Wreck of USS Hoel (DD-533)

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

USS Hoel was the 54th member of the Fletcher Class of Destroyers built for the US Navy, laid down at the Bethlehem Steel San Francisco Shipyard in June 1942 and commissioned into service with the US Pacific Fleet in July 1943. Steaming for Pearl Harbor in October following her shakedown and training cruise, the Hoel and her crew were promptly assigned for duty with the US 5th Fleet and departed for combat duty in the Gilbert Islands in November.

Screening Escort Carrier forces as they conducted airstrikes on Makin Atoll, Hoel's crew got their first taste of action against the Empire of Japan as they repulsed several coordinated airstrikes and Submarine attacks over the next month in the waters around Makin and Tarawa. Moving with the 5th Fleet to the Marshall Islands in early 1944, Hoel provided gunfire support and served as a radar picket for the invasion of Kwajalein then joined the Heavy Cruiser USS Portland (CA-33) in a clandestine preinvasion bombardment of Eniwetok Atoll before dropping anchor and providing four straight days of gunfire support to ground forces. Steaming to Majuro for much-needed voyage repairs following her duty off Eniwetok, Hoel and her crew were reassigned from the US 5th Fleet and ordered to the Solomon Islands, where she joined the US 3rd Fleet at Purvis Bay in March 1944.

Heavily active for the next six months screening convoys throughout the Solomon Islands as Allied Forces began to build up men and material for the Invasion of the Marianas, Hoel and her crew were once again paired with Escort Carriers and steamed for Peleliu in September where she once again provided cover as they conducted airstrikes in support of invading Allied forces. Retiring with the Carriers to Seeadler Harbor, Manaus in early October for replenishment and voyage repairs, the Hoel was transferred to the US 7th Fleet and was assigned for duty with Rear Admiral Sprague's Task Group 77.4 which consisted of Escort Carriers, Destroyers and Destroyer Escorts bound for the shores of the Philippine Islands. Departing Manaus with the ships of Group 77.4.3, or "Taffy 3", the Hoel and her crew screened the massive Amphibious Assault convoy to the shores of Leyte Island where she once again provided fire support to invading troops as they went ashore on the 20th of October. With little resistance encountered by landing forces and a sizeable beachhead established by midday on the 21st, Hoel was released to rejoin the ships of "Taffy 3" which had shifted to a position off the coast of Samar to conduct close air support operations. Though Japanese resistance had steadily mounted in the days following the initial landings and the Commanders of each ship in "Taffy 3" were aware of several large-scale Naval actions taking place in the Palawan Passage and Sibuyan sea on the 23rd and 24th, there was little that could have prepared the men aboard the ships of "Taffy 3" for what appeared on the Northern horizon shortly after dawn on October 25th.

Forewarned at 0637hrs by an airborne recon plane that an enormous Japanese Naval force consisting of 4 Battleships, 6 Heavy Cruisers, 2 Light Cruisers, and 11 Destroyers had been spotted rounding the coast of Samar and was now bearing down on "Taffy 3" at high speed, the entire group executed a high-speed turn to the South to open the distance between the two forces. Making copious amounts of thick smoke to obscure her Carriers as they made their 17 knot top speed towards a nearby rain squall line, crew aboard Hoel readied their ship for battle against a Japanese surface force which while already having a clear advantage in numbers and firepower, contained the SuperBattleship HIJMS Yamato, which alone weighed more than all of the 13 ships comprising "Taffy 3" combined. Despite the seemingly insurmountable odds, Hoel and her fellow escorts got the Carriers into the relative safety of the squall line by 0700hrs and at 0706 Hoel's Captain, CDR Leon S. Kintberger, brought his ship around and charged the Japanese surface force.

Bending on her 35 knot top speed as she weaved through a rain of heavy caliber Japanese shellfire, Hoel, USS Samuel B. Roberts (DE-413) and USS Heermann (DD-532) closed in for a massed torpedo attack. Closing to within 14,000 yards from the Battleship HIJMS Kongō, Hoel's main battery opened fire and despite being out of range succeeded over the next several minutes in scoring several confirmed hits on the enemy ships superstructure while Hoel herself took a salvo of secondary battery fire in her own superstructure that knocked out communications aboard ship and caused several casualties. Launching half her available torpedoes into the Kongō's path at a distance of 9,000 yards, none of Hoel's shots found their mark but did succeed in causing the Battleship into evasive maneuvers that lessened her part in the now fully-engaged close-quarters sea battle, allowing Hoel to disengage and begin hunting for other targets.

Unfortunately for the gallant Destroyer and her crew, targets were numerous and had now fully enveloped her on both sides, with Battleships to Starboard and a line of Heavy Cruisers to Port. Left little choice but to fight, Hoel charged the Japanese Cruiser line for another torpedo attack but suffered a direct hit of a 6-inch salvo from the Yamato's secondary batteries that decimated her Stern, knocked out all of her rear gun batteries and disabled her aft engine. Slowing to 17 knots but still pressing her torpedo attack under increasingly accurate shellfire, Hoel's second salvo appeared to impact the Heavy Cruiser HIJMS Haguro, giving the battered ship and crew a brief cause for celebration as the Destroyer once again began to make smoke in an effort to conceal herself from Japanese gunners as she attempted to withdraw.

Despite her crews efforts to execute a fighting retreat, the slow-moving Hoel was still very much caught in a crossfire of Japanese Capital Ships and for the next hour the violently zigzagging Destroyer took a savage beating, absorbing over 40 shells of varying caliber before a final 8in shell from a Japanese Cruiser disabled her remaining engine at 0830hrs. Now stationary, heavily aflame and listing badly to Port, the Hoel continued to be shelled by Japanese ships from increasingly close range, prompting CDR Kintberger to order Hoel's few surviving crew to abandon ship as she rapidly flooded. With her last surviving crewman in the water by 0845hrs, Hoel capsized to Port and sank Stern-first while still under heavy fire at this location at 0855hrs on October 25th, 1944, making her the first of several ships from "Taffy 3" lost in what became known as the Battle off Samar. Of her 339 crew that went into battle against vastly superior Japanese forces, only 86 of Hoel's crew survived her loss.

For her and her crews' actions on the morning of October 25th, 1944, USS Hoel was awarded the Presidential Unit Citation and her fifth and final Battle Star for World War Two service.

www.navsource.org/archives/05/533.htm