Namesake Edward Joseph O'Reilly Commissioned 28 December 1943 Struck 15 January 1971 Launched 2 October 1943 | Laid down 29 July 1943 Decommissioned 15 June 1946 Construction started 29 July 1943 | |
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Fate Sold for scrapping 10 April 1972 Builder Consolidated Steel Corporation | ||
USS O'Reilly (DE-330) was an Edsall-class destroyer escort built for the U.S. Navy during World War II. It served in the Atlantic Ocean and the Pacific Ocean and provided destroyer escort protection against submarine and air attack for Navy vessels and convoys.
Contents
- World War II North Atlantic operations
- Transfer to the Pacific Fleet
- Damaged on a Reef
- Post War inactivation and decommissioning
- References
It was named in honor of Edward Joseph O'Reilly who died in action in the Battle of Savo Island in the Eastern Solomons on 9 August 1942. It was laid down on 29 July 1943, by Consolidated Steel Corp., Orange, Texas; launched 14 November 1943; sponsored by Mrs. Bride O'Reilly, mother of Lieut. O'Reilly; and commissioned 28 December 1943, Lt. Comdr. William C. F. Robards in command.
World War II North Atlantic operations
After fitting-out and sea trials in the Orange, Texas, and Galveston, Texas, O'Reilly left on 18 January 1944, for shakedown off Bermuda. This was followed by a ten-day availability in Charleston, South Carolina, before she sailed for Guantánamo Bay, Aruba, and Curaçao.
On 9 March O'Reilly picked up its first convoy, out of Curaçao, for Gibraltar and several North African ports, and arrived in Algiers on the 25th. It returned the following month, then made two more Mediterranean voyages from the West Indies and one from New York before undergoing repairs and upkeep at the New York Navy Yard in early September.
O'Reilly then switched convoy routes, and on 20 September began its first of five round trips across the North Atlantic to England. On 18 November, while heading to Plymouth, England, on the second of these, it attacked a submarine with unknown results. During its nine Atlantic crossings not one ship under iys protection was lost to submarine or air attack.
Transfer to the Pacific Fleet
In April 1945, with the European War well on the way to its conclusion, O'Reilly was ordered to the Pacific. It left New York on 24 May, transited the Panama Canal 8 June, and proceeded to Pearl Harbor after a brief stop at San Diego, California. It conducted five weeks of local training in Hawaiian waters then, on 1 August, sailed for Leyte Gulf with stops at Eniwetok and other islands. At Leyte it spent several weeks in upkeep, then sailed on a good-will tour via Okinawa to Shanghai and Taiwan.
Damaged on a Reef
While entering Buckner Bay, Okinawa, on 23 October, O'Reilly struck a reef with one of its propellers and threw a shaft out of alignment. it remained there until 2 December for repairs, then sailed for Los Angeles, California, arriving the 22nd.
Post-War inactivation and decommissioning
On 16 January 1946, it departed for New York and there underwent pre-inactivation availability. It decommissioned 15 June 1946 and joined the Reserve Fleet at Green Cove Springs, Florida. During 1961 she shifted to Orange, Texas. She was struck from the Navy List on 15 January 1971 and sold for scrapping 10 April 1972.