USS O'NEILL DE 188
Ship History, Crew List and Ports of Call

Information submitted by Leonard R. Homan, S2/C, Plankowner.
Mr. Homan has donated the O'Neill Deck Logs to the USS Slater DE 766 museum.
 

*Special thanks to web volunteers Robert "Bob" Regan and James "Jim" Moore for transcribing this information*

Ship History

DE-188:dp. 1,620 (f.); l. 306’; b. 36’7”; dr. 11’8”; s. 21k.;cpl. 216; a. 3 3”50cal; 6 40 mm
Class: Cannon

USS O'Neill (Destroyer Escort 188), hereinafter referred to as O'Neill, was constructed in 1943 by Federal Shipbuilding and Drydock Corporation at Port Newark New Jersey. With appropriate ceremony the ship was launched November 14, 1943 and christened by Mrs. W.T. O'Neill in honor of her son, Ensign William Thomas O'Neill, Jr., United States Naval Reserve, who was killed December 7, 1941 at Pearl Harbor, T.H. while serving aboard USS ARIZONA (BB-39).

William Thomas O’Neill, Jr., was born 28 November 1914 in Stanford, Connecticut. On 17 July 1940, he enlisted in the U.S. Naval Reserve as Apprentice Seaman at New York City. He performed his active duty for training aboard the Battleship USS NEW YORK (BB-34). On 16 September 1940, he was appointed Midshipman, USNR, and completed training at Abbott Hall, Northwestern University, Chicago, Ill.

O’Neill was commissioned Ensign on 12 December 1940 and assigned to Battleship USS ARIZONA (BB39) for duty on 29 December 1940.

O'Neill was placed in commission at the U.S. Navy Yard, New York, N.Y., on December 6, 1943 by Rear Admiral Monroe Kelly, USN Commandant of the Yard. Lieutenant David S. Bill, Jr.,USN, of Norfolk,Virginia, assumed command.

After a shakedown cruise to Bermuda, B.W.I., O’NEILL reported to the U.S. Atlantic Fleet for duty. The first major assignment was a convoy operation from New York, N.Y. to the United Kingdom on which O’Neill put into port at Londonderry, North Ireland. This operation was followed by a series of similar activities in which O’NEILL shepherded convoys between United States ports and Casablanca, French Morocco; Bizerte; Tunisia; and Belfast, North Ireland. All Five trans-Atlantic crossings were successfully completed without the loss of a single ship in any of the convoys guarded.

On October 31, 1944, O’NEILL transited the Panama Canal and reported to the U.S. Pacific Fleet for duty. Arriving in the forward area in December, O’NEILL joined the Third Fleet under Admiral William F. Halsey, USN, and took part in the operations which culminated in the reconquest of Luzon, Philippine Islands. In this operation O’NEILL served with Task Group 30.8 which consisted of fleet oilers, reserve aircraft carriers, and escort vessels.

In February 1945, O’NEILL became a unit of the Fifth Fleet under the command of Admiral Raymond F. Spruance, USN, and served as an escort for the transports which landed the Third Marine Division at Iwo Jima. This landing was accomplished on February 24th, and there after O’NEILL served in the anti-submarine screen around the island.

After a trip south across the equator to Milne Bay, New Guinea, O’NEILL joined the force assigned for the invasion of Okinawa, Nansei Shoto. The initial landings were made on Easter Sunday, April 1, 1945. In the prolonged fight for the island, O’NEILL served almost continuously for 60 days as an anti-submarine picket shooting down a Japanese two-engined bomber on May 4th, and being hit by a suicide plane on May 25th. On the latter occasion two men were killed and seventeen were wounded.

On June 16, 1945, Lieutenant Bill (then Lieutenant Commander Bill) was relieved as Commanding Officer by Lieutenant Newman A. Townsend, Jr., USNR, of Lenoir, North Carolina. Shortly there after, O’NEILL returned to San Pedro, California for battle damage and major overhaul. While O’NEILL was in San Pedro the war with Japan came to an end.

Upon completion of repairs and overhaul, O’NEILL again transited the Panama Canal and reported to U.S. Atlantic Fleet. It was directed to proceed to St. Johns River, Florida where the ship will be decommissioned and placed in reserve.

While serving on O’NEILL the following named men gave their lives in defense of their country:
Maurice Lee Plant, Radioman First Class, USNR of Sidney, Indiana
Lawrence Robert Costello, Gunners Mate First Class of Bronx, New York
Donald Lee Ross Domer, Coxswain, USNR of waterloo, Iowa

O’NEILL was placed out of commission in reserve on 2 May 1946 and berthed at Green Cove Springs, Fla., until 23 October 1950, at which time she was transferred to the Netherlands under the Mutual Defense Assistance Program. O’NEILL was struck from the U.S. Naval Register on 20 December 1950. After operating as destroyer escort DUBOIS (F 809) she was returned to the USN in December 1967, and sold to a scrap yard in West Germany in February 1968.

Crew List 
 

*Special thanks to web volunteer Bill Beetle for transcribing the following information*

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