View source for USS Coolbaugh

{{Short description|Buckley-class destroyer escort}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2021}}
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{{Infobox ship image
|Ship image= USS Coolbaugh (DE-217) underway at sea, in 1959 (USN 1038488).jpg
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{{Infobox ship career
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|Ship country=United States
|Ship flag= {{USN flag|1960}}
|Ship name=USS ''Coolbaugh''
|Ship namesake=Walter W. Coolbaugh
|Ship ordered= 1942
|Ship builder=[[Philadelphia Navy Yard]], [[Philadelphia]], [[Pennsylvania]]
|Ship laid down= 22 February 1943
|Ship launched= 29 May 1943
|Ship acquired=
|Ship commissioned= 15 October 1943
|Ship decommissioned= 21 February 1960
|Ship in service=
|Ship out of service=
|Ship struck= 1 July 1972
|Ship renamed=
|Ship reclassified= 
|Ship homeport=
|Ship motto=
|Ship nickname=
|Ship honors=3 [[battle star]]s (World War II)
|Ship fate=Sold for scrap, 17 August 1973
|Ship notes=
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{{Infobox ship characteristics
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|Header caption=
|Ship class= {{sclass|Buckley|destroyer escort}}
|Ship displacement=*{{convert|1400|LT|t|0|abbr=on}} standard
*{{convert|1740|LT|t|0|abbr=on}} full load
|Ship length= {{convert|306|ft|m|abbr=on}}
|Ship beam= {{convert|37|ft|m|abbr=on}}
|Ship draft=*{{convert|9|ft|6|in|m|abbr=on}} standard
*{{convert|11|ft|3|in|m|abbr=on}} full load
|Ship depth=
|Ship hold depth=
|Ship propulsion=*2 × boilers
*[[General Electric]] [[turbo-electric]] drive
*{{convert|12000|shp|MW|abbr=on}}
*2 × solid manganese-bronze {{convert|3600|lb|abbr=on}} 3-bladed propellers, {{convert|8|ft|6|in|m|abbr=on}} diameter, {{convert|7|ft|7|in|m|abbr=on}} pitch
*2 × rudders
*359 tons fuel oil
|Ship speed= {{convert|23|kn|lk=in}}
|Ship range=*{{convert|3700|nmi|km|abbr=on}} at {{convert|15|kn|abbr=on}}
*{{convert|6000|nmi|km|abbr=on}} at {{convert|12|kn|abbr=on}}
|Ship complement=15 officers, 198 men
|Ship armament=*3 × [[3"/50 caliber gun]]s
*1 × quad [[1.1"/75 caliber gun]]
*8 × single [[Oerlikon 20 mm cannon|20 mm guns]]
*1 × triple [[American 21-inch torpedo|21-inch (533 mm)]] [[torpedo tube]]s
*1 × [[Hedgehog (weapon)|Hedgehog]] [[anti-submarine mortar]]
*8 × [[Depth charge#Delivery mechanisms|K-gun]] depth charge projectors
*2 × depth charge tracks
|Ship armor=
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'''USS ''Coolbaugh'' (DE-217)''' was a {{sclass|Buckley|destroyer escort}} in service with the [[United States Navy]] from 1943 to 1960. She was scrapped in 1973.

==Namesake==
''Coolbaugh'' was named in honor of [[Lieutenant, junior grade|Lieutenant (junior grade)]] Walter Wesley Coolbaugh. He was born on 1 August 1914 in [[Ransom, Pennsylvania]]. He enlisted in the [[United States Naval Reserve]] for [[aviation]] training on 14 November 1940. Serving in a scouting squadron in the Pacific, he received the [[Navy Cross (United States)|Navy Cross]] for his conduct in the [[Battle of the Coral Sea]] in May 1942. Coolbaugh was promoted to [[lieutenant (junior grade)]] on 1 October 1942, and lost his life in an aircraft accident on 19 December 1942.

==History==
USS ''Coolbaugh'' was launched 29 May 1943 by [[Philadelphia Navy Yard]]; sponsored by Mrs. A. Coolbaugh; and commissioned 15 October 1943.

===World War II, 1943&ndash;1945===
After escorting merchantmen across the [[Pacific]], ''Coolbaugh'' reached [[Efate]] 8 February 1944, and at once began to serve on patrol and as escort in the [[Solomon Islands|Solomons]]. She joined in the [[Landing on Emirau|invasion of Emirau Island]] from 9 to 16 April, and on several occasions voyaged to [[Manus Island|Manus]], Emirau, and [[Eniwetok]] on escort duty.

''Coolbaugh'' arrived at Manus 10 October 1944 to join the [[United States Seventh Fleet|7th Fleet]], and put to sea two days later for pre-invasion air strikes on [[Leyte Island|Leyte]] which began on 18 October. She guarded the [[escort aircraft carrier|escort carrier]]s as they covered the landings and as they gallantly defied the efforts of a strong [[Japan]]ese surface force to break up the landings in the [[Battle off Samar]], phase of the decisive [[Battle of Leyte Gulf]] on 25 October, and next day saved 91 men thrown overboard when {{USS|Suwanee|CVE-27|3}} was damaged by [[kamikaze]]. ''Coolbaugh'' escorted ''Suwanee'' to safety at Manus.

Between 19 and 27 November 1944, ''Coolbaugh'' screened escort carriers as they provided air cover for convoys supplying forces in [[Leyte Gulf]], and then sailed to [[New Guinea]] to prepare for the [[Invasion of Lingayen Gulf|Lingayen assault]]. Through January and February 1945, she screened transports carrying reinforcements to [[Lingayen Gulf]], serving on patrol within the gulf during each such voyage. Between 28 February and 4 March, she sailed from [[Ulithi]] to [[Iwo Jima]] to carry away men who had made the original landings, upon their relief by other forces. She returned to Iwo Jima to patrol off the island until 27 March, when she cleared for [[Pearl Harbor]].

''Coolbaugh'' provided escort and other services to ships training in the [[Hawaiian Islands]] until 4 September 1945, when she arrived at [[San Francisco]] for overhaul and training on the west coast.

===Post-war operations, 1946&ndash;1960===
Early in January 1946, she arrived at [[Newport, Rhode Island]], her assigned homeport, and began local operations in submarine training and other exercises. On 25 January she aided in providing electric power for [[Block Island]], where the powerhouse had been damaged in a fire. Continuing her coastwise and [[Caribbean]] operations, she acted as [[plane guard]] during [[anti-submarine]] exercises, was schoolship for the [[Fleet Sonar School]] at [[Key West]], Florida, and during the summer of 1954 called at ports in [[Ireland]] and [[England]] on a [[midshipman]] training cruise. Summer 1956 found her again on this duty.

Assigned permanently to the Fleet Sonar School at Key West on 22 August 1957, ''Coolbaugh'' thereafter operated primarily in [[Florida]] waters, often cruising with members of the [[United States Naval Reserve|Naval Reserve]] on board for training. She was decommissioned 21 February 1960 at [[Saint Petersburg, Florida]], and placed in service until 26 May, when she was placed out of service in reserve.

==Awards==
''Coolbaugh'' received three [[battle star]]s for [[World War II]] service.

== References ==
{{DANFS|https://www.history.navy.mil/content/history/nhhc/research/histories/ship-histories/danfs/c/coolbaugh.html}}

== External links ==
{{Commons category|USS Coolbaugh (DE-217)}}
* {{navsource|06/217|USS Coolbaugh}}

{{Buckley class destroyer escort}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Coolbaugh}}
[[Category:Buckley-class destroyer escorts]]
[[Category:Ships built in Philadelphia]]
[[Category:World War II frigates and destroyer escorts of the United States]]
[[Category:1943 ships]]