USS ''Cole'' (DD-155) was a in 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 ...

, later reclassified as AG-116. It was named for

Edward B. Cole Edward Ball Cole (September 23, 1879 - June 18, 1918) was an officer in the United States Marine Corps during World War I. He was a leading expert on machine guns; he was killed in action during the Battle of Belleau Wood. Biography Cole was born ...

, a

United States Marine Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines or simply the Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is responsible for conducting expeditionar ...

officer who died as a result of the wounds he received at the

Battle of Belleau Wood The Battle of Belleau Wood (1–26 June 1918) was a major battle that occurred during the German spring offensive in World War I, near the Marne (river), Marne River in France. The battle was fought by the U.S. 2nd Infantry Division (United State ...

. ''Cole'' was launched 11 January 1919, by

William Cramp & Sons William Cramp & Sons Shipbuilding Company (also known as William Cramp & Sons Ship & Engine Building Company) was an American shipbuilding company based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, founded in 1830 by William Cramp. During its heyday in late 19 ...

Ship and Engine Building Company of

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

sponsored by Mrs. E. B. Cole, and commissioned 19 June 1919.

Service history

''Cole'' sailed from New York 30 June 1919, to join U.S. Naval Forces in Turkish waters. For the next year they aided in the evacuation of refugees fleeing turmoil and war in the

Middle East The Middle East (term originally coined in English language) is a geopolitical region encompassing the Arabian Peninsula, the Levant, Turkey, Egypt, Iran, and Iraq. The term came into widespread usage by the United Kingdom and western Eur ...

and showed the flag in the eastern

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 east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern ...

and

Black Sea The Black Sea is a marginal sea, marginal Mediterranean sea (oceanography), mediterranean sea lying between Europe and Asia, east of the Balkans, south of the East European Plain, west of the Caucasus, and north of Anatolia. It is bound ...

s, returning to

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

on 4 June 1920. It cruised in East Coast and

Caribbean The Caribbean ( , ; ; ; ) is a region in the middle of the Americas centered around the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, mostly overlapping with the West Indies. Bordered by North America to the north, Central America ...

waters until decommissioned at Philadelphia Naval Shipyard on 10 July 1922. Recommissioned on 1 May 1930, ''Cole'' joined the

Scouting Fleet The Scouting Fleet is an important part of the U.S. Navy, established in 1922 as part of the reorganization of the Navy after World War I. It is one of the four core units of the newly formed "American Fleet", which together with the battle Fleet ...

in the Atlantic. Once again it cruised along the east coast and in the Caribbean and took part in training exercises. From 22 October 1932 to 24 March 1933, ''Cole'' was in reduced commission at

Norfolk Naval Shipyard 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 ...

as part of a rotating reserve squadron. On 4 April 1933, the destroyer participated in the fruitless search for survivors of the wreck of the

airship An airship, dirigible balloon or dirigible is a type of aerostat (lighter-than-air) aircraft that can navigate through the air flying powered aircraft, under its own power. Aerostats use buoyancy from a lifting gas that is less dense than the ...

. From 3 February to 14 August 1934, the ship was again reduced to the rotating reserve squadron. On 15 August 1934, ''Cole'' was assigned to the Scouting Force in the Pacific, and following maneuvers in the Caribbean reached its new base at

San Diego, California San Diego ( , ) is a city on the Pacific coast of Southern California, adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a population of over 1.4 million, it is the List of United States cities by population, eighth-most populous city in t ...

on 9 November. It remained in the Pacific until 24 May 1936, and then reported to New York as a Naval Reserve

training ship A training ship is a ship used to train students as sailors. The term is mostly used to describe ships employed by navies to train future officers. Essentially there are two types: those used for training at sea and old hulks used to house class ...

. She arrived at Philadelphia Naval Shipyard on 25 September and was decommissioned there on 7 January 1937. Recommissioned 16 October 1939, ''Cole'' joined the Neutrality Patrol in the Atlantic. From 10 June 1941, she escorted

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 to

Newfoundland Newfoundland and Labrador is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region of Labrador, having a total size of . As of 2025 the population ...

and

Iceland Iceland is a Nordic countries, Nordic island country between the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge between North America and Europe. It is culturally and politically linked with Europe and is the regi ...

making five such voyages by 28 January 1942. From 14 March to 28 September, the destroyer patrolled and escorted convoys along the east coast, making one convoy run to the

Virgin Islands The Virgin Islands () are an archipelago between the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean and northeastern Caribbean Sea, geographically forming part of the Leeward Islands of the Lesser Antilles in the Caribbean, Caribbean islands or West Indie ...

. She put to sea from

Norfolk, Virginia Norfolk ( ) is an independent city (United States), independent city in the U.S. state of Virginia. It had a population of 238,005 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of cities in Virginia, third-most populous city ...

on 24 October for the invasion of North Africa on 8 November during which she landed 175 men of the 47th Infantry under fire on a pier at Safi, Morocco. ''Cole'' received the Presidential Unit Citation for her performance in this mission. Returning to

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

on 1 December, she resumed convoy duty and between 18 December 1942 and 16 February 1943, she operated between the east coast, Newfoundland, and

Nova Scotia Nova Scotia is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada, located on its east coast. It is one of the three Maritime Canada, Maritime provinces and Population of Canada by province and territory, most populous province in Atlan ...

, then made a voyage to

Gibraltar Gibraltar ( , ) is a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory and British overseas cities, city located at the southern tip of the Iberian Peninsula, on the Bay of Gibraltar, near the exit of the Mediterranean Sea into the A ...

in March. The destroyer returned to the Mediterranean, reaching

Mers El Kébir Mers El Kébir ( ) is a port on the Mediterranean Sea, near Oran in Oran Province, northwest Algeria. It is famous for the attack on the French fleet in 1940, in the Second World War. History Originally a Phoenician port, it was called ''Port ...

Algeria Algeria, officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered to Algeria–Tunisia border, the northeast by Tunisia; to Algeria–Libya border, the east by Libya; to Alger ...

on 23 May. Along with patrol and escort duties in the Western Mediterranean, ''Cole'' took part in the

Allied Invasion of Sicily The Allied invasion of Sicily, also known as the Battle of Sicily and Operation Husky, was a major campaign of World War II in which the Allies of World War II, Allied forces invaded the island of Sicily in July 1943 and took it from the Axis p ...

on 10 July 1943, acting with a British

submarine 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 infor ...

as a beach identification group, and later guarded transports during the assault on

Salerno Salerno (, ; ; ) is an ancient city and ''comune'' (municipality) in Campania, southwestern Italy, and is the capital of the namesake province, being the second largest city in the region by number of inhabitants, after Naples. It is located ...

on 9 September. She returned to

Charleston, South Carolina Charleston is the List of municipalities in South Carolina, most populous city in the U.S. state of South Carolina. The city lies just south of the geographical midpoint of South Carolina's coastline on Charleston Harbor, an inlet of the Atla ...

for overhaul on 24 December, after which she resumed convoy escort duty along the east coast and in the Caribbean, making one voyage to

Casablanca Casablanca (, ) is the largest city in Morocco and the country's economic and business centre. Located on the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast of the Chaouia (Morocco), Chaouia plain in the central-western part of Morocco, the city has a populatio ...

in March 1944. On 3 December 1944, she began duty as a plane guard for

aircraft carrier An aircraft carrier is a warship that serves as a seagoing airbase, equipped with a full-length flight deck and hangar facilities for supporting, arming, deploying and recovering carrier-based aircraft, shipborne aircraft. Typically it is the ...

s conducting air operations out of Quonset Point, Rhode Island, which continued until 31 August 1945. She was reclassified AG-116 on 30 June 1945. ''Cole'' was decommissioned on 1 November 1945, and sold 6 October 1947.

Awards

In addition to the Presidential Unit Citation, ''Cole'' received three

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 for

service.

Convoys escorted

In popular culture

In June 2017, the ship's bell from ''Cole'' was found in New Hampshire during an

episode An episode is a narrative unit within a larger dramatic work or documentary production, such as a serial (radio and television), series intended for radio, television or Streaming media, streaming consumption. Etymology The noun ''episode'' is ...

of the

History History is the systematic study of the past, focusing primarily on the Human history, human past. As an academic discipline, it analyses and interprets evidence to construct narratives about what happened and explain why it happened. Some t ...

cable television channel's series, ''

American Pickers ''American Pickers'' (or also known as ''The Pickers'' for international broadcasts) is an American reality television series that premiered on January 18, 2010, on the History Channel, produced by A&E Networks in collaboration with Cineflix Me ...

.'' It was subsequently donated to the Navy Museum in Washington D.C.

References

External links

navsource.org: USS ''Cole'' (DD-155 / AG-116)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cole (Dd-155) Wickes-class destroyers World War II destroyers of the United States World War II auxiliary ships of the United States Ships built by William Cramp & Sons 1919 ships