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USS Hambleton (DD-455)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Career
Namesake: Samuel Hambleton
Builder: Federal Shipbuilding & Drydock Company
Laid down: 16 December 1940
Launched: 26 September 1941
Commissioned: 22 December 1941
Reclassified: DMS-20, 15 November 1944
Decommissioned: 15 January 1955
Struck: 1 June 1971
Fate: Sold for scrap, 22 November 1972
General characteristics
Class and type: Gleaves class destroyer
Displacement: 2,200 tons
Length: 347 ft. 11 in. (106.1 m)
Beam: 36 ft. 1 in. (11.0 m)
Draft: 15 ft. 8 in. (4.8 m)
Propulsion: 50,000 shp (37 MW); 2 propellers
Speed: 35 knots (65 km/h)
Range: 6,500 nmi. at 12 knots (12,000 km at 22 km/h)
Complement: 272
Armament: 4 - 5 in. (127 mm) DP guns, 4 - 40 mm AA guns, 5 - 20 mm AA guns, 5 - 21 in (53 cm) torpedo tubes, 6 - depth charge projectors, 2 - depth charge tracks.
USS Hambleton (DD-455 / DMS-20) was a Gleaves-class destroyer of the United States Navy, named for Purser Samuel Hambleton (1777 - 1851). Hambleton was laid down by the Federal Shipbuilding & Drydock Co., Kearny, N.J., 16 December 1940, launched 26 September 1941, sponsored by Mrs. Nannie Hambleton Martin, great grandniece of Samuel Hambleton; and commissioned 22 December 1941, Commander Forrest Close in command.
Atlantic service, 1942–44
Departing Norfolk on 31 January 1942, in company with her sister ship Emmons, Hambleton began a shakedown, unique in wartime, that took her through the Panama Canal to Callao, Peru; Valparaiso, Chile; Guayaquil, Ecuador; Cartagena, Colombia; and Balboa, C.Z. She was diverted for antisubmarine search north of Cuba in early March and on 15 March 1942 rescued six men on a life raft who had survived the torpedoing of S.S. Ceibra. After antisubmarine patrol along the East Coast and intensive training in Casco Bay, Maine, Hambleton sailed as escort to Augusta and Ranger 14 April. Reaching Africa's Gold Coast 10 May, Ranger launched her cargo of P-40 fighter planes for the North African fighting and headed back to the West Indies. In heavy rain and low visibility 17 May Hambleton collided with Ellyson and had to proceed to San Juan and then Charleston Navy Yard for repairs.
Hambleton joined a fast troop transport out of New York 1 July, sailed for Ireland and arrived 11 July. Immediately she reported for duty with the Joint British and American Naval Forces In Europe. With Royal Navy personnel on board as communications liaison, she conducted antisubmarine patrols and served as plane guard for H.M.S. Duke of York through August She then returned to the United States for duty along the coast ln preparation for Operation Torch, the forthcoming invasion of North Africa.
Hambleton joined the invasion fleet 28 October; and, as part of Admiral H. Kent Hewitt's Western Naval Task Force, she screened the carrier Sangamon during operations against airfields in French Morocco on D-Day, 8 November. As she lay anchored by Winooski off Fedala in the evening of 11 November 1942, Hambleton was struck amidships on the port side by a U-boat torpedo. With all power gone, the destroyer took a 12 degree list to starboard as her damage control parties worked swiftly to jettison topside weights and shore up weakened bulkheads. The crippled ship was towed to Casablanca for temporary repairs. Seabees there cut the ship in two, removed a 40 foot (12 m) section of her damaged hull, then joined the two remaining halves together. Escorted by a tug, Hambleton reached Boston 28 June 1943 for permanent repairs.
1944
After a second shakedown in the Caribbean and training along the East Coast, Hambleton escorted a convoy to Oran in April 1944, and began to prepare for her role in the Normandy invasion. Operating in the Western Mediterranean with seven other destroyers and British scout planes, she sank U-616 on 17 May after an intensive 4 day pursuit of the German marauder. From the Mediterranean Hambleton sailed to Plymouth, England, staging area for the epochal invasion. She escorted a large convoy of LSTs to the landing areas on 7 June, D-Day plus 1, and remained off Omaha Beach for critical shore bombardment and screening duties. In the early morning hours of 9 June Hambleton's radar picked up several contacts, soon determined to be Nazi E-boats. Her guns blazing, Hambleton set out after the enemy. In a 4 hour running gun battle she sank one and severely damaged another of the five German boats. After returning for provisions at Portland, England, Hambleton was back on the line for the bombardment of Cherbourg 25 June.
Hambleton departed Belfast, Northern Ireland, 4 July and steamed to the Mediterranean, touching Oran, Algeria, 10 July and reaching Naples, Italy, 15 July. On 11 August she participated in the bombardment of shore positions on the southern coast of France prior to Operation Anvil, the invasion of that vital area. Hambleton remained in the Mediterranean for patrol and screening duty until sailing for Boston 25 October. Arriving Boston 8 November, the battle training destroyer was converted into a high speed minesweeper and redesignated DMS-20 on 15 November.
Pacific service, 1945
Hambleton emerged from the yard 13 December and sailed for the Pacific 30 December. Steaming via San Diego, Pearl Harbor, and Eniwetok, she arrived Ulithi 9 March 1945, to prepare for the invasion of Okinawa, the largest amphibious assault in the Pacific. Departing 19 March, she arrived off Okinawa, the gateway to the heart of the Japanese Empire, 23 March. Prior to the invasion 1 April, she cleared channels and anchorages for the 1,200 ships taking part in the invasion. During the long campaign that followed she operated off Okinawa to sweep, screen, patrol, and provide fire support. She was under almost constant attack from the air. Although, damaged 3 April by a kamikaze which splashed close aboard her port quarter, Hambleton remained on duty as part of the mighty fleet that had come to the Ryukyus to stay, despite all the Japanese could unleash.
With Okinawa nearly secured, Hambleton and her sister ships deployed to the East China Sea in mid-July to begin massive sweeping of this area. In a month they cleared more than 600 miles (970 km) from the 7,200 square mile (19,000 km2) area in one of the largest sweep operations yet launched. Hambleton was in the East China Sea for a second such mission when Japanese acceptance of peace terms was announced 15 August. Joining Admiral William F. Halsey's 3rd Fleet off Tokyo, Hambleton steamed into Tokyo Bay 28 August to clear the way for the occupation forces. In the next few months Hambleton swept a total of 184 mines from Japanese minefields in various straits and channels. During this period she rode out four typhoons, one of which battered her with 60 foot (18 m) waves. Departing Japanese waters 20 November, Hambleton steamed via Eniwetok, Pearl Harbor, and San Diego to Norfolk arriving late December.
1946 - 1955
Based at Charleston, South Carolina, the veteran minesweeper maintained an operational pattern that kept her prepared for the emerging cold war struggle. During the next decade Hambleton participated in fleet and tactical exercises in the Caribbean and along the East Coast. In 1949, 1952, and 1954 she deployed to the Mediterranean and operated with the 6th Fleet from the shores of North Africa to the turbulent Middle East.
After returning to Charleston from her third Mediterranean cruise 6 July 1954, Hambleton decommissioned 15 January 1955, and entered the Atlantic Reserve Fleet. She was reclassified DD-455 the same day. Hambleton was stricken from the Naval Vessel Register 1 June 1971. She was sold 22 November 1972 and broken up for scrap. Hambleton, received seven battle stars for World War II service.
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USS Rodman (DD-456)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Career (USA)
Name: Rodman
Laid down: 16 December 1940
Launched: 26 September 1941
Commissioned: 29 April 1942
Reclassified: DMS-21, 16 December 1944
Decommissioned: 28 July 1955
Fate: Transferred to Taiwan, 28 July 1955
Struck: 1 November 1972
Career (Taiwan)
Name: Hsien Yang
Acquired: 28 July 1955
Fate: Expended for film purposes in 1976
General characteristics
Displacement: 1,630 tons
Length: 348 ft. 4 in. (106.2 m)
Beam: 36 ft. (11 m)
Draft: 17 ft. 5 in. (5.3 m)
Propulsion: 50,000 shp (37 MW); Westinghouse geared turbines
4 boilers; 2 propellers
Speed: 37 knots (69 km/h)
Range: 6,500 nautical miles at 12 kt (12,000 km at 22 km/h)
Complement: 16 officers, 260 enlisted
Armament: (original) 4 - 5 in. (127 mm) DP guns, 1 - 1.1 in. (28 mm) quad gun, 6 - 0.5 in. (12.7 mm) guns, 6 - 20 mm AA guns, 10 - 21 in (53 cm) torpedo tubes, 2 - depth charge tracks.
U.S.S. Rodman (DD-456/DMS-21), a Gleaves class destroyer, is the first ship of the United States Navy to be named for Admiral Hugh Rodman. Rodman (DD-456) was laid down 16 December 1940 by the Federal Shipbuilding & Dry Dock Co., Kearny, New Jersey; launched 26 September 1941; sponsored by Mrs. Albert K. Stebbins, Jr., grandniece of Admiral Rodman, and commissioned 27 January 1942, Commander William Giers Michelet in command.
World War II
1942
Following shakedown, Rodman, assigned to Task Force 22 (TF 22), alternated training and patrol duties at NS Argentia, Newfoundland with screening and plane guard services for Ranger (CV-4) as that aircraft carrier trained aviation personnel along the northeast U.S. coast and ferried planes of the Army's 33rd Pursuit Squadron to Accra on the Gold Coast from 22 April to 28 May 1942. Detached in June, she departed Newport 1 July, escorted a seven troopship convoy to the Firth of Clyde, then continued on to the Orkneys where as a unit of TF 99, she commenced operations with the British Home Fleet. Based at Scapa Flow into August, she alternated patrols from Scotland and Iceland to protect the southern legs of the PQ/QP convoy lanes between those two countries and the north Russian ports of Murmansk and Archangel. With the long summer days, however, the U-boats and Norwegian based Luftwaffe units continued to exact a heavy toll. In early July, they destroyed Convoy PQ-17. Further convoys were postponed until the relative cover of the Arctic winter darkness could be regained.
Operation ''Easy Unit'' then came into being. Toward the end of July, Rodman was designated to assist in filling the increasing immediate logistics demands of the Russians, and of British and American personnel in northern Russia, and to prepare for bases, men, and equipment to provide air cover for the convoys when they resumed. On 17 August Rodman, with Tuscaloosa (CA-37) and two other American destroyers departed Scapa Flow carrying medical personnel and supplies men, and equipment for the RAF's number 144 and 145 Hampden Squadrons, ammunition, pyrotechnics, radar gear drystores, and provisions. Following the route taken by British destroyers three weeks earlier, they entered Kola Inlet after dark on the 23d. The Luftwaffe was grounded. The ships offloaded, refueled, took on merchant sailors survivors of ill fated convoys, and departed Vaenga Bay on the 24th.
En route back to Scotland, the American ships were joined by Royal Navy destroyers. On the 25th, the British ships tracked the German minelayer Ulm, one of many ships and boats engaged in planting mines at the entrance to the White Sea and in the shallow waters off Novaya Zemlya, and sank her southeast of Bear Island (Norway).
Rodman arrived back in the Firth of Clyde on the 30th and on 1 September got underway for New York. An abbreviated overhaul at Boston followed and, at the end of the month, she resumed training and patrols off the U.S. northeast coast. On 25 October she sortied with Task Group 34.2 (TG 34.2) to support the amphibious force of TF 34 in Operation Torch, the invasion of North Africa. On 7 November, Task Unit 34.2.3 (TU 34.2.3), Santee (CVE-29), Emmons (DD-457), and Rodman left TG 34.2 and screened the Southern Attack Group to its destination. From then through the 11th, Rodman screened Santee, then put into Safi for replenishment. On the 13th she retired, arrived at Norfolk on the 24th, thence proceeded to Boston where her 1.1 inch (28 mm) battery was replaced by 40 mm and 20 mm guns.
1943
In December she steamed to the Panama Canal whence she escorted a convoy back to the U.S. east coast, arriving at Norfolk on 7 January 1943. The next day she sailed again joining Ranger for two more ferry runs to Africa, this time to Morocco. During March and April, she remained in the western Atlantic, again ranging as far north as Argentia on patrol and escort duty. In May, she returned to the United Kingdom. Arriving at Scapa Flow on the 18th, Rodman rejoined the Home Fleet. Into the summer she and her sister ships patrolled out of Scotland and Iceland and screened the larger ships of the combined force, including H.M.S. Duke of York, U.S.S. South Dakota (BB-57), and U.S.S. Alabama (BB-60), as they attempted to draw the German fleet, particularly the battleship Tirpitz, out of the protected fjords. With August, Rodman returned to the United States and by 1 September had resumed patrols at Argentia. Detached in October, she departed Norfolk 3 November for Bermuda whence she sailed in the advance scouting line screening U.S.S. Iowa (BB-61) then carrying President Franklin D. Roosevelt on the first leg of his journey to the Teheran Conference.
1944
Returning in mid-December, the destroyer guarded carriers on training exercises out of Newport and Portland, Maine, until April 1944. Then, on the 20th, she headed east with other units of her squadron, DesRon 10. On 1 May she arrived at Mers-el-Kebir, whence she operated as a unit of TG 80.6, a hunter killer group formed to work with the North African coastal air squadrons against the U-boat menace to shipping in the 325 mile stretch between the Straits of Gibraltar and Oran. The Anglo-American air sea effort, devised to keep U-boats submerged to the point of exhaustion and then overwhelm them as they surfaced, required time and patience, as well as coordination. It was instrumental in slicing the number of operational U-boats in the Mediterranean by over one third between March and June.
On 14 May Rodman, with others of her squadron, departed Mers-el-Kebir to track a submarine which had sunk four merchantmen in less than two days. A 72 hour air surface hunt ensued, but on the morning of the 17th, the damaged U-616 surfaced, was abandoned, and sank. The force picked up survivors and retired to Mers-el-Kebir only to sail for England the following day.
On 22 May Rodman arrived at Plymouth and on the 23d assumed duties as CTU 126.2.1 for Operation Neptune, the naval phase of Operation Overlord the invasion of France. On the 24th, she conducted shore bombardment exercises. Then she waited. On the 4th the convoy ''B-1'', formed, headed out across the English Channel, but then turned back, as the invasion was postponed one day. On the 5th the convoy again formed and headed east, this time continuing on to France and landing reinforcements on Omaha Beach on the afternoon of the 6th. Rodman, detached on arrival in the assault area, joined TG 122.4 and through the 16th provided gunfire support and patrolled in the Baie de la Seine. Brief respite at Plymouth followed, but on the 18th she returned to the Normandy coast. Back in English waters from the 21st through the 24th, she joined TF 129 on the 25th as that force joined the U.S. IX Army Air Force in supporting the U.S. VII Corps (the 9th, 79th, and 4th Divisions) closing on Cherbourg.
Rodman returned to England the same day, preceded to sea again on the 30th; and, after a 3 day stop at Belfast, got underway for the Mediterranean to participate in Operation Dragoon (''Anvil''), the invasion of southern France. Arriving at Mers-el-Kebir 11 July, she was en route to Sicily on the 16th, and into August operated between that island, the coast of Italy, and Malta.
On 11 August, assigned to TU 85.12.4, Rodman sailed from Taranto. Two days later French warships joined the formation; and on the 15th, the force arrived off the Delta assault area in the Baie de Bougnon. From 04:30 to 06:41, Rodman covered the minecraft sweeping the channels to the beaches. Two hours of shore bombardment followed. She then shifted to call fire support duties, which, with antiaircraft screening duties, she continued until retiring to Palermo on the 17th. Back off southern France on the 22nd, she fired on shore batteries at Toulon on the 23nd, covered minesweepers in the Golfe de Fos on the 25th, and in the Baie de Marseilles on the 26th. Engaged in screening and patrol duties through the end of the month, she sailed for Oran 2 September and for the next month and a half escorted men and supplies into the assault area. In late October, Destroyer Squadron 10 escorted a convoy back to the United States. From New York Rodman continued on to Boston for conversion to a destroyer minesweeper. Emerging from the yard as DMS-21 on 16 December, she sailed for Norfolk the following week.
1945
On 1 January 1945, Rodman got underway for the Pacific. During the remainder of that month and into February, she conducted minesweeping and gunnery exercises off California and in Hawaiian waters, then sailed west. On 12 March she anchored at Ulithi and seven days later sailed for the Ryukyus and her last amphibious operation, ''Iceberg''. On the 24th and 25th she participated in minesweeping operations off Kerama Retto, then prepared for the assault on Okinawa.
