USS Blue (DD-387)

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USS Blue
USS Blue
Overview
Shipyard

Norfolk Naval Shipyard

Keel laying September 25, 1935
Launch May 27, 1937
1. Period of service flag
Commissioning August 14, 1937
Whereabouts Sunk on August 23, 1942 after enemy action
Technical specifications
displacement

2,325  ts (standard)

length

112 m (341 ft 8 in)

width

11.75 m (35 ft 6 in)

Draft

3.50 m (10 ft 4 in)

crew

158

drive

4 steam boilers - 2 screws

speed

35.5 knots (52 km / h)

Armament

4 × 5 inch cannons (12.7 mm / L39) in two turrets and two single mounts
16 × 21 "torpedo tubes (Ø 533 mm)
4 × .50 cal M2 machine guns
2 depth charges

The USS Blue (ID DD-387) was a destroyer owned by the US Navy during World War II and the first ship to bear that name. She belonged to the Bagley class and was named after Rear Admiral Victor Blue (1865-1928).

The ship's godmother was Miss Kate Lilly Blue, a sister of the namesake; first in command was Lieutenant Commander J. Wright.

technical description

Blue was ordered with budget in 1934 as the fourth ship of the Bagley class (an improved gridley class). The shipyard was the Norfolk Naval Shipyard in Norfolk (Virginia) .

It had four boilers and two Curtis steam turbines that drove the two propellers . For reasons of space (in order to be able to accommodate the two additional torpedo quadruplets), the exhaust ducts were combined in a chimney, thus gaining space.

Mission history

After the ship had carried out training trips on the east coast of the USA and in the Caribbean for a year , it was relocated to the Pacific in August 1938 to take the position of the flagship of DesDiv 7 (Destroyer Division 7) in DESRON 4 (Destroyer Squadron 4) to take over. Home port was the Pearl Harbor naval base in Hawaii . This was followed by training trips in the area between the west coast and the Hawaiian Islands, which lasted until April 1940. Until the outbreak of war with Japan, the destroyer remained stationed in Pearl Harbor, which he left only for an overhaul in the Puget Sound Navy Yard (February – March 1941) with subsequent training trips in the waters off San Diego . The latter lasted until April 1941, after which the ship returned to Hawaii and became the flagship of DesDiv 7 again .

The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941 surprised the Blue at her berth. The ship was able to leave the attacked area without damage despite the reduced crew (there were only four lower-ranking officers - ensigns - on board) and to escape to the coastal waters. The Blue carried out patrols in these waters until January 1942.

In 1942, the ship was initially part of the destroyer screen around the aircraft carrier USS Enterprise (CV-6) , from which air raids against Wotje , Maloelap , Kwajalein , Marshall Islands and on February 24 against Wake Island were flown on February 1, 1942 .

From March to June 1942, the Blue drove in convoy service between Pearl Harbor and San Francisco and then moved to Wellington , where she arrived on July 18, 1942. On August 7th she was assigned to Task Group 62.2 (TG 62.2) for fire support and security tasks. Although the Blue was in readiness, she did not intervene actively in the Battle of Savo Island on August 9, but was then involved in the rescue of the shipwrecked cruiser HMAS Canberra (D33) .

After patrols off Nouméa and New Caledonia from August 13th to 17th, the Blue sailed to Guadalcanal , where it arrived on August 21st. While on patrol in " Ironbottom Sound ", the ship was hit by a torpedo from the Japanese destroyer Kawakaze at 03:59 on August 22 . The explosion destroyed the propulsion system and other vital parts of the ship, nine men of the crew were killed and another 21 wounded. On August 22nd and 23rd, unsuccessful attempts were made to haul the destroyer into Tulagi . This was finally abandoned and the Blue self-scuttled at 10:21 p.m. on the same day.

Honors

The USS Blue received a total of five Battle Stars for its missions during the war.

annotation

The USS Blue (DD-387) is so far the only ship named after Victor Blue. The destroyer USS Blue (DD-744) was named after another naval officer with the same surname.

literature

Web links