USS Ralph Talbot (DD-390) - Back in Service

Back in Service

Arriving at Mare Island 11 September 1942, Ralph Talbot headed west again on 11 November after being repaired. Refresher exercises kept her in Hawaii until mid-December and on the 16th she got underway for Australia.

She arrived at Brisbane on 2 January 1943 and until 10 May conducted training exercises and escorted convoys along the northern and eastern coasts of that continent. On 13 May she arrived at Noumea to provide similar service as Allied forces pushed up the Solomons.

On 30 June she covered the landings on Rendova to commence the New Georgia campaign, rescuing 300 survivors from the McCawley (APA-4) within hours of the completion of the landings. On 5 July she landed 148th Infantry units at Rice Anchorage after softening the landing area with her 5-inch guns. On the 9th and 11th, she participated in the bombardments of Munda and on the night of 12 July joined TG 36.1 in a sweep up the Slot. The Allied ships engaged an enemy cruiser and five destroyers escorting destroyer transports in the Battle of Kolombangara. After that battle, salvage operations on Gwin (DD-433) were frustrated by enemy aerial attacks. Ralph Talbot's torpedoes sent the damaged destroyer to the bottom.

Through August and September and into October, Talbot continued to carry out patrol and escort duties in the Solomons. On 27 October 1943, she sailed again for Australia, then continued on to Milne Bay, arriving 3 November, where antisubmarine and antiaircraft patrol and escort missions continued. At midmonth she returned briefly to Tulagi, then resumed operations off New Guinea. On the night of 29 November, she participated in a Task Force 74 bombardment of Japanese positions on New Britain. In mid-December, she covered the landings at Kiriwina as the Allies secured the Trobriands, then, toward the end of the month returned to New Britain to cover the assault on Cape Gloucester. Through the end of the year, she divided her patrol time between Buna, on the New Guinea mainland, and Cape Gloucester.