USS Ulvert M. Moore (DE-442) was a acquired by the U.S. Navy during World War II. The primary purpose of the destroyer escort was to escort and protect ships in convoy, in addition to other tasks as assigned, such as patrol or radar picket. Post-war she returned home bearing five battle stars; when she was reactivated for the Korean War, she returned home after that war with three more.
Ulvert M. Moore (DE-442) was named in honor of Ulvert Matthew Moore (1917–1942), a U.S. Navy pilot who was awarded the Navy Cross medal posthumously for his service with Torpedo Squadron 8 during the Battle of Midway.
Namesake
Ulvert Matthew Moore was born on 26 August 1917 in Williamson, West Virginia. He enlisted in the Naval Reserve on 15 October 1940 at Washington, D.C., and served as a seaman 2d class until appointed an aviation cadet on 14 January 1941. After flight training at Jacksonville and Miami, into the summer of 1941, Moore then received advanced carrier training at Norfolk, Virginia. He was then assigned to Torpedo Squadron 8 (VT-8), operating from the .
As a Douglas TBD Devastator torpedo bomber pilot in VT-8, Ensign Moore took part in the pivotal Battle of Midway on 4 June 1942. Moore and the rest of the squadron attacked the Japanese aircraft carriers without fighter cover and in the face of withering anti-aircraft fire and heavy Japanese fighter opposition. Though all of VT-8's aircraft were shot down, they succeeded in diverting Japanese fighter cover and preventing further launches of Japanese carrier aircraft, thus contributing to the United States Navys victory in the battle. Moore was killed during the attack and was awarded the Navy Cross posthumously and shared in the Presidential Unit Citation awarded to VT-8 for its actions in the Battle of Midway.
Service history World War II She was laid down on 2 December 1943 at Houston, Texas, by the Brown Shipbuilding Co.; launched on 7 March 1944; sponsored by Mrs. L. E. Moore, mother of Ens. Moore; and commissioned on 18 July 1944, Lt. Comdr. Franklin D. Roosevelt, Jr., USNR—the son of the President—in command. Following shakedown off Bermuda, the destroyer escort screened from New York to Norfolk, Virginia, on 18 September before departing the latter port on 5 October in company with . The two ships escorted and to Aruba, Dutch West Indies, and thence conveyed them to the Panama Canal Zone before continuing on by themselves to the west coast of the United States, arriving at San Diego, on 22 October. Ulvert M. Moore and her sister ship subsequently sailed for the Hawaiian Islands, escorting from San Pedro, Los Angeles, to Pearl Harbor between 24 and 30 October.
When Ulvert M. Moore had refueled there, urgent orders sent her to sea to join a hunter-killer group based around which was searching for . That Japanese submarine had torpedoed and sunk the American merchantman on 30 October. Corregidors unit, designated Task Group (TG) 12.3, operated between Hawaii and the west coast until 19 November, when it returned to Pearl Harbor. After repairs alongside from 20 to 23 November, Ulvert M. Moore put to sea on the 24th with TG 12.4, centered around , bound for the Carolines, via Eniwetok in the Marshalls. TG 12.4 conducted antisubmarine patrols en route and reached Eniwetok on 2 December and Ulithi on the 7th. Upon its arrival at the latter, the group was reclassified TG 30.6. The destroyer escort and her mates then operated on antisubmarine patrols in an area from the Marianas in the north to the Palaus in the south.
Philippines campaign Following this duty, Ulvert M. Moore replenished her stores at Kossol Roads, Palaus, and got underway on New Year's Day 1945 as part of the screen for TG 77.4 -- the 14 escort aircraft carriers which would furnish close air support for the landing operations on Luzon and provide air cover for the fire support group, TG 77.2 -- bound for Luzon. Snooping Japanese planes showed up on the 3d, approached the formation, but kept just out of range. Ulvert M. Moore went to general quarters twice in the predawn hours of 4 January, fueled from , and spent the afternoon delivering mail via highline transfer to other ships in the task force. While she was casting off from alongside , her lookouts noted a Japanese plane slipping into the return flight pattern of the carriers. This kamikaze soon crashed into shortly after 1714, away from Ulvert M. Moores starboard bow.
A heavy explosion rocked the "jeep carrier" from stem to stern, and large fires soon broke out along her starboard side. The destroyer escort headed for the scene at full speed and picked up four men—one of whom died before he could be brought aboard ship. All three suffered from flash burns and shock. Ommaney Bay continued to burn fiercely and eventually had to be sunk by a torpedo from at 1845 that day. With bogies in the vicinity at 0039 on 5 January, Ulvert M. Moore went to general quarters and remained there until 0205. The destroyer escort went to general quarters three more times that day, twice for enemy aircraft and once for a contact which turned out to be friendly. At 1655, the destroyer escort received reports of approaching Japanese aircraft. Soon Japanese torpedo planes attacked the starboard side of the formation, giving Ulvert M. Moore a few moments before three "Oscar" fighters approached from port. Opening fire from with her battery and from with her 40 mm Bofors guns, Ulvert M. Moore downed one "Oscar" which burst into flames and disintegrated.
Elsewhere in the immediate vicinity, Japanese planes crashed into the Australian heavy cruiser and . The latter, holed on her starboard side aft, between the after engine room and fire room, initially seemed lost as fire broke out on board. Ulvert M. Moore closed to port and took off 54 men and 3 officers while nudged alongside to starboard and took off additional crewmen. Ulvert M. Moore received orders to stand by Stafford, along with Halligan and the fleet tug which arrived to take the stricken destroyer escort in tow. Gunfire from Halligan and Ulvert M. Moore splashed a "Val" dive bomber early on the 6th, before relieved Halligan at 1849 on that day. Another Japanese plane ventured too close to the little formation on the 7th, and Ulvert M. Moore's gunners splashed it.
After transferring the crewmen of Stafford—who had been embarked in Ulvert M. Moore—to Ralph Talbot, the destroyer escort resumed antisubmarine patrols in the vicinity of Mindoro Island as part of Task Unit (TU) 77.4.1. While thus engaged, she received orders to assist in searching for a Japanese submarine reported by a plane to be running on the surface in the vicinity. Accordingly, accompanied Ulvert M. Moore and joined La Vallette and . At 1557 on 30 January, La Vallette made contact and dropped a depth charge barrage but observed no results and soon lost the contact. The group continued to search throughout the night with negative results.
On 31 January, Ulvert M. Moore secured from the search at 1607 and steamed to join up with TG 77.4. En route, the destroyer escort received a radio message from telling of a surfaced submarine on a southeast bearing away. and left Boises screen to investigate. Bell closed to before the enemy submarine—identified by postwar accounting as the Japanese submarine —submerged. At 2037, Ulvert M. Moore received orders to assist in the search and arrived at the scene to complete the hunter-killer group. The destroyer escort detected the submarine at 2152 but briefly lost the contact. Regaining the contact at 2210, she fired her first Hedgehog pattern four minutes later. At 2227, she fired another |Hedgehog pattern; and three explosions rumbled up from below—muffled noises intermingling with "crunching noises." Twice more, the destroyer escort attacked like a persistent terrier. Another pattern of 7.2-millimeter projectiles left the Hedgehog mount at 2302, hit the water and plunged downward; 12 seconds later a sharp "crack" followed, as did "distinct and definite bubbling and hissing noises." Men on the destroyer escort's fantail reported seeing a large bubble burst on the surface.
Ulvert M. Moore closed the vicinity of the strong contact at 2336 and again at midnight. The eighth attack proved to be the killer; for, 15 seconds after the Hedgehog projectiles hit the water, three violent explosions sent out concussions felt by topside personnel in Ulvert M. Moore and the three other ships. A last explosion rumbled up from below—the death agony of the Ro-boat and a "definite bluish light similar to burning gas" was noted. For two hours, the ships searched the vicinity to confirm the "kill". Men topside in Ulvert M. Moore noted the strong odor of diesel oil, an object which resembled a life jacket, small boxes and pieces of deck planking, and a considerable amount of paper.
Iwo Jima, Okinawa, and the end of the war Ulvert M. Moore retired to Ulithi and remained there from 6 to 18 February before departing with other ships of CortRon 70 and Tulagi, as part of TU 50.7.3 to provide antisubmarine protection for the carriers which would furnish close air support for the forces attacking Iwo Jima. The ship thus began her most grueling period, as she steamed continuously for 78 days to support this operation and the subsequent one against Okinawa. The destroyer escort operated with Tulagi and, later, , southeast of Okinawa. During the Okinawa operation, President Roosevelt died on 12 April, a loss felt not only by the nation and the Fleet, but by his son Comdr. Roosevelt, Ulvert M. Moores commanding officer.
Returning to Guam on 6 June, Ulvert M. Moore soon shifted to Ulithi for major repairs. On 19 June, the destroyer escort put to sea with TG 30.8, the group providing logistics support for Admiral William F. Halsey's air strikes against the Japanese home islands. She operated with this unit until returning to Guam on 24 July. Three days later, the ship joined the hunter-killer group based around , in operating on antisubmarine patrol northeast of Luzon. Two atomic bombs—dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki on 6 and 9 August, respectively—hastened the collapse of Japanese resistance. At this time, Ulvert M. Moore was operating with Salamaua on antisubmarine patrol east of Formosa, a duty in which she remained engaged until putting into Leyte on 25 August.
Ulvert M. Moore screened TG 32.1, the supporting escorts for TF 32, then en route to Tokyo Bay for the Japanese surrender. On 2 September, the escort vessel entered Tokyo Bay, in the words of her ship's historian, as "a fitting culmination to approximately 14 months of strenuous operation." After conducting antisubmarine and mine patrol duties in Japanese home waters, escorting Japan-bound transports with occupation forces embarked, and destroying floating mines with light-caliber gunfire, Ulvert M. Moore operated in the Philippines into the winter before she returned via Pearl Harbor to the United States. Arriving at San Diego, California, on 22 November, the destroyer escort was decommissioned there on 24 May 1946 and placed in reserve.
Korean War
Ulvert M. Moore remained inactive until the onset of the Korean War in the summer of 1950. The destroyer escort was accordingly recommissioned at San Diego on 27 January 1951 and assigned to CortRon 9. After shakedown, she departed San Diego on 19 April, bound for the Far East. Arriving at Sasebo, Japan, on 17 May 1951, Ulvert M. Moore joined Task Force 72 for Formosa patrol duty, standing guard off Taiwan, to deter against possible communist Chinese incursions against the Nationalist Chinese. The destroyer escort was detached from this duty on 10 June and arrived at Buckner Bay two days later. She then conducted hunter-killer exercises as she steamed north to Japan.