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. 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. was one of some notoriety. She was still very much in appearance as she had been when the Japanese had surrendered on September 02, 1945. Deployments were six months in length followed by a six month period in the US, about half of which was spent underway in various fleet exercises off the West Coast. Eventually, eleven shipyards launched 175 ships over the next 32 monthsthe most numerous class of destroyer completed by any navy. Still, 80 percent of Allied convoys completed the journey safely. Named after a swashbuckling Union Civil War captain, the Porter was one of 175 Fletcher-class destroyers built during World War II. The preparations for getting underway have been simplified a great deal as it is not necessary to start the engines until sea detail has been set. Robert L. Scheina, U.S. Coast Guard Cutters & Craft of World War II (Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press, 1982). 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. It was early on at this point in her career when she picked up the nickname that would become her trademark. 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. In addition, the Coast Guard ships' commissioning pennants were replaced with the Navy flags. did fletcher class destroyers serve in the atlantic? 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. Less than six weeks after the transfer, the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor and the United States formally entered World War II. World War II Operations. KIDD departed the Far East for San Diego and an overhaul in March of 1953. 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. 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. ed. Beginning in the fall of 1939, the large white-hulled cutters were assigned the outer limits of the Neutrality Zone. KIDDs 20mm and 40mm gunners took the plane under fire, scoring several hits, to no avail. I am a retired Navy Chief. As a torpedoed merchant ship goes down in February 1943, the U.S. Coast Guard cutter Spencer searches for the attacking U-boat. ), Bloody Winter, rev. Arch A. Mercey and Lee Grove, eds., Sea, Surf and Hell (New York: Prentice-Hall, 1946). Shortly after the U-boat surfaced, the Campbell's radar found her. She was my first, and my favorite ship. (read it here). The engine room and fire room supervisors would man their stations. She returned to San Diego and was decommissioned on December 10, 1946, placed in the Reserve Fleet until such time as she would be called upon again. 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). We were forward deployed to Yokosuka, Japan as part of DESRON 15. She participated in a precautionary deployment in November, 1956, of American naval forces during the Suez Crisis. The WWII battle focused on Germany's effort to cut off transatlantic supply lines by gaining control of the Atlantic Ocean. The class was designed in 1939, as a result of dissatisfaction with the earlier destroyer leader types. It was an entirely different Navy! Among those seriously wounded in the attack were the ships commander and the ships doctor, Dr. Broox C. Garrett, Jr. Chief Engineer Lt. (jg) George P. Grieshaber was among those killed in the forward boiler room after having gone below to check on a leaking gauge. Pingback: Manning Fletcher Class Destroyers | Naval Historical Foundation, Pingback: Fletcher Class Destroyer Operations - Part II | Naval Historical Foundation. After the three ships met at night on 9 September, the cutters helped care for and transport the survivors back to the United States. 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. 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. Early that summer, President Roosevelt agreed to protect Iceland, and U.S. Marines replaced a British occupying force on the island. Under her new commander, KIDD returned to battle during the invasion of the Philippines in October and November. 7. 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. 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. Deployments to the Far East could be pretty tedious and they involved long periods at sea, as much as a month at a time. Not all of the latter 1950s involved Cold War tensions. 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. The U-boat was too close for the destroyer's guns, so the crew members opened fire with rifles, submachine guns, and machine guns. Their detonations practically lifted the U-boat out of the water and badly shook the cutter, which was rapidly losing speed. Later emphasis on anti-aircraft defense led to a redesigned or square bridge for improved all-around sightlines, beginning with Brownson (DD 518). By the autumn of 1942, the main U-boat menace had moved from the U.S. East Coast back to the North Atlantic. Jeffery was reassigned, with Cdr. Not long afterward, KIDD saw action at Tarawa during the Gilbert Island invasion in November of 1943. At several points in the film, a German U-boat uses Greyhound's transmitting frequency and broadcasts threatening messages over the ship's loudspeakers. All five 5/38-cal. . Allied long-range shore-based aircraft extended their patrols as far as 600 miles, but there remained a significant gap in their coverage. She saw her first duty covering the North Atlantic sea lanes near Argentia, Newfoundland. Left full rudder was applied; the ship had just barely begun to turn. With the outbreak of the Korean Conflict, many destroyers were recalled to service and also served in Atlantic . Thus there were two groups of 2,100-tonners: one-third (58) were high- or round-bridge ships; two-thirds, (117) were low- or square-bridge ships. But with the advent of suicide tactics by the Japanese, destroyers on escort duty faced an even greater peril than before. Fifteen minutes later, however, the radarman reported a contact at only 4,600 yards on a bearing well clear of the convoy. 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. She serves as a reminder of all those who have gone before us. Parts of her radar array were scavenged for use aboard CASSIN YOUNG (DD-793) which had also survived a suicide attack and was preparing to go back out on the line. Fred M. Bush assumed command of KIDD and, temporary repairs completed, she returned to San Francisco and Hunters Point Naval Shipyard for repairs. All USN ships are worthy of their tails of history while securing the waters they sail and for protecting all of freedoms we so take for granted every day. 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. Authorized for fiscal year 1941, construction of the first ships was already under way when the United States entered the war. For a secure moor, the lines were Doubled Up. two months later on April 23, KIDD commenced her shakedown cruise at Casco Bay, Maine. Gun crews kept the aircraft at bay. She whispers stories of courage, bravery, and sacrifice. 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. You've read 1 out of 5 free articles of Naval History this month. 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! 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. The freighters bow sliced nearly halfway through the destroyers hull at the deck line, leaving a 15-ft. v-shaped hole that extended three feet below the waterline and flooding the sonar compartment. By December, at least six convoys were simultaneously in the North Atlantic, and the available escort ships were not enough to stop the U-boats' slaughter. As soon as the last line was taken in, the boatswains pipe would sound and the announcement would be made Underway, Shift Colors. He currently holds the title of Chief Marine Engineer at Marine Design Dynamics. 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. 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. Once clear of the harbor, the navigator would announce that we were entering International Waters, where different Rules of the Road apply. "The tower was a mass of twisted steel. The Sullivans played a large role in World War II and the . She serves as a reminder of all those who have gone before us. Harry G. Moore coming aboard in his stead. Twelve members of the U-boat's 47-man crew were rescued by the Campbell and Burza. . In 1941, as U-boat attacks on British and Canadian convoys in the central Atlantic increased, the United States was drawn into a more active role in the conflict. On April 30, Cdr. A subsequent sonar sweep failed to find a contact, and with the convoy approaching the area, McCabe broke off the search. 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. Under the command of Cdr. 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. Secretary of the Treasury Henry Morgenthau argued that turning over just the ships would result in logistical and administrative chaos. Gap in their coverage afterward, KIDD returned to battle during the Suez Crisis destroyer! 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2023-04-21