Wreck of USS PC-1129

Philippines / Southern Tagalog / Maliig /
 shipwreck, United States Navy
Laid down as a PC-461 Class Submarine Chaser at Defoe Shipbuilding of Bay City MI in September 1942, PC-1129 commissioned into US Navy service in June 1943 as a member of the US Atlantic Fleet. After a clearing the Great Lakes and entering the Mississippi River, PC-1129 and her crew meandered their way toward New Orleans where they joined into a convoy of Westbound amphibious craft and stood out for the Panama Canal.

Joining the US Pacific Fleet at Balboa, PC-1129 and her crew began regular convoy escort assignments between the Panama Canal and San Diego, eventually taking up the San Diego-Pearl Harbor route during the later months of 1943. Operating out of Pearl Harbor in through late 1944, PC-1129 escorted American Naval and Merchant convoys between Hawaii and numerous destinations throughout the South Pacific before she eventually shifted her homeport to the US rear-area base at Seeadler Harbor, Manaus Island. Serving as one of several marshalling points for men, material and supplies bound for the upcoming Philippine Invasion, PC-1129 spent much of the fall of 1944 shuttling convoys back and forth between the Leyte beachhead and Manaus. As American forces steadily advanced into the Philippine archipelago, PC-1129 began to operate out of Leyte Gulf, where her anti-submarine and anti-aircraft capabilities were high demand.

Escorting both invasion and resupply convoys between Leyte and the ever-advancing front lines through December 1944, PC-1129 and her crew became all-too familiar with the new Japanese doctrine of Kamikaze attacks, and spent several convoy deployments on constant alert and at general quarters. After seeing several convoys to their destinations, PC-1129 and her crew received new orders in January 1945 calling for her support in the 11th Airborne Division’s mission to secure the city of Nasugbu and escort a formation of landing craft carrying the 188th Glider Infantry Regiment to their designated landing beaches. Departing Leyte in escort on January 29th, PC-1129 screened her charges all the way to their destination without incident, and as the aerial and amphibious assault commenced on January 31st she stood offshore to provide on-call fire support. As darkness approached and ground forces continued to push inland, PC-1129 moved further offshore with the transports and landing craft into the relative safety of open waters where they would remain for the night. As the force withdrew, orders were circulated for each ship to post extra armed lookouts as rumors that Japanese explosive-laden speedboats were operating in the area.

In a screening position on the Southeastern portion of her formation as night fell, the PC-1129 and her crew prepared for another nervous night and were soon called to their general quarters stations as reports raced across the ships that fast moving surface contacts had been picked up on radar. Moving at once to intercept the inbound threat, PC-1129 joined with several other Subchasers, Destroyer Escorts, Destroyers and Escort Craft in a violent firefight in total darkness against a force of over 20 Shin'yō Suicide Boats; each one capable of speeds over 30 knots and carrying two depth charges in their bows. Though several of the enemy craft were destroyed in the exchange of fire, one of the Shin'yō was able to evade the mass of fire coming from the American Ships and likely focused on the muzzle flashes coming from the PC-1129’s guns and sent his explosive-laden craft hurtling into her Starboard side aft.

The resulting detonation of the Shin'yō’s depth charge load blew open an enormous hole in the PC-1129’s hull, in addition to knocking out her propellers and steering ability. Many of her crew topside were blown into the water from her decks by the blast, and PC-1129 quickly began to flood by the Stern as she lost headway and went dead in the water. Fires quickly broke out on and around the wounded Subchaser and were fed by spilling diesel fuel from her damaged tanks, leaving her a brightly lit target in the dark night. With several more Shin'yō craft operating in the area and his ship presenting a large target, PC-1129’s Captain ordered the floundering craft abandoned shortly before 2200hrs. Allowing her surviving crew enough time to swim clear of her, PC-1129 gave out and sank Stern-first at this location on January 31st, 1945, taking two members of her crew with her to the bottom.

For her actions on the date of her loss, USS PC-1129 was awarded her first and final Battle Star for World War Two service.

www.navsource.org/archives/12/011129.htm
Wikipedia article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_PC-1129
Nearby cities:
Coordinates:   14°2'59"N   120°17'59"E

Comments

  • I found this article very interesting as my brother Douglas W. Kimler was member of the crew. He was a radio man for the PC1129. I remember when my Aunt from Chicago called at 4 in the morning telling my Mother and Father that the PC 1129 had been sunk. It was some days before we learned that Douglas was OK. My brother died March 9th 2001 and is buried at the Arizona National Memorial Cemetery. He was a true Navy man all his life and always refused to buy anything made in Japan. Thank you for the information. Joy Kimler shortputter2011@att.net
  • My father, Edgar Cole Sherman, was the second Captain of PC-1129 until his promotion to Lieutenant Commander in early January 1945. The ship was sunk barely 30 days later while he was on leave for reassignment. The "Gallant Little Ship" performed protection and landing craft direction for landings at Bougainville and Peleliu; then Leyte, Lingayen and Manila in the Philippines, where she was sunk near Nasugbu. During the Battle for Leyte Gulf, the crew was within sight of battle at Surigao Straight, and watched the huge Japanese Center Force approach the Leyte landings before being turned around by the "small boats" of Taffy-3. My father earned Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Ribbon Awards for each of these campaigns as well as one for the Philippine campaign. The crew spent 18 months in combat without leave or liberty. They were heroes, every one. My father completed 20 years as a Commander in the Navy Reserves. He died in 2005 at age 94, the finest man and gentleman I have ever known.
  • My father, Daniel J Costello, was on this ship when she went down. He survived the sinking and went on to live to the ripe old age of 96. I couldn't be more proud of his contribution to the victory in the pacific. RIP Dad.
  • My Grandfather, Martin Chamblee, survived the sinking of PC-1129. He was a great man.
This article was last modified 13 years ago