View source for USS Bush (DD-529)

{{Short description|Fletcher-class destroyer}}
{{other ships|USS Bush}}
{{Use American English|date=October 2024}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2024}}
{|{{Infobox ship begin}}
{{Infobox ship image
|Ship image=USS Bush-cropped-;0552905.jpg
|Ship caption=USS ''Bush'' (DD-529) off Mare Island, 11 June 1944 with camouflage Measure 32.
}}
{{Infobox ship career
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|Ship country=United States
|Ship flag={{USN flag|1945}}
|Ship name=''Bush''
|Ship namesake=[[William Sharp Bush]]
|Ship ordered=
|Ship builder=[[Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corporation]], San&nbsp;Francisco, California
|Ship laid down= 12 February 1942
|Ship launched=27 October 1942
|Ship acquired=
|Ship commissioned=10 May 1943
|Ship decommissioned=
|Ship in service=
|Ship out of service=
|Ship struck=
|Ship reinstated=
|Ship honours=
|Ship fate=Sunk by [[kamikazes]]<ref>Brown p. 144</ref> off [[Okinawa Island|Okinawa]], 6 April 1945
|Ship notes=
}}
{{Infobox ship characteristics
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|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 draught=
|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={{convert|35|kn|lk=in}}
|Ship range=6500 [[nautical mile|nmi.]] (12,000&nbsp;km) at 15&nbsp;kt
|Ship complement=336
|Ship sensors=
|Ship EW=
|Ship armament= {{Fletcher class destroyer armament}}
|Ship armour=
|Ship armor=
|Ship aircraft=
|Ship aircraft facilities=
|Ship notes=
}}
|}

'''USS ''Bush'' (DD-529)''', a {{sclass|Fletcher|destroyer}}, was the second ship of the [[United States Navy]] to be named for [[Lieutenant]] [[William Sharp Bush]], [[United States Marine Corps|USMC]], who served on the {{USS|Constitution||2}} during the [[War of 1812]].

''Bush'' was [[Ship naming and launching|launched]] 27 October 1942 by [[Bethlehem Steel]] Co., [[San Francisco, Calif.]], sponsored by Miss Marion Jackson, great-great-grandniece of Lieutenant Bush; and [[ship commissioning|commissioned]] 10 May 1943.

==Service history==
Between 29 July and 27 November 1943 ''Bush'' acted as a patrol and escort vessel in [[Alaskan]] waters. Arriving at [[Pearl Harbor]] 4 December 1943, she commenced operations as a patrol, escort, and fire support ship throughout the [[Pacific Ocean theater of World War II|Pacific]], from the [[Ellice Islands]] to [[New Guinea]], the [[Philippines]], and [[Okinawa Prefecture|Okinawa]]. She participated in
the [[Bismarck Archipelago]] operations, including
the [[Cape Gloucester (Papua New Guinea)|Cape Gloucester]],
[[New Britain]] landings and
the [[Admiralty Islands]] landings (26 December 1943 &ndash; 31 March 1944);
[[Saidor]], New Guinea, operations (18&ndash;21 January);
[[Morotai]] landings (15 September);
[[Leyte (island)|Leyte]] landings (20&ndash;24 October),
[[Luzon]] operation, including
the [[Mindoro]] and
[[Lingayen Gulf]] landings (12&ndash;18 December 1944 and 4&ndash;18 January 1945);
[[Iwo Jima]] operation (19 February&ndash;9 March); (in which She'd been tasked with escorting the USS Nashville, which had been carrying General [[Douglas MacArthur]]) and
the [[Okinawa Island|Okinawa]] operation (1&ndash;6 April).

On 1 November 1944, while operating in [[Leyte Gulf]] and during hours of continuous combat operations, ''Bush'' shot down two of ten [[Japan]]ese planes during a severe air attack. She was showered by flying shrapnel and suffered two men wounded, one of whom was its executive officer, Lt. P.A. "Tony" Lilly. "The destroyer Bush, on antisubmarine patrol in South Surigao Strait, fought a running battle with numerous planes all morning, beginning at 9:40 a.m., when she opened up on a Betty that came in on the ship’s starboard beam, dropped a torpedo, and swept off. Bush maneuvered to avoid the torpedo and hit the plane with her forty-millimeter guns. Four minutes later another Betty rushed the destroyer, and Bush, zigzagging furiously, dodged another torpedo and brought the plane down close to her side. A third, fourth, fifth, and sixth Betty pounced on the destroyer, as though she were the only ship on the high seas, the tail gunner of one plane strafing with his machine gun."<ref>The Sacred Warriors: Japan’s Suicide Legions, by Denis and Peggy Warner, Avon Books, 1984, 119.</ref>

''Bush'' was operating as [[radar picket ship]] off [[Okinawa Island|Okinawa]] 6 April 1945 and had splashed at least one plane when she was hit and subsequently sunk by three Japanese ''[[kamikaze]]s''. At 1515, the first plane hit at the deck level on the starboard side between number one and two stacks causing its bomb or torpedo to explode in the forward engine room. Although much damage was sustained the ship was not believed to be in severe danger and [[tugboat|tugs]] were requested. {{USS|Colhoun|DD-801|2}} was closing in to assist when she received the first of four hits by suicide planes and was so severely damaged that she had to be sunk by United States forces.

At 1725, a second ''kamikaze'' crashed into the port side of ''Bush''{{'}}s main deck between the stacks, starting a large fire and nearly severing the ship. At 1745, a third crashed onto the port side just above the main deck. Some of the ship's ammunition caught fire and began to explode. Although it was believed that she would break amidships, it was thought that both halves would be salvageable. However, an unusually heavy swell rocked the ship, and ''Bush'' began to cave in amidships. Other swells followed, and the ship was abandoned by her 227 survivors just before she folded and sank. 87 of her crew were lost.

==Awards==
''Bush'' received seven [[battle star]]s for her [[World War II]] service.

==References==
{{Reflist}}
*Brown, David. ''Warship Losses of World War Two.'' Arms and Armour, London, Great Britain, 1990. {{ISBN|0-85368-802-8}}.
*{{DANFS|http://www.history.navy.mil/research/histories/ship-histories/danfs/b/bush-ii.html}}
*Justice, George. ''WW2 Veteran Recounts Days in Battle.'' https://www.blueridgenow.com/story/news/2004/03/08/world-war-ii-veteran-recounts-days-in-battle/28149125007

==External links==
{{Commons and category|USS Bush (DD-529)}}
* {{official website}}
*[http://www.navsource.org/archives/05/529.htm navsource.org: USS ''Bush'']
*[http://www.hazegray.org/danfs/destroy/dd529txt.htm hazegray.org: USS ''Bush'']

{{Fletcher class destroyer}}
{{April 1945 shipwrecks}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Bush}}
[[Category:World War II destroyers of the United States|Bush (DD-529)]]
[[Category:Ships built in San Francisco]]
[[Category:World War II shipwrecks in the Pacific Ocean]]
[[Category:1942 ships]]
[[Category:Fletcher-class destroyers of the United States Navy|Bush (DD-529)]]
[[Category:Ships sunk by kamikaze attack]]
[[Category:Maritime incidents in April 1945]]
[[Category:Destroyers sunk by aircraft]]