Editing USS Roper

{{Short description|Wickes-class destroyer}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2022}}
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|Ship image=[[Image:USS Roper (DD-147) escorting a convoy, in 1942 (80-G-K-1063).jpg|300px|USS ''Roper'' (DD-147)]]
|Ship caption=
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{{Infobox ship career
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|Ship country=United States
|Ship flag={{USN flag|1945}}
|Ship name=
|Ship namesake=[[Jesse M. Roper]]
|Ship ordered=
|Ship builder=[[William Cramp & Sons]], [[Philadelphia]]
|Ship yard number=462
|Ship laid down=19 March 1918
|Ship launched=17 August 1918
|Ship acquired=
|Ship commissioned=15 February 1919
|Ship decommissioned=14 December 1922
}}
{{Infobox ship career
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|Ship recommissioned=18 March 1930
|Ship decommissioned=15 September 1945
|Ship in service=
|Ship out of service=
|Ship struck=11 October 1945
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|Ship honors=
|Ship fate=Sold for scrapping 31 March 1946 Scrapped&nbsp;December&nbsp;1946
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|Ship class={{sclass|Wickes|destroyer}}
|Ship displacement=1,090 tons
|Ship length=314 ft 5 in (95.83 m)
|Ship beam=31 ft 8 in (9.65 m)
|Ship draft=9 ft 10 in (3 m)
|Ship propulsion=
|Ship speed=35 knots (65 km/h)
|Ship range=
|Ship complement=101 officers and enlisted
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|Ship armament=4&nbsp;×&nbsp;[[4"/50 caliber gun|{{convert|4|in|mm|abbr=on}}]], 2&nbsp;×&nbsp;[[3"/23 caliber gun|{{convert|3|in|mm|abbr=on}}]], 12 × [[American 21 inch torpedo|21 inch (533 mm)]] [[torpedo tube]]s
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'''USS ''Roper'' (DD-147)''' was a [[Wickes-class destroyer|''Wickes''-class]] [[destroyer]] in the [[United States Navy]], later converted to a [[high-speed transport]] and redesignated '''APD-20'''.

She was named for [[Lieutenant Commander]] [[Jesse M. Roper]], commanding officer of {{USS|Petrel|PG-2|2}}, who died in 1901 while attempting to rescue a member of his crew.  As of 2016, no other ships in the United States Navy have borne this name.

==Construction==
''Roper'''s keel was laid down on 19 March 1918 by [[William Cramp & Sons]], of [[Philadelphia]]. She was [[ship naming and launching|launched]] on 17 August 1918 sponsored by Mrs. Jesse M. Roper, widow of Lieutenant Commander Roper, and [[ship commissioning|commissioned]] on 15 February 1919.<ref name=DANFS>[[Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships]]. [https://www.history.navy.mil/research/histories/ship-histories/danfs/r/roper.html Roper]. Accessed 27 January 2015.</ref> ''Roper'' was the first United States Navy warship to sink a German submarine during World War II.

==Service history==

===Interwar period===
Following shakedown off the [[New England]] coast, ''Roper'' sailed east in mid-June 1919 and, after stops at [[Ponta Delgada]], [[Gibraltar]], and [[Malta]], anchored in the [[Bosporus]] on 5 July. For the next month she supported [[Peace Commission and Relief Committee]] work in the [[Black Sea]] area, carrying mail and passengers to and from [[Constantinople]], [[Novorossisk]], [[Batum]], [[Samsun]], and [[Trabzon|Trebizond]]. On 20 August the destroyer returned to the United States, at New York City, only to sail again six days later. At the end of the month she transited the [[Panama Canal]] and moved north to San Diego.<ref name=DANFS/>

''Roper'' remained on the West Coast until July 1921. On 23 July, she departed San Francisco, for duty on the Asiatic Station. Arriving at [[Cavite]], [[Philippine Islands]], on 24 August, she remained in the Philippines into December. She then moved into Chinese waters and, into the summer, operated primarily from Hong Kong and [[Chefoo]]. On 25 August 1922, she headed back to California. Routed via [[Nagasaki]], [[Midway Atoll|Midway]], and [[Pearl Harbor]] she arrived at San Francisco on 13 October. Two days later she shifted to [[San Pedro, Los Angeles]], thence proceeded to San Diego, where she was decommissioned on 14 December 1922 and berthed with the Pacific Reserve Fleet.<ref name=DANFS/>

Recommissioned on 18 March 1930, ''Roper'' resumed operations in the Pacific. Operating primarily in the southern California area, in active and rotating reserve squadrons, for the next seven years, she deployed to [[Panama]], to Hawaii and to the Caribbean for fleet problems and maneuvers in 1931, 1933, 1935, and 1936. During 1933, [[Lieutenant, junior grade]] [[Robert A. Heinlein]], who would later gain fame as a [[science fiction]] author, transferred aboard ''Roper''. In 1934 he was promoted to [[lieutenant]], then "invalided out," permanently disabled by [[tuberculosis]].  During January and February 1936, ''Roper'' moved north for operations in [[Alaska]]n waters.<ref name=DANFS/>

In February 1937, ''Roper'' departed California and, after transiting the [[Panama Canal]], joined the Atlantic Fleet. For the remainder of the year, through 1938, and into 1939, she conducted exercises primarily off the mid-Atlantic seaboard and, during part of each year, in the Caribbean. In November 1939, after the outbreak of World War II in Europe, she shifted from [[Norfolk, Virginia]], to [[Key West]], Florida, whence she patrolled the [[Yucatán Channel]] and the [[Florida Straits]]. In December, she returned to Norfolk. In January 1940, she moved south again, to [[Charleston, South Carolina]], and in March she headed north for duty on the New England Patrol.<ref name=DANFS/>

===World War II===
Through the prewar [[Neutrality Patrol]] period, ''Roper'' continued to range the waters off the East and Gulf Coasts. Off [[Cape Cod]] on 7 December 1941, it returned to Norfolk for an abbreviated availability at midmonth, and then steamed to [[Naval Station Argentia|NS Argentia]], [[Dominion of Newfoundland|Newfoundland]]. In early February 1942, it completed a convoy escort run to [[Londonderry Port]], then, in March, returned to the Norfolk area for patrol and escort duty.

''Roper'' was one of several ships to rescue survivors of the [[SS City of New York (1930)|SS ''City of New York'']] that had been sunk by ''[[German submarine U-160 (1941)|U-160]]''. Desanka Mohorovic, one of the passengers, ended up giving birth in one of the lifeboats. She was picked up by ''Roper'', and ended up naming her baby after the rescue vessel.<ref>{{Cite web |title=City of New York |url=https://sunkenshipsobx.com/index.php/lost-ships-obx/late-1910s-to-early-1940s/1942/city-of-new-york |access-date=2024-10-03 |website=sunkenshipsobx.com}}</ref>

A month later, on the night of 13/14 April, it made contact with a surfaced [[U-boat]] off the coast of [[North Carolina]]. The ensuing chase ended with the sinking by artillery fire of {{GS|U-85|1941|2}}, a unit of the [[7th U-boat Flotilla]].<ref name=DANFS/> Thus the ''Roper'' sank the first German submarine by U.S. naval forces in WWII.

According to the after-action report, the attack occurred after midnight local time after ''Roper'' closed to identify an unknown contact (''U-85'') and was narrowly missed by a torpedo before opening fire. The commanding officer delayed rescue operations until daybreak and after the arrival of air support from a [[PBY Catalina]] and an airship due to concern of an attack by a second U-boat.<ref>U-boat Archive. The crew of the Roper launched one of the Roper's life rafts to the U-85's crew in the water, however the raft became fouled (tangled up) on the Roper's propeller guard. Roper's medical officer tried unsuccessfully to get the raft off the prop guards. [http://www.uboatarchive.net/U-85RoperActionReport.htm USS ''Roper'' after action report] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130615200027/http://www.uboatarchive.net/U-85RoperActionReport.htm |date=15 June 2013 }}.</ref> No charges were filed against the crew of ''Roper'' and 29 sailors of ''U-85'' were buried with military honors at [[Hampton National Cemetery]].<ref>U-boat Archive. [http://www.uboatarchive.net/U-85.htm Uboat Archive – U-85] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070402003758/http://www.uboatarchive.net/U-85.htm |date=2 April 2007 }}.</ref>

For their actions in sinking ''U-85'', Destroyer Division 54 commander, Commander Stanley C. Norton, and the ''Roper''{{'}}s captain, Lieutenant commander Hamilton W. Howe, were each awarded the [[Navy Cross (United States)|Navy Cross]].<ref>[http://digital.lib.ecu.edu/special/ead/findingaids/OH0056/ Guide to the Hamilton W. Howe Oral History Interview, 1941–1945<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Bunch|first=Jim|title=U-Boats off the Outer Banks: Shadows in the Moonlight|publisher=Arcadia Publishing|year=2017|isbn=9781467137676|page=138}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Roscoe|first=Theodore|title=United States destroyer operations in World War II|year=1953|publisher=United States Naval Institute|isbn=9780870217265|pages=74–5|url=https://archive.org/details/unitedstatesdest0000rosc/page/74/mode |access-date=24 September 2021}}</ref>

Former commander of German [[U-boat]] ''U-802'' and author Helmut Schmoeckel suggested in a 2002 book that the failure of ''Roper'' to rescue the ''U-85'' crew after they abandoned the submarine and ''Roper''{{'}}s subsequent depth charging of ''U-85'' should be investigated. He never used the phrase war crime, as is sometimes stated, and he relied on a very inaccurate American book as his source.<ref>Helmut Schmoeckel, ''79. Tötung deutscher Schiffbrüchiger durch den US-Zerstörer ROPER nach der Versenkung von »U 85« am 18 April 1942.'' In: Franz W. Seidler /[[Alfred de Zayas]] (Hg.) ''Kriegsverbrechen in Europa und im Nahen Osten im 20. Jahrhundert'' (War crimes in Europe and the Near East in 20th Century). (German). {{ISBN|9783813207026}}.</ref>

On 29 April, ''Roper'' rescued 14 survivors from the British merchantman {{MV|Empire Drum||2}}, which had been torpedoed and sunk by {{GS|U-136|1941|2}} five days earlier. On 1 May, it rescued another 13 survivors from ''Empire Drum''. They were landed at [[Norfolk, Virginia]], that day.<ref name=Drum>{{cite web |url=http://www.uboat.net/allies/merchants/ships/1566.html |title=Empire Drum |publisher=Uboat |access-date=14 July 2011}}</ref> At the end of May, ''Roper'' began a series of coastwise escort runs, from Key West to New York, which took her into 1943. In February of that year, it shifted to Caribbean–Mediterranean convoy work and remained on that duty until October when it entered the [[Charleston Navy Yard]] for conversion to a high-speed transport.<ref name=DANFS/>

==== Convoys escorted ====
{|class="wikitable"
!Convoy
!Escort Group
!Dates
!Notes
|-
|[[ON convoys|ON 63]]
|
|7–13 Feb 1942<ref name="onconvoy">{{cite web|url=http://www.convoyweb.org.uk/on/index.html|title=ON convoys|publisher=Andrew Hague Convoy Database|access-date=2011-06-19}}</ref>
|from [[Iceland]] to [[Dominion of Newfoundland|Newfoundland]]
|-
|AT 18
|
|6–17 Aug 1942<ref name="atconvoy">{{cite web|url=http://www.convoyweb.org.uk/at/index.html|title=AT convoys|publisher=Andrew Hague Convoy Database|access-date=2011-06-20}}</ref>
|troopships from New York City to [[Firth of Clyde]]
|}

==== Auxiliary service ====
Reclassified and given [[hull classification symbol]] '''APD-20''' (transport destroyer) on 20 October 1943, ''Roper'' departed Charleston in late November and trained in the [[Chesapeake Bay]] area and off the Florida coast into the new year, 1944. On 13 April, she steamed east and at the end of the month joined the [[United States Eighth Fleet|8th Fleet]] at [[Oran]], Algeria. A unit of Transport Division 13, assigned to support the offensive in Italy, ''Roper'' landed units of the [[French Army]] on [[Pianosa]] on 17 June and, into July, plied between Oran and [[Naples]] and operated along the western coast of the embattled peninsula. In August, she shifted her attention to southern France. On 15 August, she arrived off that coast as part of the "Sitka" Force and landed troops on [[Levant Island]]. On 5 September she returned to Italy; resumed runs between Naples and Oran, and, in early December departed the latter port for [[Hampton Roads]].<ref name=DANFS/>

Arriving at Norfolk on 21 December, ''Roper'' sailed again on 29 January 1945. On transiting the [[Panama Canal]], she reported to the Pacific Fleet, and, after stops in California and Hawaii, moved into the [[Mariana Islands]].

===== Okinawa =====
On 11 May 1945, she departed [[Guam]] for the [[Ryukyu Islands]]. Arriving in [[Nakagusuku Wan]] on 22 May, she circled to the [[Hagushi]] anchorage off Okinawa the same day. Three days later, while on screening station off that transport area she was hit by a ''[[kamikaze]]'' attack.<ref name="DANFS" />

Ordered back to the United States to complete repairs, she departed the Ryukyus on 6 June and reached San Pedro a month later. In August, she shifted to [[Mare Island]], but with the cessation of hostilities repair work was halted.

==Fate==
Decommissioned on 15 September 1945, ''Roper''{{'}}s name was stricken from the [[Naval Vessel Register]] on 11 October 1945, and her hulk was sold to the Lerner Company, [[Oakland, California]]. Removed in June 1946, she was scrapped in December 1946.<ref name=DANFS/>

==Legacy==
''Roper'''s [[anchor]] is located outside of building 5 of the [[Massachusetts Institute of Technology]] campus.

[[File:USS Roper anchor plaque.JPG|thumb|This is the anchor plaque that accompanies the USS Roper's anchor on the MIT campus.]]

[[File:USS Roper anchor.JPG|thumb|The USS Roper's Anchor on display at the MIT campus]]

==Awards==
*[[File:American Defense Service Medal ribbon.svg|120px]] [[American Defense Service Medal]]
*[[File:American Campaign Medal ribbon.svg|120px]] [[American Campaign Medal]] with one [[battle star]]
*[[File:European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign ribbon.svg|120px]] [[European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal]] with two battle stars
*[[File:Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal ribbon.svg|120px]] [[Asiatic–Pacific Campaign Medal]] with one battle star
*[[File:World War II Victory Medal ribbon.svg|120px]] [[World War II Victory Medal]]<ref name=DANFS/>

''Roper'' was one a very few U.S. Navy ships to have received battle stars in all three theaters of operations during World War II.

==Notable crew==
* [[Ernest E. Evans]] – future MOH recipient. Served aboard ''Roper'' from 1932 to 1933 as an ensign.
* [[Robert A. Heinlein]] – served aboard ''Roper'' from 1933 to 1934 as a lieutenant.

==Notes==
{{reflist}}

==Bibliography==
*{{cite journal|last1=Wright|first1=C. C.|title=Question 40/02: Submarines Expended as Targets 1922 |journal=Warship International |date=2003|volume=XL|issue=4|pages=286–298 |issn=0043-0374}}
* {{cite journal|last1=Wright |first1=Christopher C.|year=1986|title=The U.S. Fleet at the New York World's Fair, 1939: Some Photographs from the Collection of the Late William H. Davis|journal=Warship International|volume=XXIII|issue=3|pages=273–285|issn=0043-0374}}
{{DANFS|http://www.history.navy.mil/research/histories/ship-histories/danfs/r/roper.html}}

==External links==
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20070402003758/http://www.uboatarchive.net/U-85.htm Uboat Archive – ''U-85'']
* [http://www.wlb-stuttgart.de/seekrieg/42-04.htm State Library of Württemberg War at Sea, April 1942] (German)

{{Wickes-class destroyer}}
{{Flush-decker high speed transport}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Roper (Dd-147)}}
[[Category:Wickes-class destroyers]]
[[Category:World War II destroyers of the United States]]
[[Category:World War II amphibious warfare vessels of the United States]]
[[Category:Ships built by William Cramp & Sons]]
[[Category:1918 ships]]