| USS Pope (DD-225) Steaming at high speed with her guns manned during short range battle practice off the Luzon coast, Philippine Islands. Commissioned October 27, 1920, Pope joined Squadron 15, Division 43 of the United States Navy Asiatic Fleet at Yantai, China on August 26, 1921. She continued to serve with the Yangtze River Patrol and winter at Cavite Naval Base in the Philippines through 1931. Notable exceptions were duty off Japan in connection with the United States Army “Round the World Flight” in 1924, a visit to French Indochina in 1926, and a visit to Japan in 1929. From 1931 until 1937, the Pope continued to “show the flag” off the China coast, during the summers and spent the winters in the Philippines engaging in division maneuvers. She was reassigned to Squadron 5, Division 15 on February 3, 1933. Pope made visits to French Indochina in 1935 and in 1938, 2 visits to Japan in 1934 and 1935 and 1 to the Netherlands East Indies in 1936. Increased tension on China’s northern borders due to the Japanese invasion of Manchuria made it necessary for Pope to evacuate Americans from northern Chinese ports such as Lao Yao[clarification needed] and Qingdao to Shanghai beginning September 19, 1937. From July 15 – September 20, 1938, she cruised in Chinese waters off Qinhuangdao and returned June 5, 1939, with the South China Patrol force removing American consulates and nationals. Pope was stationed off Shantou and Beidaihe during June 14 – August 19, observing the Japanese Navy en route to Shantou and the subsequent bombing and occupation of the city. She remained in this area until her return to Manila October 12 for the Neutrality Patrol off the Philippines. Pope was transferred to Division 59 of the Asiatic Fleet May 6, 1940, and resumed patrolling off China during May 11 – June 24. Pope returned to Manila in late June on neutrality duty and remained on station there until war began; on December 11, 1941, she got underway for Balikpapan, Netherlands East Indies. Pope was heavily engaged in fighting in the Netherlands East Indies in the early days of World War II under the command of Lieutenant Commander Welford Charles Blinn (October 12, 1902 – February 18, 1990). On January 9, 1942, Pope was 1 of 5 destroyers in an escort composed of the cruisers USS Boise (CL-47) and USS Marblehead (CL-12), with the other destroyers USS Stewart (DD-224), USS Bulmer (DD-222), USS Parrott (DD-218), and USS Barker (DD-213) departing from Darwin to Surabaya escorting the troop transport steamship Bloemfontein.That transport had been part of the Pensacola Convoy and had left Brisbane December 30, 1941, with United States Army reinforcements composed of the 26th Field Artillery Brigade and Headquarters Battery, the 1st Battalion, 131st Field Artillery and supplies from that convoy destined for Java. During the Naval Battle of Balikpapan, she made close-quarter torpedo and gun attacks which helped delay Japanese landings there. Later in the Battle of Badung Strait, she impeded the invasion of the island of Bali. During the 2nd Battle of the Java Sea, USS Pope and HMS Encounter were directed to escort the severely damaged British cruiser HMS Exeter away from the action. HNLMS Witte de With was unable to recall her crew from shore leave in time to join their retreat to Ceylon. In the evening of February 28, 1942, Exeter and the 2 destroyers left Soerabaja and proceeded north. Japanese surface and air forces launched an attack the next morning, midway between the islands of Java and Borneo. As they sought to escape the 3 Allied ships fought 4 Japanese heavy cruisers and 4 destroyers throughout a fierce 3-hour action, and they damaged a number of enemy ships. Pope fired all of her torpedoes and 140 salvoes of naval gunfire. The Allied squadron was discovered by Japanese cruiser float planes whose spotting of their cruisers’ gunfire nullified the effectiveness of the Allied destroyers’ attempt to conceal Exeter with a smoke screen. When the 2 British ships were destroyed by gunfire shortly before 1200 Hours March 1, 1942, Pope found temporary refuge in a rain squall. Although the Japanese cruisers were evaded by a course change within the squall, Pope was rediscovered by aircraft from Imperial Japanese Navy aircraft carrier Ryūjō after she emerged from the squall. After the destroyer’s single 3-inch/23-caliber anti-aircraft gun failed, 1 of 6 Aichi D3A “Val” dive-bombers scored a near miss which wrecked the port engine shaft and started flooding from damaged hull plating. Flooding worsened as Pope maneuvered to evade 6 more bombers, and only 1 crewman was lost as the crew boarded life rafts when flooding could no longer be controlled. Pope remained afloat long enough to be sunk about 1400 Hours by the 6th salvo of a Japanese cruiser arriving on the scene. Of 152 crew, 1 sailor was killed in action. This was to be the start of a long, almost 60-hour ordeal for the men in the water, as the survivors from Pope would not be rescued until almost midnight on March 3, 1942, by the Japanese destroyer Inazuma. The survivors from HMS Encounter and HMS Exeter were to be more fortunate, as those that were not rescued right after the battle on March 1 by the destroyer Inazuma, were rescued the following day by the Japanese destroyer Ikazuchi, who picked up the last 400 odd survivors from those 2 ships on March 2. These survivors had been adrift for about 22 hours in rafts and life jackets, or clinging to floats, many coated in oil, and some blinded. This humanitarian decision by Lieutenant Commander Shunsaku Kudō placed Ikazuchi at risk of attack, and it interfered with her fighting ability, due to the sheer load of rescued sailors. The action was later the subject of several books and articles and a 2007 television program. 27 men from USS Pope died in Japanese prisoner of war camps during World War II. Pope was struck from the Naval Vessel Register on May 8, 1942. She received 2 battle stars and the Presidential Unit Citation for her World War II service. The wreck of USS Pope was located and identified in December 2008 by the dive platform Motor Vessel Empress, approximately 60 nautical miles (110 kilometers) from the wreck of HMS Exeter, which Empress discovered in 2007. Unfortunately commercial salvage divers had discovered Pope previously and save for a skeleton, little now remains of her wreck. | |
| Image Filename | wwii1975.jpg |
| Image Size | 65.51 KB |
| Image Dimensions | 700 x 396 |
| Photographer | |
| Photographer Title | United States Navy |
| Caption Author | Written or Adapted by Jason McDonald |
| Date Photographed | January 15, 1924 |
| Location | |
| City | |
| State or Province | Luzon |
| Country | Philippines |
| Archive | Naval History and Heritage Command |
| Record Number | NH 90123 |
| Status | Caption ©2026 MFA Productions LLC Please Do Not Duplicate or Distribute Without Permission; Image in the Public Domain |
Author of the World War II Multimedia Database