A doctor transferred over by highline to care for the wounded from squadron mate HALE (DD-642). About 12 of the enlisted men were Chief Petty Officers. Commander Harold S. Berdine, the cutter's commanding officer, ordered a barrage of 11 depth charges set to explode at only 50 to 100 feet. CAPT John M. Waters, USCG (Ret. The venerable destroyer had earned twelve battle stars during her career: eight for service in World War II and four for service in Korea. Thus far during the war, she had suffered no major damage, the starshells fired by NORTH CAROLINA over a year and a half earlier being the most severe. The skipper reported to the task force commander: KIDD claims to be the best prepared ship in the Navy. Your email address will not be published. The U.S. destroyer was trying to ram the U-boat when a wave cause its bow to come down on top of the U-boat, trapping both in a deadly dance. 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. These conditions are established by closing the appropriate fittings such as valves, hatches, and watertight doors. It was December, 1944. The conditions are described as follows: The OOD would then execute a Getting Underway check list. For six days the ships battled heavy seas. The Chief Engineer would be in the Forward Engine Room and the Main Propulsion Assistant would be in the After Engine Room. Destroyers have been called upon to perform a wide variety of duties. Once this was accomplished, the OOD would pass the order to stand by to answer all bells to the engine room and them report ready to get underway to the CO. 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. That call to action came in 1951 during the Korean War. gun mounts were still in place. Fully repaired and ready for action in the eminent invasion of Japans home islands, KIDD was en route to Japan via Pearl Harbor just days after the first atomic bomb struck Hiroshima, heralding the end of World War II. 1 LCdr. In 1959, KIDD was transferred to the Atlantic Fleet. Is this Fire Controlman? No, not exactly. 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. To emphasize the importance of the battle, Winston Churchill coined the name "Battle of the Atlantic," intentionally alluding to the Battle of Britain. Twenty of the 21 men in those spaces were instantly killed. She screened the amphibious operations, serving as a fire-support ship during the landings on Leyte. Left full rudder was applied; the ship had just barely begun to turn. 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. Following a tumultuous eastbound Atlantic crossing as part of the escort group for Convoy HX-170, she was detached to take in tow the Navy storeship Yukon (AF-9), which was disabled 600 miles southeast of Iceland. In spite of being injured himself, Executive Officer Lt. B.H. As the cutter neared the target, however, Sasso lost the contact. On July 03, 1997, KIDDs torpedo tubes were reloaded for the first time since 1964, finishing out her full armament. Some that we were called upon to perform included: There are probably some others that I have forgotten about. Shortly after the U-boat surfaced, the Campbell's radar found her. The Campbell and Spencer, meanwhile, worked out of Argentia, Newfoundland. She was placed in the Philadelphia Shipyard to await her final fate, one that befell so many of her sister ships: the cutting torch. The ship had to approach very carefully directly into the current and hold itself in position during this process. Yes. By any standard, that was an impressive display of warship mass production. She was first launched in 1943 and went in and out of commission during the Korean War and the Cold War. The Sullivans played a large role in World War II and the . In September of 1957, KIDD and the submarine USS REDFISH (SS-395) participated in the filming of the motion picture Run Silent Run Deep off the coast of San Diego. David W. Taylor, attached to a task force striking the Bonin Islands meanwhile, sustained an underwater explosion, probably a mine, and also went home. David W. Taylor returned to join them in time for Okinawa, after which she and John D. Henley closed out the war with the Third Fleet off Japan while the other surviving ships of the squadron returned home. . The crew was extremely tight. Fifteen minutes later, however, the radarman reported a contact at only 4,600 yards on a bearing well clear of the convoy. Meanwhile, medium-size Coast Guard cutters and U.S. Navy destroyers covered waters closer inshore. The real-life clash that may have inspired the duel in the book happened on November 1, 1943 between the USS Borie and U-boat U-405. We also made fueling stops at Guam and Midway. Today, USS KIDD is moored in the Mississippi River in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, the centerpiece of the USS Kidd Veterans Museum. 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. Next. Four Fletchers have been preserved on public display. Bush fulfilled one of his promises to the crew upon taking command at Ulithi: the pirate, which had been ordered painted over in late 44, was restored to the Number One stack. The only ports we got to visit during my deployments were Yokosuka and Sasebo in Japan, Hong Kong, Kaoshung Taiwan, and Subic Bay in the Philippines. At 0420 the next day, the wrecked and scuttled U-606 disappeared beneath the waves. 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. Your email address will not be published. Without waiting for Bruns' order, the U-boat's engineer gave the command to surface. Also in early 1942, Secretary cutters began running a convoy shuttle as part of U.S. Navy Task Force 24. Fred Edwards, Destroyer Type Desk, Bureau of Ships, 1942, quoted in Holland, Rear Admiral W. J., Jr., USN (Ret), ed. In fact, U-606 had torpedoed three of the convoy's ships, but the Polish destroyer Berza counterattacked with depth charges, driving her down to dangerous depths, more than 750 feet, and causing extensive external and internal damage. The first two raids were driven off by the combat air patrol, in tandem with KIDD and her division mates: BLACK (DD-666), BULLARD, and CHAUNCEY (DD-667). She opened to the public for the first time on August 27, 1983. In August of 1943, she transited the Panama Canal along with three other destroyers providing escort for USS ALABAMA (BB-60) and SOUTH DAKOTA (BB-57) and proceeded to Pearl Harbor. Logistically, moving approximately 40 ships as a cohesive unit was anything but easy. Though the book's story is fictional, it was heavily researched and takes place at the midpoint of World War II during the Battle of the Atlantic in the winter of 1942. Allied long-range shore-based aircraft extended their patrols as far as 600 miles, but there remained a significant gap in their coverage. This meant passing a second bight around the bollard on the pier or the ship alongside. The Fletcher class was a class of destroyers built by the United States during World War II. USS The Sullivans was named after the five Sullivan brothers who were killed when USS Juneau was lost in action in mid-November 1942. 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. 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. (Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press, 1992). The next order would be to Take in the Brow. The deck divisions would man the line handling stations with the First Lieutenant and Chief Boatswains Mate on the Forecastle and the Gunnery Officer in charge on the fantail. Pacific deployment, USS Halsey Powell, taken from the 1958 cruise book. Instead, the party began picking up German survivors. The Pirate of the Pacific began a series of WESTPAC cruises which lasted from 1954 to 1959. Of the four preserved Fletcher-class destroyers, she is the only destroyer remaining in her World War II appearance and is now on exhibit in her wartime camouflage paint, Measure 22.Along with her signal flags, the Jolly Roger flies high from her mast and the image of the pirate looks out from her forward stack, greeting passers-by both on shore and aboard visiting riverboats. Some went on to serve during the Korean War and into the Vietnam War. Allied Warships Destroyers Fletcher class 175 ships The destroyer USS Saufley (DD 465) of the US Navy . The Fletcher class destroyer is one of the most famous and most produced warships developed and built for the US navy in WW2. Their detonations practically lifted the U-boat out of the water and badly shook the cutter, which was rapidly losing speed. X-RAY provides the least protection. 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. Robert E. Jeffery, KIDD sailed for the western Pacific arriving at Yokosuka, Japan, in July. While her sonar crews were attempting to verify the contact, lookouts spotted 15 low-flying enemy torpedo bombers which were headed toward the large troopships carrying thousands of Marines who would soon be storming the beaches. With a gaping hole in her side, most of her forward super-structure severely damaged, and radio communications down for the first hour after the attack, KIDD withdrew from the area under the covering fire of her sister ships. As soon as the last line was taken in, the boatswains pipe would sound and the announcement would be made Underway, Shift Colors. The bomb carried by the kamikaze was catapulted through the ship and out the other side where it detonated just seconds later. Enemy planes, spotting smoke from the crippled destroyer, attempted to finish her off. While the U-boats did occasionally eavesdrop after stumbling upon the transmitting frequency of the escort ships, as far as we know, they were never able to transmit on that frequency, nor were they able to hack into and broadcast over the convoy's inter-ship communication system. Her story begins in 1939 when work on a new generation of US destroyers began as a result of unsatisfactory performance of the current generation of destroyers. By VJ Day, 67 Sumners55 destroyers and 12 destroyer-minelayer conversionsplus 45 ships of a lengthened production variant, initially referred to as the 2,200-ton long hull class and later as the Gearing class. The KIDDs first voyage was one of some notoriety. In the United States, The Sullivans at Buffalo, Kidd (beautifully restored to late-World War II configuration) at Baton Rouge, and Cassin Young, berthed across the pier from the frigate USS Constitution at the Boston Navy Yard, Charlestown, Massachusetts, are open to the public. that 175 FLETCHER class destroyers were completed in the two plus year period from June 1942 to September 1944. The Pirates were one of the first tin cansdestroyersto have their very own ice cream machine, something usually reserved for the larger vessels of the fleet. We had a victim already strapped in the stretcher when he was wounded.. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. Destroyers, dubbed "tin cans" because of their lack of armor . 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. World War II was only days old, but the Coast Guard's "327s" had already answered the call of duty in what would come to be known as the Battle of the Atlantic. The night was overcast with the seas running six to eight feet as the Campbell went to general quarters. The Fletcher class destroyers had a wartime complement of 329 personnel. Built at Federal Shipbuilding & Dry-dock Company of Kearny, New Jersey, KIDD was one of four destroyers [USS BULLARD (DD-660), USS THORN (DD-647), and USS TURNER (DD-648)] launched on February 28, 1943 in a record-breaking fourteen minutes. The Fletcher class was a class of destroyers built by the United States during World War II. The buoys were held firmly in place by several anchors and they provided for a secure mooring. Taking their mascot pirate to heart, crew members began to ransom rescued pilots for ice cream mix and other delicacies from their comrades aboard aircraft carriers so that her reputation grew as the Pirate of the Pacific. Other destroyers conducted this practice, but KIDD did so with a certain flair. For a secure moor, the lines were Doubled Up. Jurgen Rohwer and Gerhard Hummelchen, The Chronology of the War at Sea, 1939-1945, rev. Not long afterward, KIDD saw action at Tarawa during the Gilbert Island invasion in November of 1943. Once clear of the harbor, the navigator would announce that we were entering International Waters, where different Rules of the Road apply. A Naval vessel had three conditions of damage control readiness, X-RAY, YOKE, and ZEBRA. The peacetime manning was 14 officers and 236 enlisted men. two months later on April 23, KIDD commenced her shakedown cruise at Casco Bay, Maine. Mrs. Inez Kidd, widow of RADM Kidd, served as the ships sponsor, christening her and presenting her crew with a handsome wardroom guest book in which she wrote: May the destiny of the USS KIDD be glorious! In 1995, what began as a blind letter to several allied navies which had received Fletcher-class ships in the years following 1945 resulted in the donation of twelve Mk-9 depth charges from the Turkish navy. The Spencer and five of her 327-foot Secretary-class sisters helped keep the supply lifeline between North America and Britain open during the Battle of the Atlantic. Thirty-eight men were killed; fifty-five were wounded. In need of repairs and shore leave for her crew, KIDD returned to Pearl Harbor in August of 1944. Secretary of the Treasury Henry Morgenthau argued that turning over just the ships would result in logistical and administrative chaos. After the three ships met at night on 9 September, the cutters helped care for and transport the survivors back to the United States. . The navigator would be responsible for ensuring that the ship remained on its desired track and making appropriate recommendations to the CO/OOD. Again, the terms is and was are used interchangeably in this article. They were also the first US destroyers fitted with radar as built. Heres how to join! The Fletcher class formed the backbone of U.S. destroyer forces in World War II. However, when KIDD arrived at the Brooklyn yards, the official message sent back to the yards in Kearny read: The WAVE delivered The Kidd at 2:30 today.. KIDD was chosen, in part, due to her condition after years of sitting idle: she had escaped the cannibalization common to ships of the inactive fleet. No. But on her third pass, the cutter again attacked, dropping 5,000 pounds worth of explosives. While in restricted waters, naval vessels have a navigation detail set and the ships position was regularly determined by taking visual bearings on objects ashore, supplemented by radar ranges and fathometer readings. This article describes destroyer operations as I remember them during the late 1950s. Enter the Fletcher Class. U.S. Coast Guard Public Information Division, The Coast Guard at War: Transports and Escorts V, Vol. Gun crews kept the aircraft at bay. For the Leyte landings in October 1944, all nine ships operated with the Third Fleets Logistic Group. She saw her first duty covering the North Atlantic sea lanes near Argentia, Newfoundland. The duties of conning officer were rotated around. Beginning in December 1943, all other DesRon 51 ships began making their way to the Pacific, some in time for the Marshall Islands operation, continuing in various combinations through the Marianas operation, where Haraden was damaged in a bomb attack, and Palau. Harry G. Moore coming aboard in his stead. The part of Greyhound that's based on a true story is the Battle of the Atlantic, in which the fictional USS Keelingbecomes involved. While it's a nice nod to the ship the movie was filmed on, in real life, the USS Kidd wasn't launched until late February 1943, several months after the events in the movie take place. You've read 1 out of 5 free articles of Naval History this month. The pre-war classes of destroyer had been constrained by the London Naval Treaty of 1930 and by the country's reluctance to invest in a stronger Navy, but they did advance destroyer design in a number of ways. I loved the country so much that I did not want to leave. After the war, the ships reverted to Coast Guard control and were reconfigured as peacetime cutters. 5. The other ships in the division would then come alongside and tie up using regular mooring lines. Tom Hanks portrays Naval Commander Ernest Krause (named George Krause in the book), who after years of being a career officer is finally given command of a destroyer, the USS Keeling, whose radio codename is "Greyhound." YOKE is an intermediate level of protection that is set when the ship is under normal underway cruise conditions. She continued rescue operations all the while maneuvering to avoid bombs and airborne torpedoes while simultaneously engaging the enemy. The search for hard-to-find World War II vintage equipment has gone around the world. May her victories be triumphant and conclusive!. She whispers stories of courage, bravery, and sacrifice. Half of the year, she rides the currents of the Mississippi; the other half, she sits dry-docked in a cradle where visitors can see her full dimensions. Built at Federal Shipbuilding & Dry-dock Company of Kearny, New Jersey, KIDD was one of four destroyers [USS BULLARD (DD-660), USS THORN (DD-647), and USS TURNER (DD-648)] launched on February 28, 1943 in a record-breaking fourteen minutes. The U.S. Navy was to patrol this expanse to report on belligerent activity and prevent British, French, and German warships from attacking merchant ships within the zone's boundaries. When Congressman W. Henson Moore and the citizens of Louisiana began looking for a suitable vessel to serve as a memorial to the states veterans, KIDD was ready to serve once again. Brittin took command of the ship and headed the beleaguered ship southward. A Pacific Fleet destroyer operated on a two year cycle in those days. 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