(similarly, the HMS James/Harry looks like it was modeled on a British Battle-class destroyer, which did not enter service until 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. . The Admirals nickname at the Naval Academy had been Cap (as in Captain Kidd) and he had gone by this nickname his entire life. 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. KIDD sounded the warning to the rest of the fleet and opened fire, downing two of the attackers. Ships' logs, war diaries, and after-action reports for the Coast Guard cutters: USS Bibb, Campbell, Duane, Alexander Hamilton, Ingham, and Spencer; National Archives and Records Administration, College Park, MD (hereinafter cited as NARA). Upon departing Pusan, she rounded the southern tip of the Korean peninsula and almost ran headlong into Typhoon Marge. On deck it was necessary to disconnect all shore services, pick up the ships boats, remove rat guards, and a variety of other actions, including preparing an anchor for dropping in an emergency. 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 was here, just ninety miles east of Okinawa, that KIDD suffered her most severe damage of the war. Later emphasis on anti-aircraft defense led to a redesigned or square bridge for improved all-around sightlines, beginning with Brownson (DD 518). The Fletcher class destroyer is one of the most famous and most produced warships developed and built for the US navy in WW2. Ordered to take a training tour of the Kearny Shipyards, her name was placed on the list of personnel that were scheduled to report on board KIDD for the purpose of accompanying the destroyer across the harbor to the Brooklyn Naval Shipyards. 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. did fletcher class destroyers serve in the atlantic? . 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. I have been interested in the Fletcher class ships for several years now and your articles are fascinating. 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. Losing the supply lines was a constant worry for the Allies. Instead, she struck a glancing blow and the U-boat's hydroplane opened a large gash in the Campbell's hull. During this time, she served as a training ship for Naval Reservists, cruising up and down the East Coast. The lowest numbered Fletcher was the USS FLETCHER (DD445), although the USS NICHOLAS (DD449) was the first ship commissioned on June 4, 1942. KIDD was one of several destroyers which stood guard for the beleaguered carrier while her crew fought to keep her afloat. That task accomplished, KIDD departed Philadelphia, arriving under tow at Baton Rouge on May 23, 1982, to a welcoming crowd of over ten thousand. As a lower class midshipman at Mass Maritime Academy, we were all required to carry them. From 1939 to 1945, the Allies lost roughly 3,500 merchant ships and 175 warships. 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. She then provided escort for new carriers during their shakedown cruises from Norfolk to Trinidad. Named after a swashbuckling Union Civil War captain, the Porter was one of 175 Fletcher-class destroyers built during World War II. 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. The ship had to approach very carefully directly into the current and hold itself in position during this process. While 19 were lost and six damaged beyond repair, 44 earned ten or more service stars, 19 were awarded the Navy Unit Commendation and 16 received the Presidential Unit Citation. Lieutenant Bruns was one of the first killed as the U-boat crew began climbing out of the sub and attempted to abandon ship. USS The Sullivans served with . The plane departed trailing smoke. Up until the 1960s, most naval home ports did not provide much in the line of pier space and in San Diego, we usually moored to a mooring buoy in the harbor. 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 crew quickly adopted the pirate Captain Kiddwho ironically hailed from New Yorkas their mascot and hired a local cartoonist to paint the famed buccaneers image high of the forward smokestack. She was dispatched to relieve the destroyer BROWN (DD-546), bombarding targets of opportunity on the eastern coastline of Korea from Nan-Do Island southward below Kansong. The gunfire continued for about 10 minutes until a German sailor flashed a distress signal. two months later on April 23, KIDD commenced her shakedown cruise at Casco Bay, Maine. Laid down beginning in 1941, all 175 Fletchers were completed between June 1942 and February 1945, launched an average of 212 days after keel laying and commissioned after an average of 152 days more or 364 days totalnearly 10 per cent faster than the repeat Bensons and Gleaves that preceded them. This action won her skipper at the time, Cdr. 7. The entire process of raising steam was started by making up a burner, igniting the torch with a match, inserting it into the furnace, and opening the fuel valve. U-175 was 65 feet deep when the explosions cracked and twisted her pressure hull. During the attack on Rabaul, KIDD stopped to pick up the crew of a downed plane from the ESSEX, falling behind the main force of the fleet, and came under attack from a group of eight Japanese dive bombers. The division returned to Korean waters in September of 1952 and the following month, KIDD participated in a mock invasion near Kojo, diverting the enemys attention. Twenty of the 21 men in those spaces were instantly killed. [3] By February, organization of the ocean escorts had been formalized into American, British, and Canadian groups. 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. She serves as a reminder of all those who have gone before us. She and the other ships of her squadron were among the first to encounter the Japanese planes which came out to meet the great armada threatening Japans shores. The night was overcast with the seas running six to eight feet as the Campbell went to general quarters. 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. While off Pierpoint Landing in Long Beach Harbor, KIDD was struck by the 9,000-ton Swedish freighter HAINAN on April 21, 1953. 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." Now, on the eve of impending war, the U.S. was ready to take destroyer design to the next level. Commissioned back into service on March 28 of that year under the command of Cdr. That call to action came in 1951 during the Korean War. Charles A. Bellis coming aboard as commanding officer. 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. During that same period, Germany lost 783 of its 1,100 U-boats. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. Based at Hvalfjordur, Iceland, the Bibb, Duane, and Ingham covered small convoys out from Reykjavik that were joining westbound ON convoys. The USS Kidd has been docked in Baton Rouge, Louisiana for years, where it has served as a tourist attraction. A large portion of the movie was shot aboard the USS Kidd (DD-661), a Fletcher-class Navy destroyer named after Rear Admiral Isaac C. Kidd, who lost his life on the bridge of the USS Arizona during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941. From tax deductible donations to your time and skills, there are many ways you can contribute! Beginning in the fall of 1939, the large white-hulled cutters were assigned the outer limits of the Neutrality Zone. While some changes had taken place since 1945, most of the procedures were carryovers from World War II. At 0420 the next day, the wrecked and scuttled U-606 disappeared beneath the waves. This article describes destroyer operations as I remember them during the late 1950s. Today, USS KIDD is moored in the Mississippi River in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, the centerpiece of the USS Kidd Veterans Museum. Copyright 2023 HistoryvsHollywood.com, CTF Media, Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile, subscribe to the History vs. Hollywood YouTube Channel. As we parsed out theGreyhound true story from the movie, we learned that Commander Ernest Krause is a fictional character based on Commander George Krause from C. S. Forester's book The Good Shepherd. In 1975, KIDD was deemed unfit for further service and was stricken from the naval list of vessels. 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. Allan B. Roby, the destroyer moved across New York Harbor for delivery to the Brooklyn Naval Shipyards . 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. The USS KIDD (DD-661) is a Fletcher-class destroyer, the six hundred sixty-first destroyer built by the United States Navy. At this point, the word would be passed Secure the Special Sea and Anchor Detail, Set the Regular Underway Watch. 6. 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. She was first launched in 1943 and went in and out of commission during the Korean War and the Cold War. 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). Boilers had to be lit approximately 2 hours before the scheduled underway time and about an hour would be required in each engine room to prepare the engines for operation. Not a member of the Naval Institute? 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. 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. During Operation War Dance in December of that year, KIDD cruised at 10 knots around the harbor at Wonsan, drawing the fire of enemy shore batteries in order to reveal their positions. Preparations would start several hours before getting underway, primarily down in the engineering spaces. On July 03, 1997, KIDDs torpedo tubes were reloaded for the first time since 1964, finishing out her full armament. (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. In 1959, KIDD was transferred to the Atlantic Fleet. During this era, no other class of destroyer had more ships built. 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 venerable destroyer had earned twelve battle stars during her career: eight for service in World War II and four for service in Korea. Actually this provided for a good deal of camaraderie between ships in the division as we all got to know each other and trade experiences. 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). Since 1975 all new destroyer, cruiser, and frigate types have been powered by aircraft derivative gas turbine engines. She was still very much in appearance as she had been when the Japanese had surrendered on September 02, 1945. The boat began an uncontrolled dive, and when her skipper, Lieutenant Heinrich Bruns, and crew were able to bring her under control, another barrage of Spencer depth charges caused further damage. Again, the terms is and was are used interchangeably in this article. Detached from bombardment duty, KIDD was ordered to convey an Admiral to Pusan at flank speed. USS John D. Henley (DD 553) Destroyer Squadron 51 in World War II was a squadron whose 2,100-ton Fletcher -class destroyers were deployed in thirteen diverse operations in both the Atlantic and Pacific. The Pirate of the Pacific began a series of WESTPAC cruises which lasted from 1954 to 1959. The date was Wednesday, April 11, 1945. Six 25-man balsa life rafts were located in Seal Beach, California. A second 36 searchlight was obtained from a private estate in 1985. Nineteen Fletchers were lost during World War II. US Navy image 19-N-31790. Copyright 2011-2022 Naval Historical Foundation. The venerable destroyer had earned twelve battle stars during her career: eight for service in World War II and four for service in Korea. , finishing out her full armament 10 minutes until a German sailor flashed a distress signal skills. War and the U-boat 's hydroplane opened a large gash in the fall of 1939 the... 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