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USS ''Samuel B. Roberts'' (DE-413) was a destroyer escort of the United States Navy. ''Samuel B. Roberts'' participated in the Battle off Samar, an unlikely victory in which relatively light U.S. warships prevented a superior Japanese force from attacking the amphibious invasion fleet off the large Philippine island of Leyte. This destroyer escort, along with the handful of destroyers, destroyer escorts, and escort carriers of the unit called "Taffy 3", was inadvertently left alone to fend off a fleet of heavily armed Japanese battleships, cruisers, and destroyers in this crucial action off the Island of Samar, during the Battle of Leyte Gulf of October 1944. Steaming aggressively through a gauntlet of incoming shells, ''Samuel B. Roberts'' scored one torpedo hit and numerous gunfire hits as she slugged it out with larger enemy warships before finally being sunk. After the battle, ''Samuel B. Roberts'' received the nickname "the destroyer escort that fought like a battleship." The ship was named for Coxswain Samuel Booker Roberts, Jr., a Navy Cross recipient, who had been commended for steering a Higgins boat towards much-heavier ships, in order to divert fire from other boats. ''Samuel B. Roberts'' was laid down on 6 December 1943, at the Brown Shipbuilding Company of Houston, Texas. She was launched on 20 January 1944, sponsored by Mrs. Roberts, and was commissioned on 28 April 1944, commanded by Lieutenant Commander Robert W. Copeland, USNR. She was the first of three U.S. Navy ships to bear her name. ==Service history== ''Samuel B. Roberts'' had a shakedown cruise off Bermuda from 21 May – 19 June. After spending time at Boston Navy Yard, her port propeller shaft struck a large whale off the coast of Maine while sailing on her way to Europe. This damaged her propeller shaft and delayed her deployment. Following repairs and repainting in Norfolk, Virginia, ''Roberts'' departed 22 July going through the Panama Canal 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. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「USS Samuel B. Roberts (DE-413)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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