USSRall (DE-304) was anEvarts-classdestroyer escort of theUnited States Navy duringWorld War II. She was sent off into thePacific Ocean to protectconvoys and other ships fromJapanesesubmarines and fighteraircraft. She performed escort andanti-submarine operations in dangerous battle areas and returned home with three battle stars.

History
United States
Name	USSRall
Builder	Mare Island Navy Yard
Laid down	24 May 1943
Launched	23 September 1943
Commissioned	8 April 1944
Decommissioned	11 December 1945
Stricken	3 January 1946
Honors and awards	3battle stars (World War II)
Fate	Sold for scrapping, 18 March 1947
General characteristics
Type	Evarts-classdestroyer escort
Displacement	1,140 long tons (1,158 t) standard 1,430 long tons (1,453 t) full
Length	289 ft 5 in (88.21 m)o/a 283 ft 6 in (86.41 m)w/l
Beam	35 ft 2 in (10.72 m)
Draft	11 ft (3.4 m) (max)
Propulsion	4 ×General Motors Model 16-278Adiesel engines with electric drive, 6,000 shp (4,474 kW) 2screws
Speed	19knots (35 km/h; 22 mph)
Range	4,150 nmi (7,690 km)
Complement	15 officers and 183 enlisted
Armament	3 × single3"/50 Mk.22dual purpose guns 1 × quad1.1"/75 Mk.2 AA gun 9 ×20 mm Mk.4 AA guns 1 ×Hedgehog Projector Mk.10 (144 rounds) 8 × Mk.6depth charge projectors 2 × Mk.9 depth charge tracks

She was laid down on 24 May 1943; launched on 23 September byMare Island Naval Shipyard,Vallejo, California; sponsored by Mrs. R. R. Rall, widow of Lieutenant (junior grade) Rall; and commissioned on 8 April 1944.

Followingshakedown and training exercises off theCalifornia coast in April and May,Rall departedSan Francisco,California, on 9 June, escortingUSS City of Dalhart (IX-156), and arrived atPearl Harbor on 18 June. For the next three months, she supported the Pacific Submarine Training Command.

On 23 September 1944, thedestroyer escort sortied from Pearl Harbor to escort troop ships carrying the occupation force forUlithiAtoll. Thetask group arrived atUlithi on 8 October and spent the remainder of the month on patrol and escort missions there and in thePalaus.

In the early weeks of November, the destroyers served in an escort group protecting theoilers ofTask Group 30.8, which supported the assault ships at theLeyte Gulf landings. During this duty she rode out heavy weather from atyphoon with no serious damage.

On 20 November a Japanese midgetsubmarinetorpedoed and sank oilerMississinewa (AO-59) inUlithiLagoon. Layingdepth charge patterns at the site of swirls in the calm water of the lagoon,Rall was credited with sinking the submarine when debris and bodies surfaced.

Following patrol duties in early December,Rall andHalloran (DE-305) escorted two escort carriers to theAdmiralty Islands, then returned toUlithi. On 14 DecemberRall with other ships sortied from that atoll and arrived inHawaii in time forChristmas.

After invasion rehearsals atMaui andKahoolawe preparatory to theIwo Jima assault,Rall got underway 26 February 1945 as a unit of the escort group convoying thegarrison troops for the occupation of that island. The transports and their escorts arrived on 21 March and landed the Army occupation units.Rall then escorted the transport group carrying assault troops back toSaipan. From there she proceeded toEspiritu Santo,New Hebrides, arriving on 19 March.

Assigned as a screening ship for the transports carrying the Floating Reserve, the27th Infantry Division, for theOkinawa invasion,DE-304 sortied fromEspiritu Santo on 25 March forUlithi and theRyukyus. En route, theconvoy made an unidentified submarine contact, andRall's lookout spotted a floating mine in the convoy path and detonated it by gunfire. Thetask group arrived offOkinawa on 9 April, andRall took a screening station about 10 miles southeast ofIe Shima. The next few days were quiet except for air raid alerts.

At 1925 on 12 April 1945, the ship went toGeneral Quarters. During the next three hours, 14 separate air attacks were tracked into the area, as the "Divine Wind" brought death and damage to the American invasion fleet offOkinawa. A raid of five Japanese planes approachedRall's sector. The destroyer escort's gunners commenced firing, splashing three of thekamikazes. A fourth was destroyed by acruiser, but the fifth broke through the fiery screen, and the plane, damaged and aflame hit the escort on thestarboard side aft. A 500-pound bomb slung beneath the plane tore through the ship, exploding in the air about 15 feet from the port side. The explosion and fire from the suicide plane, combined withstrafing attacks from another wave of fighters, resulted in heavy damage, 21 dead and 38 wounded. Promptdamage control action extinguished the fires and temporary repairs were commenced.Rall entered theHagushi Beach anchorage and moored alongsidePinkney (APH-2), where most of the wounded were transferred. The dead were removed the next morning for burial onOkinawa.

After initial repairs,ComCortDiv 61 shifted his pennant toFinnegan (DE-307), and theRall departed for theKerama Retto anchorage on 15 April. She was ordered on toUlithi, arriving there on 23 April. Following additional structural repairs, she left Ulithi for the last time and arrived atSeattle, Washington, on 18 May.

Following repairs and overhaul, the ship headed forSan Diego, California, on 12 July. Upon completion of underway refresher training,Rall left San Diego on 28 July, arriving Pearl Harbor on 5 August. Training occupied the time until 3 September, whenRall sailed for theeast coast proceeding viaSan Pedro, Los Angeles, and thePanama Canal.

ArrivingCharleston Navy Yard on 24 September, she was decommissioned on 11 December 1945, and struck from theNaval Vessel Register on 3 January 1946. Her hulk was sold for scrap on 18 March 1947.

Rall earned threebattle stars forWorld War II service.

•   This article incorporates text from thepublic domainDictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be foundhere.

• Photo gallery of USSRall (DE-304) at NavSource Naval History