USS Aaron Ward (DM-34)

USS Aaron Ward, November 17, 1944
Overview
Type	fast mine-layer
Shipyard	Bethlehem Steel Shipbuilding
Keel laying	December 12, 1943
Launch	May 5, 1944
1. Period of service
Commissioning	October 28, 1944
Decommissioning	September 28, 1945
Whereabouts	Scrapped in 1946
Technical specifications
length	114.8 m
width	12.2 m
Draft	4.8 m
crew	336
drive	4 oil-fired steam boilers 2 sets of steam turbines, driven by 2 shafts 60,000 WPS
speed	34 kn
Range	6500 nm at 15 kt
Armament	6 × 12.7 cm L / 38 in twin towers 12 × 40 mm flak (two quadruple and two twin guns) 12 × 20 mm Fla- MK Depth charges 80 mines

The USS Aaron Ward (DM-34) was a destroyer converted minelayer the Robert H. Smith class , a subclass of Allen M. Sumner class . She served in the United States Navy from October 1944 to September 1945 .

history

The Aaron Ward , the third ship of this name , was laid down on December 12, 1943 as a destroyer, identification DD-773, at Bethlehem Steel in San Pedro , California . It was launched on May 5, 1944, baptized by Mrs. GH Ratliff, and was reclassified as a mine-layer with the identification DM-34 on July 19, 1944. The Aaron Ward entered service with the US Navy on October 28, 1944 under the command of Commander William H. Sanders Jr.

The equipment work lasted until the end of January 1945, then the Aaron Ward ran out for the first test drives. on February 9, she left San Pedro for Hawaii, where she entered Pearl Harbor on February 15 . After a few maneuvers in the waters around Hawaii, the ship left Pearl Harbor on March 5 to join the 5th US fleet in Ulithi. The Aaron Ward arrived on March 16 in the atoll, three days later she ran out to the Ryūkyū Islands together with Task Force 52 .

The mine flotilla, to which the Aaron Ward belonged, arrived off Okinawa on March 22nd . The association was assigned to mine clearance around the Kerama Islands and Okinawa. By the time the invasion began , the Aaron Ward had shot down three Japanese planes. With the start of the landing operation on April 1, the ship secured the heavy units of the invasion fleet and provided artillery support for the troops on Okinawa. On April 4, the Aaron Ward left the Ryukyu Islands and ran to the Mariana Islands, where she arrived on April 10 and docked in Guam for minor repairs. After completing the work, she returned to the Okinawa sea area and was ordered to patrol the Kerama Islands. There the Aaron Ward was caught in Japanese air raids several times. One attacking aircraft was shot down on April 27 and 28. While the mine-layer was stashing supplies on April 28, the medical transport ship USS Pinkney was badly hit by a kamikaze plane nearby . The Aaron Ward went alongside to support the fire fighting on board and to pick up the wounded and survivors. Twelve sailors were rescued from the water.

On April 30th, the Aaron Ward , together with the USS Little and the dropships LSM (R) -195 and LCSL-25, was used as a radar outpost west of Kumejima . On the afternoon of May 3, the weather cleared and the first Japanese planes were located. Two attackers could be repulsed, a third kamikaze plane crashed into the superstructure and destroyed the aft engine room with its bomb. The rudder was blocked by the fire and the Aaron Ward could only make tight left turns. The rear turret also failed completely. 20 minutes later, around 6:40 p.m., the four ships got into another heavy attack. The Little was hit by five kamikazes in a very short time, broke in two and sank, and LSM (R) -195 was sunk by a kamikaze plane. At 7:00 p.m., two more planes attacked the Aaron Ward , but could be shot down by anti-aircraft fire before they hit the ship. Shortly thereafter, another kamikaze tore down the masts and antenna and destroyed the chimney before falling into the water on the starboard side.

The badly damaged aft of the Aaron Ward , taken two days after the attacks. In the superstructure is a propeller from one of the attacking aircraft

Another kamikaze plane crashed on the foredeck, its bomb ripping a hole in the fuselage near the forward boiler room. As a result, the minelayer lost its drive and began to slow down. Another kamikaze fell into the superstructure and caused serious damage. At 7:21 p.m., another kamikaze aircraft crashed into the port superstructure, and due to the failure of the power supply, the anti-aircraft guns could not intervene. Another plane crashed into the superstructure from aft and destroyed numerous guns, the searchlight platforms and the funnel. The Aaron Ward was at this time listless in the water and began to port heel . The crew managed to put out the fire. Shortly after nine o'clock the USS Shannon met to tow the badly ailing Aaron Ward and bring it to the Kerama Islands. 27 sailors died in the kamikaze attacks.

After some makeshift repairs, the mine-layer headed for the US coast on June 11th. About Ulithi, Guam, Eniwetok, Pearl Harbor and the Panama Canal which met Aaron Ward in mid-August 1945 in New York City one. Since the damage to the ship was classified as too severe, it was decommissioned on September 28; the Aaron Ward has been removed from the shipping registers. In July 1946, the former Aaron Ward was sold for scrapping.

The USS Aaron Ward was awarded a Battle Star and Presidential Unit Citation for its service in World War II .

Web links

Commons : USS Aaron Ward (DM-34)  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

• History of Aaron Ward (DM-34) in the Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (English)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ USS Aaron Ward at navsource.org; As of December 25, 2009