USS Sederstrom (DE-31) - World War II Pacific Theatre Operations

World War II Pacific Theatre Operations

Following shakedown out of San Diego, California, Sederstrom, a unit of Escort Division (CortDiv) 31, commenced her escort career with a convoy run to Pearl Harbor. Arriving on 1 December, she participated in further training exercises and conducted inter-island escort runs for most of the month; then, on the 24th, the new destroyer escort got underway for the Gilberts as a unit of TU 16.25.9. Three days later, she was diverted to Funafuti, whence she escorted an AK (Navy cargo ship) and an LCT (Landing craft tank) as they delivered cargo to various islands in the Ellice Islands group. In mid-January 1944, she proceeded to Samoa for a run to the Wallis Islands after which she escorted merchant ships into the Gilberts. On 4 February, she delivered her charges to Makin; and, on the 5th, she departed for the Marshalls. From the 7th to the 25th, she patrolled the approaches to Kwajalein lagoon; then screened the transport, SS Prince Georges, back to the Gilberts and Hawaii.

Arriving at Pearl Harbor on 10 March, Sederstrom was underway again on the 25th with a convoy bound for Majuro. During April, she provided escort services in the Marshalls; and, in May, she returned to Pearl Harbor. On the 29th, she departed again to escort reserves of the Saipan invasion force into the Marianas. The force, Reserve Group 2, arrived off Saipan on 16 June, the day after the invasion, and cruised to the east of the island until after the battle of the Philippine Sea. On the 20th, the Army troops were landed south of Charan Kanoa; and, on the 22nd, Sederstrom got underway to escort LST's and LCI's back to Eniwetok.

On 16 July, the escort arrived back off Saipan. Screening and patrol duties occupied the next week; then, on the 24th, she shifted to Tinian to cover the initial landings and subsequent offloading there. On the 29th, she returned to Saipan; thence continued on to Eniwetok, providing plane guard services for Midway (CVE-63). On 10 August, she returned to the Marianas for brief duty in the Guam Patrol and Escort Group, serving as flagship of the group when ComCortDiv 31, embarked in Sederstrom, assumed command of the group. On the 22nd, however, she departed the Marianas again and returned to Pearl Harbor for navy yard repairs.

On 8 October, Sederstrom resumed her escort mission. Initially screening a Pearl Harbor-Ulithi convoy, she spent the period November 1944 to mid-February 1945 screening naval auxiliaries, escort carriers, and merchant ships between Eniwetok and Ulithi. In late February, she made a run into the Marianas; and, in March, she escorted reinforcements and supplies to Iwo Jima. From the 5th to the 11th, she patrolled off that island; and, on the 12th, she joined TU 51.29.19 and returned to Ulithi to stage for the Okinawa campaign.