In the nighttime hours of April 8th, 1944, U-515 was spotted and assailed by aircraft launched from USS Guadalcanal (CVE-60). This action called destroyer escorts to the area to begin their sub-hunting routines (involving sonar) and USS Pillsbury was one to respond. Her crew released depth charges and hedgehogs, the latter being nothing more than anti-submarine mortars launched from the destroyer escort's deck. The pressure of the attack was enough to force U-515 to surface lest the boat and her entire crew be sent to a watery grave.
Once surfaced, the submarine did not give up - launching her torpedoes in a last-ditch attempt to stave off complete elimination - or take down as many adversaries as it could prior to meeting her own end. Pillsbury, joined by USS Flaherty, USS Pope and USS Chatelain, persisted in its action and engaged with its guns. Additional support was had through rockets launched by attacking American carrier warplanes which ultimately led to the boat's sinking. Forty-four of the German crew were captured in the aftermath. The action took place just north of Madiera near the Portuguese coast.
Just two days prior to the D-Day invasion of Normandy, France of June 6th, 1944, USS Guadalcanal, operating near the Cape Verde Islands of Western Africa, was targeted by a U-boat but caught on Allied sonar screens in time. The submarine was sighted just under the surface of the water by spotter planes which once again called Pillsbury and her kind to the scene. The usual process was enacted - depth charge attacks and skillful maneuvering - and this forced a damaged U-505 to the surface. Overestimating his hull's condition, the captain of the boat ordered his men to abandon and surrender. After charges were set and hatches opened for flooding, the boat was emptied. Her engines, still running, kept her going in circles while American crews responded.
USS Pillsbury put out a boarding party which took full control of U-505. Beyond vital intelligence collected, the charges aboard were neutralized, hatches sealed and the boat taken in full. The submarine was then towed to Bermuda and dissected for additional intelligence - some of it proving absolutely critical to German naval operations in the Atlantic. Rather than scrap the war prize when her usefulness had run out, the submarine became a permanent piece of the Museum of Science and Industry of Chicago, Illinois.
USS Pillsbury was then credited with the sinking of U-546 on April 24th, 1945 as part of Task Unit 22.7.1 (TU22.7.1) to add to her modest wartime legacy. This enemy boat managed just three complete war patrols and claimed her 1,200 tons from USS Frederick C. Davis that same day. Pillsbury formed a portion of the pursuit party that ultimately claimed the enemy vessel. With the end of the war in Europe coming in May of 1945, USS Pillsbury joined USS Pope in escorting U-858 across the Atlantic to New Jersey - becoming the first U-boat to surrender during this period. With her wartime service career over, USS Pillsbury was decommissioned during 1947.
The rise of the Soviet Union and global communism in the immediate post-war period forced the United States Navy to remain a sizeable force and broaden its radar capabilities at sea. This led to the Pillsbury being reconstituted as a "radar picket" ship. Work to bring her up to speed in the new role was handled through the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard in 1954 which led to her being recommissioned under a new classification as USS Pillsbury (DER-133). Her new commissioning date was March 15th, 1955. The remainder of her career was spent on patrols in the Atlantic until she was decommissioned for a second, and final, time on June 20th, 1960. She was struck from the Naval Register in 1965 and stripped of her useful equipment before being sold for scrap in 1966.
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