{{Short description|U.S. Navy WWII destroyer escort}} {{other ships|USS Doyle}} {{Use dmy dates|date=July 2021}} {{Infobox ship |section1={{Infobox ship/image |image=USS Cecil J. Doyle (DE-368), circa in 1945.jpg |image_caption=USS ''Cecil J. Doyle'' {{c.}} 1945 }}
|section2={{Infobox ship/career |hide_header= |country=United States |flag={{USN flag|1946}} |name=''Cecil J. Doyle'' |namesake=Cecil J. Doyle |ordered= |builder=[[Consolidated Steel Corporation]], [[Orange, Texas]] |laid_down=12 May 1944 |launched=1 July 1944 |acquired= |commissioned=16 October 1944 |decommissioned=2 July 1946 |in_service= |out_of_service= |struck=1 July 1967 |reinstated= |honours= |fate=Sunk as target, 2 December 1967 |notes= }}
|section3={{Infobox ship/characteristics |hide_header= |header_caption= |class={{sclass|John C. Butler|destroyer escort}} |displacement={{cvt|1350|LT|0|lk=on}} |length={{convert|306|ft|m|abbr=on}} |beam={{convert|36|ft|8|in|m|abbr=on}} |draft={{convert|9|ft|5|in|m|abbr=on}} |propulsion=2 boilers, 2 geared turbine engines, {{convert|12000|shp|abbr=on}}; 2 propellers |speed={{convert|24|kn|km/h|abbr=on}} |range={{convert|6000|nmi|km|abbr=on}} at {{convert|12|kn|km/h|abbr=on}} |complement=14 officers, 201 enlisted |sensors= |EW= |armament= {{John C. Butler class destroyer escort armament}} |armor= |notes= }} }}
'''USS ''Cecil J. Doyle'' (DE-368)''' was a {{sclass|John C. Butler|destroyer escort}} in service with the [[United States Navy]] from 1944 to 1946. She was finally sunk as a target in 1967.
==History== She was named for [[United States Marine Corps]] aviator 2nd Lieutenant Cecil J. Doyle. Doyle was born August 10, 1920, in Marshall, Minnesota, a posthumous recipient of the [[Navy Cross (United States)|Navy Cross]] for heroism during 18 to 25 October 1942 in the [[Solomon Islands campaign]].<ref>[http://www.doyle.com.au/cecil_doyle.htm Cecil J. Doyle] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220520195540/http://www.doyle.com.au/cecil_doyle.htm |date=20 May 2022 }} letters and news clippings.</ref> The destroyer escort was [[Ship naming and launching|launched]] on 1 July 1944 at [[Consolidated Steel Corporation]], in [[Orange, Texas]], sponsored by Mrs. O. P. Doyle. ''Cecil J. Doyle'' was [[Ship commissioning|commissioned]] on 16 October 1944.
''Cecil J. Doyle'' carried out her first mission while still in [[shakedown cruise|shakedown]], when she cruised on an [[air-sea rescue]] station during the flight of Government officials to the [[Yalta Conference]]. On 30 January 1945, she rendezvoused with {{HMS|Ranee}}, and guarded the [[escort carrier]] through the [[Panama Canal]] and north to [[San Diego]], California. ''Cecil J. Doyle'' continued on to [[Pearl Harbor]] and [[Eniwetok]], where she arrived on 28 March to join the [[Marshall Islands|Marshalls]]-[[Gilbert Islands|Gilbert]] Patrol and Escort Group. Her escort duties took her to [[Guam]], and [[Ulithi]], where on 30 April she was transferred to the Carolines Surface Patrol and Escort Group. On 2 May, ''Cecil J. Doyle''{{'}}s commanding officer became Commander, Screen, Peleliu, protecting the great anchorage in [[Kossol Roads]].
While on patrol, ''Cecil J. Doyle'' several times rescued downed aviators, and on 27 May 1945, bombarded a bypassed Japanese [[garrison]] on [[Koror Island]]. On 2 August, she was ordered to the rescue of a large group of men in rafts reported at 11°30' N., 133°30' E., and bent on top speed to be the first ship to reach the survivors of the torpedoed [[cruiser]] {{USS|Indianapolis|CA-35|2}}. Her commanding officer, [[W. Graham Claytor Jr.]], approached at night and turned searchlights on the water and straight up on low clouds, lighting up the night and exposing his ship to possible attack by Japanese [[submarine]]s.<ref name="proceedings">Marks(April 1981)pp.48-50</ref> Captain Claytor ordered his Communications Officer Lieutenant James A. Fite, Jr. to inform the command that they were rescuing the crew of ''Indianapolis''; this was the first definitive message of the fate of ''Indianapolis''. She rescued 93 survivors, and gave final rites to 21 found already dead. Remaining in the area searching until 8 August, ''Cecil J. Doyle'' was the last to leave the scene. While only 316 men were rescued out of the crew of 1,196 aboard ''Indianapolis'', Captain Claytor's actions were widely credited by survivors with preventing an even greater loss of life.
From 26 August 1945, when she sailed into [[Buckner Bay]], [[Okinawa Island|Okinawa]], the destroyer was assigned to occupation duty. She sailed with [[hospital ship]]s to [[Wakayama, Japan]], to evacuate released [[prisoners of war]], then screened [[aircraft carrier]]s providing air cover for the landing of occupation troops. Through 12 November, she cruised on courier duty between Japanese ports, and after [[drydock]]ing at [[United States Fleet Activities Yokosuka|Yokosuka]], sailed for [[San Francisco]], California, arriving there on 13 January 1946.
She was decommissioned and placed in reserve at San Diego on 2 July 1946. On 2 December 1967, ''Cecil J. Doyle'' was sunk as a target during live-fire practice.
==Notes== {{Reflist}}
==References== {{DANFS|https://www.history.navy.mil/content/history/nhhc/research/histories/ship-histories/danfs/c/cecil-j-doyle.html}} * {{Cite journal|author=Marks, R. Adrian |title=America was Well Represented |publisher=United States Naval Institute Proceedings |date=April 1981}} * [https://archive.today/20120721161718/http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?r103:E18MY4-295: Quotes from article by journalist Don Phillips of the ''Washington Post'' in ''Tribute to W. Graham Claytor, Jr.'', published May 1994] * [http://www.ussindianapolis.org/intro.htm Survivors Groups official website for the U.S.S. ''Indianapolis''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050306014926/http://www.ussindianapolis.org/intro.htm |date=6 March 2005 }} * [[Doug Stanton]], ''In Harm's Way: The Sinking of the USS ''Indianapolis'' and the Extraordinary Story of Its Survivors'' ({{ISBN|0-8050-7366-3}}) *[[Richard F. Newcomb]], "Abandon Ship!: The Saga of the U.S.S. Indianapolis, the Navy's Greatest Sea Disaster" ({{ISBN|0-06-018471-X}})
==External links== {{Commons category|USS Cecil J. Doyle (DE-368)}} *[http://www.ussindianapolis.org/ USS ''Indianapolis'' — Still at sea] *http://www.uboat.net/allies/warships/ship/2565.html
{{John C. Butler class destroyer escort}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cecil J. Doyle (De-368)}} [[Category:John C. Butler-class destroyer escorts]] [[Category:World War II frigates and destroyer escorts of the United States]] [[Category:Ships built in Orange, Texas]] [[Category:1944 ships]]