USS Converse (DD-509)
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USS ''Converse'' (DD-509), a , was the second ship 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 ...
to be named for George A. Converse (1844–1909). ''Converse'' was launched 30 August 1942 by
Bath Iron Works Bath Iron Works (BIW) is a major United States shipyard located on the Kennebec River in Bath, Maine, founded in 1884 as Bath Iron Works, Limited. Since 1995, Bath Iron Works has been a subsidiary of General Dynamics, one of the world's largest ...
Corp.,
Bath, Maine Bath is a city in Sagadahoc County, Maine, United States. Bath is included in the Brunswick, Maine, Brunswick Micropolitan statistical area, micropolitan area. Bath has a 2024 population of 8,870. It is also the county seat of Sagadahoc County ...
; sponsored by Miss A. V. Jackson; and commissioned 20 November 1942.


Solomon Islands, May 1943 – March 1944

After training at Guantanamo Bay and
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 ...
, ''Converse'' arrived at
Nouméa Nouméa () is the capital and largest city of the French Sui generis collectivity, special collectivity of New Caledonia and is also the largest Francophone city in Oceania. It is situated on a peninsula in the south of New Caledonia's main i ...
17 May 1943, and through the summer covered
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 carrying men and supplies to
New Georgia New Georgia, with an area of , is the largest of the islands in Western Province (Solomon Islands), Western Province, Solomon Islands, and the List of islands by area, 203rd-largest island in the world. Since July 1978, the island has been par ...
, then escorted ships moving between
Espiritu Santo Espiritu Santo (, ; ) is the largest island in the nation of Vanuatu, with an area of and a population of around 40,000 according to the 2009 census. Geography The island belongs to the archipelago of the New Hebrides in the Pacific region ...
and
Guadalcanal Guadalcanal (; indigenous name: ''Isatabu'') is the principal island in Guadalcanal Province of Solomon Islands, located in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, northeast of Australia. It is the largest island in the Solomons by area and the second- ...
. Arriving at Port Purvis in the
Solomon Islands Solomon Islands, also known simply as the Solomons,John Prados, ''Islands of Destiny'', Dutton Caliber, 2012, p,20 and passim is an island country consisting of six major islands and over 1000 smaller islands in Melanesia, part of Oceania, t ...
16 September 1943, she joined Destroyer Squadron 23 (DesRon 23), with whom she was to win a Presidential Unit Citation (US) for operations in the northern Solomons between 31 October 1943 and 4 February 1944. On the first of those dates, ''Converse'' sortied with her squadron and
cruiser A cruiser is a type of warship. Modern cruisers are generally the largest ships in a fleet after aircraft carriers and amphibious assault ships, and can usually perform several operational roles from search-and-destroy to ocean escort to sea ...
s to provide cover for amphibious landings on Bougainville, and on the night of 31 October – 1 November 1943, bombarded Buka and Bonis airfields and targets in the Shortlands. The next night her force intercepted a Japanese group of cruisers and destroyers heading for an attack on the transports lying at Bougainville, and opened fire in the Battle of Empress Augusta Bay. The Japanese lost one cruiser and one destroyer in this action, and were turned back from their intended attack on the transports, although the American defenders came under severe attack by aircraft from Rabaul supporting the Japanese ships. ''Converse'' continued bombardments and escort duty supporting the Bougainville operation, and on the night of 16–17 November 1943 joined in firing on a surfaced
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 ...
, scoring several hits. On the night of 24–25 November, the squadron intercepted five Japanese destroyers attempting to evacuate critically needed aviation troops from Buka to Rabaul. In a skillfully-executed
torpedo A modern torpedo is an underwater ranged weapon launched above or below the water surface, self-propelled towards a target, with an explosive warhead designed to detonate either on contact with or in proximity to the target. Historically, such ...
attack followed by a persistent chase, during which ''Converse'' was struck by a torpedo which failed to explode in the engine room, the squadron sank three of the enemy ships and caused heavy damage to a fourth, while emerging unscathed themselves. While escorting a group of ships carrying reinforcements and supplies to Bougainville 3 December 1943, ''Converse'' came under heavy attack from six waves of Japanese bombers. A near miss caused an electrical failure, putting her radar out of commission and resulting in a loss of power forward. Repairs were quickly made, and the Japanese force fought off, but ''Converse'' sailed from Port Purvis 14 December for complete repairs at Sydney, Australia. She rejoined her squadron at Port Purvis 30 January 1944 for bombardments and hunting forays against Japanese shipping through February and March in the northern Solomons.


Central Pacific, March – August 1944

''Converse'' cleared Port Purvis 27 March 1944 to join the Fast Carrier Task Force (then-TF 58) for screening duty during the air strikes on 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 from 30 March to 1 April, and with that force covered the Hollandia landings through preinvasion air attacks and bombardment, continuing their fire during the landings 22 April. Carrier attacks on Truk, Satawan, and Ponape at the close of the month found ''Converse'' continuing her screening duties. Attacks preparatory to, and covering, the invasion of Saipan began 12 June as targets throughout the
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 ...
were hit. While the landings themselves were made on 15 June, ''Converses task force hit at Japanese bases in the Bonins, then returned to the Marianas to continue their close support. When the Japanese fleet challenged the American operations in the Marianas on 19 June, ''Converse'' continued her screening through the resulting aerial Battle of the Philippine Sea, a 2-day engagement which resulted in the sinking of three Japanese carriers and the loss to Japan of many aircraft and their irreplaceable pilots. After joining in shore bombardment of
Guam Guam ( ; ) is an island that is an Territories of the United States, organized, unincorporated territory of the United States in the Micronesia subregion of the western Pacific Ocean. Guam's capital is Hagåtña, Guam, Hagåtña, and the most ...
and Rota at the, close of June, ''Converse'' replenished 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 ...
, and on 4 August, sailed for overhaul at Mare Island Naval Shipyard.


Philippines and Okinawa, November 1944 – August 1945

The destroyer returned to action 3 November 1944 when she joined the screen of carriers covering the convoy routes to newly invaded
Leyte Leyte ( ) is an island in the Visayas group of islands in the Philippines. It is eighth-largest and sixth-most populous island in the Philippines, with a total population of 2,626,970 as of 2020 census. Since the accessibility of land has been ...
. On 21 December, while escorting the first resupply echelon to Mindoro, ''Converse'' came under attack by desperate Japanese suicide planes, and fired to drive them away as well as rescuing 266 survivors of ''LST-749''. She gave fire support to the landings in Lingayen Gulf on 9 and 10 January 1945, and then joined the task unit assigned to recapture
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 ...
. Her guns destroyed gun emplacements, barges, suicide boats, and entombed about 100 enemy troops by sealing the entrance to Malinta Tunnel. After brief overhaul in
Subic Bay Subic Bay is a bay on the west coast of the island of Luzon in the Philippines, about northwest of Manila Bay. An extension of the South China Sea, its shores were formerly the site of a major United States Navy facility, U.S. Naval Base Subi ...
, ''Converse'' patrolled off Corregidor until mid-March 1945, and from 18 March to 1 April joined in the invasion of
Panay Panay is the sixth-largest and fourth-most populous island in the Philippines, with a total land area of and a total population of 4,542,926, as of 2020 census. Panay comprises 4.4 percent of the entire population of the country. The City of Il ...
and Negros. Through the next month she carried out a variety of duties in the development of
Iloilo Iloilo ( ; ), officially the Province of Iloilo (; ; ; ), is a province in the Philippines located in the Western Visayas region. Its capital and largest city is Iloilo City, the regional center of Western Visayas and politically independen ...
as a staging center for the planned invasion of Japan. On 16 May, ''Converse'' arrived off Okinawa, where she operated on dangerous and demanding
radar picket A radar picket is a radar-equipped station, ship, submarine, aircraft, or vehicle used to increase the radar detection range around a nation or military (including naval) force to protect it from surprise attack, typically air attack, or from c ...
duty until the close of the war. Often firing to drive off suicide-bent Japanese aircraft, she received no damage during the difficult months that followed. On 10 September she sailed from Okinawa for Pearl Harbor, the
Panama Canal The Panama Canal () is an artificial waterway in Panama that connects the Caribbean Sea with the Pacific Ocean. It cuts across the narrowest point of the Isthmus of Panama, and is a Channel (geography), conduit for maritime trade between th ...
, and Washington, D.C., where on 19 October, the ceremonial award of the Presidential Unit Citation was made to her squadron. After overhaul at
Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...
, she was decommissioned and placed in reserve at
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 ...
, 23 April 1946. In addition to the Presidential Unit Citation, ''Converse'' received 11 battle stars for
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 ...
service.


''Almirante Valdés'' (D23)

On 1 July 1959 ''Converse'' was transferred under the Mutual Assistance Program to Spain, where she was renamed ''Almirante Valdés'' (D23). The ship was stricken 17 November 1986 and scrapped in 1988.


References

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External links


USS ''Converse'' website
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Converse (Dd-509) Fletcher-class destroyers of the United States Navy Ships built in Bath, Maine 1942 ships World War II destroyers of the United States Fletcher-class destroyers of the Spanish Navy