USS Albert W. Grant (DD-649)

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USS Albert W. Grant in Charleston in early 1944
USS Albert W. Grant in Charleston in early 1944
Overview
Type destroyer
Shipyard

Charleston Navy Yard

Keel laying December 30, 1942
Launch May 29, 1943
1. Period of service flag
period of service

November 24, 1943-16. July 1946

Whereabouts Canceled in 1972
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:

  • 5 × 5-inch L / 38 Mk.30 single turret
  • 10 × 40 mm flak
  • 10 × 20 mm flak
  • 10 × 21-inch torpedo tube (2 groups of five)
  • 6 depth charges
  • 2 depth charges

The USS Albert W. Grant (DD-649) was a for Fletcher Class belonging destroyer of the US Navy . The destroyer was used in the Pacific during World War II . During the battle of Surigao Strait on October 25, 1944, the ship was caught in the crossfire between American and Japanese ships. The USS Albert W. Grant was hit several times by American grenades. In 1946 the USS Albert W. Grant was decommissioned and sold for demolition in 1972.

Namesake

Vice Admiral Albert W. Grant (1856-1930) served among others during the First World War in the United States Navy .

technology

Hull and drive

The hull of the USS Albert W. Grant 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 when it was put into service were the five 5 "L / 38 Mk.30 single turrets. In addition, there were various anti-aircraft guns , which were reinforced in the course of the war.

The USS Albert W. Grant 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 USS Albert W. Grant was laid down in the Charleston Navy Yard on December 30, 1942 and launched on May 29, 1943. Godmother was the granddaughter of the namesake Nell Preston Grant. On November 24, 1943, the destroyer was put into service under the command of Commander T. A. Nisewaner. After commissioning, the destroyer carried out test and training trips to Bermuda . The USS Albert W. Grant was part of Destroyer Division (DesDiv) 112 of Destroyer Squadron (DesRon) 56 .

1944

On January 29, 1944, the USS Albert W. Grant returned to the Charleston Navy Yard, where minor modifications were made. After completing the work, she went to Norfolk , Virginia . She sailed again on February 13th to escort the USS Hornet to Hawaii. The trip led through the Panama Canal and San Diego to Pearl Harbor , where the ships entered on March 4th.

A month later, the USS Albert W. Grant set course for Majuro to be placed under Task Force (TF) 58 for Operation Reckless . During the operations in New Guinea from April 21 to 29, it served as an outpost, carried out patrols near the coast and supported the landings. Then she drove with Task Group (TG) 58.3 to the Carolines and was part of the destroyer umbrella that protected the aircraft carriers during the attack on Truk . TG 58.3 drove to Pearl Harbor via Majuro on May 2nd. There was TG 58.3 one on May 11, 1945th

On May 29, the destroyer left Pearl Harbor for Eniwetok , which served as a staging area for Operation Forager . The USS Albert W. Grant set course for Saipan on June 11 and deployed its artillery in support of the landing on June 15 . In July she participated in the landing on Tinian . She left the Caroline Islands on July 29th and reached Eniwetok on August 2nd. After a short stay, she ran to Purvis Bay in the Solomon Islands on August 22nd .

As part of TG 32.5 , which was formed around the battleship USS Tennessee and the aircraft carrier USS Wasp , it set course for the Palau Islands on September 6th . The landing on Peleliu began on September 15, 1944 and the landing on Angaur on September 17 , in which TG 32.5 was involved through the use of aircraft and ship artillery before and during the landings.

On September 29, 1944, the USS Albert W. Grant went to Manus and from there on October 12, belonging to TG 77.2 , to the Philippines. She protected the Rapid Troopship USS Crosby on October 17th while troops were landing on Suluan in the Gulf of Leyte . In the period from October 17 to 24, she was deployed for fire support in the initial phase of the Battle of Leyte .

To stop the invasion, the Japanese fleet approached Leyte in three groups on October 24th. The USS Newcomb was part of the shield protecting TG 77.2 in the Strait of Surigao. TG 77.2 was intended to intercept 1st Combat Group C, consisting of two battleships, a heavy cruiser and four destroyers, under the command of Vice Admiral Shōji Nishimura . The USS Albert W. Grant belonged together with USS Newcomb and USS Richard P. Leary to Group I of DesRon 56 , which was positioned north of the cruiser group located on the left flank off the island of Hibuson . At 3:00 a.m. on October 25, the American ships attacked the Japanese force. DesRon 56 pushed through the line of cruisers and at 4:05 a.m., Group I destroyers fired their torpedoes. A torpedo hit the Japanese destroyer Asagumo .

Location of hits

When turning, Group I came under fire from both its own and the enemy. The Albert W. Grant was the last ship of the keel line destroyers. Before she could start turning, she was hit. The first hits at 4:08 a.m. were on the waterline of the bow, flooding a load and the forward crew deck, exploding the ammunition of the 40 mm gun # 1 and hitting the superstructure behind the bridge on the starboard side, causing the Ship's doctor Lieutenant CA Methieu, five radio operators and almost the entire anti-leak squad there was killed. The forward chimney, the port dinghy, the galley, the laundry, the aft crew deck and the forward engine room were also hit. Light, level crossing , radar and radio as well as the drive had failed. In total, she was hit by seven Japanese 120 mm shells and eleven American 6 " AP shells. 38 men were killed and 104 were wounded. At 5:15 am, USS Newcomb and USS Richard P. Leary returned to their sister ship to The ship's doctor and two paramedics from the USS Newcomb transferred to the USS Albert W. Grant to provide medical care for the wounded who were assisted by Pharmacist's Mate 2nd Class WH Swaim, Jr. after the death of Lt Methieu Chief Commissary Steward LM Holmes and Sonarman JC O'Neill, Jr. At 6:30 am, the USS Newcomb towed its sister ship and left Surigao Strait , leaving only one destroyer, the Shigure , of Nishimura's group .

The crew succeeded in repairing the drive so that the USS Albert W. Grant was able to retreat to port in the American-controlled waters of the Gulf of Leyte despite its bow-heaviness and heavy list . On the way to Leyte , she weathered a typhoon before she reached the roadstead in front of Leyte. After making makeshift repairs, she was towed by USS Hidatsa to Pearl Harbor with stops in Sea Eagle Harbor and Majuro . The towing association arrived there on November 29th. Three days later, the destroyer set course for the west coast of the United States . On December 9, 1944, the ship reached the Mare Island Naval Shipyard , where the repair work was carried out.

1945

The USS Albert W. Grant left the shipyard on March 11, 1945 and set course for Pearl Harbor. After completing the training of her crew, she moved to Leyte on April 23, where she arrived on May 13. On June 3, she met the USS Boise off Manila , on which General of the Army Douglas MacArthur was. She escorted the cruiser until she was ordered into Brunei Bay to meet TG 78.1 , with which she was taking part in Operation Oboe Six , the landing in Brunei Bay, on June 10th . From June 11-15, she again escorted the USS Boise on MacArthur's troop visit. She stayed in Manila Bay until June 27 , and then took part in the Battle of Balikpapan from June 30 to July 9 . On July 14th, the USS Albert W. Grant returned to Manila. She then met on Eniwetok on the TF 49 to be used in the North Pacific. On the way to Adak , Alaska , the news of the Japanese surrender reached them on August 15th. The TF 49 set course for Ōminato in Japan. The association reached Honshū on September 8 and anchored off Ominato on September 10, 1945. The USS Albert W. Grant stayed in Japan until mid-November. It entered Seattle on December 2, 1945 and was overhauled. She was decommissioned on July 16, 1946 in San Diego and remained in the reserve fleet until 1971 .

Whereabouts

On May 30, 1972, the ship was sold for demolition.

Awards

The USS Newcomb received seven Battle Stars and a Navy Unit Commendation .

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Theodore Roscoe: Destroyer Operations in World War II, pp. 420 ff

literature

Web links