 she received a direct hit from the battleship and at 18:35 another from the cruiser . ''Edsall'' was also attacked by nine
Aichi D3A The Aichi D3A Type 99 Carrier Bomber ( Allied reporting name "Val") is a World War II carrier-borne dive bomber. It was the primary dive bomber of the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) and was involved in almost all IJN actions, including the a ...
dive bombers from ''Sōryū'' and eight from , which hit her with several bombs, leaving her dead in the water by 18:50. She was destroyed by the cruiser and sank at 19:00 with 5-8 survivors. The remains of 5 executed sailors from the ''Edsall'' were recovered in Indonesia in 1952. In a night surface action on 2 March 1942 ''Pillsbury'' was overtaken by two Japanese cruisers of Cruiser Division 4. She was engaged by and , and at 21:02 sank with the loss of all hands. ''Asheville'', slowed by engine troubles, was caught at 09:06 on 3 March by the destroyers and and sunk. One crew member was rescued from the water but died in a
prisoner of war A prisoner of war (POW) is a person who is held captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610. Belligerents hold prisoners of w ...
camp. All three sinkings took place approximately 200 miles east of
Christmas Island Christmas Island, officially the Territory of Christmas Island, is an Australian external territory comprising the island of the same name. It is located in the Indian Ocean, around south of Java and Sumatra and around north-west of the ...
. ''Pillsbury'' 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 World War II service.


References

*


External links

*
USS ''Pillsbury (DD 227)''
* Movement records for ''Takao'', ''Atago'' and ''Tone'' fro
combinedfleet.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pillsbury Clemson-class destroyers World War II destroyers of the United States Ships built by William Cramp & Sons World War II shipwrecks in the Philippine Sea 1920 ships Warships lost in combat with all hands Maritime incidents in March 1942