USS Bunch (DE-694)

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Career

Ordered:	9 October 1942
Laid down:	23 February 1943
Launched:	29 May 1943
Commissioned:	21 August 1943
Decommissioned:	31 May 1946
Struck:	1 April 1964
Fate:	Sold for scrapping 11 May 1965
General Characteristics
Displacement:	1,400 tons light, 1,673 tons standard
Length:	306 ft. (93 m)
Beam:	37 ft. (11.3 m)
Draft:	13.5 ft. (4.1 m)
Propulsion:	Turbo-electric drive, 12,000 hp (8.9 MW)
Speed:	24 knot (speed)s (44 km/h)
Complement:	186
Armament:	As Destroyer Escort: 3 x 3 in/50 cal (76.2 mm) (3x1) 4 x 1.1 in/40 (28 mm) (1x4) 8 x 20 mm (8x1) 3 x 21 in (533 mm) torpedo tubes (1x3) 8 depth charge projectors (8x1) 2 depth charge racks As APD: 1 x 5 in/38 (127 mm) 6 x 40 mm (3x2) 6 x 20 mm (6x1) 2 depth charge tracks 4 LCVPs, 162 troops

USS Bunch (DE-694) was named after Kenneth Cecil Bunch. He was born in Norman County, Minnesota on 21 January 1919, and enlisted in the Navy in 1937. He served with Scouting Squadrons 42 and 8. He was killed in action 6 June 1942 while flying in a SBD Dauntless dive bomber attached to Scouting Squadron 8 on the Hornet during the Battle of Midway.

Bunch, a Buckley class destroyer escort, was launched on 29 May 1943 at the Defoe Shipbuilding Company in Bay City, Michigan, sponsored by Mrs. Kenneth C. Bunch, widow of Aviation Radioman Bunch; and commissioned on 21 August 1943, with Lieutenant Comniander A. A. Campbell, USNR, in command.

Between November 1943 and July 1944, Bunch operated as a convoy escort and completed six trans-Atlantic voyages to the United Kingdom as part of Escort Division 19. At this time, CORTDIV 19 consisted of the destroyer escorts Bunch, Bull, Rich, Bates, Amesbury, and Blessman. From 12 October through 20 December 1944, she underwent conversion to a high speed transport, having been reclassified APD-79 on 31 July 1944.

With her conversion completed, Bunch transited the Panama Canal on 26 December 1944, and arrived at Pearl Harbor on 15 January 1945. She proceeded across the Pacific, via Eniwetok, Ulithi, and Leyte, to Okinawa, where after her arrival in March, she acted as parent ship for an Underwater Demolition Team, and participated in fire-support and patrol activities. On 4 April, she rescued 61 survivors, from USS Dickerson, which had been sunk by a Japanese suicide plane. During May, Bunch escorted a convoy to Ulithi and Guam, and then returned to Okinawa. She remained in this area until 1 July 1945, when she departed for the west coast, arriving on 24 July. She underwent overhaul in California until 6 September, and then returned to Okinawa via Pearl Harbor and Eniwetok.

Between 1 October 1945 and 21 February 1946, she operated off Okinawa, China, and Formosa in support of the occupation. Bunch participated in minesweeping operations during November and December 1945. Upon her return to the United States in March 1946, she was assigned to the 19th Fleet to await inactivation. She was placed out of commission in reserve on 31 May 1946 at San Diego.

Bunch was sold for scrapping on 11 May 1965.

Bunch received two battle stars for her World War II service.

This article includes text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships.