page_title: USS Bull (DE-693)
section_title: USS Bull (APD-78)
hierarchical_section_title: USS Bull (DE-693) / USS Bull (APD-78)
caption_attribution_description: English: The former U.S. Navy high-speed transport USS Bull (APD-78) in the Republic of China service as Lu Shan (PF-36).
context_page_description: USS Bull was a Buckley-class destroyer escort, later converted to a Charles Lawrence-class high speed transport. She was the second Navy ship named after Lieutenant Richard Bull, a naval aviator who was posthumously awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross.
  Bull was the first of many destroyer escorts built at Defoe Shipbuilding Company, of Bay City, Michigan. The hull of Bull was constructed in the conventional fashion while the jigs and fittings were constructed in order to build the rest of the ships in a new upside-down method that Defoe pioneered. Bull was launched on 25 March 1943 at the Defoe yard; sponsored by Mrs. Ruth P. Bull, widow of Lt. Bull. She was commissioned 12 August 1943, Lt. D. W. Farnham, USNR, in command.
context_section_description: Mooring at the Todd Shipyards Corp. the next day, Bull began her conversion to a fast transport. Redesignated APD-78 on 31 July 1944 and reconfigured to berth troops amidships and to carry their associated gear, the warship lost her "main battery" of three 3-inch (76 mm) guns and received a single 5-inch (130 mm) gun, in an enclosed mount forward. Newer, heavier 40 mm Bofors anti-aircraft guns replaced the older 1.1-inch (28 mm) mount.
  Getting underway in her new guise on 26 October 1944 and heading for Norfolk, Bull carried out her shakedown training in the Chesapeake Bay region under the aegis of the Amphibious Training Forces, Atlantic Fleet. After clearing the Virginia Capes on 7 November, the warship transited the Panama Canal on 13 November and proceeded — via San Diego and San Pedro, California — to Pearl Harbor. There, she embarked Underwater Demolition Team-14 (UDT-14) on 7 December and sailed four days later, via Eniwetok and Ulithi, to the Palaus, the staging area for the invasion of Luzon. Bull sortied on New Year's Day 1945 with the beach demolition group. Proceeding via the Surigao Strait, Mindanao Sea, and the South China Sea to Lingayen Gulf, the fast transport and her companions suffered nearly continuous attacks by Japanese kamikaze planes bent on destroying themselves and their targets. On "S 2" day, Bull provided fire support for the reconnaissance of the San Fabian sector of Lingayen Gulf, earning praise from the commander of her embarked UDT for her "excellent and accurate" gunfire that kept enemy fire to a minimum. During her time in Lingayen Gulf, Bull experienced some "close shaves". On one occasion, antiaircraft fire slapped down a suicider bent on crashing her just 20 yards (18 m) short of her side. Another time, a bomb landed less than 200 yards (180 m) away on her starboard quarter.
  While retiring from Lingayen Gulf to Leyte as part of Task Unit 77.15.5 (TU 77.15.5), Bull watched an American plane crash on nearby Siguijori Island thought to be occupied by the Japanese. Detached to rescue the pilot, Bull, guided by two Vought F4Us, proceeded to the area and found the plane 50 yards (46 m) off the beach on the northwest side of the island. Sending armed landing parties in two of her boats, Bull soon spotted crowds of native Filipinos coming out to greet the American sailors. The fast transport's men quickly learned that Filipino forces had driven the Japanese invaders from the island in November. She took the injured pilot on board, treated his wounds, and then sent him off in a PBY.
  After a brief stop at Leyte, Bull reached Ulithi to prepare for the invasion of Iwo Jima. On 10 February 1945, she cleared the Carolines as part of TG 52.4, the Underwater Demolition Group of the Amphibious Support Force, Task Force 52 (TF 52). She headed, via Saipan, to Iwo Jima and arrived there three days before the landing. Bull took part in the reconnaissance of both preferred and alternate beaches and drew Japanese fire several times, yet she escaped without damage on each occasion, despite several near misses. After "D day", Bull operated as a screening vessel, while her embarked UDT cleared beaches to facilitate the landing of supplies. Although the ship's company suffered no casualties, one of UDT-14's officers was killed when a Japanese shore battery sank the LCI in which he had embarked for gunfire spotting.
  Leaving Iwo Jima on 5 March, Bull headed for Ulithi to make ready for the next major American amphibious assault: the invasion of Okinawa. She arrived off that island on 26 March and, but for short runs to Saipan for upkeep, remained there until after all organized Japanese resistance had been wiped out some three months later. Her principal duties during the campaign were to support beach reconnaissance and to screen other Allied ships. While off Okinawa, she endured countless air raids, but no bullet or bomb ever touched her. On 4 June, while returning from Saipan, Bull encountered the fringes of a typhoon, which prompted the convoy to reverse course. Despite the course change, the ships in the for
caption: Bull in Chinese service as Lu Shan (PF-36).
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