USS Converse (DD-509)
USS Converse (DD-509) viewed from USS Miami (CL-89), 10 June 1944.
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| History | |
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 United States
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| Namesake: | George A. Converse |
| Builder: | Bath Iron Works |
| Laid down: | 23 February 1942 |
| Launched: | 30 August 1942 |
| Commissioned: | 20 November 1942 |
| Decommissioned: | 23 April 1946 |
| Struck: | 1 October 1972 |
| Fate: | Transferred to Spain, 1 July 1959 |
 Spain
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| Name: | Almirante Valdés (D23) |
| Acquired: | 1 July 1959 |
| Struck: | 17 November 1986 |
| Fate: | Scrapped in 1988 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type: | Fletcher-class destroyer |
| Displacement: | 2,050 long tons (2,083 t) |
| Length: | 376 ft 6 in (114.7 m) |
| Beam: | 39 ft 8 in (12.1 m) |
| Draft: | 17 ft 9 in (5.4 m) |
| Propulsion: | 60,000 shp (45 MW); 2 propellers |
| Speed: | 35 knots (65 km/h) |
| Range: | 6500 nmi (12,000 km) @ 15 kt |
| Complement: | 336 |
| Armament: |
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USS Converse (DD-509), a Fletcher-class destroyer, was the second ship of the United States Navy to be named for George A. Converse (1844–1909).
Converse was launched 30 August 1942 by Bath Iron Works Corp., Bath, Maine; sponsored by Miss A. V. Jackson; and commissioned 20 November 1942, Commander D. C. E. Hamberger in command.
After training at Guantanamo Bay and Pearl Harbor, Converse arrived at Nouméa 17 May 1943, and through the summer covered convoys carrying men and supplies to New Georgia, then escorted ships moving between Espiritu Santo and Guadalcanal. Arriving at Port Purvis 16 September 1943, she joined Destroyer Squadron 23 (DesRon 23), with whom she was to win a Presidential Unit Citation (US) for operations in the northern Solomons between 31 October 1943 and 4 February 1944.
On the first of those dates, Converse sortied with her squadron and cruisers to provide cover for amphibious landings on Bougainville, and on the night of 31 October – 1 November 1943, bombarded Buka and Bonis airfields and targets in the Shortlands. The next night her force intercepted a Japanese group of cruisers and destroyers heading for an attack on the transports lying at Bougainville, and opened fire in the Battle of Empress Augusta Bay. The Japanese lost one cruiser and one destroyer in this action, and were turned back from their intended attack on the transports, although the American defenders came under severe attack by aircraft from Rabaul supporting the Japanese ships.
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