All rights reserved. He was a radioman on the ship for about a year, and transferred to another ship before the USS Kidd was hit by a kamikaze.the sailor I was talking to lost a few friends in that attack. The United States Navy commissioned 175 Fletcher-class destroyers between 1942 and 1944, more than any other destroyer class, and the design was generally regarded as highly successful. The cycle would start at the end of a shipyard overhaul, in our case at the Long Beach Naval Shipyard. There, the earliest ones saw action in the nighttime surface battles in the Solomon Islands, many fought at Leyte and all completed in time for fleet screening and shore bombardment assignments and the notorious anti-kamikaze radar picket duty at Okinawa. Also, since my primary experience was in engineering, it served as excellent preparation for command. . Available methods included voice radio, teletype, and the old fashioned Morse Code key. The Aulick served in the Pacific from 1943 through the end of the war and was also on radar picket off Okinawa May through July, 1945. 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. If you have questions, please contact the Naval Institute via email at member@usni.org or by phone at 800-233-8764. [7] The answer that came back was that five 5in (127mm) dual-purpose guns, twelve torpedoes, and twenty-eight depth charges would be ideal, while a return to the 1,500-ton designs of the past was seen as undesirable. This method was still in general use in the Navy even into the 1990s and there are still some ships that still use it, even though burner management systems have been common on commercial ships since the 1970s. How many depth charges did a Fletcher-class carry during WWII? Normally the crew stood duty on one day out of every three. Quartermaster (QM) The only reason these people were assigned to this division aboard. Fifty-one were further modified beginning in 1945, replacing the forward torpedo tubes and midships 40mm twin Bofors with quad mounts for a total of 14 barrels, and the seven 20mm singles with six 20mm twins. The Conning Officer could be the CO, XO, or OOD. 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). Enjoyable and interesting read. The Chief Engineer bears responsibility for operation of the ships engineering plant, electrical generation and distribution, auxiliary machinery, and interior communications. Does anyone have information I can get from on of his mates during that time. The class was designed in 1939, as a result of dissatisfaction with the earlier destroyer leader types of the Porter and Somers classes. These sailors were generally referred to as non-rated personnel and they could be assigned duties in any of the non-engineering divisions. Others carried trainable Hedgehogs. I was lucky enough to tour the USS Kidd shortly after she was docked for display in Baton Rouge, LA. My uncle was also a TM2 aboard the USS Terry. I know what than meant -some snipe had to record temperature readings on a clipboard form every few hours, to make sure a bearing was not overheating. The next order would be to Take in the Brow. Of course, ships today are fitted with Global Positioning (GPS), Electronic Chart Display (ECDIS) and other more advanced equipment. The duties of conning officer were rotated around. Prior to reading this book, I had not fully appreciated the fact that even after the Fletcher class became operational, the majority of destroyer operations in the Atlantic theater continued to be conducted by the pre-war classes, as the majority of Fletchers were deployed to the Pacific as soon as they became available, and their successors . The Tribal class, or Afridi class, were a class of destroyers built for the Royal Navy, Royal Canadian Navy and Royal Australian Navy that saw service in World War II. Anti-aircraft armament initially was light, with a quadruple 1.1"/75 caliber gun located in an elevated tub between the number three and four 5-inch gun mounts and six Oerlikon 20 mm cannons (two in front of and below the bridge and four amidships). The growth in the design was in part a response to the challenge that had dogged U.S. Navy designs in coping with long range operations in the Pacific Ocean. The peacetime manning was 14 officers and 236 enlisted men. 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. Thirty-two were transferred to the navies of Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Columbia, Germany, Greece, Italy, Japan, Korea, Mexico, Peru, Spain, Taiwan and Turkey. They followed exactly the same path but they were only assigned to the Engineering Department. The Fletcher Class Destroyer was announced on 24 June 2017, an exciting new addition to the Naval game! Naval officers are required to pay for their own meals. Eventually, eleven shipyards launched 175 ships over the next 32 monthsthe most numerous class of destroyer completed by any navy. 0 items. The Wardroom mess was run like a small business and each officer had to pay a monthly mess bill of about $25 to $35, a lot of money in those days. With the outbreak of the Korean War many were returned to active duty. The iconic silhouette of a Fletcher is well known to any students of World War II naval history. The last step was to test out the main engines with steam. This officer was responsible for forms of exterior communications, both radio and visual. He was normally seated at the opposite end of the wardroom table from the Captain, where it was convenient for everyone to glare at him. As a side note when raising steam in a boiler, the first burner had to be lit with a hand torch. 2 Friedman, Norman, U.S. Destroyers, an illustrated design history, page 111, 1982, United States Naval Institute, Annapolis, MD. Thanks for shedding additional light on my fathers service and that of his comrades-in-arms. The ship had to approach very carefully directly into the current and hold itself in position during this process. While in the Atlantic we were part of a group that escorted the Queen Mary from the coast of Ireland to Halifax Winston Churchill and Admiral King were aboardhistory. A whole bunch of information is conveyed very concisely. This addition to the AA suite required the deletion of the forward quintuple torpedo mount, a change was under the 4 April 1945 anti-kamikaze program.[7]. Nineteen were lost during World War II; six more were damaged and not repaired. References: Bauer and Roberts, Friedman, Raven, Hearn. The ship was named to honor Admiral Frank Friday Fletcher, who received the Medal of Honor for his leadership during the Mexican-American War. [10] No design can be perfect and the Fletchers were no exception. 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. Much of this philosophy was a carry over from the days of sailing ships. He volunteered for service in 1943 at which time he was in private practice in Radford Virginia where he served the area and the employees of the Radford Army Ammunition Plant adjacent to Radford. The USS Bush was a Fletcher class destroyer. They had the fortune of catching American production at the right moment becoming "the" destroyer design, and only Fletcher-class derivatives, the Sumner and Gearing classes, would follow it. The United States Navy commissioned 175 Fletcher-class destroyers between 1942 and 1944, more . Disbursing Clerk (DK) Assisted the Supply Officer in performing his paymaster functions. [11] yet they served all over the North Atlantic. Previously the USS Anthony (DD-515), Ringold (DD-500), Waldsworth (DD-515), Claxton (DD-571), Dyson (DD-572), and Charles Ausburne (DD-570). The Supply Officer also had department head status. Designed in the late 1930s and early 1940s . NHF members are being converted to members of the Naval Institute. 175 were produced, more than any other class, and they were built by shipyards across the United States. Once the first burner was lit, subsequent burners could be lit from the adjacent burner. Under these conditions, a commissioned CIC Watch Officer (CICWO) was assigned. The Damage Control Assistant (DCA) was in charge of R Division. Petroleum/Chemical plant operations dept.. A good profession. There were 39 casualties and extensive damage in the after part of the ship. Due to the increasing threat from kamikaze attacks, beginning in July 1945 some ships returning to the United States for refits received further anti-aircraft modifications, replacing the forward set of torpedo tubes with gun platforms housing two quadruple 40mm guns (for a total of eighteen). 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. One reason for this was that it kept me involved in the operational picture. What impressed me was the clean layout, and the open space. She was a fine destroyer and served in WWII as a real war ship. Their flush deck construction added structural strength, although it did make them rather cramped. We also made fueling stops at Guam and Midway. These are senior petty officers who function as the ships police force. 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. Here we see the Fletcher-class destroyer USS Cony (DD/DDE-508) off Norfolk in October 1963 as seen from the USS Keppler (DD-765).Though she earned 11 battle stars for World War II service, two for Korean War service and spent five months off Vietnam, it was a little-acknowledged day in 1962 that Cony witnessed what could have been the start of World War III. Phil, the Morrison and Luce were sister ships and often worked together. The First Lieutenant probably came under fire more than any other officer because everything his people did was readily observable and most COs and XOs were very concerned with topside appearance, sometimes overly so. All wardroom provisions had to be purchased from the General Mess or other sources ashore. The XO is often the resident bad guy in the wardroom because many COs like to play the Good Cop/Bad Cop game. All Rules of the Road situations were handled by whistle signals. The other ships in the division would then come alongside and tie up using regular mooring lines. In my new novel Through Waters Deep, Ens. The ships Master at Arms force reports directly to the Executive Officer. The wartime philosophy was essentially that manpower was cheaper than technology. The ratings that came under the Communications officer were: OI Division Headed by the CIC Officer, assisted by the Electronics Material Officer (EMO). Friedman, Norman "US Destroyers: An Illustrated Design History (Revised Edition)", Naval Institute Press, Annapolis:2004, p.111-112. If we were backing out of a slip you would hear a prolonged blast on the whistle. These differences will be described as we go along. First Division provided the majority of the bridge watch standers and the gun crews. May 21, 2022. . Fletcher related story: After being in Baton Rouge, LA when the USS Kidd was put on public display, 15 years later I was living outside of Fort Lauderdale, FL. Some that we were called upon to perform included: There are probably some others that I have forgotten about. 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