zoom in on model


January 20, 1944 – October 25, 1944

USS Samuel B. Roberts (DE-413)

Scale 1/192

Credit: Museum of Military Models, Clyde, Texas. Private Collection of Warren D. Harkins.

ON VIEW

General Characteristics

Class and type: John C. Butler-class destroyer escort

Displacement: 1,350 long tons (1,370 t)

Length: 306 ft (93 m)

Beam: 36 ft 8 in (11.18 m)

Draft: 9 ft 5 in (2.87 m)

Installed power: 12,000 shp (8,900 kW)

Propulsion:

2 Γ— geared steam turbines

2 Γ— boilers

2 Γ— shafts

Speed:

Designed: 24 kn (28 mph; 44 km/h)

Achieved: 28.7 kn (33.0 mph; 53.2 km/h)

Range: 6,000 nmi (11,000 km; 6,900 mi) @ 12 kn (22 km/h; 14 mph)

Complement: 14 officers, 201 enlisted

Sensors and processing systems:

SF multi-purpose radar

Armament:

2 Γ— single 5 in (127 mm) guns

2 Γ— twin 40 mm (1.6 in) AA guns

10 Γ— single 20 mm (0.79 in) AA guns

1 Γ— triple 21 in (533 mm) torpedo tubes

8 Γ— depth charge throwers

1 Γ— Hedgehog ASW mortar

2 Γ— depth charge racks

Description

USS Samuel B. Roberts (DE-413) was a John C. Butler-class destroyer escort of the United States Navy that served in World War II, the first of three U.S. Navy ships to bear the name.

Samuel B. Roberts was named after Coxswain Samuel Booker Roberts Jr., a Navy Cross recipient, who had been commended for voluntarily steering a Higgins boat towards enemy forces at Guadalcanal, in order to divert fire from evacuation efforts being undertaken by other friendly vessels. The ship was nicknamed the "Sammy B".

Samuel B. Roberts was sunk in the Battle off Samar, in which a small force of U.S. warships prevented a superior Imperial Japanese Navy force from attacking the amphibious invasion fleet off the Philippine island of Leyte. The ship was part of a relatively light flotilla of destroyers, destroyer escorts, and escort carriers called "Taffy 3" which was inadvertently left to fend off a fleet of heavily armed Japanese battleships, cruisers, and destroyers off the island of Samar during the Battle off Samar, one of the engagements making up the larger Battle of Leyte Gulf of October 1944.

Steaming through incoming shells, Samuel B. Roberts scored one torpedo hit and several shell hits on larger enemy warships before she was sunk. After the battle, Samuel B. Roberts received the appellation "the destroyer escort that fought like a battleship." As of June 2022, she is the deepest shipwreck discovered. Her last known survivor died on 20 March 2022.

USS Washington (BB-56) running post-overhaul trials in Puget Sound, Washington, on 10 September 1945. US Navy - Naval Historical Center; "Photograph from the en:Bureau of Ships Collection in the U.S. National Archives. 

Ownership & Province

  • FLAG

    Name: USS Samuel B. Roberts

    Namesake: Samuel Booker Roberts Jr.

    Builder: Brown Shipbuilding, Houston, Texas

    Laid Down: December 6, 1943

    Launched: January 20, 1944

    Commissioned: April 28, 1944

    Fate:

    Sunk during the Battle off Samar, October 25, 1944

    Shipwreck found, June 22, 2022

Honors & Awards

History & Related Content

Launch of Samuel B. Roberts on 30 January 1944. U.S. Navy photo NH 82850.

Service History

Samuel B. Roberts had a shakedown cruise off Bermuda from 21 May to 19 June 1944. After spending time at the Boston Navy Yard, Roberts departed for Norfolk, Virginia, on 7 July. Later that day, the ship presumably struck a whale, which bent her starboard propeller. Repairs were completed by 11 July. Roberts departed Norfolk on 22 July, going through the Panama Canal on 27 July. She joined the Pacific Fleet at Pearl Harbor on 10 August.

She conducted training exercises around the Hawaiian Islands and then steamed out on 21 August with a convoy reaching Eniwetok Atoll on 30 August. On 2 September, Roberts returned to Pearl Harbor, with a convoy arriving on 10 September. Following further training, the destroyer escort got underway on 21 September, escorted a convoy to Eniwetok, and arrived on 30 September.

Roberts next proceeded to Manus Island in the Admiralty Islands of the Southwest Pacific and then joined Task Unit 77.4.3, nicknamed "Taffy 3". From there she steamed to the Leyte Gulf area off the eastern Philippines. On arrival, she commenced operations with the Northern Air Support Group off the Island of Samar.

Battle Off Samar

Shortly after dawn on 25 October, Samuel B. Roberts was protecting Taffy 3's escort carriers whose aircraft were supporting the Army assault. The warships were steaming off the eastern coast of Samar when the Japanese Center Force, a 23-ship task force under the command of Vice Admiral Takeo Kurita, appeared on the horizon and opened fire. At 07:35, Roberts turned and headed toward the heavy cruiser Chōkai.

The commanding officer, Copeland, announced "We're making a torpedo run. The outcome is doubtful, but we will do our duty." With smoke as cover, Roberts steamed to within 2.5 nmi (4.6 km; 2.9 mi) of Chōkai, coming under fire from the cruiser's forward 8 in (203 mm) guns.

Roberts had moved so close that the enemy guns could not depress enough to hit her and when in torpedo range, Roberts launched three Mark 15 torpedoes, with one blowing off Chōkai's stern. Roberts fought with the Japanese ships for a further hour, firing more than six hundred 5 in (127 mm) shells, and while maneuvering at very close range, hitting Chōkai's superstructure with her 40 mm and 20 mm anti-aircraft guns.

At 08:51, the Japanese landed two hits, the second of which damaged the aft 5 in (127 mm) gun. This damaged gun suffered a breech explosion shortly thereafter which killed and wounded several crew members. With her remaining 5 in (127 mm) gun, Roberts set the bridge of the heavy cruiser Chikuma on fire and destroyed the Number Three gun turret. Roberts was then hit by three 14 in (356 mm) shells from the battleship Kongō, which tore a hole 40 ft (12 m) long and 10 ft (3 m) wide in the port side of her aft engine room.

At 09:35, the order was given to abandon ship. She sank 30 minutes later, with 90 of the crew dying. The 120 survivors of the crew clung to three life rafts for 50 hours before being rescued.

During the battle, Samuel B. Roberts, which was designed for 23–24 kn (43–44 km/h; 26–28 mph), managed 28.7 kn (53.2 km/h; 33.0 mph) by raising pressure to 660 pounds per square inch (4,600 kPa) and diverting all available steam to the ship's turbines.

Samuel B. Roberts was stricken from the Naval Vessel Register on 27 November 1944.

The wreck was discovered around 22 June 2022, at a depth of 6,895 meters (22,621 ft), at that time the deepest wreck ever identified.

Construction and Commissioning

Samuel B. Roberts was laid down on 6 December 1943, by the Brown Shipbuilding Company of Houston, Texas. She was launched on 20 January 1944, sponsored by the namesake's mother, Mrs. Anna Roberts. She was commissioned on 28 April 1944, commanded by Lieutenant Commander Robert W. Copeland, USNR.

Memorials

At the U.S. Naval Academy, in Alumni Hall, a concourse is dedicated to Lieutenant Lloyd Garnett and his shipmates on Samuel B. Roberts who earned their ship the reputation as the "destroyer escort that fought like a battleship" in the Battle of Leyte Gulf.

Within Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery federal military cemetery in the city of San Diego, California, there is a large granite memorial dedicated in 1995 to Samuel B. Roberts, and to the two U.S. destroyers also sunk in the action, Hoel and Johnston.

Successors

Two later U.S. warships have borne the name USS Samuel B. Roberts:

The second Samuel B. Roberts (DD-823), was a Gearing-class destroyer, commissioned in 1946 and struck in 1970.

The third Samuel B. Roberts (FFG-58), is an Oliver Hazard Perry-class guided missile frigate, commissioned in 1986 and decommissioned on 22 May 2015.

Discovery of wreck

An exploration team led by Victor Vescovo and made up of personnel of Caladan Oceanic, Deep Ocean Search, and EYOS Expeditions discovered the wreck of Samuel B. Roberts in June 2022. The team found, identified, and surveyed the wreck during a series of six dives conducted from 17 to 24 June 2022.

The team determined that the wreck reached the seabed in one piece, although it hit the sea floor bow first and with enough force to cause some buckling, and observed that the ship's stern had separated from the rest of the hull by about 5 meters (16 ft). The team reported that it had found evidence of damage to the ship inflicted by a Japanese battleship shell, including Samuel B. Roberts's fallen mast.

The wreck of Samuel B. Roberts lies at a depth of 6,895 meters (22,621 ft; 4.284 mi), making her the deepest known shipwreck and the deepest shipwreck ever identified by a crewed submersible. It exceeds the previous record of 6,469 meters (21,224 ft; 4.020 mi), set in March 2021 when Vescovo's team found and identified the wreck of the destroyer USS Johnston, which was sunk in the same battle.

This photo was taken from the submersible DSV Limiting Factor during the deepest shipwreck dive ever (6,895 meters) up until that time (June 22, 2022) by Pilot Victor Vescovo.

This photo was taken from the submersible DSV Limiting Factor during the deepest shipwreck dive ever (6,895 meters) up until that time (June 22, 2022) by Pilot Victor Vescovo.

Pilot House and 40mm gun mount. This photo was taken from the submersible DSV Limiting Factor during the deepest shipwreck dive ever (6,895 meters) up until that time (June 22, 2022) by Pilot Victor Vescovo. GM3 Paul H. Carr died at his post inside this gun mount.

Bow. This photo was taken from the submersible DSV Limiting Factor during the deepest shipwreck dive ever (6,895 meters) up until that time (June 22, 2022) by Pilot Victor Vescovo.

Pennant number 413 still visible. This photo was taken from the submersible DSV Limiting Factor during the deepest shipwreck dive ever (6,895 meters) up until that time (June 22, 2022) by Pilot Victor Vescovo and Sonar Operator Jeremie Morizet.

Sunken ship protection

The wreck of Samuel B. Roberts is protected from unauthorized disturbance by the Sunken Military Craft Act. A permit for archaeological, historical, or educational purposes can be requested from the Naval History and Heritage Command.

Bronze Service Star

1 Battle Star

Presidential Unit Citation

Presidential Unit Citation

Gunner's Mate 3rd Class Paul Carr.

Silver Star Ribbon

Silver Star Ribbon

Silver Star Medal & Ribbon

Gunner's Mate Third Class Paul H. Carr was in charge of Gun Mount 52, the aft 5 in (127 mm) gun, which had fired nearly all of its 325 stored rounds in 35 minutes before a round exploded in the gun's breech. Carr was found dying at his station from a severe intestinal wound, begging for help to load the last round he was holding into the breech. For his actions, he was posthumously awarded a Silver Star. A guided-missile frigate, USS Carr (FFG-52), was named for him.

The frigate USS Copeland (FFG-25) was named for the ship's commanding officer.