USS Hoel (DD-533)

USS ''Hoel'' (DD-533) was a built for the United States Navy during World War II. She was named after Lieutenant Commander William R. Hoel. Commissioned in 1943, she is famous for helping to fend off a much larger Japanese center force at the Battle off Samar during the Battle of Leyte Gulf on 25 October 1944. She most notably assisted in forcing the battleship ''Yamato'' to retire from the battle with torpedo strikes. However, she did not live to tell the tale, first being crippled by gunfire from the battleship '' Nagato'' and the heavy cruiser '' Haguro'', then finished off by ''Yamato's'' secondary armament. ''Hoel'' was awarded with the United States Presidential Unit Citation, ''Hoel'' received the Philippine Presidential Unit Citation and five battle stars for her service during the second world war.

Design and characteristics

The ''Fletcher''-class destroyers were designed, beginning in October 1939, to be large enough to adequately carry the armament of the preceding s. From January 1940 to the end of World War II, 175 ''Fletcher''-class destroyers were built.

As a ''Fletcher''-class, ''Hoel'' displaced under her standard load and at full load. She had an overall length of , with a draft of and beam of . She was powered by two General Electric steam turbines and four Babcock & Wilcox boilers, which produced and a top speed of . With a fuel capacity of of fuel oil, ''Hoel'' had a range of at . She was crewed by 273 enlisted men and officers.

''Hoel''s armor measured thick on its sides and on the deck over its machinery. Her primary armament consisted of a main battery of five dual-purpose /38 cal. guns, guided by a Mark 37 Gun Fire Control System, ten torpedo tubes guided by a Mark 27 Torpedo Fire Control System, and six depth charge projectors with two tracks guided by a Mark 27 Depth Charge Fire Control System. Her anti-aircraft battery was made up by ten Bofors guns and seven Oerlikon cannons, each guided by a Mark 51 Fire Control System. She was equipped with a QC series sonar.

Construction and service history

''Hoel'' was launched on 19 December 1942 by the Bethlehem Steel Co., San Francisco, California, sponsored by Mrs. Charles Bunker Crane, Jr., granddaughter of the namesake; and commissioned on 29 July 1943.

''Hoel'' sailed from San Francisco Bay 16 August 1943 for shakedown training in operating areas out of San Diego during which she made seven depth charge runs on an underwater sound contact with unknown results. After returning to Mare Island Naval Shipyard 17 September 1943 for final alterations, she cleared San Francisco 26 October 1943 as a part of the screen for a convoy which reached Pearl Harbor 31 October 1943 where ''Hoel'' reported to Captain Albert George (A. G.) Cook, Commander of Destroyer Squadron 47 (DesRon 47), who then shifted his flag to her from .

Fifth Fleet, which was then preparing to take the Gilbert Islands in Operation Galvanic, assigned ''Hoel'' to Rear Admiral Kelly Turner's Northern attack force Task Force 52 (TF 52). She joined , , and and in guarding Air Support Group 52.3 composed of the escort carriers , , and .

''Hoel'' sortied from Pearl Harbor with her group 10 November 1943 and guarded her "baby flattops" as their aircraft pounded Makin in a dawn preinvasion attack 20 November 1943. For the next three days, torpedo bombers and fighters from Air Support Group 52.3 supported Major General Ralph C. Smith's 27th Infantry Division as it struggled to take Makin. Thousands of bombs and countless rounds from the guns on these aircraft smashed Japanese troop concentrations, gun emplacements, and shore installations on the island. Before dawn 24 November 1943, a torpedo fired by struck ''Liscome Bay'' amidships and lookouts on the fantail of ''Coral Sea'' spotted the wake of a second torpedo which barely missed their ship. Bluejackets on board ''Hoel'' saw smoke and flame rise at least a when the torpedo ripped into ''Liscome Bay'' and detonated her bomb magazine. Rear Admiral Henry M. Mullinnix, commander of the Air Support Group, Captain Irving D. Wiltsie and 642 officers and men died with the carrier that sank some 23 minutes later after spewing smoke, flame and redhot aircraft parts for miles around. The groups destroyers rescued 272 survivors. At dusk the following day, 25 November 1943, Japanese aircraft spotted Rear Admiral Turner's task force steaming a few miles off Butaritari Island and dropped both float and parachute flares on each side of his ships to light them up as targets for 13 torpedo bombers which swooped in to attack. Spirited gunnery and well-timed radical simultaneous turns, however, enabled the American vessels to escape without suffering a single hit.

When the escort carriers cleared the area at night 27 November 1943, ''Hoel'' joined the screen protecting Abemama Group l which was unloading on Abemama Island. The next morning, ''Hoel'' joined Rear Admiral Turner's task force and arrived off Tarawa