USS Guest (DD-472) - 1944

1944

Guest protected transports landing the Marine Raiders on Green Island 31 January 1944. As the Raiders reembarked the next morning, she made two depth charge attacks on a diving submarine. Hudson (DD-475) followed up this attack to complete the kill of the 1,400-ton Japanese submarine I-171. Guest again screened transports during invasion of the Green Islands 15 February 1944. She bombarded Kavieng, New Ireland 25 February, and the Sanba River area on Bougainville 17 March. She rescued the crew of PT-63 on the latter date. In a case of mistaken identity on 17 March motor torpedo boat PT-283 was sunk by friendly fire from destroyer Guest (DD-472), in the Solomons, near Choseul Island. Her 5 inch gunfire destroyed the grounded Japanese freighter Meisyo Maru 30 April to the east of Nemto Island. After amphibious assault training in the New Hebrides, she departed from Roi, in the Marshall Islands, 10 June 1944 for the invasion and capture of the Mariana Islands.

Guest poured gunfire ahead of troops landing on Saipan 15 June 1944, then helped repel four massive air raids against Admiral Marc Mitscher's Fast Carrier Task Force in the Battle of the Philippine Sea. She also conducted pre-invasion bombardment of Guam and gave direct gunfire support to the landings on Guam 21 July 1944. She remained on bombardment support and patrol stations until 9 August, then sailed for amphibious warfare exercises in the Solomons.

Guest departed Purvis Bay, Solomon Islands, 6 September 1944. A unit of Rear Admiral Jesse Oldendorf's Western Fire Support group, she bombarded Anguar in the Palau Islands 12 September 1944. The following day she rescued 7 officers and 45 men of destroyer Perry (DMS-17), which hit a mine and sank off Anguar. Guest departed the area 25 September and entered San Francisco Bay 25 October 1944 for overhaul.