USS Sproston (DD-577)

USS "Sproston" (DD-577) was a "Fletcher"-class destroyer. She was the second ship named for Admiral John G. Sproston, an officer in the United States Navy during the Civil War.

History

"Sproston" was laid down on 1 April 1942 by the Consolidated Steel Corporation, Orange,Tex.; launched on 31 August 1942; sponsored by Mrs. Aline G. Darst; and commissioned on 19 May 1943, Comdr. Fred R. Stickney in command.

World War II

Following shakedown off Cuba, "Sproston" transited the Panama Canal on 4 November 1943. After a brief stop at San Francisco, California, she sailed for Pearl Harbor on 15 November and, 11 days later, headed for the Aleutian Islands. She entered Kuluk Bay, Adak, on December 1 and was assigned to Destroyer Squadron (DesRon) 49, a unit of Task Force (TF) 94.

She spent the next two months in gunnery practice and exercises. On 1 February 1944, "Sproston" departed Massacre Bay with TF 94 to shell targets in the Kuril Islands. On 4 February, she bombarded Kurabu Point in the Kurabu-Saki area of Paramushiro Island. One month later, the task force sailed north in the Sea of Okhotsk to strike targets in the Kurils again; but, because of extremely heavy seas and poor visibility, the mission was aborted.

"Sproston" spent the next three months on antisubmarine sweeps and patrols off the Aleutians. On 10 June, she was again underway for the Kurils where she participated in the pre-dawn bombardment of Matsuwa Island. On the 26th, she shelled Kurabu Zaki airfield on the southern end of Paramushiro Island.

On 8 August, "Sproston" departed Sweeper Cove, Adak, for a two-week stay in San Francisco before sailing for the South Pacific war zone. En route, she made port at Pearl Harbor, Eniwetok, and Manus. In October, she was assigned to Task Unit 79.11.2 whose primary mission was to screen transports of Task Group 79.2 off Dulag, Leyte Island, during the initial campaign to liberate the Philippines.

On 25 October, with supporting fire from "Hale" (DD-642) and "Pickens" (APA-190), she splashed her first enemy plane. On 18 November, in San Pedro Bay, "Sproston"’s gunners downed two “Zekes” of a five-plane attack force.

In late December 1944 and early January 1945, "Sproston" patrolled in the Lingayen area of central Luzon. On 8 January, another Japanese plane fell victim to her guns. From Lingayen, she sailed to the Zambales area to support landing operations there. At 12:48 on 29 January, she entered Subic Bay. "Sproston" was believed to be the first United States warship to enter Subic Bay since the Japanese occupation had begun. She continued operations in the Philippine Islands until 18 February when she was assigned to escort duty. Ordered to Guam for a week, she was in Apra Harbor from 25 February to 1 March when she sailed for Milne Bay. By 13 March, she was back in Leyte Gulf.

On March 21, she was underway for Kerama Retto and Okinawa Gunto, Ryukyu Islands. "Sproston" relieved "Heywood L. Edwards" (DD-663) on 26 March and began picket and patrol duty. That evening, her guns hit a “Jill” which departed in flames. On 2 April, she provided call fire on Makiminato Saki, destroying two enemy pillboxes and a warehouse.

"Sproston" received damage to her sonar equipment and main battery computer on 4 April by the near miss of a bomb which exploded convert|50|yd|m|-1 off her port beam. There were no casualties, and the sonar equipment was quickly repaired, but the main battery could be fired only by local control. She retired to Guam for repair of her main computer and was back on station within two weeks. Off Hagushi Beach on 12 May, she fired 16 rounds at an enemy plane which burst into flames and crashed. On 28 May "Sproston" and "Wadsworth" (DD-516) downed two planes within an hour. With supporting fire from "Bradford" (DD-545), she splashed another on the 29th. On 6 June, she rescued a pilot from escort carrier "Gilbert Islands" (CVE-107) whose plane had been shot down.

On 28 June, while she was steaming independently toward the United States for overhaul, "Sproston" was signalled, between Saipan and Eniwetok, by "Antares" (AKS-3), that she was under submarine attack and required assistance. Arriving in the vicinity of the submarine, "Sproston" made good sonar contact at a range of convert|1000|yd|m|-3. At convert|500|yd|m|-2 a periscope was observed passing from starboard to port. The destroyer made an unsuccessful attempt to ram the submarine which was then identified as a fleet type. "Sproston" dropped a full pattern of depth charges, and a large oil slick was later observed. She made six more attacks with negative results. After all her depth charges were expended, a lookout spotted a torpedo wake approaching "Sproston", 60° off her port bow. "Sproston" turned hard left and the torpedo passed along her port side. A periscope was then sighted off the port quarter belonging to a kaiten, a suicide submarine that had been released from the IJN fleet submarine "I-36" in order to allow it to escape. A total of two kaitens were released from "I-36" which were piloted by Ens Kuge Minoru and FPO1C Yanagiya Hidemasa. Once sighted the main battery commenced firing, and one salvo found its mark, causing a large secondary explosion which sank the kaiten. "LC7-555", "LSM-196", and "LSM-197" arrived to help conduct night radar coverage of the area. The next morning, "Parks" (DE-165), "Levy" (DE-162), and "Roberts" (DE-749) joined the group. After a thorough search, all ships were directed to carry out their previous orders.

"Sproston" arrived at San Francisco on 14 July 1945 where she underwent yard overhaul and prepared for inactivation: She moved to San Diego in mid-December and was placed out of commission on 18 January 1946.

Korean conflict

After Communist forces invaded South Korea, "Sproston" was recommissioned as DDE-577 on 15 September 1950. Her initial training was conducted with the Fleet Training Group, San Diego. "Sproston" departed San Diego in early 1951 for Eniwetok to participate in the atomic bomb test. When the test was over in July, "Sproston" sailed to her new home port, Pearl Harbor, and began the normal routine of Pacific Fleet destroyers: holding fleet, type, and individual exercises.

In early 1952, she entered the shipyard for overhaul and then, after refresher training, she sailed, on 2 June, for the Far East.

On 15 June, "Sproston" was assigned to Task Force 77, the 7th Fleet Striking Force, operating off the east coast of Korea in the Hungnam-Simpo area. During the next six months, she participated in the Taiwan Patrol when not assigned to TF 77.

"Sproston" returned to Pearl Harbor on 5 December 1952 and began a regular operating schedule as a member of DesRon 25. In the next decade, she made nine cruises to the Far East for operations with the Seventh Fleet. She spent part of each deployment on the Taiwan Patrol and also participated in amphibious and other type exercises. In 1958 and in 1961, "Sproston" was awarded the Battle Efficiency E.

Vietnam war

In 1962, she was redesignated DD-577. Normal operating duties continued through 1963 and 1964. In March 1965, she began a five-month overhaul in the Pearl Harbor Navy Yard. When this was completed, she conducted extensive refresher training to prepare her crew for deployment to the western Pacific.

"Sproston" departed Pearl Harbor on 27 December with "Ranger" (CVA-61), "England" (DLG-22), and "Carpenter" (DD-825) and headed, via Subic Bay, for the Vietnam coast. The group arrived at Dixie Station off the coast of South Vietnam on 16 January 1966 and remained there until 13 February. "Sproston" was assigned rescue and antisubmarine screening duties. On the 18th, she was directed to proceed to Phuoc Hui Bay to provide naval gunfire support. During the night, the ship shelled Viet Cong base camps and assembly areas.

On 19 January, 1966 she rejoined the carrier task group which had moved to Yankee Station in the Gulf of Tonkin. "Sproston" was detached from 5–11 February to perform trawler surveillance and blocking. During this time, she observed a Russian "Okean"-class vessel, the "Gidrofon", which was believed to be gathering electronic and tactical information. She rejoined the carrier group which returned to Subic Bay until 22 February.

Back at Yankee Station, "Sproston" was again detached for naval gunfire support duty. She arrived off the coast, in the II Corps area, on 1 March and remained there until the 20th, firing 40 support missions for the 1st Cavalry Division and South Vietnamese Marines. The most eventful came on 9 March when, during a three hour battle, her guns helped to repulse a battalion-strength Viet Cong attack against Republic of Vietnam Marines near Tam Quan.

On 21 March, she and the Task Group proceeded to Yokosuka whence it departed on 5 April for another tour at Dixie Station. "Sproston" worked with "Ranger" at both Dixie Station and Yankee Station during the patrol.

"Sproston" was detached from the Task Group on 4 May and visited Hong Kong, Subic Bay, and Yokosuka before she returned to Pearl Harbor for upkeep and the installation of a recovery crane as she had been selected to participate in an Apollo spacecraft recovery.

On 25 August, she was on station off Kwajalein when the spacecraft passed overhead and landed convert|200|nmi|km|-1 north, where it was recovered by "Hornet" (CVS-12). "Sproston" returned to Pearl Harbor on 2 September and remained there undergoing repair services and conducting type training for the remainder of the year.

In January and February 1967, "Sproston" conducted local operations to prepare for her 1967 deployment to the Far East. She sailed for Yokosuka on 6 March and, one month later, was back at Yankee Station. She participated in Operation Sea Lion and provided gunfire support until 14 May. She then joined "Hancock" (CVA-19) as escort and plane guard for two and one-half months. During this period of deployment, she performed trawler surveillance duty at Yankee Station several times when the Russian ships AGI "Deflektor", "Barograf", and "Gidrofon" entered the area.

"Sproston" and "Carpenter" departed Vietnam on 4 August for Sydney, Australia, where they participated in a joint ASW exercise with units of the British and New Zealand navies off the coast of New Zealand.

Having steamed almost convert|40000|nmi|km|-3 since leaving Pearl Harbor, "Sproston" returned to her home port on 11 September. She underwent general repairs and conducted local operations until the last of December 1967 when she was ordered to Guam for yard availability.

Upon completion of yard work in mid-March, "Sproston" returned to Pearl Harbor until 29 July when she sailed for the west coast. When she arrived in San Diego, she was notified that she was to be decommissioned. She sailed to Pearl Harbor late in August and, on 30 September 1968, was placed out of commission. "Sproston" was struck from the Navy list on 10 October 1968 and sold to Chou’s Iron and Steel Co., Taipei, Taiwan, for scrap.

Honors

"Sproston" received five battle stars for World War II, one for Korean service, and three for Vietnamese service.

References

*DANFS|http://www.history.navy.mil/danfs/s16/sproston-ii.htm

External links

* [http://www.navsource.org/archives/05/577.htm DANFS USS "Sproston" specs]
* [http://www.hazegray.org/danfs/destroy/dd577txt.htm DANFS USS "Sproston" history]
* [http://www.multied.com/navy/destroyer2/sprostonII.html "Sproston" history]
* [http://www.sproston.com/ Crew homepage for USS "Sproston"]
* [http://www.usna.com/News_Pubs/News/SearchNewsRead.asp?Article=11018 Robert Duane Karl] (USNA ′43), Commanding officer 1944
* [http://www.usna.com/News_Pubs/News/SearchNewsRead.asp?Article=8843 Lt. Cmdr. Jack Warren Scheible Sr.] , (USNA ′57), Executive officer 1968