The USS Kidd has been docked in Baton Rouge, Louisiana for years, where it has served as a tourist . 3. We were forward deployed to Yokosuka, Japan as part of DESRON 15. A member of the Duane's crew, Victor Bogard, remembered that "Whenever a shell exploded on the German submarine, many crew members would shout and cheer. It is instead based on author C. S. Forester's 1955 novel The Good Shepherd. Tying up alongside the destroyer tender HAMUL (AD-20), the crew began to make temporary repairs. Some went on to serve during the Korean War and into the Vietnam War. (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. She saw her first duty covering the North Atlantic sea lanes near Argentia, Newfoundland. George W. Stewart is a retired US Navy Captain. She screened the amphibious operations, serving as a fire-support ship during the landings on Leyte. Underway operations will be described in the next section. ), Bloody Winter, rev. An explanation of Material Conditions is in order. It was early on at this point in her career when she picked up the nickname that would become her trademark. Not long afterward, the Navy determined to set aside three Fletcher-class ships for use as possible memorials. The Conning Officer could be the CO, XO, or OOD. 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. While this rarely happened, such destroyer-vs-submarine duels did take place on one or two real-life occasions. Essentially what this meant was for the first team to take their assigned stations for getting underway. Downtown Baton Rouges Fletcher-class destroyer USS KIDD (DD-661) and the Louisiana Veterans Museum. 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. Not wishing to dishonor RADM Kidd, however, the crew obtained permission from Mrs. Kidd first. X-RAY provides the least protection. In Greece, the former Charrette, renamed Velos (Arrow), is a popular attraction. There wouldn't have been enough men, food, weapons, or resources to make weapons. Four Fletchers have been preserved on public display. 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. Allan B. Roby, the destroyer moved across New York Harbor for delivery to the Brooklyn Naval Shipyards . She then provided escort for new carriers during their shakedown cruises from Norfolk to Trinidad. Some went on to serve during the Korean War and into the Vietnam War. If you have questions, please contact the Naval Institute via email at member@usni.org or by phone at 800-233-8764. Following this action, KIDDalong with the other ships of DESRON 48sailed for Mare Island Naval Shipyard in California for a major overhaul and refitting. 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. She participated in the bombardments of Roi and Kotje through February of that year, guarded construction of airfields at Emirau from March through April, and then supported the occupation of Aitape and Hollandia in New Guinea in May. 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. Under the command of Cdr. 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 next step depended on how we were moored. USS Halsey Powell backs away from a pier in Subic Bay. 2. 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. No. By any standard, that was an impressive display of warship mass production. 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. Non-subscribers can read five free Naval History articles per month. At her launch 29 October, she was sponsored by Mrs. Marguerite Chevalier, wife of LCdr. 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. Left full rudder was applied; the ship had just barely begun to turn. 8. . Robert L. Scheina, U.S. Coast Guard Cutters & Craft of World War II (Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press, 1982). 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.". 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. She saw her first duty covering the North Atlantic sea lanes near Argentia, Newfoundland. The Coast Guard, however, maintains that the cutter's attacks two days later destroyed the same U-boat. David W. Taylor, attached to a task force striking the Bonin Islands meanwhile, sustained an underwater explosion, probably a mine, and also went home. The lead ship of the class was the USS Fletcher (DD-445). She was first launched in 1943 and went in and out of commission during the Korean War and the Cold War. 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 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. The date was Wednesday, April 11, 1945. Morale among the crew soared. 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. U.S. Coast Guard Public Information Division, The Coast Guard at War: Transports and Escorts V, Vol. Destroyers have been called upon to perform a wide variety of duties. Is this Fire Controlman? 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. The night was overcast with the seas running six to eight feet as the Campbell went to general quarters. World War II Operations. 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! The Coast Guard assigned numerous vessels, including six of the seven Secretary- (or Treasury-) class cuttersthe Bibb, Campbell, Duane (WPG-33), Alexander Hamilton (WPG-34), Ingham (WPG-35), and Spencer (WPG-36)to the force. RoR tickets are $75ea in the online store. 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. My first 11 years in the Navy were spent in Japan. 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. By the autumn of 1942, the main U-boat menace had moved from the U.S. East Coast back to the North Atlantic. The engine room and fire room supervisors would man their stations. Not a member of the Naval Institute? Your email address will not be published. She returned to bombardment duty and rescuing downed pilots. At 14:09, KIDDs crew observed a dogfight between Japanese aircraft and the fighters of the combat air patrol. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. 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 KIDD would become the only vessel in the history of the United States Navy to ever have such leave granted to fly the flag of piracy. 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. 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. That task accomplished, KIDD departed Philadelphia, arriving under tow at Baton Rouge on May 23, 1982, to a welcoming crowd of over ten thousand. Logistically, moving approximately 40 ships as a cohesive unit was anything but easy. While at San Diego, Cdr. gun mounts were still in place. For a secure moor, the lines were Doubled Up. From there, they picked up an outbound convoy and battered their way west to Newfoundland. DD 522 : Diary of a destroyer Surels, Ron Books dealing with this subject include: 200,000 Miles Aboard the Destroyer Cotten, Robinson, C. Snelling, 1999 While Commander McCabe was certain he had sunk a U-boat, the Navy was not convinced. After the Coast Guard commissioned them in 1936 and '37, one of their main prewar roles had been high-seas search and rescue, and at one time each housed a floatplane in a main-deck hangar. However, the Navy had other ideas and I ended up on the east coast in Florida. The big drawback to mooring to a buoy was that we had to keep one boiler and generator on the line in order to supply ships power. 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. The buoys were held firmly in place by several anchors and they provided for a secure mooring. He currently holds the title of Chief Marine Engineer at Marine Design Dynamics. She put in at Inchon to wait out the storm, after which time she proceeded to the island of Koje to join a slow carrier task force traversing Koreas western coast. Transportation was by a combination of ships boats and private water taxis. The Fletcher class was a class of destroyers built by the United States during World War II. During that same period, Germany lost 783 of its 1,100 U-boats. has slowly been restored back to her August 1945 configuration. From tax deductible donations to your time and skills, there are many ways you can contribute! Required fields are marked *. 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. The WWII battle focused on Germany's effort to cut off transatlantic supply lines by gaining control of the Atlantic Ocean. During a simulated torpedo attack in September of that year, KIDD was struck by two star-shells fired from the NORTH CAROLINA (BB-55). After two deployments, it was back to the shipyard again. 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. By February, organization of the ocean escorts had been formalized into American, British, and Canadian groups. 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. While the movie finds Tom Hanks' Commander Ernest Krause and the convoy caught up in the Battle of the Atlantic over a five-day period in the latter part of 1942, the battle actually spanned almost the entirety of the war, beginning on September 3, 1939 and ending on May 8, 1945. The disabled cutter, meanwhile, was towed to Newfoundland for repairs. The conditions are described as follows: The OOD would then execute a Getting Underway check list. Two months later, she was involved in a show of force off the coast of the Dominican Republic in the Caribbean, which had just overthrown the Trujillo dictatorship. The cycle would start at the end of a shipyard overhaul, in our case at the Long Beach Naval Shipyard. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Naval Historical Foundation 1306 Dahlgren Avenue, SE Washington Navy Yard, DC 20374 1-202-678-4333 info@navyhistory.org. The USS KIDD (DD-661) is a Fletcher-class destroyer, the six hundred sixty-first destroyer built by the United States Navy. Beginning in the fall of 1939, the large white-hulled cutters were assigned the outer limits of the Neutrality Zone. 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.. From 1939 to 1945, the Allies lost roughly 3,500 merchant ships and 175 warships. Thirty-eight men were killed; fifty-five were wounded. On 17 December, the Ingham was on the western edge of the air gap, sweeping ahead of eastbound Convoy SC-112. that 175 FLETCHER class destroyers were completed in the two plus year period from June 1942 to September 1944. I much preferred WESTPAC! 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 gunfire continued for about 10 minutes until a German sailor flashed a distress signal. Christened USS Fletcher, she carried over several design features from the earlier classes, such as a rounded pilot house. I spent 22 years in the Navy. Named after secretaries of the Treasury, the ships were roomy but relatively slow (19.5 knots maximum speed). In the traditional system of naming destroyers after Naval heroes, she was named after Rear Admiral Isaac Campbell Kidd, Sr. who was killed aboard his flagship, USS ARIZONA (BB-39) during the surprise attack by the Japanese on the American fleet anchored at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. She was placed in the Philadelphia Shipyard to await her final fate, one that befell so many of her sister ships: the cutting torch. Commander-in-Chief, U.S.; Commander-in-Chief, Atlantic; and Eastern Sea Frontier Operations logs, message logs, and after-action reports; NARA. 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 Fletcher design permitted significant increases over preceding classes in hull, armament, machinery, ammunition, stores and fuel bunkerage. As well as other tasks, most of the ships served on weather station patrols, monitoring conditions in specific areas of the Atlantic. The ship's 20-mm guns and aft starboard 3-incher, however, took her in their sights and opened up. At the end of the year, DesDiv 101 continued on to Luzon, where Haraden was again damaged while escorting a carrier task force in the Sulu Sea and again returned to the West Coast for repairs. At 2,050 tons standard displacement and approximately 2,900 tons fully loaded, the Fletchers were significantly larger than any preceding American destroyer classes. The U.S. and Canada needed to maintain the vital flow of supplies and men to Europe in order to keep up the fight. They used USS Kidd, a real WWII destroyer, to film the journey of Greyhound. As the first big ships to appear and because there were so many of them, however, the Fletchers are remembered as the signature US Navy destroyer class of the Pacific war. These conditions are established by closing the appropriate fittings such as valves, hatches, and watertight doors. She rests in a unique docking system designed for the near forty foot rise and fall of the river each season. NHF has decommissioned and is no longer accepting new members or donations. Robert E. Jeffery, KIDD sailed for the western Pacific arriving at Yokosuka, Japan, in July. This never happened in real life. A lot more information is available on the bridge from GPS, Electronic Chart Displays (ECDIS), etc. Beginning in the fall of 1939, the large white-hulled cutters were assigned the outer limits of the Neutrality Zone. We had a victim already strapped in the stretcher when he was wounded.. "It was a shallow charge, and as that thing exploded, the ship quivered, really quivered," Sasso said. Meanwhile, the Navy continued looking ahead. 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 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. Percentage-wise, it was the most severe loss of any of Germany's armed forces. She whispers stories of courage, bravery, and sacrifice. In spite of being injured himself, Executive Officer Lt. B.H. From there we were ready to go. 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). The pace of US destroyer construction accelerated with the wartime Fletcher class. The first of these was USS THE SULLIVANS (DD-537), named after the five brothers killed aboard USS JUNEAU (CL-52) in 1942 off of Guadalcanal. The CO, XO, Officer of the Deck (OOD), Junior Officer of the Deck (JOOD) and appropriate enlisted personnel would proceed to the bridge. 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 plane departed trailing smoke. Previous. YOKE is an intermediate level of protection that is set when the ship is under normal underway cruise conditions. A subsequent sonar sweep failed to find a contact, and with the convoy approaching the area, McCabe broke off the search. The KIDDs first voyage was one of some notoriety. Screened by McNAIR (DD-679), KIDD retreated southward. The mid-ocean U.S. escort groups were built around either the Campbell or Spencer, supported by a few U.S. Navy destroyers and corvettes from the Canadian, Free Polish, and/or Free French navies. She was still very much in appearance as she had been when the Japanese had surrendered on September 02, 1945. At several points in the film, a German U-boat uses Greyhound's transmitting frequency and broadcasts threatening messages over the ship's loudspeakers. 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. (The seventh, the Taney [WPG-37], would spend most of World War II in the Pacific.) The Sullivans played a large role in World War II and the . 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. 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. 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. USS Fletcher: note the open hatch with Black ZEBRA marking. The Pirate of the Pacific began a series of WESTPAC cruises which lasted from 1954 to 1959. single-barreled gun mounts, two 40mm quad-barreled anti-aircraft mounts, three 40mm twin-barreled anti-aircraft mounts, six 20mm twin-barreled anti-aircraft mounts, 305 South River Road Baton Rouge, LA 70802. Allan B. Roby, the Silver Star for gallantry. Today, USS KIDD is moored in the Mississippi River in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, the centerpiece of the USS Kidd Veterans Museum. The Fletcher class destroyers had a wartime complement of 329 personnel. Preparations would start several hours before getting underway, primarily down in the engineering spaces. 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. All Rules of the Road situations were handled by whistle signals. 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. 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. Thirty-two were transferred to the navies of Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Columbia, Germany, Greece, Italy, Japan, Korea, Mexico, Peru, Spain, Taiwan and Turkey. Arch A. Mercey and Lee Grove, eds., Sea, Surf and Hell (New York: Prentice-Hall, 1946). "The periscope had probably been knocked off," he recalled. USS The Sullivans served with . The U.S. Coast Guard, hearing of the disaster and the City of Flint's need for medical help, immediately dispatched two of its 327-foot Secretary-class cutters: the Bibb (WPG-31) from Boston and Campbell (WPG-32) from Halifax, Nova Scotia. She provided escort for the carrier task force which launched air raids on Wake Island in October of 1943 and then again, in November, for the carriers ESSEX (CV-9), BUNKER HILL (CV-17), and INDEPENDENCE (CV-22) in strikes against Rabaul and Bougainville. A Pacific Fleet destroyer operated on a two year cycle in those days. 9. 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. But through the efforts of many dedicated people, she avoided the scrapping yard to make one final voyage. Commissioned back into service on March 28 of that year under the command of Cdr. Today, USS KIDD is moored in the Mississippi River in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, the centerpiece of the USS Kidd Veterans Museum. 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. Now, on the eve of impending war, the U.S. was ready to take destroyer design to the next level. 1. Though built with the Pacific in mind, Fletchers also served in the Atlantic theater. 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. The Fletcher class destroyer is one of the most famous and most produced warships developed and built for the US navy in WW2. Uss KIDD is moored in the two plus year period from June 1942 to September 1944 foot rise fall... Ship during the Korean War and the fighters of the River each season,. Uss Halsey Powell backs away from a pier in Subic Bay 10 until. Sea Frontier operations logs, message logs, message logs, and sacrifice maintain the vital flow of and. Private water taxis next level New members or donations for the US Navy in WW2 control of the Neutrality.! Website in this browser for the next time I comment and Escorts V, Vol began to temporary. 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