USS Ulvert M. Moore (DE-442) was a acquired by the U.S. Navy during World War II. The primary purpose of the destroyer escort was to escort and protect ships in convoy, in addition to other tasks as assigned, such as patrol or radar picket. Post-war she returned home bearing five battle stars; when she was reactivated for the Korean War, she returned home after that war with three more.
Ulvert M. Moore (DE-442) was named in honor of Ulvert Mathew Moore who was awarded the Navy Cross medal posthumously during the Battle of Midway.
Namesake
Ulvert Mathew Moore was born on 26 August 1917 at Williamson, West Virginia. He enlisted in the Naval Reserve on 15 October 1940 at Washington, D.C., and served as a seaman 2d class until appointed an aviation cadet on 14 January 1941. After flight training at Jacksonville and Miami, into the summer of 1941, Moore then received advanced carrier training at Norfolk, Va. He was then assigned to Torpedo Squadron 8 (VT-8) embarked on the
As a Douglas TBD Devastator torpedo bomber pilot in VT-8, Moore took part in the pivotal Battle of Midway on 4 June 1942. Moore and the rest of the squadron attacked the Japanese aircraft carriers without fighter cover and in the face of withering antiaircraft fire and heavy Japanese fighter opposition. Though all of VT-8's aircraft were shot down, they succeeded in diverting Japanese fighter cover and preventing further launches of Japanese carrier aircraft, thus contributing to the United States Navys victory in the battle. Moore was killed during the attack and was awarded the Navy Cross posthumously and shared in the Presidential Unit Citation awarded to VT-8 for its actions in the Battle of Midway.
Construction and commissioning
She was laid down on 2 December 1943 at Houston, Texas, by the Brown Shipbuilding Co.; launched on 7 March 1944; sponsored by Mrs. L. E. Moore, mother of Ens. Moore; and commissioned on 18 July 1944, Lt. Comdr. Franklin D. Roosevelt, Jr., USNR—the son of the President—in command.
World War II Pacific Theatre operations
Following shakedown off Bermuda, the destroyer escort screened from New York to Norfolk, Virginia, on 18 September before departing the latter port on 5 October in company with . The two ships escorted and to Aruba, Dutch West Indies, and thence conveyed them to the Panama Canal Zone before continuing on by themselves to the west coast of the United States, arriving at San Diego, on 22 October. Ulvert M. Moore and her sister ship subsequently sailed for the Hawaiian Islands, escorting from San Pedro, Los Angeles, to Pearl Harbor between 24 and 30 October.
Searching for Japanese submarine I-12
When Ulvert M. Moore had refueled there, urgent orders sent her to sea to join a hunter-killer group based around which was searching for . That Japanese submarine had torpedoed and sunk the American merchantman on 30 October. Corregidors unit, designated Task Group (TG) 12.3, operated between Hawaii and the west coast until 19 November, when it returned to Pearl Harbor.
After repairs alongside from 20 to 23 November, Ulvert M. Moore put to sea on the 24th with TG 12.4, centered around , bound for the Carolines, via Eniwetok in the Marshalls. TG 12.4 conducted antisubmarine patrols en route and reached Eniwetok on 2 December and Ulithi on the 7th. Upon its arrival at the latter, the group was reclassified TG 30.6. The destroyer escort and her mates then operated on antisubmarine patrols in an area from the Marianas in the north to the Palaus in the south.
Under attack by Japanese planes
Following this duty, Ulvert M. Moore replenished her stores at Kossol Roads, Palaus, and got underway on New Year's Day 1945 as part of the screen for TG 77.4 -- the 14 escort aircraft carriers which would furnish close air support for the landing operations on Luzon and provide air cover for the fire support group, TG 77.2 -- bound for Luzon. Snooping Japanese planes showed up on the 3d, approached the formation, but kept just out of range.
Ommaney Bay crashed by kamikaze
Ulvert M. Moore went to general quarters twice in the predawn hours of 4 January, fueled from , and spent the afternoon delivering mail via highline transfer to other ships in the task force. While she was casting off from alongside , her lookouts noted a Japanese plane slipping into the return flight pattern of the carriers. This kamikaze soon crashed into shortly after 1714, away from Ulvert M. Moores starboard bow.