Stateside

At 1046 on 4 March, pratique was granted by the harbor health authorities. The Captain made an official call on the Commanding Officer of Naval Drydocks and the SOPA (Senior Officer Present Afloat) in USS HERMITAGE. Two Signalmen and a Radioman returned to the FOOTE from temporary duty aboard the SS GULF STAR for the 43-day crossing. They had it better than anyone who made the voyage aboard the FOOTE - better food, better accommodations and most of all, they did not flounder in heavy seas for three days. By 1328 the FOOTE was underway with Yard Tug #239 to Drydock #2, U.S. Naval Drydocks, Roosevelt Base, Terminal Island, San Pedro, CA. The FOOTE entered drydovk at 1355 and by 1825 the ship was resting on keel blocks. By 1940 all water had been pumped out of the drydock and workers were coming aboard.

All hands would get a 30-day leave, by section, starting immediately. After their leave was over some of the crew would be transferred to the Receiving Station, Terminal Island for reassignment, some would be sent to school, but most would work aboard ship during battle damage repair, replacement and modernization. Some of the ship’s crew was quartered on base in a gymnasium along with new crewmen as they reported for duty on the FOOTE.

The Navy plans to make short work of this drydock availability, because as much as possible of the stern hull was completed before the FOOTE arrived in San Pedro. The replacement equipment, machinery and new appurtenances are on hand and ready for installation. Work will move forward on a 24/7 schedule.

By the middle of June the drydock was flooded and the ship moved to Pier #2 to finalize details in preparation for sea trials. The first day at sea created a considerable punch list by all departments for needed repairs or adjustments.

On 1 July 1944 the FOOTE was assigned to the Commander. San Diego Shakedown Group to undergo refresher training and equipment validation test. We went to sea and test were performed on all Fire Control equipment and the 5-inch main battery was validated by firing at target sleds followed by the 40-MM and 20-MM firing at target sleeves. In addition, practice torpedoes were fired. There were speed runs, crash astern and maneuvers to perform tests in the engineering spaces. All these test were repeated for days. The objective was to find any problems and sharpen the crew’s combat skills.

During this period we operated with the USS WEST VIRGINIA BB-48, USS MISSISSIPPI BB-41, USS JARVIS DD-799, USS BOGGS DMS-3, USS KILLEN DD-593, USS WREN DD-568 and USS THORN DD-647. The group performed individual exercises and group exercises to cover all facets of Naval surface warfare.

On 4 August the FOOTE received orders to report to Commanding Officer, Pre- Commissioning Training Center, Treasure Island, San Francisco, CA for duty. Part of the ship’s crew was quartered on Treasure Island while crews assigned to new construction trained aboard the FOOTE. There was liberty every night you were in port unless you had the duty. The ship would sail to San Clemente Island (about 3-hrs steaming time) and train in operating area HOW-5 then return to San Francisco. On one of these trips the FOOTE received an urgent radio message directing her to go to the assistance of a crashed aircraft. We arrived at the scene with blimp and aircraft circling over the spot of the crash. An empty rubber life raft was recovered and the whaleboat was launched and the body of the pilot still attached to the rigging of his parachute was brought aboard. The pilot’s life jacket was badly torn and practically all his clothing had been ripped off - he had apparently died before he hit the water.

The FOOTE sailed from Wilson Cove, San Clemente to San Francisco on 18 October and tied up at Pier 25 for needed repairs. The ship began taking on a full load of stores and moved out to an ammunition barge for a full compliment of ammunition and depth charges. Then it was over to the oil dock to top off the fuel tanks. All members of the crew on temporary duty at PreComTraCen on Treasure Island began returning to the ship. It looks like the coveted stateside duty is about to come to an end. It was good duty, but I wouldn’t say it wasn’t a bit hazardous at times, especially for those in the crew that frequented George’s Place on the Pike at Long Beach or the Silver Dollar in Los Angeles and don’t forget Market Street and the Embarcadero in San Francisco Those boat rides (late at night) back to the ship when she was hanging on the hook in the bay was something special..

In accordance with ComDesPac the USS BRADFORD DD-545 has been assigned to relieve the FOOTE as Training Ship and the FOOTE received routing instructions from Commander Western Sea Frontier with orders to report to ComDesPac , Pearl Harbor, T.H. The FOOTE is assigned as a unit of Destroyer Squadron Twenty-Three (DesRon-23), Destroyer Division Forty-Six, (DesDiv-46), Commander Task Force Fourteen, (CTF-14) normally part of the Fifth Fleet.

All the training duty has the FOOTE crew at the peak of their performance, so it’s back to the "big show". With a great deal of sadness the crew takes their last look at the Golden Gate Bridge over the fantail at 1525 on 23 October and the FOOTE sets course 238 Degrees True and makes turns for 16-knots.

(USS FOOTE Deck Log and USS FOOTE War Diary).