Allied Warships

USS Cooper (DD 695)

Destroyer of the Allen M. Sumner class

NavyThe US Navy
TypeDestroyer
ClassAllen M. Sumner 
PennantDD 695 
Built byFederal Shipbuilding & Drydock Co. (Kearny, New Jersey, U.S.A.) 
Ordered7 Aug 1942 
Laid down30 Aug 1943 
Launched9 Feb 1944 
Commissioned27 Mar 1944 
Lost3 Dec 1944 
Loss position10° 54'N, 124° 36'E
History

During a naval attack in Ormoc Bay, Leyte, USS Cooper was with the USS Allen M. Sumner (DD 692) and USS Moale (DD 693) when a torpedo from the Japanese destroyer Take hit the Cooper on her starboard side, breaking her in two. Cooper sank almost instantly in position 10°54'N, 124°36'E , killing 191 crewmen. 168 men were rescued by PBY Catalina flying boats which includes the Commanding officer Cdr. Mell Andrew Peterson, USN, apparently all the crew were wounded or injured as a result of the sinking.

 

Commands listed for USS Cooper (DD 695)

Please note that we're still working on this section
and that we only list Commanding Officers for the duration of the Second World War.

CommanderFromTo
1T/Cdr. John William Schmidt, USN27 Mar 194421 Oct 1944
2T/Cdr. Mell Andrew Peterson, USN21 Oct 19443 Dec 1944

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Notable events involving Cooper include:


23 Jul 1944
USS Cooper departed from Boston bound for the Pacific.

4 Sep 1944
USS Cooper arrived at Pearl Harbor.

23 Oct 1944
USS Cooper departed from Pearl Harbor bound for Ulithi.

5 Nov 1944
USS Cooper arrived at Ulithi.

29 Nov 1944
USS Cooper arrived at San Pedro Bay, Philippines.

2 Dec 1944
USS Allen M. Sumner (Cdr. Norman John Sampson), USS Moale (Cdr. Walter Manly Foster) and USS Cooper (Cdr Mell Andrew Peterson) depart from San Pedro Bay for a raid in Ormoc Bay.

3 Dec 1944
In Ormoc Bay USS Allen M. Sumner (Cdr. Norman John Sampson), USS Moale (Cdr. Walter Manly Foster) and USS Cooper (Cdr Mell Andrew Peterson) battle with the Japanese escort destroyers Kuwa and Take (both offsite links). During this battle USS Cooper sank the Kuwa in position 10°50'N, 124°35'E with gunfire but Cooper herself is sunk in position 10°54'N, 124°36'E by a torpedo from Take. Moale is damaged by gunfire during this action as is the Japanese Take.

Around 0145 hours the two remaining US destroyers retired from Ormoc Bay bound for San Pedro Bay where they arrived later that day.

Media links


Destroyers of World War Two

Whitley, M. J.


Blood on the Sea

Parkin, Robert Sinclair


amazon.com
($ 15.98)


U.S. Destroyers

Friedman, Norman


United States Destroyer Operations In World War II.

Roscoe, Theodore


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