USS Samuel B. Roberts (DE-413)

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 July 11. 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.

Samuel B. Roberts conducted training exercises around the Hawaiian Islands, and then steamed out on 21 August with a convoy that reached Eniwetok Atoll on 30 August. On 2 September, Roberts steamed back to Pearl Harbor, arriving there with a convoy 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, and upon arrival, she commenced operations with the Northern Air Support Group off the Island of Samar.

The Battle off Samar

Main article: Battle off Samar

Shortly after dawn on 25 October, Samuel B. Roberts was protecting Taffy 3's small escort carriers. These were serving as bases for small bombers and fighters that were supporting the Army assault. These 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—suddenly appeared on the horizon and opened fire. At 07:35, Roberts turned and headed toward the battle. She charged 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 the shells simply passed overhead. Many hit the carrier Gambier Bay. Once within torpedo range, she launched her three Mark 15 torpedoes. One blew off Chōkai's stern. The American sailors cheered, "That a way, Whitey, we hit 'em," as if it were a ballgame, as shells were still incoming. Roberts then 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, mauling Chōkai's superstructure with her 40 mm (1.6 in) and 20 mm (0.79 in) 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, before being hit by three 14 in (356 mm) shells from the battleship Kongō. The shells tore a hole 40 ft (12 m) long and 10 ft (3 m) wide in the port side of her aft engine room.

Gunner's Mate 3rd Class Paul Carr

Gunner's Mate Third Class Paul H. Carr was in charge of the aft 5 in (127 mm) gun mount, which had fired nearly all of its 325 stored rounds in 35 minutes before a breech explosion. 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. He had scored a great many hits on the heavy cruiser Chokai, also sunk that day. He was posthumously awarded a Silver Star, and a guided missile frigate was later named for him.[3] The guided missile frigates Samuel B. Roberts and Copeland were also named for the ship and its captain. At 09:35, the order was given to abandon ship. She sank 30 minutes later, with 90 of her sailors.

The 120 survivors of the crew clung to three life rafts for 50 hours before being rescued.

During the battle, Samuel B. Roberts—designed for 23–24 kn (43–44 km/h; 26–28 mph)—reached 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 twin turbines.[4]

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

Samuel B. Roberts was included in the Presidential Unit Citation given to Task Unit 77.4.3 "for extraordinary heroism in action." Samuel B. Roberts earned one battle star for her World War II service.

• 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, Hoel and Johnston.

Three ships of the United States Navy have borne the name USS Samuel B. Roberts, in honor of 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 May 22, 2015.

The television show Star Trek Deep Space 9 featured a starship named "Samuel B. Roberts" in the 1999 episode "What You Leave Behind". The Miranda-class cruiser appears briefly as a background ship during the final battle of the Dominion War.

The ship has been subject of scale model kits:

• ​¹⁄₇₀₀ scale plastic model kit, by PitRoad/Skywave.[5]
• ​¹⁄₁₆″ scale wood model kit by BlueJacket Shipcrafters, Inc.[6]

• This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be found here.
• "Samuel B. Roberts". Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. Retrieved 3 February 2007.
• Drooker, Arthur (writer/producer) (2007). Dogfights: Death of the Japanese Navy (Television series). United States: The History Channel.
• Lost Evidence of the Pacific: The Battle of Leyte Gulf. History Channel. TV. Based on book by Hornfischer, James D. (2004). The Last Stand of the Tin Can Sailors.
• Wukovits, John (2013). For Crew and Country: The Inspirational True Story of Bravery and Sacrifice Aboard the USS Samuel B. Roberts. St. Martin's Press. ISBN 0312681895.

• Copeland, RADM Robert W. (with O'Neill, Jack E.) (2007). The Spirit of the Sammy B (reprint ed.). USS Samuel B. Roberts Survivors Association.CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
• Cox, Robert Jon (2010). The Battle Off Samar: Taffy III at Leyte Gulf (5th Edition). Agogeebic Press, LLC. ISBN 0-9822390-4-1.
• Cutler, Thomas. The Battle of Leyte Gulf: 23–26 October 1944. ISBN.
• Doscher, J. Henry Jr. (1996). Little Wolf at Leyte: The Story of the Heroic USS Samuel B. Roberts (DE-413) in the Battle of Leyte Gulf During World War II. Eakin Press. ISBN 1-57168-082-9.
• Hornfischer, James D. (2004). The Last Stand of the Tin Can Sailors. Bantam. ISBN 0-553-80257-7.
• Samuel Eliot Morison, History of United States Naval Operations in World War II, Volume 12, Leyte.

• Captain Copeland's memoirs
• DE 413 timeline
• The Samuel B. Roberts Survivors Association
• The Battle Off Samar - Taffy III at Leyte Gulf website by Robert Jon Cox
• Describing shipborn radar units of the United States