Allied Warships

USS Cooper (DD 695)

Destroyer of the Allen M. Sumner class

Navy	The US Navy
Type	Destroyer
Class	Allen M. Sumner
Pennant	DD 695
Built by	Federal Shipbuilding & Drydock Co. (Kearny, New Jersey, U.S.A.)
Ordered	7 Aug 1942
Laid down	30 Aug 1943
Launched	9 Feb 1944
Commissioned	27 Mar 1944
Lost	3 Dec 1944
Loss position	10° 54'N, 124° 36'E

History	During a naval attack in Ormoc Bay, Leyte, USS Cooper was with the USS Allen M. Sumner (DD 692) and USS Moale (DD 693) when a torpedo from the Japanese destroyer Take hit the Cooper on her starboard side, breaking her in two. Cooper sank almost instantly in position 10°54'N, 124°36'E , killing 191 crewmen. 168 men were rescued by PBY Catalina flying boats which includes the Commanding officer Cdr. Mell Andrew Peterson, USN, apparently all the crew were wounded or injured as a result of the sinking.

Commands listed for USS Cooper (DD 695)

Please note that we're still working on this section
and that we only list Commanding Officers for the duration of the Second World War.

	Commander	From	To
1	T/Cdr. John William Schmidt, USN	27 Mar 1944	21 Oct 1944
2	T/Cdr. Mell Andrew Peterson, USN	21 Oct 1944	3 Dec 1944

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Notable events involving Cooper include:

23 Jul 1944
USS Cooper departed from Boston bound for the Pacific.

4 Sep 1944
USS Cooper arrived at Pearl Harbor.

23 Oct 1944
USS Cooper departed from Pearl Harbor bound for Ulithi.

5 Nov 1944
USS Cooper arrived at Ulithi.

29 Nov 1944
USS Cooper arrived at San Pedro Bay, Philippines.

2 Dec 1944
USS Allen M. Sumner (Cdr. Norman John Sampson), USS Moale (Cdr. Walter Manly Foster) and USS Cooper (Cdr Mell Andrew Peterson) depart from San Pedro Bay for a raid in Ormoc Bay.

3 Dec 1944
In Ormoc Bay USS Allen M. Sumner (Cdr. Norman John Sampson), USS Moale (Cdr. Walter Manly Foster) and USS Cooper (Cdr Mell Andrew Peterson) battle with the Japanese escort destroyers Kuwa and Take (both offsite links). During this battle USS Cooper sank the Kuwa in position 10°50'N, 124°35'E with gunfire but Cooper herself is sunk in position 10°54'N, 124°36'E by a torpedo from Take. Moale is damaged by gunfire during this action as is the Japanese Take.

Around 0145 hours the two remaining US destroyers retired from Ormoc Bay bound for San Pedro Bay where they arrived later that day.