Remembering Pearl Harbor 83 Years Later

Hull Number: DD-598

Launch Date: 12/31/1941

Commissioned Date: 04/30/1942

Decommissioned Date: 02/01/1946

Call Sign: NALG


Class: BENSON

BENSON Class

Data for USS Benson (DD-421) as of 1945


Length Overall: 347' 10"

Beam: 36' 1"

Draft: 13' 6"

Standard Displacement: 1,620 tons

Full Load Displacement: 2,525 tons

Fuel capacity: 2,912 barrels

Armament:

Four 5″/38 caliber guns
Two 40mm twin anti-aircraft mounts
Two 21″ quintuple torpedo tubes

Complement:

16 Officers
260 Enlisted

Propulsion:

4 Boilers
2 Bethlehem Turbines: 47,000 horsepower

Highest speed on trials: 36.7 knots

Namesake: GEORGE BANCROFT

GEORGE BANCROFT

Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships, June 2015

George Bancroft born on 3 October 1800 at Worcester, Mass., graduated from Harvard University in 1817 and then studied at the University of Göttingen, Germany, where he received a doctorate in 1820. Upon his return to the United States, Bancroft tutored in Greek at Harvard for one year, but left when his foreign social and educational views clashed with those of the students and the faculty alike. He next attempted to publish a book of verse and then to establish a boy’s school on the European model, but both ventures failed. In 1831, he began research for his famous History of the United States. He published the first volume in 1834; the second, along with a second edition of the first, in 1837; and the third in 1840. The first three volumes covered only the period of colonization. The success of the History was immediate, though some critics perceived the presence of a distinct bias in favor of Jacksonian democracy.

That predilection for the Democratic Party combined with the paucity of Democrats in staunchly Whig New England explains Bancroft’s almost meteoric rise in the party ranks. He was a delegate to the party convention in 1844 and played an important role in the nomination of James K. Polk for the presidency. After Polk won election, he rewarded Bancroft by appointing him Secretary of the Navy. Though his term lasted only 18 months, Bancroft made significant contributions to the foundation upon which the Navy rests. Most notably, he established the Naval Academy at Annapolis, Md., and strongly supported the work of the Naval Observatory.

In 1846, Bancroft began his career as a diplomat when he went to London as United States minister to Great Britain. In addition to performing his duties as American minister, Bancroft continued research for his History, consulting European sources by then available to him. He returned to the United States in 1849 and concentrated upon his historical research and writing. Between 1852 and 1866, he issued six more volumes of the History carrying the work through the end of the American Revolution. Though initially skeptical about Abraham Lincoln’s ability to handle the national dilemma brought on by secession and the Civil War, Bancroft quickly reversed his opinion and gave Lincoln all his support, both written and oral. He also enjoyed warm ties with Lincoln’s vice president and successor, Andrew Johnson. That friendship brought Bancroft another diplomatic post in 1867 as United States minister in Berlin. There he witnessed the consolidation of Bismarck’s Germany from the North German Confederation to the German Empire. He remained at that post until 1874.

Again, Bancroft did not let his diplomatic duties interrupt his historical research. The 10th and final volume of the History came out in 1874. Two years later, he published a revised edition of the entire work condensed to six volumes. In 1882, he issued the History of the Formulation of the Constitution of the United States. Finally, between 1883 and 1885, Bancroft published a final revision of the History in which he corrected many errors and softened some of the floridity of his prose. George Bancroft, truly the “Father of American History,” died at Washington, D.C., on 17 January 1891. He was buried in his hometown, Worcester, Mass.


Disposition:

Sold 03/16/1973 to Luria Bros. and Co. Inc., Cleveland, Ohio for $91,833.50. Scrapped.


A Tin Can Sailors Destroyer History

USS BANCROFT DD-598

The Tin Can Sailor, January 2002

The BANCROFT (DD-598) was launched on 31 December 1941 at Quincy, Massachusetts, and was commissioned on 30 April 1942. Off Casco Bay, Maine, in early June, she participated in ASW exercises with the LARDNER (DD-487), LANSDOWNE (DD-486), FITCH (DD-462), and BAILEY (DD-492). During June maneuvers, the BANCROFT, NICHOLSON (DD-442), WOOLSEY (DD-437), and MC CALLA (DD-488) hunted a submarine suspected of prowling off Mount Desert Island, responding to a sound contact with depth charges but never confirmed a hit.

By August, she and the MCCALLA were bound for the Pacific, arriving at Dutch Harbor, Alaska, in September 1942. She operated at various times with the CALDWELL (DD-605), which suffered a crushed bow in a collision with the SPICA (AK-16); as well as the CASE (DD-370), COUGHLIN (DD-606), and KING (DD-242). In October, the BANCROFT, BAILEY, and LONG (DMS-12), with the ST. LOUIS (CL-49) and NASHVILLE (CL-43), formed Task Group 8.7 to intercept and destroy enemy shipping. Later that month, with the INDIANAPOLIS (CA-35), the ships were designated Task Group 8.6 and ranged north of the Aleutians. In January 1943 they participated in the assault and occupation of Amchitka Island. Off Amchitka on 12 January 1943, the BANCROFT and CHANDLER (DMS-9) stood by as the DEWEY (DD-349) and MIDDLETON (APA-25) rescued the crew of the WORDEN (DD-352), which was aground and breaking up near the harbor entrance.

In May she covered the assault and capture of Attu Island and continued to patrol the approaches to Attu, Kiska, and Adak until 29 June, when she and the COUGHLIN returned to San Francisco for overhaul. Back in the Aleutians in August, she took part in the landings on Kiska Island during which the ABNER READ (DD-526) was seriously damaged by an underwater explosion. Taking the destroyer in tow, the BANCROFT searched for survivors. The next day, she took aboard two seriously wounded men from the beach who were cared for by her ship’s doctor.

Following her transfer to Pearl Harbor in September 1943, she began a steady routine of fire support, screening, and escort duties. Her first assignment was with Task Group 15.9 for carrier strikes against the island of Tarawa on 18 September. Next, with Task Group 14.2, she bombarded installations on Wake Island. By November she was escorting LSTs to Funa Futi, Ellice Islands, continuing on to Tarawa for the assault and capture of that atoll.

Between 31 January and 16 February 1944, the BANCROFT, HALLIGAN (DD-584), COUGHLIN, and CALDWELL, alternated screening duties during strikes against Kwajalein, with the HULL (DD-350), DEWEY (DD-349), HEERMAN (DD-532), MILLER (DD-535), HAILEY (DD-556), and MEADE (DD-602). While with carriers off Majuro in early March, she rescued a number of crews from downed planes. She, DEWEY, EDWARDS (DD-619), PHELPS (DD-360), MACDONOUGH (DD-351), HULL, and MEADE then moved on to cover the landings on Mille Atoll and strikes against the Palau Islands until 2 April 1944. The BANCROFT put to sea again bound for Hollandia and Wakde and operations on 21–24 April. Returning from the New Guinea area, her task group raided Truk, Satawan, and Ponape on 28–30 April.

In May DesRon 14, made up of the BANCROFT, MEADE, EDWARDS (DD-619), FRAZIER (DD-607), and CALDWELL, formed the Eastern Marshalls Patrol Group covering Mille, Jaluit, Maloelap, and Wotje. On 23 May, the BANCROFT and EDWARDS bombarded Wotje Island, silencing a shore battery. On 8 June, under heavy shore battery fire, the BANCROFT rescued a Corsair pilot off Mille. The ship suffered no material damage but one of her crew received a minor shrapnel wound.

By 25 June, the BANCROFT was off Saipan and on that night conducted harassing bombardment of the town of Tinian. She subsequently performed escort duties between Eniwetok and Saipan through the end of July. On 8 August she and the GANSEVOORT (DD-608) bombarded Maloelap Atoll. Ten days later, DesRon 14 left for Pearl Harbor and from there, the BANCROFT, EATON (DD-510), and PRINGLE (DD-477) returned to San Francisco for overhaul. She was back in the war early in 1945 and on 28 February was underway for Mindoro and then Zamboanga, Mindanao, to screen the forces occupying that island. Her next mission was to cover minesweeping operations in the San Bernardino Straits and then the landings at Legaspi in the Albay Gulf. On the night of 3 April, off Allen, Samar, the BANCROFT picked up the survivors of an army B-25 that had crashed on Catanduanes Island.

The following day, she headed for Morotai to participate in the assaults on Borneo where she was in charge of the Tarakan and Brunei Bay operation between 1 May and 10 June 1945. Screening duties took her into July when she retired to Subic Bay where she remained until the cessation of hostilities. Her final contribution to the war effort was as an escort between the Philippines, Okinawa, and Japan. She returned to the U.S. in November 1945 and on 1 February 1946 was placed out of commission in reserve at Charleston, South Carolina. She was stricken from the naval register on 1 June 1971 and sold for scrap 16 March 1973.

USS BANCROFT DD-598 Ship History

Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships, June 2015

The third Bancroft (DD-598) was laid down on 1 May 1941 at Quincy, Mass., by the Bethlehem Ship Building Corp.; launched on 31 December 1941; sponsored by Mrs. Hester Bancroft Barry, great-granddaughter of George Bancroft; and commissioned 30 April 1942, Lt. Comdr. John L. Melgaard in command.

After fitting out at the Boston Navy Yard through 21 May, the destroyer steamed north for five weeks of shakedown training in Casco Bay off Portland, Maine. The destroyer’s crew practiced gunnery and antisubmarine warfare (ASW) drills, exercising with S-48 (SS-159) at times and also perfecting these skills while searching for U-boats along the Boston-Halifax convoy routes. On 16 June, she came across floating debris, a grim reminder of the German submarine offensive against American coastal shipping. The wreckage may have come from the tanker SS Cherokee, sunk the day before about fifty miles out of Boston. Bancroft returned to Boston on 30 June for post-shakedown overhaul.

Departing the Boston Navy Yard on 20 July, the destroyer steamed to Norfolk, Va., arriving there the following day. She practiced ship handling and convoy skills while escorting Merak (AF-21) to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and the British-owned SS St. Marys to Port-au-Prince, Haiti, in late June and July. Returning to Norfolk on 3 August, Bancroft received a few days of repairs and news of her assignment to the Pacific Fleet. Underway on the 10th, in company with McCalla (DD-488), the warship escorted two oilers, Lackawanna (AO-40) and Tappahannock (AO-43), first to Aruba, Netherlands West Indies, and on to the Panama Canal. Leaving the Atlantic submarine war behind, the ships transited the canal on the night of 24 and 25 August and then sailed northwest to San Diego, anchoring in that harbor on 2 September.

Drafted for immediate duty in Alaskan waters, Bancroft set sail on the 7th for the Aleutian Islands to help retake Attu and Kiska which the Japanese had occupied three months earlier. Following a quick stop at Seattle, Wash., to pick up Ramapo (AO-12), she then escorted the oiler north to Dutch Harbor, Alaska, mooring there on 17 September. Four days later, the destroyer joined Task Group (TG) 8.6, built around Louisville (CA-28), Indianapolis (CA-35), and St. Louis (CL-49), in its patrol of the Aleutian chain.

Fighting rough seas, false radar echoes, and poor visibility, the group searched the waters north of the Rat and Near Islands for Japanese shipping. The American blockade of the Japanese garrisons at Attu and Kiska found contacts scarce, however, and only encountered a few Russian merchant ships in those inhospitable waters. The most notable event was a torpedo scare on 13 October, caused by a harbor seal swimming through the phosphorescent water.

In early November, as part of the build up of American forces in the Aleutians, the destroyer escorted Pyro (AE-1) and the transport Chaumont (AP-5) carrying troops and supplies to the new base at Adak. The warship then joined Detroit (CL-8) and Raleigh (CL-7) on 24 November for a scouting sweep north of the Semichi Islands. Poor visibility, freezing rain, and rough seas stymied search efforts, forcing the warships back to patrol the calmer waters north of the Andreanof Islands on 11 December.

On 12 January 1943, Bancroft escorted Arthur Middleton (AP-55) during Operation “Crowbar,” the landings on Amchitka Island and the establishment of a forward American base in the Aleutians. As part of the covering force, the destroyer screened transports and cargo ships from enemy interference while they landed Army security troops in Constantine harbor. Although the troops went ashore easily, the destroyer’s crew saw Worden (DD-352) run aground and break up in the harbor. Bancroft then screened Arthur Middleton while the transport rescued most of the stricken destroyer’s crew.

For the next five weeks, Bancroft patrolled north and east of Amchitka, covering supply shipments to the new base, fighting constant bad weather and vainly trying to intercept Japanese shipping. She fired her first shots at the enemy during this patrol, a dozen 5-inch antiaircraft rounds aimed at a Japanese reconnaissance plane on 10 February. Events of greater substance followed on the 18th, when the warship joined Indianapolis, Richmond (CL-9), and three other destroyers in a shore bombardment of Attu. The task group directed deliberate, long-range fire at land targets in Chichagof Harbor and Holtz Bay, Bancroft alone firing 394 rounds of 5-inch ammunition.

Returning to Adak on the 24th, the destroyer spent the next five weeks either at Dutch Harbor, receiving upkeep and repairs from Markab (AK-31), or at Kodiak Island, where she entered drydock for repairs to her sound gear. She returned to the patrol zone off Amchitka for three days from 7 to 9 April and then carried out two minor escort missions before taking a patrol station northwest of Attu. On 26 April, she joined Richmond, Santa Fe (CL-60), Detroit, and five other destroyers for another bombardment of Chichagof Harbor. Bancroft then remained off Attu, ready to intervene if Japanese forces in the Kurils tried to prevent Operation “Landcrab,” the 11 May invasion of Attu by Army troops. She patrolled the island’s western approaches without incident while the Army secured Attu in three weeks of bloody fighting against a determined Japanese garrison. At the end of another three weeks of convoy escort and patrol duties, the destroyer received orders to head south for a weapons modernization overhaul, and she set course for San Francisco on 29 June.

She arrived at that busy port on 6 July and moved to the Bethlehem Steel Co. on the 8th. There, she began the repairs and equipment modifications that she continued later in the drydock at Hunters Point and finally completed back at Bethlehem Steel. Shipyard workers replaced her 1.1″ guns with a pair of twin 40-millimeter mounts and added three 20-millimeter guns to her antiaircraft armament. Departing San Francisco on 8 August, Bancroft returned to the now familiar waters surrounding the Aleutians.

Back at Adak on the 13th, she joined the amphibious component of Task Group (TG) 16 at Amchitka for Operation “Cottage,” the upcoming invasion of Kiska. Two days later, she shepherded her charges of 4 LSTs, 3 LCIs, and 7 LCTs, to Vega Bay where the troops, to their surprise, disembarked without incident. The Japanese, aware of the planned attack, had secretly withdrawn the garrison under fog cover earlier that month. Bancroft screened the transports just in case, until turning south for Pearl Harbor on 29 August.

After little more than a refueling stop on 5 September, Bancroft turned west and continued her voyage the very next day for operations in the central Pacific. American planners intended to take the Gilbert Islands very soon, so preliminary carrier strikes were ordered there, along with diversionary strikes on other islands to confuse the Japanese. As part of TG 59.17, the destroyer helped screen the new Lexington (CV-16), as that carrier’s planes raided Japanese airfields at Tarawa Atoll on 18 September and at Wake Island on 5 and 6 October, before returning to Pearl Harbor on the 11th.

Bancroft then got underway on 31 October, in company with three LSTs bound for the Gilbert Islands and Operation “Galvanic,” the seizure of Makin, Tarawa, and Apamama. After refueling at Funafuti in the Ellice Islands, the ships headed for the Gilberts. Arriving at the transport area on 19 November, Bancroft screened the landing craft, provided antiaircraft cover during infrequent Japanese night air raids, and provided gunfire support to the hard-pressed Marines during the desperate struggle to secure Tarawa. After escorting four troopships back to Pearl Harbor on 11 December, the destroyer began preparations for the next step of the Navy’s march across the central Pacific, the invasion of the Marshall Islands.

On 22 January 1944, Bancroft got underway for Operation “Flintlock,” with orders to “assist in the seizure, occupation, and development of Kwajalein as an Allied base.” Part of TG 52.9, comprising Manila Bay (CVE-61), Corregidor (CVE-58), Coral Sea (CVE-57), and three other destroyers, Bancroft screened the escort carriers enroute to the Marshall Islands. Arriving off the target on 30 January, Bancroft guarded the small carriers as their air squadrons, in conjunction with two battleships and three heavy cruisers, pounded Japanese positions for the two days leading up to the landings. On D-Day, 1 February, the destroyer closed the atoll, witnessing flames and smoke rising from Japanese positions on Kwajalein Island, and moored in the lagoon. She spent the night waiting to refuel from Zeilen (AP-9) and watching two other destroyers bombard the stubborn Japanese defenders. Bancroft rejoined the escort carriers’ screen on the 3d, staying with them for the next 10 days as they launched aircraft in support of Army and Marine Corps operations ashore. After refueling from Tappahannock on the 13th, the destroyer escorted three transports back to Pearl Harbor, arriving there on 24 February.

In company with Lexington and two other destroyers, the warship departed Pearl Harbor for the Marshall Islands on 3 March. Arriving in Majuro lagoon on the 8th, Bancroft then steamed south-east to maintain the blockade of the bypassed Japanese airfield on Mili Atoll. She patrolled the waters around the atoll for the next two weeks, watching for enemy boat traffic as well as maintaining a plane lifeguard station.

On 22 March, the destroyer joined Lexington and TG 58.3 for a fast carrier sweep against Japanese bases in the Caroline Islands and New Guinea. These raids were designed to destroy Japanese air power in the region before American amphibious operations along the northern coast of New Guinea. On the 29th, while enroute to the Palau Islands, Bancroft‘s group was approached by three Japanese bombers. Friendly fighters shot down one plane but, at about 2100, two other Mitsubishi G4M1 bombers (“Bettys”) approached the warships. Most of the ships in the group, including Bancroft, opened fire and quickly splashed both aircraft, leaving circles of fuel and wreckage to burn on the water for several minutes.

Over the next three days, the carriers launched numerous air strikes against Japanese airfields in the Palaus and on Woleai. Enemy aircraft repeatedly approached the task group at night, dropping radar decoys (called “window”) in vain attempts to mount attacks on the American warships. After a stop at Majuro for fuel and maintenance, the destroyer returned to TG 58.1 for raids against Hollandia, New Guinea, on 13 April and two days of strikes on Humboldt Bay, Wakde, and Sarmi on the 21st and 22d. After refueling at Seeadler Harbor on Manus in the Admiralty Islands, TG 58.1 then headed north and struck the Japanese base at Truk on 29 April. Following three days of air strikes, the warships headed for the Marshalls, arriving at Kwajalein on 4 May. During these raiding operations, Bancroft rescued four pilots from downed Navy planes.

Following repairs and maintenance work alongside Santa Fe, the destroyer again joined the blockade of bypassed Japanese garrisons in the Marshall Islands on 10 May. The warship patrolled the waters around Mili and Wotje, provided weather reports and planeguard services for air strikes, and interdicted Japanese resupply and evacuation missions. On the 23d, in company with Edwards (DD-619), the destroyer bombarded Wotje, firing 325 5-inch rounds at targets ashore. Bancroft steamed to Eniwetok on 11 June, received repairs alongside Prairie (AD-15), and then began preparations to join Operation “Forager,” the invasion of Saipan, Tinian, and Guam in the Mariana Islands.

Underway on 21 June, Bancroft, along with Elden (DE-264), escorted six cargo ships to Saipan before arriving off Tinian Island on the 25th. She conducted illumination and harassing fire into the Japanese-held harbor and Tinian Town throughout the evening. The following morning, she closed shore firing at barge and small-craft traffic with her 5-inch guns and raking the harbor with 40-millimeter fire. The warship set course for Eniwetok the next day, escorting empty transports back into the lagoon at that atoll on the 30th.

After two weeks of boiler repairs, the destroyer began a month of convoy and patrol duty in the Marshall Islands on 16 July. She escorted shipping between Majuro and Eniwetok, patrolled the Jaluit, Wotje, and Taroa blockade lines, and bombarded Japanese coastal defense and heavy antiaircraft positions on Maloelap Atoll on 8 August before anchoring at Eniwetok on the 14th.

Bancroft departed Eniwetok with a homeward bound convoy on 19 August and, after a brief stop at Pearl Harbor, reached San Francisco on 1 September. She entered the Mare Island Navy Yard for an extensive overhaul and to have her 5-inch gun-sleeves replaced. She completed equipment calibrations and shakedown by 23 October and steamed to Hawaii, via Seattle, arriving in Pearl Harbor on 1 November.

Bancroft operated in Hawaiian waters for the next month, conducting radar gunnery exercises, air operations training with Saratoga (CV-3), and ASW training with S-46 (SS-157). The destroyer then sailed with a convoy for the Marshall Islands on 1 December. Arriving there on the 8th, the warship spent the next 10 weeks escorting shipping between Pearl Harbor, Eniwetok, and Ulithi Atoll in the Caroline Islands. She then joined Bailey (DD-492) on 16 February to escort five auxiliaries from Ulithi to Leyte in the Philippines, arriving in San Pedro Bay on the 19th.

Bancroft remained in Philippine waters for the next seven weeks, supporting Army operations to secure Mindoro, Luzon, and Mindanao. She escorted amphibious landing craft between various ports and islands, provided antiaircraft cover for the Army’s 41st Infantry Division when it landed at Zamboanga, Mindanao, on 10 March and patrolled Basilan Strait to protect small craft from Japanese suicide-boat attacks.

On 29 March, Bancroft and Liddle (DE-206) led a force of six minesweeping craft towards Legaspi, Luzon, in support of the landings on the Bicol Peninsula. When a lone Japanese shore battery opened up on minesweeping operations in Albay Gulf, Bancroft silenced the enemy guns with 346 rounds of 5-inch counter-battery fire. The assault force then landed the 158th Regimental Combat Team (RCT) against little opposition.

After returning to Subic Bay on the 4th to refuel, the destroyer picked up a convoy in Leyte Gulf on 12 April. Bancroft escorted the 13 LSTs and 4 LSMs to Morotai on Halmahera Island in the Netherlands East Indies, anchoring there on the 16th. The amphibious ships loaded elements of the 26th Australian Infantry Brigade and sailed for Borneo on the 27th. Arriving off Tarakan on 1 May, the destroyer spent the next two weeks covering minesweepers and screening supply ships from air attack as ground troops secured the petroleum facilities on Tarakan island. She also convoyed transport and supply ships between Morotai and the Australian beachhead on Tarakan.

Following three weeks of upkeep at Morotai, Bancroft returned to sea on 4 June and joined the second Borneo assault force, this one intended to secure the Brunei Bay area and its valuable petroleum and rubber resources. The attack group (TG 78.1) carried troops of the Australian 9th Infantry Division’s 20th Brigade to Brunei where they landed on 10 June. The Japanese defenders offered little resistance, and the destroyer spent the next three weeks patrolling the entrance to Brunei Bay on radar picket duty. The only excitement occurred on 13 June, when the crew witnessed an Army P-61 night fighter shoot down a “Betty” over the anchorage.

Returning to Subic Bay on 5 July, Bancroft spent the next five weeks conducting shore bombardment and tactical exercises in preparation for the expected invasion of the Japanese home islands. Her crew heard of the end of the war while at anchor in Subic Bay on 15 August. The destroyer spent the next eight weeks escorting convoys from Leyte to Japan and back; sailing first to Okinawa on 13 September and then, after returning to Leyte on the 21st, steaming to Yokosuka, Japan, with another convoy, arriving there on 3 October.

Bancroft departed Japan on 12 October to return to the United States, steaming via Manila, Eniwetok, Pearl Harbor, San Diego, and the Panama Canal, to Norfolk where she arrived on 10 December. Following two months of repairs and modifications, the destroyer reported to the Atlantic Reserve Fleet on 1 February 1946 for deactivation. On 18 May 1946, the warship was placed out of commission, in reserve, at Charleston, S.C., where she remained for more than 25 years. Her name was finally struck from the Navy list on 1 June 1971, and she was sold to Luria Brothers of Cleveland, Ohio, on 16 March 1973, to be broken up for scrap.

Bancroft received eight battle stars for her World War II service.