Detached from bombardment duty, KIDD was ordered to convey an Admiral to Pusan at flank speed. A 36 searchlight and platform, a Mk-12/22 fire-control radar antenna, four more K-guns, and several smaller items were salvaged from USS TOLMAN (DD-740/DM-28) prior to her disposal by the Navy as a target ship. Meanwhile, the Navy continued looking ahead. The Steering Gear room (After Steering) would be manned. 3. Slow but reliable, the Coast Guard's Secretary-class cutters were the backbone of the United States' North Atlantic escort force during World War II. Simultaneously, Armed Guard gunners on merchant vessels in the rear columns of the convoy also opened fire. Fletcher -class destroyers boasted ten torpedo tubes, depth charge projectors, and five radar-guided 5" dual-purpose guns allowing them to ably combat aircraft, submarines and surface. NHF has decommissioned and is no longer accepting new members or donations. Percentage-wise, it was the most severe loss of any of Germany's armed forces. By any standard, that was an impressive display of warship mass production. On the night of the 17th, the Ingham's sonar was turned off and her sonarman, Mike Sasso, was listening for screw noise with the hydrophones. At this point, we were underway. She then provided escort for new carriers during their shakedown cruises from Norfolk to Trinidad. Sailing for the western Pacific again in February of 1945, KIDD and her sister ships joined Task Force 58, then forming for raids against the Japanese home islands and the invasion of Okinawa. A Pacific Fleet destroyer operated on a two year cycle in those days. With the active sonar switch on, Sasso again picked up the U-boat: "It was beautiful, a metallic sound, real clear." As well as other tasks, most of the ships served on weather station patrols, monitoring conditions in specific areas of the Atlantic. The Sullivans played a large role in World War II and the . USS Fletcher (DD 445) of the 175-ship 2,100-ton Fletcher class was an outstanding example of promise fulfilled. The plant has to be started up from the Central Control Station below decks, but once it is ready for operation throttle control can be transferred to the bridge. The Fletcher class was the largest and most important class of U.S. destroyers to serve in the war. While this rarely happened, such destroyer-vs-submarine duels did take place on one or two real-life occasions. Having transferred steam to both engine rooms from her only remaining boiler room, KIDD now made approximately 20 knots as she headed south toward Ulithi Atoll. My wifes first comment when I took her around the ship for the first time was You mean that you start all of this up with a match?. The Bibb, Duane, and Ingham were also still operating from Iceland. Also at this time, long-awaited American destroyer escorts (DEs) and patrol frigates (PFs) appeared in significant numbers, augmenting or replacing older cutters and destroyers. NHF members are being converted to members of the Naval Institute. Fittings marked with a Red Z, Black Y, and Black Z are all closed. (Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press, 1992). I also served aboard USS CORAL SEA (CVA43) for 2 years before joining the submarine force, which I spent 26 years in. She whispers stories of courage, bravery, and sacrifice. They would pick up an eastbound convoy from a Canadian escort group, protect it through storms and U-boats, and then turn it over to a British escort group off Ireland. Suddenly, at 2315, Sasso heard the screw beats of a U-boat only 1,200 yards ahead. The plane departed trailing smoke. The disabled cutter, meanwhile, was towed to Newfoundland for repairs. So on the crews behalf, Mrs. Kidd obtained official permission from the powers-that-be in the Navy for them to paint the pirate on the stack and fly the Jolly Roger. All rights reserved. At 2,050 tons standard displacement and approximately 2,900 tons fully loaded, the Fletchers were significantly larger than any preceding American destroyer classes. This is the third in a series of articles by Captain Stewart detailing the technical specifications, manning, and operations of the U.S. Navys Fletcher class destroyers. Communications would be established with all vital stations, steering gear, alarms, whistle and engine order telegraph tested, radar, sonar, and fathometer in operation, and compasses checked. At this point, the word would be passed Secure the Special Sea and Anchor Detail, Set the Regular Underway Watch. During his 30 year naval career he held two ship commands and served a total of 8 years on naval material inspection boards, during which he conducted trials and inspections aboard over 200 naval vessels. Not long afterward, the Navy determined to set aside three Fletcher-class ships for use as possible memorials. At 1955 her radar picked up the convoy about 16,000 yards ahead. Finally, the third Fletcher selected was KIDD, largely due to the efforts of Harold Monning, who served aboard her during World War II, and the shipmates of the DESRON 48 Reunion Association. did fletcher class destroyers serve in the atlantic? Germany knew that stopping the supply line would essentially give them victory in Britain and the rest of Europe, as well as the Soviet Union, thus ending the war. The next step depended on how we were moored. The movie's fictional incident is based on an event that unfolds in The Good Shepherd book from which the film was adapted. . Assigned to DESDIV 152, she joined Carrier Task Force 77 at Wonsan, Korea, with division mates UHLMANN (DD-687), HOPEWELL (DD-681), and WEDDERBURN (DD-684). Battery containers were smashed, releasing toxic chlorine gas, and two of the bow torpedoes began hot runs but could not be fired because of the sub's depth. It is instead based on author C. S. Forester's 1955 novel The Good Shepherd. An American freighter, the SS City of Flint, reached the scene the next morning, joining the Norwegian freighter Knut and the Swedish yacht Southern Cross. 8. The edition of TIME magazine that week carried a photo of KIDD, announcing that it had been one hundred years since the Jolly Roger had flown in New York Harbor. If we were backing out of a slip you would hear a prolonged blast on the whistle. U.S. Coast Guard Public Information Division, The Coast Guard at War: Transports and Escorts V, Vol. Allan B. Roby, the destroyer moved across New York Harbor for delivery to the Brooklyn Naval Shipyards . This meant passing a second bight around the bollard on the pier or the ship alongside. USS Jenkins (DD-447) was a Fletcher-class destroyer in the service of the United States Navy, the second ship named after Rear Admiral Thornton A. Jenkins.Beginning service during World War II, the destroyer saw action in the Pacific theatre. The strategy that the Allies used was to send a group of merchant ships across the Atlantic in a convoy that was escorted by a group of warships, and, when feasible, aircraft. The U.S. Six 25-man balsa life rafts were located in Seal Beach, California. In 1984, the Dutch fleet oiler ZUIDERKRUIS arrived in Baton Rouge on a port visit and transferred to KIDD two twin 20mm gun mounts, two Mk-16 K-gun depth charge projectors, and twelve 20mm magazine drums. Morale among the crew soared. in 1951 during the Korean War. This action won her skipper at the time, Cdr. On 1 September 1939, Germany invaded Poland, and only two days later, the German submarine U-30 sank the British ocean liner SS Athenia off the Irish coast. In September of that year, KIDD participated in a top secret mission which carried her to a midnight rendezvous somewhere in the Yellow Sea. She then joined NEW JERSEY (BB-62) on bombardment duty, before being assigned to patrol the Formosa Strait. Not a member of the Naval Institute? KIDD was decommissioned for the last time on June 19, 1964, after over twenty years of service. A. Randle, omitting any mention of her gender. From there we were ready to go. She serves as a reminder of all those who have gone before us. In 1941, the US Navy began building a fleet of large destroyers, its first design to rival the Japanese "special type" destroyers that had first entered service more than a decade before. This areaknown as the Devil's Gorge, the Black Hole, or Torpedo Junctionwas a prime hunting ground for U-boats. Several months later, the President also ordered the U.S. Navy to help escort Allied convoys. "The contact was fast; there was a lot of motion, a lot of movement," he recalled. On 17 December, the Ingham was on the western edge of the air gap, sweeping ahead of eastbound Convoy SC-112. The lead ship of the class was the USS Fletcher (DD-445). Since his retirement from active naval service in 1986 he has been employed in the ship design industry where he has specialized in the development of concept designs of propulsion and powering systems, some of which have entered active service. Harry G. Moore coming aboard in his stead. The next day the Alexander Hamilton capsized and was sunk by destroyer gunfire, the only Secretary-class cutter lost during the war. With no injuries to the crew, the damage was repaired and the ship was underway again on May 11, 1953. In 1945, the seven ships remaining in the war zone participated in the Iwo Jima operation. The gunfire continued for about 10 minutes until a German sailor flashed a distress signal. The second was CASSIN YOUNG. 2. Jurgen Rohwer and Gerhard Hummelchen, The Chronology of the War at Sea, 1939-1945, rev. As well as other tasks, most of the ships served on weather station patrols, monitoring conditions in specific areas of the Atlantic. Ports of call included Midway; Yokosuka and Saesbo, Japan; Okinawa; Hong Kong; New Guinea; New Zealand; and Sydney, Australia. My own ship, the USS Halsey Powell (DD 686) had been struck by a Kamikaze while escorting the carrier USS Hancock (CV 19) off Okinawa in 1945. There, the earliest ones saw action in the nighttime surface battles in the Solomon Islands, many fought at Leyte and all completed in time for fleet screening and shore bombardment assignments and the notorious anti-kamikaze radar picket duty at Okinawa. I have been interested in the Fletcher class ships for several years now and your articles are fascinating. Tying up alongside the destroyer tender HAMUL (AD-20), the crew began to make temporary repairs. The Allies had yet to set up a convoy system, and according to the Monitor National Marine Sanctuary, between January and July 1942, 86 ships sank off the coast of North Carolina, claiming the lives of more than 1,100 merchant seamen. The officer of the deck, Lieutenant Ed Osborne nevertheless ordered a depth charge dropped. Next we will describe the process for getting underway from alongside another ship or a pier. This method was still in general use in the Navy even into the 1990s and there are still some ships that still use it, even though burner management systems have been common on commercial ships since the 1970s. Not wishing to dishonor RADM Kidd, however, the crew obtained permission from Mrs. Kidd first. A second 36 searchlight was obtained from a private estate in 1985. A sister ship of the Fletcher-class, USS CAPERTON (DD-650), provided the quintuple Mk-14 21-inch torpedo tubes that were missing, as well as a Mk-27 torpedo director, two Mk-63 gun directors, and her boat boom. USS The Sullivans served with . About once per quarter we would be assigned an availability alongside a Destroyer Tender for routine repairs. None of the Germans hoisted a white flag, and the one-sided close-range battle continued. The last step was to test out the main engines with steam. Not long afterward, KIDD saw action at Tarawa during the Gilbert Island invasion in November of 1943. Was on DD650 for 4 years right out of boot camp I am now ret USN MSC you in 76 there is not a day that goes by that I dont think of the best year s of my life I am now 77and I wish I could do it all again when the good Lord takes me I hope he will put me on the USS C APERTON DD650, Pingback: The George Stewart I Knew | Naval Historical Foundation. was one of some notoriety. Four B&W three-drum boilers (565 psi @ 850 F), Two sets of General Electric geared turbines (60,000 hp total), five 5"/38-cal. Completed in June 1942, she arrived at Guadalcanal in October and soon proved herself during a vital time when the US Navy's posture in the Pacific war was changing from defensive to offensive, an auspicious beginning to a 27-year career. We also made fueling stops at Guam and Midway. Another unique distinction about KIDDs first voyage was the make-up of her crew. By the time her gun crews saw U-606 to starboard, the submarine was so close the 5-inch guns could not be depressed enough to fire at her. A doctor transferred over by highline to care for the wounded from squadron mate HALE (DD-642). She was my first, and my favorite ship. My first 11 years in the Navy were spent in Japan. KIDD sounded the warning to the rest of the fleet and opened fire, downing two of the attackers. Brittin took command of the ship and headed the beleaguered ship southward. On 21 February, the Campbell was on her way to rejoin Convoy ON-166 after rescuing 50 survivors of the torpedoed Norwegian freighter Nielson Alonso. Secretary of the Treasury Henry Morgenthau argued that turning over just the ships would result in logistical and administrative chaos. At several points in the film, a German U-boat uses Greyhound's transmitting frequency and broadcasts threatening messages over the ship's loudspeakers. Since 1975 all new destroyer, cruiser, and frigate types have been powered by aircraft derivative gas turbine engines. My dad (Richmond Thomas (RT) Ezzell) was on the TAYLOR DD468 during WWII .Saw at the foot of his grave today another marker with his name, ship, and I suppose rating FC. From there, they picked up an outbound convoy and battered their way west to Newfoundland. The next order would be to Take in the Brow. Mr. Walling served as a commissioned and a senior petty officer in the Coast Guard and is the author of Bloodstained Sea: The U.S. Coast Guard in the Battle of the Atlantic, 1941-1944 (New York: International Marine/McGraw-Hill, 2004). Under the command of Cdr. She saw her first duty covering the North Atlantic sea lanes near Argentia, Newfoundland. There were 39 casualties and extensive damage in the after part of the ship. In 1959, KIDD was transferred to the Atlantic Fleet. The Pirate of the Pacific began a series of WESTPAC cruises which lasted from 1954 to 1959. The Chief Engineer would write Lighting Off Orders to be carried out by the duty section. A second 36 searchlight was obtained from a private estate in 1985. The raids that developed that day werent out of the ordinary, in spite of the fact that three approaching formations of enemy aircraft were reported. The Conning Officer could be the CO, XO, or OOD. Commissioned back into service on March 28 of that year under the command of Cdr. Tickets for NAO TRINIDAD are available to purchase in person for $25ea. Commander James A. Hirschfield, the cutter's skipper, believed the target might be a submarine that had run between ON-166's columns of merchant ships, firing torpedoes at the vessels, and was now making her escape on the surface. The days of surface to surface torpedo attacks had pretty well gone away, although we still retained that capability. While off Pierpoint Landing in Long Beach Harbor, KIDD was struck by the 9,000-ton Swedish freighter HAINAN on April 21, 1953. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. Preparations would start several hours before getting underway, primarily down in the engineering spaces. "The tower was a mass of twisted steel. Named after a swashbuckling Union Civil War captain, the Porter was one of 175 Fletcher-class destroyers built during World War II. During World War II, the Atlantic Coast destroyers would probably be at battle stations with Material Condition Zebra set by the time that they cleared the submarine net. The crew buried their dead at sea along the way on April 12. The crew was extremely tight. In addition, the Coast Guard ships' commissioning pennants were replaced with the Navy flags. No. Enemy planes, spotting smoke from the crippled destroyer, attempted to finish her off. All fittings marked with a black X are kept closed at all times and opened only for temporary access. In my previous two articles (read Part 1 here, read Part 2 here) I gave technical and manning overviews of the U.S. Navys highly successful Fletcher class destroyer. Commissioned into service two months later on April 23, KIDD commenced her shakedown cruise at Casco Bay, Maine. After two deployments, it was back to the shipyard again. Required fields are marked *. 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