USS ''Donaldson'' (DE-44) was an of the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. She was sent off into the

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five Borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is ...

to protect

convoy 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 ...

s and other ships from

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

submarines A submarine (often shortened to sub) is a watercraft capable of independent operation underwater. (It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability.) The term "submarine" is also sometimes used historically or info ...

and fighter

aircraft An aircraft ( aircraft) is a vehicle that is able to flight, fly by gaining support from the Atmosphere of Earth, air. It counters the force of gravity by using either Buoyancy, static lift or the Lift (force), dynamic lift of an airfoil, or, i ...

. She performed escort and

anti-submarine An anti-submarine weapon (ASW) is any one of a number of devices that are intended to act against a submarine and its crew, to destroy (sink) the vessel or reduce its capability as a weapon of war. In its simplest sense, an anti-submarine weapon ...

operations in dangerous battle areas and was awarded seven

battle star A service star is a miniature bronze or silver five-pointed star 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 service period. T ...

s, a very high number for a ship of her type. She was originally intended for transfer to the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

as BDE-44, was launched on 1 August 1943 by

Puget Sound Navy Yard Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, officially Puget Sound Naval Shipyard and Intermediate Maintenance Facility (PSNS & IMF), is a United States Navy shipyard covering 179 acres (0.7 km2) on Puget Sound at Bremerton, Washington in uninterrupted ...

; sponsored by Mrs. J. J. Donaldson, mother of Lieutenant (junior grade) Donaldson; retained by the Navy; and commissioned on 1 December 1943.

Namesake

Trose Emmett Donaldson was born on 19 June 1914 in

Tacoma, Washington Tacoma ( ) is the county seat of Pierce County, Washington, United States. A port city, it is situated along Washington's Puget Sound, southwest of Seattle, southwest of Bellevue, Washington, Bellevue, northeast of the state capital, Olympia ...

. He was appointed a lieutenant (junior grade) in the U.S. Naval Reserve from the Merchant Marine on 25 November 1940. He served on the oiler and on the repair ship from 25 March 1941. On 13 December 1941 Donaldson was given command of the requisitioned tug '' Trabajador'' at

Manila Manila, officially the City of Manila, is the Capital of the Philippines, capital and second-most populous city of the Philippines after Quezon City, with a population of 1,846,513 people in 2020. Located on the eastern shore of Manila Bay on ...

with the Navy's Inshore Patrol. On 25 February 1942 he was transferred to command the British salvage tug ''Henry Keswick'', requisitioned by the

U.S. Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of the United Stat ...

during the continuing siege of Manila. He was killed in action while commanding ''Henry Keswick'' on 9 April 1942, when the tug was set on fire by Japanese artillery and beached off

Corregidor Corregidor (, , ) is an island located at the entrance of Manila Bay in the southwestern part of Luzon in the Philippines, and is considered part of Cavite City and thus the province of Cavite. It is located west of Manila, the nation's capi ...

. Donaldson safely evacuated his crew to the shore and in the last boat, rowing for shore, he was killed instantly by an enemy shell. Donaldson was awarded the

Navy Cross The Navy Cross is the United States Naval Service's second-highest military decoration awarded for sailors and marines who distinguish themselves for extraordinary heroism in combat with an armed enemy force. The medal is equivalent to the Army ...

for his heroism in December 1941 at

Cavite Cavite, officially the Province of Cavite (; Chavacano: ''Provincia de Cavite''), is a Provinces of the Philippines, province of the Philippines located in the Calabarzon region. On the southern shores of Manila Bay and southwest of Manila, i ...

Philippine Islands The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

, when he worked to evacuate ships and wounded and to fight fires during

air raids. He was posthumously awarded the

Distinguished Service Cross The Distinguished Service Cross (D.S.C.) is a military decoration for courage. Different versions exist for different countries. *Distinguished Service Cross (Australia) *Distinguished Service Cross (United Kingdom) *Distinguished Service Cross (U ...

World War II Pacific Theatre operations

''Donaldson'' 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 Reci ...

on 9 February 1944 and five days later got underway for the invasion of the

Marshall Islands The Marshall Islands, officially the Republic of the Marshall Islands, is an island country west of the International Date Line and north of the equator in the Micronesia region of the Northwestern Pacific Ocean. The territory consists of 29 c ...

. She screened a convoy to

Roi Namur Roi-Namur ( ) is an island in the north part of the Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands. Today, the island is a major part of the Ronald Reagan Ballistic Missile Defense Test Site, hosting several radar systems used for tracking and character ...

and gave local escort service there and at

Eniwetok Enewetak Atoll (; also spelled Eniwetok Atoll or sometimes Eniewetok; , , or , ; known to the Japanese as Brown Atoll or Brown Island; ) is a large coral atoll of 40 islands in the Pacific Ocean and with its 296 people (as of 2021) forms a legi ...

until returning to Pearl Harbor 25 March. From 23 April to 4 June she trained with submarines, most of the period serving as

flagship A flagship is a vessel used by the commanding officer of a group of navy, naval ships, characteristically a flag officer entitled by custom to fly a distinguishing flag. Used more loosely, it is the lead ship in a fleet of vessels, typically ...

for Commander, Escort Division 49. ''Donaldson'' departed Pearl Harbor on 12 June 1944 to escort a convoy to Kwajalein, then sailed to Eniwetok where she joined a hunter-killer group with and three other escorts for operations between the Marshalls and

Marianas The Mariana Islands ( ; ), also simply the Marianas, are a crescent-shaped archipelago comprising the summits of fifteen longitudinally oriented, mostly Volcano#Dormant and reactivated, dormant volcanic mountains in the northwestern Pacific Ocean ...

from 5 July to 9 August. ''Donaldson'' returned to Pearl Harbor on 15 August and five days later got underway to escort the Western Garrison Force for the assault and occupation of the

Palau Palau, officially the Republic of Palau, is an island country in the Micronesia subregion of Oceania in the western Pacific Ocean. The Republic of Palau consists of approximately 340 islands and is the western part of the Caroline Islands ...

s, patrolling off

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. ...

and

Angaur , or in Palauan, is an island and state in the Island country, island nation of Palau. History Angaur was traditionally divided among some eight clans. Traditional features within clan areas represent important symbols giving identity to fam ...

from 20 to 22 September. She escorted unladen transports to Hollandia,

New Guinea New Guinea (; Hiri Motu: ''Niu Gini''; , fossilized , also known as Papua or historically ) is the List of islands by area, world's second-largest island, with an area of . Located in Melanesia in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, the island is ...

, then arrived at

Manus Manus may refer to: Relating to locations around New Guinea *Manus Island, a Papua New Guinean island in the Admiralty Archipelago ** Manus languages, languages spoken on Manus and islands close by ** Manus Regional Processing Centre, an offshore ...

on 26 September. That evening she and assisted in bringing the fires on the merchantman under control. Returning to Palau on 2 October, ''Donaldson'' made anti-submarine patrols and two escort voyages to the

Russell Islands :''See also Russell Island (disambiguation).'' The Russell Islands are two small islands ( Pavuvu and Mbanika), as well as several islets, of volcanic origin, in the Central Province of Solomon Islands. They are located approximately northwe ...

until 21 November.

Damaged after surviving a typhoon

Arriving at

Ulithi Ulithi (, , or ; pronounced roughly as YOU-li-thee) is an atoll in the Caroline Islands of the western Pacific Ocean, about east of Yap, within Yap State. Name The name of the island goes back to Chuukic languages, Proto-Chuukic ''*úlú-diw ...

on 21 November 1944 ''Donaldson'' reported to the 3rd Fleet for duty as escort for the logistics group supporting the

fast carrier task force The Fast Carrier Task Force (TF 38 when assigned to Third Fleet, TF 58 when assigned to Fifth Fleet) was a group of ships in World War II. It was the main striking force of the United States Navy in the Pacific War from January 1944 through th ...

. By able ship handling she survived

Typhoon Cobra Typhoon Cobra, also known as the Typhoon of 1944 or Halsey's Typhoon (named after Admiral William Halsey Jr.), was the United States Navy designation for a powerful tropical cyclone that struck the United States Pacific Fleet in December 1944, ...

on 18 December, but lost three men overboard and suffered damage which was repaired at Ulithi from 24 December 1944 to 12 January 1945.

Supporting the Iwo Jima and Okinawa invasions

She returned to duty with the 3rd Fleet fueling group operating in support of the assaults on

Iwo Jima is one of the Japanese Volcano Islands, which lie south of the Bonin Islands and together with them make up the Ogasawara Subprefecture, Ogasawara Archipelago. Together with the Izu Islands, they make up Japan's Nanpō Islands. Although sout ...

and

Okinawa most commonly refers to: * Okinawa Prefecture, Japan's southernmost prefecture * Okinawa Island, the largest island of Okinawa Prefecture * Okinawa Islands, an island group including Okinawa itself * Okinawa (city), the second largest city in th ...

and the final strikes on the Japanese homeland and on 31 August she was detached to join a logistics unit in the

Yellow Sea The Yellow Sea, also known as the North Sea, is a marginal sea of the Western Pacific Ocean located between mainland China and the Korean Peninsula, and can be considered the northwestern part of the East China Sea. Names It is one of four ...

for the occupation of

Jinsen Incheon is a city located in northwestern South Korea, bordering Seoul and Gyeonggi Province to the east. Inhabited since the Neolithic, Incheon was home to just 4,700 people when it became an international port in 1883. As of February 2020, ...

Korea Korea is a peninsular region in East Asia consisting of the Korean Peninsula, Jeju Island, and smaller islands. Since the end of World War II in 1945, it has been politically Division of Korea, divided at or near the 38th parallel north, 3 ...

Post-War decommissioning

''Donaldson'' sailed from Okinawa on 16 September 1945 for

Saipan Saipan () is the largest island and capital of the Northern Mariana Islands, an unincorporated Territories of the United States, territory of the United States in the western Pacific Ocean. According to 2020 estimates by the United States Cens ...

, Pearl Harbor and San Francisco arriving on 8 October. ''Donaldson'' was decommissioned on 5 December 1945, and sold on 2 July 1946.

Awards

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Donaldson (DE-44) World War II frigates and destroyer escorts of the United States Ships built in Tacoma, Washington 1943 ships