USS Cooper (DD-695)

USS Cooper in New York Harbor, March 25, 1944
Overview
Type	destroyer
Shipyard	Federal Shipbuilding and Drydock Company
Keel laying	August 30, 1943
Launch	February 9, 1944
1. Period of service
Commissioning	March 27, 1944
Whereabouts	torpedoed and sunk off Leyte on December 3, 1944
Technical specifications
length	114.8 m
width	12.2 m
Draft	4.8 m
crew	336
drive	4 oil-fired steam boilers 2 sets of steam turbines, driven by 2 shafts 60,000 WPS
speed	34 kn
Range	6500 nm at 15 kt
Armament	6 × 12.7 cm L / 38 in twin towers 12 × 40 mm flak (two quadruple and two twin guns) 11 × 20 mm Fla- MK 10 torpedo tubes Ø 533 mm 6 × hedgehog

The USS Cooper (DD-695) was a destroyer of Allen M. Sumner class of the United States Navy . She served the US Navy for nine months in 1944 before sank off Leyte.

history

The USS Cooper was laid down on August 30, 1943 at the Federal Shipbuilding and Drydock Company in Kearny , New Jersey . After the baptism by the widow of the eponym Elmer Glenn Cooper (1905–1938), the destroyer was launched on February 9, 1944. It entered service with the US Navy on March 27, 1944 under the command of Commander JW Schmidt.

The Cooper left Boston on July 23, 1944, crossed the Panama Canal and arrived in Pearl Harbor on September 4th . After extensive maneuvers and exercises off Hawaii, the destroyer ran out on October 23 in the direction of Ulithi , where it arrived on November 5. He was assigned to the aircraft carrier escort for the attacks on Luzon and Manila Bay , and the Cooper remained at that post until November 19 . After brief repairs in Ulithi Atoll, she took part in patrols in the Gulf of Leyte .

On December 2, the Cooper ran into Ormoc Bay with the USS Allen M. Sumner and the USS Moale to attack Japanese ships. The destroyers encountered and attacked a few small patrol vehicles and two small destroyers. At 12:13 am, the Cooper received a torpedo hit on the starboard side, presumably from the Kuwa . The explosion caused the ship to split in two and sink within a minute. The presence of Japanese units prevented the survivors from being rescued, and PBY-5A Black Cats were only able to rescue 168 survivors from the water around 2 p.m. 191 crew members died in the sinking of the Cooper .

The Cooper received a Battle Star for its use during World War II.

wreck

The wreck was discovered on December 4, 2017 by the research vessel Petrel in Ormoc Bay at a depth of 200 meters.

Web links

• History of Cooper in the Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (English)
• Pictures of the Cooper at navsource.org

Individual evidence

1. ^ The Official Chronology of the US Navy in World War II: 1944 ; As of December 20, 2009
2. ^ USS Cooper (DD-695). RV Petrel, accessed October 29, 2019 .