USS Alden (DD-211)

**USS *Alden* (DD-211)**
	Alden in Chefoo
Ship data
flag	United States
Ship type	destroyer
class	Clemson class
Shipyard	William Cramp & Sons , Philadelphia
Build number	477
Keel laying	October 24, 1918
Launch	May 14, 1919
Commissioning	November 24, 1919
Whereabouts	decommissioned on July 15, 1945, ; demolished on November 30, 1945
Ship dimensions and crew
length	95.8 m ( Lüa ) 94.5 m ( Lpp )
width	9.68 m
Draft	Max. 2.64 m
displacement	1215 ts standard
crew	122 men
Machine system
machine	4 boilers; 2 GE Curtiss - geared turbines
Machine ; performance	27,000 PS (19,858 kW)
Top ; speed	35 kn (65 km / h)
propeller	2
Armament
	4 × 102 mm L / 50 Mk.IX gun; 1 × 76 mm anti-aircraft gun ; 4 × 3 torpedo tubes; 4 × 12.7 mm L / 90 machine gun; last: 2 × 76mm L / 50 Mk.22 guns; 6 × 20 mm Oerlikon cannon ; 4 water bombs -Werfer, 2 shedding rails;
Sensors
	Radar , sonar

The USS Alden (DD-211) was a United States Navy destroyer that was used during World War II . The ship, which belonged to the Clemson class comprising 156 ships , served in the Pacific Fleet at the beginning of the war , but only escorted convoys towards the end of the war . The USS Alden was christened by a niece of the late namesake - Rear Admiral James Alden Jr. (1810 - 1877), who had distinguished himself in the Civil War .

History of the USS Alden

The USS Alden was built under the hull number 477 at the shipyard of William Cramp & Sons . She was the sixth Clemson-class ship that was built at this shipyard, which had already built 21 Wilkes- class destroyers (1917-1919) and two destroyers of the Caldwell predecessors (1916-1918) at the time of completion were delivered to the Alden . The keel of the Alden was laid on October 24, 1918 at the Philadelphia shipyard and on May 14, 1919 the ship was launched. The commissioning took place on November 24, 1919.

The ship corresponded in size and equipment to the other ships in the class. With a standard displacement of 1215 ts (1590 t maximum) a ship of this class had a length of 95.8 m over all, a width of 9.4 m maximum and a normal draft of 3.0 m. As a propulsion system, the ships had two synchronized turbine sets that produced 27,000 hp and enabled a top speed of 35 knots . The range was 9,100 kilometers at 15 knots cruising speed . As the main armament, the destroyers, like the two previous classes, had four 102 mm guns in diamond configuration (bow and stern guns and two side guns at the same height), a 76 mm anti-aircraft gun and four 533 mm triple torpedo tubes . The standard crew of the Alden consisted of eight officers, eight non-commissioned officers and 106 ranks. William Ancrum was given command of the ship on November 24, 1919. After the launch, the crew was trained as well as other conversions or repairs. In the course of the fleet-wide ship identification on July 17, 1920, the registration number of the Alden was changed from "Destroyer No. 211" to "DD-211".

The time up to the Second World War

Tasks after the First World War

On December 5, 1919, the destroyer ran out for its first mission in European waters. About a stopover in Constantinople Opel was Samsun achieved on the Turkish coast. After a stop in Samsun and the subsequent passage of the Turkish north coast, the course was set in the direction of Venice . The ship docked in several Adriatic ports in the spring of 1920 to “ fly the flag” there and thus represent American interests in the region. She also transported mail and people. In Venice, the Alden took over the task of a station ship for a while.

After a short time, however, she ran back to Constantinople to take part in the relief efforts for refugees from the Russian Civil War. The Russian refugees were given sanitation and food here. Nevertheless, the destroyer did not stay here for long either and was quickly ordered back to the Adriatic. After demonstrative stops in Kotor and Split , the destroyer ran back to Venice (December 12-13, 1920) before finally leaving the Adriatic to join the Asian fleet on the instructions of the US naval staff .

The destroyer finally reached Manila in the Philippines on February 2, 1921 via the Suez Canal . After brief maintenance work in the base of the Cavite Asian fleet and a stop in Hankow , the Alden entered the port of Shanghai on September 27, 1921 . These missions also served to protect American interests in the Republic of China .

In addition to several trips between Manila, Cavite and other destinations, such as Mariveles (Bataan) , the ship also took part in numerous exercises in the Asian fleet. As the final part of her mission, she visited the port of Yokohama before being recalled to the United States. It finally reached San Francisco (California) on October 2, 1922 and was decommissioned and mothballed in San Diego, California on January 24, 1923 . It remained inactive for the rest of the 1920s.

General overhaul and other minor tasks

On May 8, 1930, the Alden was put back into service in San Diego and assigned to Destroyer Division 46 ( Destroyer Division 46 ). She was transferred to the Mare Island Naval Shipyard . Regular training courses were held here over the next six years. In the spring of 1936 it was overhauled for two months.

Since the USS Smith Thompson (DD-212) suffered severe damage in a collision with the USS Whipple (DD-217) on April 14, 1936 , it was decided on May 19, 1936 that the Alden should be used in the Asian fleet instead of the Smith Thompson to integrate. After a short stop in Pearl Harbor , Wake Island and Guam , the ship finally reached Chefoo (East China) on August 20, 1936 . In the course of the next six years, the Alden was initially tied to Destroyer Division 13 ( DesDiv 13 ). As a result, however, she was able to take the opportunity to return from Chefoo to the Philippines in the summer, to take part in further exercises and to winter in Cavite. However, when tensions between China and Japan in the Second Sino-Japanese War erupted, she was stationed in Manila .

The tender USS Black Hawk

The following summer, the USS Alden spent together with the tender USS Black Hawk (AD-9) and embarked in Haiphong (French Indochina) from June 21 to 28, 1938, before being moved back to Chefoo. With the start of World War II in Europe in September 1939, Americans became concerned about conflicts of interest with Japan in the Pacific.

In the Philippines, the Alden , like many other ships of the association, was made ready for the war in late summer 1940 by order of Admiral Thomas C. Hart . In the tense situation in the autumn of 1941, the team once again took part in training courses in the Philippines.

Use in World War II

1941

While the Alden was on her mission to Singapore, she received the radio message on December 8, 1941 at 3:00 am: "War has been started by Japan". By the time news of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor was just a day old, Singapore was already hearing reports of a Japanese invasion of the Malay Peninsula . Increasing pressure from the US government forced Admiral Phillips to act. Without reinforcements, he was compelled to form a naval force of only six ships, the Force Z . However, since the Alden was still on the way to Singapore and was inferior to the speed of the fleet, she remained like many other destroyers after her arrival in the port of Singapore.

When the Alden reached Singapore on the morning of December 10th, a liaison office was immediately set up. At the same time, the crew was informed of the sinking of the two battleships HMS Prince of Wales and the HMS Repulse . By destroying both ships, the Allies had lost their only two capital ships in the Indian and southern Pacific Oceans, so that a Japanese invasion of Malaysia could no longer be countered.

After destroyers accompanying the "Force Z" had reached the port of Singapore with numerous injured and rescued sailors, the Alden ran out with other destroyers into the waters of slaughter in order to recover more survivors. Against all odds, only rubble was spotted, and the venture was finally abandoned.

On the way back to Singapore, the Alden first came into contact with the enemy. When a submarine attack was detected around 6:30 a.m. on the morning of December 11th, the Alden and USS Edsall left the formation and surveyed the area extensively. When contact with the submarine was lost, the target was again set on Singapore and the port was reached on the morning of December 11th. During the stay, the fuel bunkers were filled and the flag was raised to half-mast to commemorate the deceased sailors of the Prince of Wales and Repulse .

The Alden stayed in Singapore until the morning of December 14th, but then ran out with the rest of the division to Surabaya in the Netherlands on East Java (Indonesia). She reached the port in the late afternoon of December 15th.

1942

As part of the Destroyer Division (DesDiv) , the Alden spent the first weeks of 1942 accompanying 58 convoys in support of the ABDA fleet (an association of several allied naval units).

The USS Alden in 1942

During such a voyage, the Alden came into contact with the enemy again. When she accompanied the oil tanker Trinity to Port Darwin, it was attacked by a submarine with torpedoes on the morning of January 20, 1942. The Alden then attacked the submarine with depth charges until it lost contact.

After the Alden and the Trinity had reached the port of destination at around 4:20 p.m., the ship was refueled and sent on patrol together with the USS Edsall . Two Australian ships also patrolling were encountered. On the morning of January 21, the Alden discovered the submarine and shot down six battery charges, which however missed the fleeing target. After contact with the enemy was broken again, reports of the sinking of a submarine nearby were transmitted from an aircraft. Presumably the submarine was the mine-laying submarine I-124 of the Imperial Japanese Navy . After completing the order, the ships entered Port Darwin again.

On February 3, the destroyer received the order to set out in a convoy in the direction of Cilacap and reached the port of the city on the south coast of Java on the afternoon of February 10 without further incident.

Beginning of the battle in the Java Sea

When the Japanese fleet approached the region, the Alden was pulled together with other destroyers and the Black Hawk tender in Surabaya on February 22nd. Most of the remaining ships of the ABDA fleet gathered here for the final battle.

After the Allies received precise information on the location of the Japanese fleet, they prepared the fleet for departure under the command of the Dutch Rear Admiral Karel Doorman . In the meantime there were minor skirmishes between Japanese and Allied units, in which the Alden also took part.

On the morning of February 28, there was finally contact with the enemy, which ended in the first naval battle of the Pacific War - the Battle of the Java Sea. While almost the entire ABDA fleet ran out, the Alden remained in the Allied base. She was supposed to clear the minefield with her division and at the same time fought against two waves of Japanese bombers.

An hour before midnight, Lt. Comdr. Coley, as captain of the destroyer, gave the order to call at Exmouth Gulf on the northwest coast of Australia and thus to evade the battle, since in the previous course almost the entire ABDA fleet had been destroyed or incapacitated. Thus the 58th Destroyer Division ran out of Surabaya in the early morning of February 29th and set course for the Bali Strait to get to Australia. They were discovered at 02:15 a.m. by two Japanese destroyers, who went in pursuit and fired. The USS Alden replied briefly. After the 15-minute exchange of fire, their sister ships exposed clouds of smoke and all destroyers escaped the action at a top speed of 35 knots.

On the afternoon of March 4th, it reached Fremantle, Western Australia. After a short stay, the Alden continued to New Zealand, where it stopped on March 28, 1942, then drove through the Southwest Pacific to Pearl Harbor and reached the west coast of the United States on June 7.

After an overhaul in the Mare Island shipyard, the USS Alden escorted several convoys between San Francisco and Hawaiian waters from August 11, 1942.

1943

Over the next eight months, the USS Alden served primarily as escort for several convoys that started from the Mare Island shipyard. On April 9, 1943, she was sent to the Caribbean for further assignments. She crossed the Panama Canal on April 16 and arrived in Trinidad on April 25 .

For the next two months, the destroyer escorted convoys between Trinidad and Guantánamo Bay before being ordered north for further modifications to the New York Navy Yard, which it reached on June 28. After completing these modifications, it reached Norfolk, Virginia on July 11th . Here the destroyer joined a convoy to Morocco and reached Casablanca on July 28th.

After this mission, she returned to the United States via a stopover in Gibraltar , where the Alden arrived at the Charleston naval shipyard on August 27 for further modifications. She was then sent to Port of Spain (Trinidad), where the destroyer entered the port on September 7th and ultimately continued to Recife (Brazil).

Towards the end of the year she entered Casco Bay (Maine) in the northeastern United States, where several training courses for the crew were carried out before heading back to Norfolk, where she entered port on the last day of 1943.

1944

In the course of the year 1944, the USS Alden left Hampton Roads on January 5 and ran into North African waters, where it became part of a submarine fighter unit around the aircraft carrier USS Guadalcanal . Task Group 21.12 was accompanied by the destroyers John D. Edwards , Whipple and John D. Ford . On January 16, several Avenger torpedo bombers sighted three submarines off the Azorean coast, whereby U 544 was sunk while the other two managed to submerge in time. After the association had reached Casablanca on January 26th, although a large part of the Guadalcanal's airborne squadron had been damaged by landing accidents and ditching, the USS Alden drove back to Norfolk three days later after a refueling stop and reached the port on February 16. The destroyer ran into the Boston Navy Yard for repairs and modifications that became necessary. After the completion of all renovations, the Alden drove back to Norfolk to her unit, where she arrived on March 12th.

In Norfolk, the destroyer was assigned to the UGS-36 convoy to Tunisia. He escorted 72 merchant ships. On March 31, the convoy noticed a submarine and six hours later, on the morning of April 1, UGS-36 was attacked by 22 German aircraft. The Alden , who accompanied the rear of the escort, shot down two enemy aircraft and severely damaged two others. Ultimately, UGS-36 reached its destination Bizerta on April 3rd. After a nine-day stay, the Alden drove back to the United States and reached Hampton Roads on May 1st.

After emergency repairs to a damaged propeller, the Alden resumed her previous task and escorted the oil tanker Elokomin , from Norfolk via Baytown and Galveston (Texas) to Guantanamo Bay and finally back to Galveston. From here she set sail again with the oil tanker and drove back via Galveston to Bermuda and Casco Bay to Norfolk.

The rest of the year the Alden spent as a training ship for reservists in Panama, where she operated together with submarines. At the end of November, she returned to her home port in Norfolk.

1945

After a collision with the USS Hayter , the USS Alden ran into the Norfolk Navy Yard for repair work on January 31, 1945. This ended on February 28th and the destroyer was ordered to escort the Mediterranean convoy UGF-21 from March 1st. She then returned to the United States in convoy GUF-21. She accompanied the oil tankers USS Mattaponi between Bermuda and Guantanamo and USS Chiwawa between Guantanamo and Bermuda before the destroyer returned to Norfolk.

Her last mission took the USS Alden to the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard on June 15, 1945 , where it was decommissioned on July 15. Her name was removed from the US Navy shipping register on August 13 and the ship was sold to the Boston Metals Salvage Company , from which it was scrapped in Baltimore, Maryland on November 30, 1945.

Awards

The USS Alden received three Battle Stars for its services in World War II from 1941 to 1945 .