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USS MOALE (DD-693)


Flag Hoist/Radio Call Sign - NTMY

Tactical Voice Radio Call Sign (circa 1968) - STORM HAWK

CLASS - ALLEN M. SUMNER As Built.
Displacement 3218 Tons (Full), Dimensions, 376' 6"(oa) x 40' 10" x 14' 2" (Max)
Armament 6 x 5"/38AA (3x2), 12 x 40mm AA, 11 x 20mm AA, 10 x 21" tt.(2x5).
Machinery, 60,000 SHP; General Electric Geared Turbines, 2 screws
Speed, 36.5 Knots, Range 3300 NM@ 20 Knots, Crew 336.
Operational and Building Data
Built by Federal shipbuilding, Kearny, NJ (YN 378)
Laid down 05 August 1943
Launched 16 January 1944
Commissioned 28 February 1944
Completed FRAM upgrade December 1961
Featured in the Bigfoot Entertainment/Daniel Foster documentary - USS Cooper: Return to Ormoc Bay
which is available at http://www.usscooper.com.
Decommissioned and stricken 02 July 1973
Fate Sold 13 November 1974 to Brownsville Steel, TX for $150,000 and broken up for scrap.

Two men died in service aboard and remain on duty

TM2c Edward Zentera (611 06 23) USNR, at sea, 14 November 1944
S1c Bynum Andrews Chandler (833 97 51) USNR, Ormoc Bay, 03 December 1944


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Size Image Description Contributed
By
Namesake
Moale
0569362
577k

Edward Moale, Jr. was born at Little Rock Arsenal, Arkansas, 10 September 1866. He was the son of Brigadier General Edward Moale and the grandson of Colonel Samuel Moale, who defended Baltimore against the British in 1814. He was appointed naval cadet from Montana Territory 17 June 1882, completing his four years' study at the Naval Academy in the Class of 1887. Moale initially served in the Pacific Squadron on Adams and Mohican, being commissioned an ensign on completion of his two years' sea service requirement, 01 July 1889. He then served with the Coast Survey on the California and Washington coast, 1889-1892. He next served on the Pacific Station aboard Adams and flagship Philadelphia, 1892-1894, and aboard the Fish Commission steamer Albatross, 1894-1895. Moale then served briefly aboard Monongahela and ashore as an instructor of ordnance at the Naval Academy, 1895-1897, being promoted to Lieutenant (junior grade) 04 June 1897. Serving as an officer on board gunboat Helena 1897-1900, he took part in operations against Spanish land and naval forces at Santiago de Cuba, including the naval battle of 03 July. Helena subsequently sailed east, around the Cape of Good Hope, and across the Indian Ocean to the Philippines. There, Lieutenant Moale participated in operations off northern Luzon, assisting the U.S. Army during the Philippine Insurrection, 1899-1900. Promoted to Lieutenant 03 March 1899, Moale subsequently served on collier Scindia, April-August 1900, Norfolk Navy Yard, September 1900-January 1901 and cruiser San Francisco, January 1901-August 1902. Ordered to the European Station on Chicago, August 1902, he was transferred to flagship Brooklyn for staff duty in August 1903. Ordered home sick that same month, Lieutenant Moale died at Catonsville, Maryland, 23 October 1903, after a long debilitating illness brought about by years of naval service. He is buried in the Naval Academy cemetery in Annapolis.

Moale married Adria Maude Semple, daughter of former Governor Eugene Semple of Oregon, at Seattle in 1891; they had one son, Edward Semple Moale, who served as a calvary lieutenant in France during World War One, an engineer in the merchant marine between the wars, and as a Commander in the Naval Reserve during World War Two. His wife, Henrietta Hanckel Moale, sponsored USS Moale, the sole ship named in his honor.

Portrait photo of Naval Cadet Edward Moale, 1887. Photo from Naval Academy's Nimitz Library Special Collections and Archives, via usnamemorialhall.org
Dave Wright
USS Moale (DD-693)
Moale
0569301
81kUndated, location unknown.-
Moale
0569314
51kUndated, location unknown.Morton Richman
Moale
0569311
56kUndated postcard Copyright © Atlantic News, Fall River, MA.Mike Smolinski
Moale
0569316
165kUndated, location unknown.David Buell
Moale
0569354
127kUndated, location unknown.Richard Miller BMCS USNR RET.
Moale
0569355
144kUndated, location unknown.Richard Miller BMCS USNR RET.
Moale
0569356
168kUndated, location unknown.Richard Miller BMCS USNR RET.
Moale
0569357
147kUndated, location unknown.Richard Miller BMCS USNR RET.
Moale
0569358
112kUndated, location unknown.Richard Miller BMCS USNR RET.
Stockham
0568309
67kUndated, at Monaco.Richard Miller, BMCS, USNR (Ret.)
Moale
0569364
410kMoale (DD-693) underway in 1944, probably soon after completion, location unknown. She has not yet been painted in a camouflage scheme.
Naval History & Heritage Command photo NH 45927
Dave Wright
Moale
0569366
50kUSS Moale (DD-693) at an unidentified location, but probably New York, March or April 1944. She is wearing camouflage Measure 32, Design 9d; the colors are light gray, ocean gray and dull black.
Bureau of Ships photo 129774, via National Archives
Bob Canchola
Moale
0569365
108kAerial view of Moale (DD-693) underway off Rockland, Maine, 14 May 1944. This was the last day of her trials; the next day she got underway for New York to conduct a post trials availability and begin her naval career.
Bureau of Aeronautics photo 233838, via National Archives
Bob Canchola
Moale
0569360
771kTM2c Edward Zentera, who died of injuries sustained onboard USS Moale (DD-693), is buried from Enterprise (CV-6) in enemy waters, 14 November 1944. Zentera had been injured in a fall aboard Moale and then transferred to Enterprise on 10 November. Unfortunately, he succumbed to his injuries four days later. Edward Zentera was born in Chicago Heights, Illinois on 30 June 1918 to first generation Polish immigrants. After working for Calumet Steel, he enlisted in the Navy 16 April 1942, serving on Herbert (DD-160) and at Naval Torpedo Station Newport before reporting to Moale 03 March 1944.
National Archives photo 80-G-288435
Bob Canchola
Moale
0569361
769kAs above.
National Archives photo 80-G-288436
Bob Canchola
Moale
0569307
348kLST-738 burning after she was hit by a Kamikaze off the Mindoro landing beaches, 15 December 1944. USS Moale (DD-693), painted in in camouflage Measure 32, Design 9d, is maneuveing to assist. Note hole in LST-738's starboard side, just forward of her large hull number painted amidships. Smoke in the left distance may be from LST-472, which was also hit by the Kamikaze attack. Moale closed to within fifty feet to windward of the burning LST when her cargo of gasoline and ammunition exploded. Flying debris punctured five holes in Moale's starboard bow, cut several radio antennas, and damaged the SG antenna's waveguide. Eleven men were injured, two seriously. Moale rescued 28 of LST-738's crew, as well as 73 Army personnel.
Naval History & Heritage Command photo NH 95259, collection of Admiral Thomas C. Kinkaid, USN
Joe Radigan
Moale
0569302
109kJournalist Ernie Pyle being transferred to USS Moale by Boatswain's Chair from USS Cabot (CVL-28). This was sometime in winter or early spring 1945. Bill Britigan
Moale
0569368
147kUSS Moale (DD-693) underway in the Pacific, 1945. Two other unidentified Sumner-class destroyers are visible in the background.
Photo by Eliot Elisofon, Life Magazine archives. Used for educational and non-commercial purposes.
Bob Canchola
Moale
0569369
281kThe same photo as it appeared on the cover of Life, 02 July 1945. Note the image has been flipped, and censors have removed the hull numbers fro mthe destroyers' bows, even at this late date in the war.
Photo by Eliot Elisofon, Life Magazine archives. Used for educational and non-commercial purposes.
Bob Canchola
Moale
0569308
84kMoale underway, taken from USS Robert K. Huntington by Carmen J. Costa, circa 1951-1952.Carmen S. Costa
Moale
0569309
79kMoale underway, taken from USS Robert K. Huntington by Carmen J. Costa, circa 1951-1952.Carmen S. Costa
Moale
0569318
556kMoale underway, location unknown, circa 1953.
Naval History & Heritage Command photo NH 45926
Bill Gonyo
Moale
0569341
141kMoale after her return from an around-the-world cruise, circa 1954.Richard Novosel
Moale
0569324
207kUnderway, location unknown, 13 June 1955.Ed Zajkowski
Sperry
0569745
209kUSS Casade (AD-16) with USS Charles S. Sperry (DD-697), USS Moale (DD-693) and USS Pompon (SSR-267) along side. Ships in the background in include left to right: USS Randolph (CVA-15), USS Waccamaw (AO-69), USS Mississinewa (AO-144) and two other unidentified auxiliaries. All at anchor some place in the Mediterranean, 12 September 1956.Darryl Baker
Moale
0569367
222kCharles S. Sperry (DD-697) and Moale (DD-693) underway in the Mediterranean, 1957.
Photo from All Hands magazine, December 1957.
Bob Canchola
Moale
0569342
167kUnderway, location unknown, circa mid-1950's.Richard Novosel
Moale
0569343
173kUnderway, location unknown, circa mid-1950's.Richard Novosel
Moale
0569344
188kUnderway, location unknown, circa mid-1950's.Richard Novosel
Moale
0569303
144kMoale as rebuilt in a typical Sumner class FRAM II reconstruction, 1961. While she retains all three 5"/38 twin mounts and her forward dual-purpose director, she has been equipped with a DASH system, long deckhouse enclosed with light-weight Mk 32 torpedo tubes atop the deckhouse and new variable depth transducers and sonars.-
Moale
0569349
140kAs above.Michael Cosgrove CDR, CEC,(Ret.)
Moale
0569350
242kAs above.Michael Cosgrove CDR, CEC, (Ret.)
Moale
0569351
136kUSS Moale (DD-693) in the Mediterranean, Fall 1962. Photo taken from USS Boston (CAG-1).Roy Williams
Moale
0569313
41kAt Portsmouth, England 1964.Butch Wentz
Moale
0569327
138kStarboard view of USS Moale (DD-693) at an unknown location, circa 1965. The Moale completed a FRAM II modernization in December, 1961. At this time the 6-3” guns and 5-21” torpedo battery was replaced by DASH facilities, variable depth sonar (VBS) and ASW torpedo tubes, while retaining all three of her 5”/38 dual mounts.
Photo from Jane’s Fighting Ships, 1967-68.
Mike Green
Moale
0569306
120kMoored at Boston Naval Shipyard, June 1965© Richard Leonhardt
Moale
05585014
120kGrand Canyon (AD-28)with five destroyers alongside, including Joseph P. Kennedy Jr. (DD-850), USS Moale (DD-693), William R. Rush (DD-714), Harlan R. Dickson (DD-708), and two unidentified ships. Photo taken at Newport, RI, 1966.© Richard Leonhardt/Stephen Sue
Moale
0569304
61kUnderway in Mediterranean Sea, June 1967.© Richard Leonhardt
Moale
0569305
81kUnderway in Mediterranean Sea, June 1967.© Richard Leonhardt
Moale
0569363
414kUnderway in the Mediterranean Sea, 24 June 1968. Photographer: PH1 Sorensen
Naval History & Heritage Command photo NH 107181
Bob Canchola
Moale
0569340
177kUSS Moale (DD-693), Michael's first ship (he was MPA and then Chief Engineer) at her final berth at Fort Schuyler, New York. Photo taken September - October 1971.CDR Michael Cosgrove, CEC, (Ret.)
Moale
0569348
177kMichael inside one of Moale's boilers.CDR Michael Cosgrove, CEC, (Ret.)
Memorabilia
Moale
0569310
76kShip's patch, was received from the ship in 1964. Photographed 1968.
Naval History & Heritage Command photo NH 65284-KN
Mike Smolinski / Bob Canchola
Moale
0569338
38kShip's patch.Mike Smolinski
Moale
0569359
22kShip's Zippo.Richard Miller BMCS USNR RET.
Click here to see our Special Feature - Interior Views of Sumner Class Destroyers as Built

USS MOALE DD-693 History
View This Vessels DANFS History entry at the Naval History & Heritage Command website

Commanding Officers
01CDR Walter Manly Foster (USNA 19xx)28 February 1944 - 08 May 1945
02LCDR Charles Malaher Lyons, Jr. (USNA 19xx)08 May 1945 - 20 May 1945
03LCDR Robert Power Walker (USNA 19xx)20 May 1945 - 18 January 1947
04LCDR Jay Valentine Chase (USNA 19xx)18 January 1947 - 14 February 1948
05LCDR John McGavock Grider (USNA 19xx)14 February 1948 - 07 March 1949
06CDR Emery Harrison Huff (USNA 19xx)07 March 1949 - 21 November 1950
07CDR John Edwin Johansen (USNA 19xx)21 November 1950 - 17 December 1951
08CDR Thomas John LaForest USN17 December 1951 - 17 December 1953
09CDR Edward Revis Hunt (USNA 19xx)17 December 1953 - 08 July 1955
10CDR Charles Raymond Calhoun, Jr. (USNA 19xx)08 July 1955 - 06 July 1956
11CDR Leslie Hale Sell (USNA 19xx)06 July 1956 - 27 January 1958
12CDR William Aaron Spalding, Jr. (USNA 19xx)27 January 1958 - 01 October 1959
13CDR Russell Delavan Ward (USNA 19xx)01 October 1959 - 01 April 1961
14CDR Charles Edward Delaney (USNA 19xx)01 April 1961 - 27 April 1963
15CDR Martin M. Zenni (USNA 19xx)27 April 1963 - 02 July 1965
16CDR Forrest Ray Degler, Jr. (USNA 19xx)02 July 1965 - 07 September 1967
17CDR Jack Scoville (USNA 1949)07 September 1967 - 23 October 1969
18CDR James Kenneth Beates (USNA 19xx)23 October 1969 - 10 August 1971
19CDR Arthur Raymond Ellingwood, Jr. (USNA 19xx)10 August 1971 - 30 March 1973
20CDR Robert Eugene Pedigo (USNA 19xx)30 March 1973 - May 1973
21LCDR Edward Franklin Sclichter (USNA 19xx)May 1973 - 02 July 1973
Courtesy Wolfgang Hechler and Ron Reeves

Crew Contact And Reunion Information

Contact Name: John Moale III
Address: PO Box 156, Duluth, GA 30095
Phone: (770) 476-2077
E-mail: ussmoale@gmail.com

Battle of Ormoc Bay Association
Contact Name: John Moale III
E-mail: ussmoale@gmail.com


Note About Contacts.

The contact listed, Was the contact at the time for this ship when located. If another person now is the contact, E-mail me and I will update this entry. These contacts are compiled from various sources over a long period of time and may or may not be correct. Every effort has been made to list the newest contact if more than one contact was found.


Additional Resources and Web Sites of Interest
Tin Can Sailors Website
Destroyer History Foundation
Destroyers Online Website
Official U.S.Navy Destroyer Website

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This page was created by Fred Willishaw (ex ARG-4, AS-11 & DD-692) and is maintained by David L. Wright
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Last Updated 06 March 2021