USS Gillespie (DD-609) - 1942 and 1943

1942 and 1943

After shakedown, the destroyer sailed from San Francisco 28 December 1942 for the fog-shrouded Aleutian Islands and reached Sand Bay, Great Sitkin Island, 9 January 1943. After conducting escort, ASW, and patrolling duties among the scattered Aleutians, she saw her first action 18 February when, with Indianapolis and Richmond, she bombarded Attu Island, without return fire. The destroyer shot over 400 rounds of 5-inch into Japanese installations at Holtz Bay and Chichagof Harbor, and on the evening of the same day began an anti-shipping patrol southwest of Attu with Indianapolis and Coghlan. At 2225, Coglan's lookouts spotted smoke on the horizon and Gillespie responded. The smoking ship was Akagane Maru, a 3100-ton cargo ship bound for Attu with troops, munitions, and supplies, but she was not to close her port of call. She answered Indianapolis' challenge in Japanese Morse code; the American warships opened fire at 2316 and scored repeatedly. Within 3 minutes, the cargo ship was burning forward; a salvo by Indianapolis set her afire from stem to stern. Malfunctioning torpedoes failed to sink the gutted maru, but she finally slid under at 0126 20 February in 53-05 N, 171-22 E.

After further patrolling, Gillespie returned to San Francisco 4 March for overhaul and subsequently sailed via San Diego, California and the Panama Canal to moor at New York 11 April 1943. Through the spring, summer, and fall of 1943 the destroyer made four round-trip transatlantic escort voyages to Casablanca, French Morocco, and return, shepherding troop and cargo ships to the North African theater.