View source for USS Rowe

{{Short description|Fletcher-class destroyer}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2022}}
{|{{Infobox ship begin}}
{{Infobox ship image
|Ship image=[[File:USS Rowe (DD-564).jpg|300px|USS Rowe in open sea.]]
|Ship caption=USS ''Rowe'' in open sea
}}
{{Infobox ship career
|Hide header=
|Ship country=United States
|Ship flag={{USN flag|1959}}
|Ship name=
|Ship namesake=John Rowe
|Ship ordered=
|Ship builder=[[Seattle-Tacoma Shipbuilding Corporation]]
|Ship laid down=7 December 1942
|Ship launched=30 September 1943
|Ship acquired=
|Ship commissioned=*13 March 1944 to 31 January 1947
*5 October 1951 to 6 November 1959
|Ship decommissioned=
|Ship in service=
|Ship out of service=
|Ship struck=1 December 1974
|Ship reinstated=
|Ship honours=
|Ship fate=Sunk as a target off the coast of [[Puerto Rico]] on 23 February 1978
|Ship notes=
}}
{{Infobox ship characteristics
|Hide header=
|Header caption=
|Ship class={{sclass|Fletcher|destroyer}}
|Ship displacement=2,050&nbsp;tons
|Ship length=376&nbsp;ft 6&nbsp;in (114.7&nbsp;m) 
|Ship beam=39&nbsp;ft 8&nbsp;in (12.1&nbsp;m)
|Ship draft=17&nbsp;ft 9&nbsp;in (5.4&nbsp;m)
|Ship propulsion=60,000&nbsp;shp (45&nbsp;MW); 2 propellers
|Ship speed=35 [[knot (unit)|knots]] (65&nbsp;km/h)
|Ship range=6500 [[nautical mile|nmi.]] (12,000&nbsp;km) @ 15&nbsp;kt
|Ship complement=329
|Ship sensors=
|Ship EW=
|Ship armament=*5 × [[5-inch/38-caliber gun|{{convert|5|in|mm|abbr=on}}]],
*4 × [[Bofors 40 mm L/60 gun|40 mm]] AA guns,
*4 × [[Oerlikon 20 mm cannon|20 mm]] AA guns,
*10 × [[American 21-inch torpedo|21 inch (533 mm)]] [[torpedo tube]]s,
*6 × [[depth charge]] projectors,
*2 × depth charge tracks 
|Ship armor=
|Ship aircraft=
|Ship aircraft facilities=
|Ship notes=
}}
|}

'''USS ''Rowe'' (DD-564)''' was a {{sclass|Fletcher|destroyer}} of the [[United States Navy]].

==Namesake==
John Rowe was appointed [[midshipman]] in the Navy on 2 December 1799. He volunteered for [[Lieutenant]] [[Stephen Decatur]]'s expedition into [[Tripoli, Libya|Tripoli]] Harbor during the [[First Barbary War]]. On 16 February 1804, {{USS|Intrepid|1798|6}}'s crew boarded and set fire to {{USS|Philadelphia|1799|6}}, destroying the [[frigate]], which had fallen into enemy hands. He was commissioned lieutenant on 21 March 1807 and resigned from the Navy on 27 August 1808.

==Construction and commissioning==
''Rowe'' was laid down 7 December 1942 by the [[Seattle-Tacoma Shipbuilding Co.]], [[Seattle, Wash.]]; [[Ship naming and launching|launched]] 30 September 1943; sponsored by Mrs. Louise Bradley Roberson; and [[ship commissioning|commissioned]] 13 March 1944.

== World War II ==
Following shakedown off San Diego, ''Rowe'' got underway for [[Pearl Harbor]] 24 May 1944. After 2 weeks of additional underway training in the Hawaiian Islands, she completed a round-trip escort run to [[Eniwetok]], 16 June to 2 July, and on 3 August 1944 sailed as [[flagship]] of Destroyer Squadron 57 (DesRon 57) for [[Adak, Alaska]], to report for duty with the [[U.S. 9th Fleet|9th Fleet]]. She engaged in underway training there, and participated in three strikes against the [[Kurils]]; [[Matsuwa To]] Island on 21 November 1944, [[Suribati Wan]] on 3 January 1945, and [[Kurabu Zaki]], [[Paramushiro]] Island on 18 February 1945. On 18 April, Destroyer Division 113 (DesDiv 113) was detached from the [[North Pacific Force]] and sailed for Pearl Harbor.

[[File:USS Rowe (DD-564) underway in 1944.jpg|thumb|left|''Rowe'' seen here in 1944.]]

Following repairs and training, ''Rowe'' sailed on 11 May for [[Ulithi]] with [[aircraft carrier]] [[USS Ticonderoga (CV-14)|''Ticonderoga'']] and her destroyer division. Arriving 22 May, she joined the [[U.S. 5th Fleet|5th Fleet]] for duty and a week later left Ulithi in convoy for [[Okinawa Island|Okinawa]]. Reaching the [[Ryukyus]] 2 June, ''Rowe'' began [[radar picket]] duty. Fifteen days later, with DesDiv 113, she escorted the [[battleship]] {{USS|Mississippi|BB-41|2}} out of [[Hagushi]] anchorage and steamed for the Philippines, reaching [[San Pedro Bay (Philippines)|San Pedro Bay]], [[Leyte Gulf]], 20 June.

Standing out of Leyte Gulf on 1 July, ''Rowe'' rendezvoused with [[Task Force 38]] (TF&nbsp;38) for screening and plane guard duties during attacks against the Japanese home islands—[[Honshū]], [[Shikoku]] and [[Hokkaidō]]. The first strike was launched on 10 July against airfields and installations in the vicinity of Tokyo. Temporarily detached on 23 July 1945, ''Rowe'' participated in the bombardment of the town of [[Ōmura, Nagasaki|Omura]] on [[Chichi Jima]], then rejoined the carrier force.

When the official [[Japanese Instrument of Surrender]] was signed in Tokyo Bay on 2 September 1945, ''Rowe'' was still steaming with Task Group 38.4 (TG&nbsp;38.4) in a patrol area east of Honshū Island, while the group's planes performed air observation missions over [[prisoner of war camp]]s. Following a round-trip run to Eniwetok, ''Rowe'' steamed out of Tokyo Bay 18 November for Pearl Harbor and the United States.

Touching at [[Naval Station San Diego|San Diego, Calif.]], ''Rowe'' transited the [[Panama Canal]] 17 December and reached [[Philadelphia Navy Yard|Philadelphia, Pa.]] 23 December. Arriving [[Charleston Navy Yard|Charleston, S.C.]] 20 March 1946, ''Rowe'' decommissioned 31 January 1947 and was berthed at Charleston as a unit of the [[Atlantic Reserve Fleet]].

== 1951–1959 ==
After almost 5 years, on 20 September 1951, ''Rowe'' was brought out of mothballs and recommissioned 5 October 1951. Following shakedown in the [[Guantanamo Bay Naval Base|Guantanamo Bay]] area, ''Rowe'' conducted shore bombardment exercises at [[Culebra Island]], Puerto Rico, and returned to [[Naval Station Norfolk|Norfolk, Va.]] 12 March 1952 for local operations with DesDiv 322. In July she steamed to [[Halifax (former city), Nova Scotia|Halifax]] returning to Charleston in late August for a yard availability.

Following further training exercises in the Caribbean in early 1953, she made a [[midshipman cruise]] to Europe during the summer, and, during the fall, she undertook hunter-killer [[antisubmarine warfare]] exercises with [[Task Force 81|Task Group 81.2]] in the Caribbean.

On 20 April 1954 ''Rowe'', with ComDesRon 32 embarked, got underway for duty in the Far East. Steaming via Panama, she reached [[U.S. Fleet Activities Yokosuka|Yokosuka]], Japan, 28 May 1954. Three days later she and [[USS Fechteler (DD-870)|''Fechteler'']] got underway for [[U.S. Fleet Activities Sasebo|Sasebo]], thence to [[Pusan]] for patrol duties. Arriving the same day, they relieved [[USS Douglas H. Fox (DD-779)|''Douglas H. Fox'']] and [[USS Laffey (DD-724)|''Laffey'']] on Korean patrol. On 4 June ''Rowe'' assisted crash boats and aircraft in a search for a United States Air Force plane that had crashed between Korea and Japan. Six members of the plane's crew and passengers were rescued. ''Rowe'' then towed an Air Force [[seaplane]], which was unable to take off in the rough seas, to port. On 28 August 1954, ''Rowe'' completed her tour with the [[U.S. 7th Fleet|Seventh Fleet]] and prepared for the homeward leg of her round-the-world journey. Steaming via Suez and the Mediterranean, the division arrived in Norfolk 28 October 1954.

[[File:USS Rowe (DD-564) underway, in the 1950s (NH 107254).jpg|thumb|''Rowe'' in the late 1950s.]]

The following months were spent in tender availability, upkeep, leave and local operations. On 20 June 1955, while conducting high-speed night carrier operations with [[USS Bennington (CV-20)|''Bennington'']], ''Rowe'' rescued a downed pilot. From 18 July through 19 September, ''Rowe'' participated in various CONVEX events and training exercises while operating with Commander, Anti-Submarine Warfare Forces, [[U.S. Atlantic Fleet|Atlantic Fleet]]. ''Rowe'' returned to Mediterranean duty on 5 November and served in the [[U.S. 6th Fleet|6th Fleet]] returning to Norfolk 26 February 1956.

In June and July 1956, ''Rowe'' conducted another midshipman cruise, then resumed operations out of Norfolk. Attached to the 6th Fleet, 21 October 1957 to 5 March 1958, ''Rowe'' returned to European waters in June to call at ports in Sweden and Germany. Back in Norfolk in early August, she operated off the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico coasts until decommissioned in November 1959 and berthed at Norfolk, where she remained until struck from the [[Navy Directory]] on 1 December 1974. 
<!--
DANFS says:     and sold for scrap on 11 February 1978.
NavSource says: Sunk as target off Puerto Rico 23 February 1978.
-->

==Honors==
''Rowe'' earned three [[battle star]]s for [[World War II]] service.

== References ==
*{{DANFS|http://www.history.navy.mil/research/histories/ship-histories/danfs/r/rowe.html}}

== External links ==
*{{navsource|05/564}}

{{Fletcher class destroyer}}
{{1978 shipwrecks}}

{{coord missing|Caribbean Sea}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rowe}}
[[Category:World War II destroyers of the United States|Rowe (DD-564)]]
[[Category:Cold War destroyers of the United States|Rowe (DD-564)]]
[[Category:Ships built in Seattle]]
[[Category:Shipwrecks in the Caribbean Sea]]
[[Category:Ships sunk as targets]]
[[Category:1943 ships]]
[[Category:Fletcher-class destroyers of the United States Navy|Rowe (DD-564)]]
[[Category:Maritime incidents in 1978]]