Allied Warships

USS Gillespie (DD 609)

Destroyer of the Bristol class

Navy	The US Navy
Type	Destroyer
Class	Bristol
Pennant	DD 609
Built by	Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corp., (San Francisco, California, U.S.A.)
Ordered	16 Dec 1940
Laid down	16 Jun 1941
Launched	8 May 1942
Commissioned	18 Sep 1942
End service	17 Apr 1946
History	Decommissioned 17 April 1946. Stricken 1 July 1971. Sunk as a target off the coast of Puerto Rico 16 July 1973.

Commands listed for USS Gillespie (DD 609)

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	Commander	From	To
1	Lt.Cdr. Chester Lee Clement, USN	18 Sep 1942	10 Jun 1943
2	T/Cdr. John Southworth Fahy, USN	10 Jun 1943	6 Nov 1944
3	Lt.Cdr. Ervin Clinton Ogle, USN	6 Nov 1944	17 Apr 1946

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Notable events involving Gillespie include:

12 Apr 1943
USS Iowa (Capt. J.L. McCrea, USN) departed Gravesend Bay, New York to begin her sea trials. She was escorted by USS Gillespie (Cdr. C.C. Clement, USN), USS Dyson (Cdr. R.A. Gano, USN) and USS Brownson (Lt.Cdr. J.B. Maher, USN).

13 Apr 1943
USS Iowa (Capt. J.L. McCrea, USN) conducted sea trials off New York. She was escorted by USS Gillespie (Cdr. C.C. Clement, USN), USS Dyson (Cdr. R.A. Gano, USN) and USS Brownson (Lt.Cdr. J.B. Maher, USN).

14 Apr 1943
USS Iowa (Capt. J.L. McCrea, USN) departed New York for Hampton Roads, Virginia. She was escorted by USS Gillespie (Cdr. C.C. Clement, USN), USS Dyson (Cdr. R.A. Gano, USN) and USS Brownson (Lt.Cdr. J.B. Maher, USN).

23 May 1943
USS Iowa (Capt. J.L. McCrea, USN) departed Hampton Roads, Virginia for New York. She was escorted by USS Stevenson (Lt.Cdr. F.E. Wilson, USN), USS Stockton (Lt.Cdr. R.E. Braddy, Jr., USN) and USS Ringgold (Cdr. T.F. Conley, Jr., USN).

31 May 1943
USS Iowa (Capt. J.L. McCrea, USN) departed Gravesend Bay for Casco Bay, Maine. She was escorted by USS Hobby (Cdr. E. Blake, USN), USS Kalk (Cdr. C.T. Singleton, Jr., USN) and USS Gillespie (Cdr. C.C. Clement, USN).

15 Jul 1943
USS Iowa (Capt. J.L. McCrea, USN) conducted a full power trial off New York. During this trial run she was escorted by USS Stevens (Cdr. F.H. Ball, USN), USS Hudson (Cdr. W.R. Smedberg III, USN) and USS Ringgold (Cdr. T.F. Conley, Jr., USN).

2 Jan 1944
USS Iowa (Capt. J.L. McCrea, USN) departed Hampton Roads, Virginia for the Panama Canal Zone. Iowa is proceed to the Pacific.

Passage was made together with sister ship USS New Jersey (Capt. C.F. Holden, USN). The battleships were escorted by ComDesDiv 38; USS Welles (Cdr. D.M. Coffee, USN), USS Gillespie (Cdr. J.S. Fahy, USN), USS Hobby (Cdr. G.W. Pressy, USN) and USS Kalk (Lt.Cdr. H.D. Fuller, USN).

For the daily positions of USS Iowa during this passage see the map below.