USS Endicott (DD-495/ DMS-35)

USS Endicott (DD-495/ DMS-35) was a Gleaves class destroyer that served on convoy escort duty for most of her career, missed the D-Day landings after colliding with a merchant ship, supported the invasion of the South of France, and fought in the Korean War.

The Endicott was named after Samuel Endicott, who served on the Enterprise during the Barbary Wars and took part in the attack on Tripoli harbour on 16 February 1804.

The Endicott was laid down by the Seattle-Tacoma Shipbuilding Corp at Seattle, launched on 5 April 1942 when she was sponsored by Miss Bettie L. Rankin and commissioned on 25 February 1943

The Endicott was originally classified as a Bristol class ship, which were built with four 5in guns instead of the five installed on the Livermore/ Gleaves class. However after the fifth gun was removed from those ships all of the Bristol class ships joined the Livermore/ Gleaves class.

1943

The destroyer underwent her shakedown cruise off San Diego.

USS Endicott (DD-495), Naples Harbour, August 1944

On 18 March she left Port Townsend to escort the escort carrier Barnes (AVG-20) to San Francisco then San Diego, for her shakedown cruise.

Soon after this she departed for the Atlantic where she spent the next year on escort duties, starting with a slow convoy heading to Casablanca that departed from New York in April 1943. During this period she escorted one convoy to Northern Ireland, one to Panama, one to Trinidad and two to Africa.

From 11-16 December she escorted the newly built oiler Caliente (AO-53) from the US East Coast to Port Arthur, Texas.

1944

In February 1944 she helped screen the new cruiser Quincy (CA-71) during her shakedown cruise in the West Indies.

The Endicott joined the forces being gathered to support the D-Day landings. During the build-up she was used to escort merchantsmen and transports moving around in British waters. On 12 May she escorted the ammo ship Nitro (AE-2) to Greenock, Scotland. On 24 May she was part of the escort for a convoy of twelve transports heading south through the Irish Sea. Early on 25 May a lone merchant ship, the American steamer Exhibitor was detected heading north directly towards the convoy just as it was about to turn into the Bristol Channel. The captain of the Endicott had to make a hard left turn to avoud a nearby troopship and as a result was rammed by the Exhibitor. The Endicott lost her bows and had to limp into Milford Haven. The Exhibitor survived intact. As a result the Endicott missed the D-Day campaign, as she was being repaired at Cardiff.

USS Endicott (DD-495), late 1944

The Endicott was able to rejoin the fleet on 12 July. She was used to escort LSTs and LCIs to the Mediterranean to take part in Operation Dragoon, the invasion of the South of France.

On 17 August the Endicott along with the British insect class gunboats HMS Scarab and HMS Aphis and seventeen PT boats were sent to carry out a diversionary attack on the port of La Ciotat. The PT boats and the gunboats sank a merchant ship in the harbour and the force then began to bombard the port.

While the Endicott had been bombarding the port the two British gunboats had engaged with two Germean corvettes, the former Egyptian armed yacht Nimet Allah and the former Italian Gabbiano class corvette Antilope, renamed as UJ6082 in German service. Although the two British ships were well armed with two 6in guns they were small and had been built during the First World War for a possible operation in the Danube. They were soon forced to retire by the accurate German fire. The former Antilope was of similar size, less heavily armed, but more modern, having only been laumched in 1942. The Nimet Allah was the largest of these ships and had been built by the Deutsche Werke, Kiel. The Endicott then entered the battle, despite only having one working 5in gun. The resulting battle lasted for just under an hour. Both German boats were sunk, while the Endicott suffered one hit from a dud shell that wounded one man.

After this clash the Endicott escorted a convoy to Corsica then HMS Eastway to Salerno as well as supporting coastal operations.

From October to the end of 1944 she underwent an overhaul followed by refresher training.

1945

In January-February 1945 she was part of the large fleet that screened the Quincy (CA-71) as the cruiser carried President Roosevelt to North Africa on his way to and from the Yalta conference.

The Endicott, Carmick and Doyle joined the convoy near Bermuda on 26 January and remained with it until 28 January, when it was south of the Azores. The same three destroyers rejoined the westbound convoy on 20 February and remained with it until 24 February.

In mid-April she escorted a convoy to Oran then returned to Charleston.

At Charleston she was converted into a high speed minesweeper, becoming DMS-35 on 30 May 1945. However the war ended three days before she reached San Diego, on her way to the Pacific.

Endicott reported to Task Force 52 at Okinawa on 23 September 1945 to begin the huge task of ridding the Yellow Sea of mines. Designated flagship of the sweeping group, she conducted similar operations in the Inland Sea and Kure area as well.

Postwar

The Endicott continued on west, joining Task Force 52 at Okinawa on 23 September 1945. She became flagship of the minesweeping group, and operating in the Yellow Sea, Inland Sea and Kure areas.

She was back in the US by May 1946 when she underwent another overhaul. She was then based at San Diego and spent the next few years on local patrols and exercises.

In June 1950, after the outbreak of the Korean War, she departed for Korea, where she was used to screen the carriers Badoeng Strait (CVE-116) and Sicily (CVE-118).

In August she moved to Chinhae (now Jinhae), on the south coast of Korea, where she provided fire support for the UN forces pinned down in the far south-eastern corner of Korea.

On 15 September she escorted a Korean LST carrying out a feint attack against Chang Sa Dong, to distract North Korean attention during the Inchon Landings. The LST broached, and the Endicott guarded her until support arrived.

After the Inchon landings she moved to the east coast, where she supported the minesweepers. She spent the rest of 1950 operating off the east coast of North Korea, around Wonsan and Hungnam. These areas had to be abandoned late in the year after the defeat of UN forces close to the Chinese border resulting in a long retreat back into the south and an evacuation from Hungnam.

In January 1951 she rescued the crew of the grounded Thai frigate Prase and guarded her until she was destroyed. In February she led the minesweepers who cleared the way for a bombardment of Wonsan.

Am overhaul in San Diego was followed by a second tour in Korea. She joined the Naval Forces in October 1951 and was used on shore bombardment and patrol duties. She spent the first half of 1952 on the Songjin Patrol (now Kimch’aek, half way up the east coast of North Korea.

The last four months of 1952 were spent undergoing an overhaul at Long Beach.

She returned to Korea again early in 1953 and provided gun support for minesweepers operating around Korea.

In August 1953 she was back at Long Beach for repairs. After a spell of exercises in local waters she was decommissioned on 17 August 1954 and placed into the reserve. She was sold for scrap in on 6 October 1970.

The Endicott was awarded two battle stars for the Second World War, for the South of France and Pacific Minesweeping.

U.S. Destroyers: An Illustrated Design History, Norman Friedmann . The standard history of the development of American destroyers, from the earliest torpedo boat destroyers to the post-war fleet, and covering the massive classes of destroyers built for both World Wars. Gives the reader a good understanding of the debates that surrounded each class of destroyer and led to their individual features.

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