Wreck of USS Bush (DD-529)

 Second World War 1939-1945, military, shipwreck, destroyer (ship), draw only border, United States Navy

Laid down at the Bethlehem Steel Shipyards in San Francisco in February 1942, USS Bush was commissioned into service with the US Navy’s Pacific Fleet in May 1943 as the 50th member of the Fletcher Class of Destroyers to enter service. Originally assigned to Alaskan Waters, the Bush and her crew spent the first six months of their service escorting convoys to and from American positions in the Aleutian Islands before she received orders to Pearl Harbor in December 1943.

Following a brief stopover at Pearl, the Bush and her crew departed the Hawaiian Islands and shaped a course for the South Pacific in escort of a convoy. Arriving in the waters around the Bismarck Archipelago at the end of the month, the Bush and her crew took part in the Allied landings at Cape Gloucester, New Britain, and the Admiralty Islands before shifting to New Guinea and participating in the landings at Saidor and Morotai by March 1944. Given a short reprieve from frontline action during mid-1944, the Bush and her crew escorted convoys in the Solomon Islands until she was summoned to Manaus Harbor in September 1944 and paired with the ships of the American Invasion Force bound for Leyte Gulf in the Philippines. Screening her charges on their journey to Leyte and then taking up a screen as US forces went ashore in October 1944, the Bush and her crew would spend the next three months heavily involved in the Philippine Operation, taking part in the Luzon operation, including the Mindoro and Lingayen Gulf landings through January 1945.

Retiring to Ulithi Atoll for voyage repairs and reprovisioning, the Bush once again stood out for the front lines as an escort for transports bound for the small volcanic island of Iwo Jima in early February 1945. Alternating between fire support and anti-aircraft screen for the US Naval and Ground forces fighting for control of the island, the Bush remained on station through early March when she retired to Ulithi Atoll once again for a period of upkeep and upgrade before she was again called upon for duty off the island of Okinawa. Arriving with a convoy of Transports on the 2nd of April, the Bush and her crew were ordered to take up Radar Picket Station #1 roughly 51 miles to the North of the island to provide an early warning to US Forces of approaching Japanese aircraft, which by this point in the war were almost entirely composed of suicide-bent Kamikaze pilots. Relieved the following day to refuel, the Bush was quickly called back to her post after her replacement, USS Pritchett (DD-561), was heavily damaged by Kamikaze attack.

Resuming her post on the 3rd of April the Bush and her crew spent the next three days constantly at their battle stations as wave after wave of Japanese aircraft descended from the mainland to attack the US Fleet. Shortly after midday on April 6th, the Bush and her fellow radar pickets began to pick up large numbers of inbound aircraft approaching Okinawa, and by 1500hrs the Bush was actively engaging several enemy aircraft buzzing overhead, her gunners accounting for one shot down. As she continued her evasive maneuvering, the Bush’s crew continued to fire at their attackers however a flight of three Japanese aircraft were able to split up the AA fire from the ship, allowing a fourth pilot to penetrate the ship’s defenses. Though his aircraft was hit repeatedly by 20mm and 40mm fire, the Kamikaze pilot succeeded in slamming his aircraft into the Bush’s Starboard deck between her stacks at 1515hrs, causing major damage and starting a large fuel fire. Seconds after the impact, the plane’s payload detonated in the ships forward engine room, killing and injuring almost every crewman stationed there. Wallowing under the force of the blasts, the Bush’s and her crew continued to fire on their attackers until they eventually withdrew, allowing major damage control efforts to begin on the wounded ship.

Radioing for assistance from Fleet Tugs and for any other warships in the area to provide cover, the Bush and her crew fought to survive for the next two hours, and thanks to diligent efforts the ship maintained an even rate of pumping and power, though she was unable to move. As the USS Colhoun (DD-801) closed in to render assistance, the Combat Air Patrol aircraft providing cover quickly departed to refuel, leaving the two ships and several smaller craft dangerously exposed to further air attack, which appeared in the form of at least 10-15 enemy aircraft at 1635hrs. All non-essential crew and wounded were ordered off the Bush’s decks as the aircraft closed in, and her gunners joined those aboard the Colhoun in sending up AA fire on their attackers. Using the setting sun to conceal their movements, a wave of Japanese aircraft came in from overhead at 1715hrs, and though the Bush’s gunners took them under fire one of the Kamikaze’s was able to complete his dive into the Bush’s hull, impacting her again between the stacks and nearly cutting the ship in two. Half an hour later, a third wave again targeted the battered ship and another Kamikaze found his mark, plowing his aircraft into the #2 gun mount and wardroom, causing a large fire, ready service ammunition detonations and the deaths of all the wounded and corpsmen in the wardroom.

Mortally wounded but still defiantly afloat as darkness overspread her position, the Bush’s crew did their best to tend to the wounded and the damaged ship despite the fact that the Bow and Stern were no longer connected above the waterline. As the small craft returned to render assistance, the ship was rocked by several large ocean swells at 1830hrs which proved too much for the Veteran Destroyers battered hull. Bulkheads on both sides of her midship damage began to fail and within five minutes the ship was clearly beginning to jackknife and sink, prompting the order to abandon ship. Roughly ten minutes after the last survivor left the ship, the Bush gave out and sank in two pieces at this location at approximately 1900hrs on April 6th, 1945. Of her crew of 273, 87 were lost in her final action.

For her actions on the date of her loss, USS Bush received her 7th and final Battle Star for World War Two service.

www.ussbush.com/index.htm
www.navsource.org/archives/05/529.htm