USS Key (DE-348) - Transfer To The Pacific Fleet

Transfer To The Pacific Fleet

Key arrived Hollandia, New Guinea, 27 December, and between 1 January 1945 and 6 February she made five escort runs from Hollandia to Leyte Gulf. On 9 February she began antisubmarine patrols east of Leyte Gulf; then she steamed to Mangarin Bay, Mindoro, 19 February for similar duty in the South China Sea. Returning to Leyte 14 March, the versatile destroyer escort operated out of Leyte Gulf and Polloc, Mindanao, screening ships en route to Lingayen Gulf, Luzon; Zamboanga, Mindanao; Jolo, Sulu Archipelago; and Legaspi and Manila, Luzon. After escorting a convoy of LSMs and LCIs to Davao Gulf 15 May, Key bombarded and destroyed an important Japanese PT base at Piso Point before returning to Polloc the 17th.

After additional escort runs to Davao Gulf, Leyte Gulf, and Legaspi, Luzon, Key departed Manila Bay 11 June for duty in the Dutch East Indies. Arriving Morotai Island 14 June, she screened Tawitawi-bound LCI's 23–26 June before escorting a convoy the 28th to a rendezvous the following day with the amphibious force en route to the assault at Balikpapan, Borneo. While at Balikpapan 7 July, Key rescued a survivor from an LCM sunk by a mine in the harbor. She patrolled for enemy submarines until 22 July when she sailed via Morotai for Leyte Gulf, arriving 4 August.