USS Burrows (DE-105) - End-of-War Operations

End-of-War Operations

Although the war was over, Burrows' work was not. She carried out an antisubmarine sweep around Truk, in the Caroline Islands, until 23 August, then moved to Leyte and Cebu in the Philippine Islands to pick up a convoy carrying occupation troops to Japan. The convoy began the cruise on 2 September. On the morning of 8 September, Burrows steamed into Tokyo Bay which was still filled with the ships of the U.S. 3rd Fleet which had anchored there for the formal surrender ceremony. Four days later, the escort left Tokyo to chaperone a group of LSTs to Okinawa. Enemy submarines and aircraft no longer presented a threat, but the thousands of anchored or floating mines in the water were a hazard to the convoys and had to be destroyed by the escorts.

On 15 September, Burrows escorted her convoy into Buckner Bay, turned, and left port immediately to escape approaching Typhoon Ida. The warship returned to Buckner Bay on the 18th to join another LST group bound for Honshū where they arrived a week later. Burrows tied up alongside USS Telamon for a repair period that was interrupted by another storm-evasion cruise. Following completion of the availability, Burrows set out to sea on 8 October for Leyte Gulf with a third LST group. After another delay due to still another typhoon evasion, the escort and convoy arrived safely on 20 October. Burrows' longest cruise in Pacific waters began in the southern Philippines on 28 October and took her to Aomori on the northernmost tip of Honshū and then to Otaru in southern Hokkaidō. After stopping at both ports, Burrows rendezvoused with LST Flotilla 29 and returned with the ships to Yokohama.