USS Waller (DD/DDE-466), a , was a ship of the United States Navy named for Major General Littleton Waller, USMC (1856–1926).
Waller was laid down on 12 February 1942, at Kearny, N.J., by the Federal Shipbuilding and Drydock Co.; launched on 15 August 1942, sponsored by Mrs. Littleton W. T. Waller, the widow of General Waller; and commissioned on 1 October 1942, Lieutenant Commander Laurence H. Frost in command.
World War II
Into the fall of 1942, Waller conducted shakedown out of Casco Bay, Maine, and occasionally performed local escort duties for training submarines based at New London, Conn. Late that fall, Waller departed the New York Navy Yard, Brooklyn, N.Y., bound for the Pacific, via the Panama Canal and Pearl Harbor.
She arrived at Efate on 21 January 1943 and, six days later, sortied as part of the destroyer screen with Task Force 18 (TF 18). Rear Admiral Robert C. Giffen, commanding the force, flew his flag in Wichita (CA-45). The mission of TF 18 was to rendezvous off Guadalcanal with a transport force sent to resupply and reinforce the land-based forces there in their struggle to dislodge the Japanese from the key island. Intelligence reports indicated—wrongly, as it turned out—that the Japanese were mounting a big "push" to resupply their forces. As events would show, they were instead massing forces to evacuate their troops.
Rennel Island, January 1943
On 29 January, 50 miles (80 km) to the north of Rennell Island, Japanese torpedo-carrying "Betty" bombers (Mitsubishi G4M-1s) came in low from the east carefully avoiding silhouetting themselves against the afterglow of dusk. Waller, on the starboard beam of flagship Wichita and cruisers (CA-29) and (CA-28), came under machine-gun fire from the lead "Betty" as it bore in on the attack. The American ships responded with heavy fire toward the first two planes, and one cartwheeled into the sea and exploded in a brilliant fireball.
Soon red, green, and white flares gave the scene an eerie, ghostly effect, as the Japanese set off pyrotechnics to illuminate the American force. At 19:31, another flight of "Betties" appeared and pressed their attacks on the heavy cruisers steaming in the right van of the task force. One "Betty" splashed into the sea astern of Waller, before another enemy aircraft scored a torpedo hit on Chicago at 19:45, holing the cruiser's starboard side forward, and stopping three of the ship's four drive-shafts. A second torpedo soon struck home after the first, flooding number three fireroom and the forward engine room leaving Chicago dead in the water.
The attack momentarily subsided, giving the Americans a respite. Louisville took her crippled sister in tow, and, by early on 30 January, the damaged cruiser was on her way to Espiritu Santo at four knots. At 14:45, well after Louisville had passed the tow to the tugboat Navajo (AT-64), 12 "Betties" were reported south of New Georgia heading for Rennell Island. Combat air patrol fighters from splashed three of the attackers, but nine remained to attack Chicago. Seven of these went down to the antiaircraft fire from the task force and the attacks by Grumman F4F Wildcats from Enterprise. Waller claimed one Mitsubishi G4M "Betty" downed and two damaged.
Chicago, however, took two more torpedoes and was abandoned soon thereafter, sinking stern-first, at 16:44. Navajo, Sands (APD-13), Edwards (DD-619), and Waller collected 1,049 survivors from the cruiser. In the melee, La Vallette (DD-448) was damaged and left the area, towed by Navajo. While retiring to Espiritu Santo, Waller located a submarine contact but could not develop it.
The Battle of Rennell Island, which resulted in the loss of one American cruiser and damage to a destroyer succeeded in diverting Japanese intentions from the transports off Lunga Point and allowed vital American reinforcements to enter the final phase of the battle to drive the Japanese from Guadalcanal.
Blackett Strait, March 1943
In early March 1943, Captain Arleigh "31-knot" Burke broke his broad pennant in Waller. On the 5th, she led Conway (DD-507), Montpelier (CL-57), Cleveland (CL-55), Denver (CL-58), and Cony (DD-508) in a raid on the Japanese airfields at Vila, on the southern coast of New Georgia. Assigned to protect the larger ships, the destroyers drew the duty of silencing any hostile shore batteries which might try to interfere with the cruisers as they carried out the main bombardment.
Entering Kula Gulf shortly after midnight on 5 March, Wallers radar detected two ships—later determined to be Murasame and Minegumo—at the eastern entrance to Blackett Strait and standing out at high speed, apparently unaware of the American ships' presence. Waller opened the action at about 01:00, firing a five-tube spread of torpedoes at a range of three and one-half miles. A minute later, her gunners soon commenced fire with the main battery.
Taken by surprise, the two Japanese destroyers answered with ragged and inaccurate fire. Six minutes after action had commenced, Murasame broke in two from an "extremely violent" explosion, the victim of a combination of torpedoes and gunfire from Waller and her mates.
Minegumo, too, came in for her share of attention and was soon reduced to junk although she stubbornly remained afloat for a short while. Leaving the Japanese in their wakes, the American force swung westward at 01:14 and soon thereafter commenced their scheduled bombardment of Vila. The six American ships pounded the air strip for 16 minutes before breaking off action and leaving a number of fires burning brightly in the darkness. Waller was ordered to dispatch Minegumo but the blazing wreck sank before the American destroyer could get to do the job.
The Vila raid and the Battle of Blackett Strait evoked the praise of Admiral Chester W. Nimitz, who with glowing understatement called the exploit a "creditable performance." Nimitz cited the exemplary way in which TF 68 had picked up two enemy ships by radar, despite a close by land background; promptly obtained a fire control set-up, sank the enemy vessels in a "businesslike manner" and then proceeded to conduct their planned bombardment mission approximately on schedule. "The Operation had all the precision of a well-rehearsed exercise by veteran ships—which these were not."
Waller continued her operations in the Solomons through the end of 1943 and into 1944. As the Japanese sought to resupply their trapped garrisons on islands like Vella Lavella, Arundel, and Kolombangara, they utilized destroyers as transports and supply ships in what became known as the "Tokyo Express". These ships clashed with American cruisers and destroyers in a series of sharp, bitter night actions.
The Americans, meanwhile, kept up the pressure on the Japanese, subjecting their islands to nearly continual harassment from the sea and from the air. On the night of 29–30 June 1943, Waller, in company with three other destroyers and four cruisers, bombarded Vila-Stanmore plantation, Kolombangara, and the Shortland Islands. Much of the firing was done in the teeth of a driving rainstorm which obscured visibility and precluded claims of damage to Japanese installations.
Kula Gulf, July 1943
Soon thereafter, on 6 July, a task group of three cruisers and four destroyers under Rear Admiral W. L. "Pug" Ainsworth, tangled with 10 Japanese destroyers carrying troops and supplies to Kolombangara in the Battle of Kula Gulf. In the fierce night action, two Japanese destroyers, Niizuki and , were sunk as was Helena (CL-50) which fell victim to the dreaded "Long Lance" torpedoes.
During efforts to save the surviving crew of Helena, Waller served in the force covering Woodworth (DD-460) and Gwin (DD-433) which were engaged in the primary rescue operations. Waller detected a submarine by her radar and went in to try to seek out the enemy craft. A three-hour search netted a contact, and Waller dropped depth charges. Although the destroyer found no visible evidence that she had scored a kill, the commander of Task Group 36.2 (TG 36.2), Rear Admiral Aaron S. "Tip" Merrill, commented that the probability of the submarine's destruction was good endorsement to Wallers action report.
Mistaken identity
The warship continued supporting operations in the Solomons by escorting troop and supply convoys. While screening TG 31.2—four destroyers and four fast transports (APDs) bound for Enogai Inlet, New Georgia—a search plane picked up what looked like four enemy ships near Kolombangara Island and radioed a contact report. Waller, as part of the covering force, changed course to intercept and soon sighted three ships lying low off the jungle coastline.
Unbeknownst to Waller, these three "enemy" ships were, in reality, PT-157, PT-159, and PT-160, out on patrol, having unintentionally strayed north of their assigned patrol area. Waller, tracking as best she could opened fire at 20,000 yards, and other ships in company reported that she straddled and hit the "enemy". However, she had not. The PT boats, suddenly thrown into a bad situation, loosed torpedoes at the attacking "enemy" and sped off to the southward. Waller and her mates did not pursue the fleeing "enemy" but broke off action and returned to their duties covering the departing APDs, apparently satisfied that one had made a hit on the "Japanese destroyer". In the subsequent action report written up on 29 July, Wallers commanding officer wrote: "It has since been learned that these ships were probably our own PT boats."
Vela Lavella, August 1943
No such case of mistaken identity occurred in Waller'''s operations on 15 August, while covering the landings at Vella Lavella. At 08:00, approximately 10 Japanese dive bombers appeared on the destroyer's radar, 38 miles distant. She fired an umbrella barrage at the approaching enemy to keep the attackers at "arm's length" and claimed two "Vals."
Later in the day, Waller again battled persistent Japanese planes, picking up on her radar eight torpedo planes heading in at low level. Director-controlled gunfire from the main battery 5 inch spat out fiery steel at the incoming Nakajima B5N "Kates" but knocked none down.
On the evening of 17 August, a Japanese air attack caused Waller and Philip (DD-498) to collide while undertaking evasive action; and Waller eventually steamed out of the combat area to undergo needed repairs. However, in October, she was back in the thick of the fighting.
Solomons campaign, October 1943 – February 1944
On the night of 1–2 October, Waller entered waters off Vella Lavella in an attempt to cut off the evacuation of Japanese troops from the island. Waller shot up six landing barges that night and four on the following, wreaking heavy destruction, along with her mates, on the smaller-sized "Tokyo Express". All told during this period, 46 enemy craft of this type met destruction at the hands of American destroyers, cruisers, and PT boats.Waller continued her convoy escort and support functions into the fall months. On 17–18 November, as American forces pushed towards Bougainville, Waller screened the 5th echelon of transports and supply ships. The total American force consisting of six destroyers, eight APDs, a fleet tug, and eight LSTs was crossing Empress Augusta Bay, off the coast of Bougainville, when 10 Japanese torpedo planes swooped in low and fast at 03:00. The ships quickly put up a tremendous barrage of antiaircraft fire to discourage the Japanese attackers.