USS Rudderow (DE-224)

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Career

Ordered:
Laid down:	15 July 1943
Launched:	14 October 1943
Commissioned:	14 May 1944
Decommissioned:	15 January 1947
Struck:	1 November 1969
Fate:	Sold for scrap, October 1970
General Characteristics
Displacement:	1,450 tons light, 1,673 tons standard
Length:	306 ft (93 m)
Beam:	37 ft (11.3 m)
Draft:	13.75 ft (4.2 m)
Propulsion:	Turbo-electric drive, 12,000 hp (8.9 MW)
Speed:	24 knots (44 km/h)
Complement:	221
Armament:	2 x 5 in/38 cal (127 mm) (2x1) 4 x 40-mm/70 (2x2) 10 x 20 mm (10x1) 3 x 21 in torpedo tubes (1x3) 1 Hedgehog depth bomb thrower 8 depth charge projectors (8x1) 2 depth charge racks

The USS Rudderow (DE-224) was a U.S. Navy destroyer escort named after Thomas Wright Rudderow, a U.S. naval officer killed in action during World War II. She was laid down on 15 July 1943 at the Philadelphia Navy Yard, launched on 14 October 1943 and commissioned on 15 May 1944, Lieutenant-Commander Malcolm W. Greenough, USNR, commanding. She was the first ship of her class.

She completed her shakedown trials off Bermuda and throughout the summer of 1944 participated in submarine hunter-killer patrols and the escort of convoys along the East Coast of the United States. Departing Staten Island on 14 October 1944, she sailed with her division (CortDiv 74) for the Pacific, passing through the Panama Canal on the 23 October and joining the 7th Fleet at Humboldt Bay, New Guinea on 21 November.

After coastal escort duties during December, on 8 January 1945 she set sail for Luzon and on 21 January saw her convoy of landing craft safely into Lingayen Gulf. Between then and 7 February she patrolled the Lingayen anti-submarine screen before escorting landing craft to Subic Bay and steaming back to Lingayen Gulf to cover the retirement of LSTs, LCTs, and a fleet oiler to Leyte. A week later she steamed into the Mindanao Sea to assist the torpedoed destroyer USS Renshaw and escort her to San Pedro Bay.

On the 24 February 1945, she began preparations for Operation Victor IV, the assault and occupation of Zamboanga. Setting sail on 8 March, she arrived off the landing area with echelon V-4-E early on the 10 March. As U.S. troops pushed into the Zamboangan peninsula, she patrolled the Tictauran and Great Santa Cruz islands, retiring on 11 March and returning with a reinforcement convoy from Leyte on the 16 March. From 25 to 28 March she escorted a convoy from Puerto Princesa, Palawan to Zamboanga, then sailed north to arrive in Mangarin Bay, Mindoro for anti-submarine patrol duty starting 30 March.

By mid-April 1945, she was back at Leyte and by the end of the month was once more operating in the Sulu Sea. On 5 May, she departed Tawi Tawi and headed southwest to escort a PT boat drydock and gasoline barge being towed by the USS ATR-4 to Tarakan, Borneo. Between 8 to 11 May she escorted resupply convoys from Morotai to Borneo and on 12 to 13 May towed a damaged PBM 261 miles to Tawi Tawi. She then returned briefly to the Halmaheras before setting sail for Leyte and much-needed repairs on 19 May.

She returned to sea in June 1945, escorting landing craft to Panay and resupply convoys to Morotai. On the 18 June she reported for Philippine Sea Frontier duty and commenced inter-island escorts between Hollandia and Ulithi. From 27 July to 1 August she escorted reinforcements to Okinawa, then returned to the Philippines where she remained to the end of the year.

On 3 January 1946, she set sail for the United States. Arriving at San Diego by the end of the month, in March she was designated in reserve and was decommissioned on 15 January 1947. In May 1957 she was transferred to the San Francisco Group, Pacific Reserve Fleet, where she remained until struck from the Navy list on 1 November 1969. She was then sold for scrap the following October.

During World War II, the USS Rudderow earned two battle stars.