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USS Pillsbury (DE-133)

1943 COLD WAR WORLD WAR 2

History of the USS Pillsbury (DE-133)

The U.S. Navy grew into a formidable fighting force during World War II (1939-1945), when warships of all types were built to serve on the two main fronts of the conflict. Types include aircraft carriers, escort carriers, destroyer escorts, cruisers, battleships, and submarines. The USS Pillsbury (DE-133) is an Edsall-class destroyer escort, a group of 85 U.S. warships. This class serves outside the U.S.

Navy and has been adopted by the Mexican, Philippine, Tunisian and South Vietnamese navies.

Destroyer escorts are designed to provide security for less-armed merchant ships and major U.S. Navy warships, and as such have good inherent stamina, "blue water" capabilities, and useful weapon customization.

The USS Pillsbury excelled in her role as escort protection for Allied naval ships during World War II. It was part of a massive military build-up following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor (December 7, 1941), which plunged the United States into all-out war.

Her exploits earned her and her crew a total of five Battle Stars for service in the conflict, as well as the Presidential Unit Commendation.

The aircraft carrier USS Pillsbury was built on July 18, 1942 by the Consolidated Steel Company of Orange, Texas. She was launched on January 10, 1943, and officially commissioned on June 7, 1943. The ship was named for U.S. Rear Admiral John E. Pillsbury (1846-1919).

When completed, Pillsbury is 306 feet long, 36.5 feet beam, and has a draught of up to 10.4 feet. Power comes from 4 FM diesel engines connected to 4 diesel generators, delivering 6,000 shaft horsepower to 2 screws.

It has a top speed of 21 knots in ideal conditions and a range of 9,100 nautical miles. Her typical crew consists of 209 people.

As for armament, the ship carries a main battery consisting of 3 x 3" (76mm)/50 caliber main guns and turrets. Anti-aircraft (AA) protection is provided by 2 x 40mm guns and 8 x 20mm guns. She Carry 3 x 21" Torpedo Tubes and 8 x Depth Charge Launchers, 2 x Depth Charge Tracers and a Hedgehog Launcher.

Her broad weaponry enables her to fight surface and underwater threats in the open ocean.

Once in service, Pillsbury was deployed as part of the 4th Escort Detachment and served as her flagship. Their first mission was to escort the Allied convoy across the treacherous Atlantic to the northwest coast of Africaa force actively patrolled by German U-boats and surface warships.

She was then reassigned as part of Task Force 21.12 (TG21.12), active in the pursuit of predatory enemy submarines in the North Atlantic.

Because submarines cannot be submerged indefinitely, they spend most of their time at sea on the surface (unlike modern submarines, which can remain submerged for months). These boats are only submerged when the situation calls for it - their diesel units give way to battery drives.

In this way, many attacks on Allied surface ships will occur at night or in low light/weather conditions, when ships are more difficult to spot and identify from a distance.

During the night of April 8, 1944, U-515 was spotted and attacked by aircraft from USS Guadalcanal (CVE-60). The operation required destroyers to be escorted into the area to begin their sub-hunting procedures (including sonar), and the USS Pillsbury was one of them. Her crew dropped depth charges and hedgehogs, the latter of which were nothing more than anti-submarine mortars fired from the deck of the escorting destroyer.

The pressure of the attack was enough to force U-515 to the surface, lest the ship and its crew be sent to the wet grave.

Once the sub surfaced, it didn't give up - it fired torpedoes as a last-ditch effort to avoid being completely wiped out - or killed as many opponents as possible before reaching its own end. The Pillsbury, along with the USS Flaherty, USS Pope, and USS Chateland, held on to their moves and fought with their guns. Additional support was given to missiles fired in the attack on U.S. carrier-based fighter jets, which culminated in the sinking of the ship.

44 German sailors were subsequently captured. The operation took place north of Madeira, off the coast of Portugal.

On June 6, 1944, two days before the Normandy landing in Normandy, France, the aircraft carrier USS Guadalcanal, operating off the Cape Verde Islands in West Africa, was attacked by a submarine, but Allied sonar screens recorded the time. The submarine was spotted under the surface by reconnaissance planes, who again called Pillsbury and her ilk to the scene. Following the usual procedures - depth charges and skilled maneuvering - this forced the damaged U-505 to surface.

The captain overestimated the condition of the hull and ordered his men to abandon the surrender. The boat was emptied after charges were set and hatches were opened to prevent flooding. Their engines were still running, and they ran in circles as the American crew responded.

USS Pillsbury sent a boarding convoy to take full control of U-505. In addition to the vital information gathered, the ship's charges were neutralized, the hatches were sealed, and the ship was completely hijacked. The U-boat was then towed to Bermuda and dissected for more information - some of which proved crucial to the German Navy's operations in the Atlantic.

Rather than cancel the war prize when her usefulness ran out, the submarine became a permanent collection at the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago, Illinois.

On 24 April 1945, as part of Task Unit 22.7.1 (TU22.7.1), the aircraft carrier USS Pillsbury is believed to have been scuttled U-546 to add to her modest wartime legacy. The enemy ship made only three full wartime patrols and recovered 1,200 tons from USS Frederick C. Davis on the same day.

Pillsbury became part of the pursuit group that eventually captured the enemy ship. With the end of the war in Europe in May 1945, USS Pillsbury, along with USS Pope, escorted U-858 across the Atlantic to New Jersey - becoming the first U-boat of the period to surrender.

After completing her wartime service career, USS Pillsbury was decommissioned in 1947.

The postwar rise of the Soviet Union and global communism forced the U.S. Navy to maintain a large military force and expand its maritime radar capabilities. This resulted in the Pillsbury being converted into a "radar picket" ship.

In 1954, the Philadelphia Navy Yard completed work to keep her up to date in her new role, leading to her return to service under a new classification, USS Pillsbury (DER-133). Her new commission date was March 15, 1955.

She spent the rest of her career patrolling the Atlantic until her second and final retirement on June 20, 1960. She was removed from the Naval Register in 1965 and stripped of useful equipment before being scrapped in 1966.