USS Abner Read (DD-526)

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USS Abner Read in July 1943
USS Abner Read in July 1943
Overview
Type destroyer
Shipyard

Bethlehem Steel Corporation

Keel laying October 30, 1941
Launch August 18, 1942
1. Period of service flag
period of service

February 5, 1943–1. November 1944

Whereabouts Sunk by Kamikaze on November 1, 1944
Technical specifications
displacement

2,100  ts

length

114.7 meters

width

12.2 meters

Draft

5.4 meters

crew

329

drive
speed

35 kn

Range

6,500  nautical miles (11,700 km) at 15 knots

Armament

When commissioning:

The USS Abner Read (DD-526) was a for Fletcher Class belonging destroyer of the US Navy . The destroyer was used in the Pacific during World War II and was lost on November 1, 1944 in a kamikaze attack.

Namesake

Lieutenant Commander Abner Read (1821–1863) was an officer in the United States Navy and during the American Civil War in command of the USS New London , which patrolled the Mississippi .

technology

Hull and drive

The fuselage was 114.7 m long and 12.2 m wide. The draft was 5.4 m, the displacement was 2,100 tons . The ship was powered by two General Electric steam turbines, and the steam was generated in four Babcock & Wilcox boilers. The power was 60,000 shaft horsepower, the top speed was 35 knots .

Armament and Electronics

The main armament of the destroyer was five 5 "/ 38 Mk.30 single turrets and ten 21" torpedoes in two torpedo tube sets. There were also various anti-aircraft guns . The anti-aircraft armament was reinforced in the course of the war due to the increased threat.

The destroyer was equipped with radar . An SG and an SC radar were mounted on the mast above the bridge, with which aircraft could be located at distances between 15 and 30 nautical miles and ships between 10 and 22 nautical miles. A QC sonar was installed for underwater location .

history

The Abner Read was laid down on October 30, 1941 at the Betlehem Steel Corporation in San Francisco . It was launched on August 18, 1942, and entered service on February 5, 1943 under the command of Commander Thomas Burrowes. She belonged to Destroyer Squadron (DesRon) 48 .

1943

After completion of the test drives, the ship became part of Task Group (TG) 51.2 in April 1943 and moved to the Aleutian Islands . There it carried out patrols and shelled Attu on May 11th to support the landing of the 7th US Infantry Division. Before the destroyer set course for San Diego , the island was shelled again on May 16. The ship reached San Diego at the end of May and was then docked in San Francisco for two weeks. On June 14, 1943 the Abner Read ran to Adak .

USS Abner Read after mine hit

Upon arrival, she became part of Task Force (TF) 16 , a unit consisting of three battleships , a heavy cruiser , a light cruiser , 19 destroyers and other vehicles, and operated in the waters around Kiska . On July 22nd, she and other units of TG 16.22 shelled the island and supported Operation Cottage , the Allied landing on Kiska , with her artillery between August 12th and 15th . On August 18, the Abner Read was patrolling the coast of Kiska when she ran into a floating mine at 1:50 a.m. The stern was bent and the destroyer drifted without propulsion towards Kiska. After a few minutes the stern broke off and sank. The explosion and the sinking of the stern killed 70 men or went missing and 47 were wounded. At around 3:00 a.m., the ship was towed by the USS Bancroft . An hour later, the tug USS Ute took over the damaged vessel and towed him to Adak, where the Abner Read was temporarily repaired. On October 7, she reached the Puget Sound Navy Yard in Bremerton, towed by the USS Oriole . After the repairs were completed on December 21, 1943, the destroyer went through various training courses and exercises.

1944

In February 1944 the Abner Read moved to Pearl Harbor . From there she ran to Hollandia . Her starboard propeller was damaged on the way, so that she had to call at Milne Bay on March 1 to be repaired. She was then assigned to TF 75 and took part in Operation Reckless , the landing in Humboldt Bay , on April 22nd . She stayed in New Guinea until the beginning of July and was u. a. involved in landing on Numfor . In July she moved to Seeadler Harbor and from there on August 8 for a short stay in Sydney .

On September 15, the Abner Read supported the conquest of Morotai . Operations followed during the conquest of the Admiralty Islands . On October 17th, she set course for the Gulf of Leyte and entered San Pedro Bay on October 20th, the D-Day of the landing on Leyte . During the next few days she took up position in front of the bridgeheads .

On November 1, Japanese forces launched massive air strikes against American ships in the Leyte Gulf. While they damaged USS Claxton protected, one lunged at 13:41 Aichi D3A Val on the Abner Read . One of the aircraft's bombs exploded in the rear engine room. The Val slid along the main deck and set the stern on fire. Since there was no water pressure available, the fires could not be fought. The destroyer listed ten degrees to starboard at 13:52 and sank over the stern at 14:16. 22 men lost their lives. The survivors were killed by other destroyers, among others. a. the Claxton , saved. The Abner Read was the first American destroyer to be lost in a kamikaze attack.

Awards

The Abner Read was awarded four Battle Stars .

The lost stern

The stern of the Abner Read , which sank near Kiska in the Aleutian Islands on August 18, 1943 , was discovered in July 2018 at a depth of around 90 m by a search expedition of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration . There are currently no plans to rescue the dead suspected in the wreck.

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Theodore Roscoe: Destroyer Operations in World War II , p. 253
  2. ^ Theodore Roscoe: Destroyer Operations in World War II , p. 254
  3. ^ Theodore Roscoe: Destroyer Operations in World War II , p. 439
  4. ↑ Ocean explorers find lost WWII shipwreck that 'entombed' 70 US sailors as they slept . In: Charlotte Observer , August 15, 2018. 

Web links