From the 1958 Halsey Powell cruise book. By 1971, all ships remaining in the US Navy had decommissioned but not until 2001 was Mexicos Cuitlhuac, the former John Rodgers and the last active Fletcher, retired. The days of surface to surface torpedo attacks had pretty well gone away, although we still retained that capability. Not all of the latter 1950s involved Cold War tensions. Under the command of Cdr. 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.. Faced with a shortage of escort ships, the Navy requested on 31 October that all Coast Guard cutters be transferred to its control. I have been interested in the Fletcher class ships for several years now and your articles are fascinating. It was here, just ninety miles east of Okinawa, that KIDD suffered her most severe damage of the war. Harry G. Moore coming aboard in his stead. 1 LCdr. 7. No, not exactly. Yes. . Required fields are marked *. Normally all four ships in the division would be moored to the same buoy. "The periscope had probably been knocked off," he recalled. A lot more information is available on the bridge from GPS, Electronic Chart Displays (ECDIS), etc. Both pilots were recovered and three enemy planes were shot down, with one more kill probable and hits scored on several of the remaining aircraft. The other ships in the division would then come alongside and tie up using regular mooring lines. The KIDDs first voyage was one of some notoriety. USS The Sullivans (DD-537) The USS Sullivans was a long-range, large destroyer used for anti-submarine warfare, anti-aircraft warfare, and surface action. USS Fletcher: note the open hatch with Black ZEBRA marking. Named after secretaries of the Treasury, the ships were roomy but relatively slow (19.5 knots maximum speed). Detached from bombardment duty, KIDD was ordered to convey an Admiral to Pusan at flank speed. Together, these classes dominated the US Navys destroyer force over the next 25 years. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt had died on April 12, the same day that KIDD had committed her dead to the sea. When thinking about it at a later date, you wonder how a human can cheer at the sight of another person being killed. [2] 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 character's first name was changed for the movie. Beginning in the fall of 1939, the large white-hulled cutters were assigned the outer limits of the Neutrality Zone. East Coast deployments tended to be much better because ports in the Mediterranean are much closer together than in the Far East and there never were as many potential shooting situations over there that demanded that we be underway for prolonged periods. As the cutter neared the target, however, Sasso lost the contact. For six days the ships battled heavy seas. 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. In 1959, KIDD was transferred to the Atlantic Fleet. They did not appear until the 1970s. It soon became clear that it was traveling in the opposite direction of the convoy. The Coast Guard would man 30 DEs, organized in five escort divisions, and 74 PFs, primarily assigned to weather-station duty. She rests in a unique docking system designed for the near forty foot rise and fall of the river each season. In spite of being injured himself, Executive Officer Lt. B.H. Reg Ingraham, First Fleet (Cornwall, NY: Bobbs-Merill Company, 1944). That number was necessary to allow around the clock manning of gun mounts, repair parties, and other watch stations. Logistically, moving approximately 40 ships as a cohesive unit was anything but easy. Several films are told from the point of view of the German U-boat crews. At 0420 the next day, the wrecked and scuttled U-606 disappeared beneath the waves. One of the main reasons the filmmakers chose to shoot on the historic battleship is because the Kidd is the only surviving WWII destroyer still in her wartime configuration.If you listen closely during the movie, one of the sailors on the ship refers to a buddy he knows who was on the Kidd. In May 1942, before the first Fletcher was even commissioned, it approved a six-gun ship in which the Fletchers five 5-inch single mounts were replaced with three 5-inch twinsthe 2,200-ton Allen M. Sumner class, with 20 per cent more firepower on a Fletcher hull widened by 14 inches. Under her new commander, KIDD returned to battle during the invasion of the Philippines in October and November. A subsequent sonar sweep failed to find a contact, and with the convoy approaching the area, McCabe broke off the search. Serving as part of Destroyer Division 96 (DESDIV 96) within Destroyer Squadron 48 (DESRON 48), KIDD functioned in the many roles demanded of the U.S. Navys destroyers: anti-submarine picket duty, picking up downed pilots, shore bombardment, and anti-aircraft platform. Tying up alongside the destroyer tender HAMUL (AD-20), the crew began to make temporary repairs. After the yard period there would be a stint at the Fleet Training Group in San Diego (Guantanemo for East Coast Ships) for refresher training followed by a work up for deployment to the Far East (WESTPAC). Ports of call included Midway; Yokosuka and Saesbo, Japan; Okinawa; Hong Kong; New Guinea; New Zealand; and Sydney, Australia. The danger of traversing the Atlantic is echoed in the Greyhound movie's trailer, which states, "The only thing more dangerous than the front lines was the fight to get there.". It was an entirely different Navy! [3] 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?. In 1975, KIDD was deemed unfit for further service and was stricken from the naval list of vessels. The U.S. and Canada needed to maintain the vital flow of supplies and men to Europe in order to keep up the fight. 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 first ship to moor had to place a boat in the water which carried the mooring party. Today, USS KIDD is moored in the Mississippi River in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, the centerpiece of the USS Kidd Veterans Museum. 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. It seemed like there was always something going on out there in those days and port visits were few and far between. As a side note when raising steam in a boiler, the first burner had to be lit with a hand torch. 3. Allan B. Roby, the Silver Star for gallantry. The first 25 ships were ordered 28 June and 1 July 1940 (the first day of the 1941 fiscal year), with DD 445 actually belonging to the 1 July group. 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. 27 2023 . The working part of the torch consisted of a rag wrapped around the end of the handle and secured by wire. The USS Kidd has been docked in Baton Rouge, Louisiana for years, where it has served as a tourist . We were forward deployed to Yokosuka, Japan as part of DESRON 15. Secretary of the Treasury Henry Morgenthau argued that turning over just the ships would result in logistical and administrative chaos. The gunfire continued for about 10 minutes until a German sailor flashed a distress signal. Percentage-wise, it was the most severe loss of any of Germany's armed forces. 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. The next step depended on how we were moored. Authorized for fiscal year 1941, construction of the first ships was already under way when the United States entered the war. By the time it reached the submarine, she was quickly sinking and boarding her was too dangerous. Bennett (DD 473) lays stack and chemical smoke in the Shortland Islands, 1944. off Korea in the 1950s and some even off Vietnam in the 60s, she was condemned in 2010 as a derelict and hazard to navigation and scrapped in 20102011. Commander-in-Chief, U.S.; Commander-in-Chief, Atlantic; and Eastern Sea Frontier Operations logs, message logs, and after-action reports; NARA. Once clear of the harbor, the navigator would announce that we were entering International Waters, where different Rules of the Road apply. The Fletcher class destroyer is one of the most famous and most produced warships developed and built for the US navy in WW2. In addition, the Coast Guard ships' commissioning pennants were replaced with the Navy flags. While at the buoys we were provided with services with some harbor craft which were referred to as fuel, water, and garbage barges operated by the Naval District. The crew was extremely tight. 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. The venerable destroyer had earned twelve battle stars during her career: eight for service in World War II and four for service in Korea. "The contact was fast; there was a lot of motion, a lot of movement," he recalled. The Chief Engineer would be in the Forward Engine Room and the Main Propulsion Assistant would be in the After Engine Room. Just before 1100, one of the Spencer's sonarmen detected a U-boat attempting to slip past the convoy's escort screen. It was December, 1944. While the vessels drifted clear of each other, the Campbell's 20-mm and 3-inch guns raked the U-boat's conning tower and deck. has slowly been restored back to her August 1945 configuration. While this rarely happened, such destroyer-vs-submarine duels did take place on one or two real-life occasions. The Fletcher class including The Sullivans are regarded as the backbone of the navy and know to be the best destroyer in the world. 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. Next we will describe the process for getting underway from alongside another ship or a pier. During this era, no other class of destroyer had more ships built. At 1955 her radar picked up the convoy about 16,000 yards ahead. 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). These conditions refer to degrees of closure to minimize the effects of potential damage. ZEBRA is the highest level of protection. That task accomplished, KIDD departed Philadelphia, arriving under tow at Baton Rouge on May 23, 1982, to a welcoming crowd of over ten thousand. By early 1942, U-boats had begun to wreak havoc directly off the east coast of North and South America, easily picking off merchant ships that were poorly defended. As a torpedoed merchant ship goes down in February 1943, the U.S. Coast Guard cutter Spencer searches for the attacking U-boat. Construction (top) and disposition following World War II (bottom). Allan B. Roby, the destroyer moved across New York Harbor for delivery to the Brooklyn Naval Shipyards . On 12 June 1944, a new Gearing -class destroyer, USS Chevalier (DD 805) was laid downlike the 451, the third ship of her class from Bath Iron Works. 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. Robert E. Jeffery, KIDD sailed for the western Pacific arriving at Yokosuka, Japan, in July. After the war, the ships reverted to Coast Guard control and were reconfigured as peacetime cutters. During that same period, Germany lost 783 of its 1,100 U-boats. 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. Upon reaching Ulithi, another devastating blow to morale was waiting for them. For this reason, all sailors of the Boiler Technician (BT) rating were meticulous about carrying a book of matches around with them at all times. She serves as a reminder of all those who have gone before us. At her launch 29 October, she was sponsored by Mrs. Marguerite Chevalier, wife of LCdr. She whispers stories of courage, bravery, and sacrifice. (Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press, 1987). The search for hard-to-find World War II vintage equipment has gone around the world. 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. 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. two months later on April 23, KIDD commenced her shakedown cruise at Casco Bay, Maine. Upon departing Pusan, she rounded the southern tip of the Korean peninsula and almost ran headlong into Typhoon Marge. I am a retired Navy Chief. ed. Commissioned into service two months later on April 23, KIDD commenced her shakedown cruise at Casco Bay, Maine. Rescuing downed pilots, fighting off suicidal attacks, destroying floating mines, and giving early warning to the fleet of approaching enemy aircraft, KIDD participated in a naval siege which would see the greatest losses ever suffered by the United States Navy. She participated in a precautionary deployment in November, 1956, of American naval forces during the Suez Crisis. The Admirals nickname at the Naval Academy had been Cap (as in Captain Kidd) and he had gone by this nickname his entire life. This would be followed by Now Set Material Condition Yoke Throughout the Ship followed by The Officer of the Deck is Shifting his Watch from the Quarterdeck to the Bridge. Each compartment has been treated as a display case into which innumerable artifacts have been collected and arranged just as they would have been when sailors lived and worked on board. During a simulated torpedo attack in September of that year, KIDD was struck by two star-shells fired from the NORTH CAROLINA (BB-55). 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