USS Callaghan (DD-792)
_off_San_Pedro,_California_(USA),_on_4_February_1944_(BS_61307).jpg) USS Callaghan |
|
| Overview | |
|---|---|
| Type | destroyer |
| Shipyard |
Bethlehem Shipbuilding , San Pedro |
| Keel laying | February 21, 1943 |
| Launch | August 1, 1943 |
| 1. Period of service |
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|
| period of service |
November 27, 1943-28. July 1945 |
| Whereabouts | Sunk July 28, 1945 off Okinawa |
| 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 Callaghan (DD-792) was a for Fletcher Class belonging destroyer of the US Navy . The destroyer was used in World War II . On July 28, 1945, the USS Callaghan was sunk by a kamikaze attack as the last Allied ship of the war .
Namesake
Rear Admiral Daniel J. Callaghan (1890–1942) was an officer in the US Navy. As commander of Task Group 67.4 , he died on October 13, 1942 in the naval battle of Guadalcanal . He was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor .
technology
Hull and drive
The hull of the USS Callaghan 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 commissioned were the five 5 ″ L / 38 Mk.30 individual turrets. For air defense, ten were 40 mm - anti-aircraft guns and ten 20-mm guns on board.
The USS Callaghan 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 Callaghan was laid down at Bethlehem Shipbuilding Company in San Pedro on February 21, 1943 and launched on August 1, 1943. The godmother was the widow of the namesake, Mary Callaghan. On November 27, 1943, the destroyer was put into service under the command of Commander FJ Johnson and placed under the Destroyer Squadron (DesRon) 55 of the Pacific Fleet.
1944
On February 5, 1944, the USS Callaghan left the west coast of the United States and took part in the air raids of the US 5th Fleet on the Palau Islands , Yap Islands , Ulithi and Woleai in March . In April, the destroyer operated from Manus and supported Operation Reckless and Operation Persecution as a radar outpost and as an escort for the tankers.
The USS Callaghan was used between June and August 1944 to protect escort aircraft carriers during landings on Saipan , Tinian and Guam . On June 17, it repelled an air strike off Saipan and helped shoot down three attacking aircraft. She escorted the bombed USS Fanshaw to Eniwetok . She was used as an escort during the air raids against the Palau Islands, Mindanao , Luzon and the inner islands of the Philippines in late August . In mid-October, she was part of Task Force 38 , which attacked Japanese airfields on Formosa and Okinawa in preparation for the recapture of the Philippines . On November 3, she escorted the torpedoed light cruiser USS Reno until she was relieved and could return to her task force. Until mid-December she was involved in air strikes against Japanese positions in the Philippines.
1945
In January, TF carried out 38 air strikes on Formosa, Luzon, Indochina , Hong Kong and the Nansei Islands . During the next few months which protected USS Callaghan , the aircraft carrier during the attacks on Iwo Jima and the region of Tokyo . On the morning of February 18, 1945, she sank a Japanese outpost boat together with the USS Porterfield and was involved in the attack on Okinotorishima on March 3 . At the end of March she met the battleships of the TF 58 in Ulithi , with which she fired at coastal targets on March 26 in preparation for the landing on Okinawa . During the mission, a micro-submarine and three dive bombers were destroyed.
On July 9, 1945, the USS Callaghan took its position in the radar outpost chain off Okinawa, with which the American ships were to be warned and protected against Japanese air attacks. On July 28, it was able to repel an approaching biplane , probably a Yokosuka K5Y . Due to the design, the distance fuses did not work on the wooden aircraft, and the aircraft took a low-level flight and unnoticed again course for the destroyer. The USS Callaghan was hit on the starboard side, level with the aft engine room. The fire that broke out on board caused the flak ammunition to explode and prevented other ships from approaching to provide assistance. The destroyer sank at 2:35 a.m. 47 men lost their lives.
Awards
The USS Callaghan received eight Battle Stars .
literature
- Stefan Terzibaschitsch : Destroyer of the US Navy. Bechtermünz Verlag, Augsburg 1997, ISBN 3-86047-587-8 .
- Alan Raven: Fletcher Class Destroyers. Naval Institute Press, Annapolis 1986, ISBN 0-87021-193-5 .
- Jerry Scutts: Fletcher DDs (US Destroyers) in action (Warships No. 8). Squadron / signal publications, Carrollton 1995, ISBN 978-0-89747-336-1
- Theodore Roscoe: Destroyer Operations in World War II. United States Naval Institute, Annapolis 1953, ISBN 978-0-87021-726-5 .
- David Brown: Warship Losses of World War Two. Arms and Armor. London 1990, ISBN 0-85368-802-8 .
- Barry J. Foster: The Last Destroyer: The Story of the USS Callaghan. Infinity Publishing, 2002, ISBN 978-0-7414-1275-1 .
Web links
- History of USS Callaghan (DD-792) in the Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (English)
- navsource.org: USS Callaghan (English)
- hazegray.org: USS Callaghan (English)
Individual evidence
- ^ Brown p. 156
- ^ The Last Destroyer: The Story of the USS Callaghan. Review of the book by Barry J. Foster on Kamikaze Images . Retrieved January 4, 2012.
Coordinates: 25 ° 43 ′ 0 ″ N , 126 ° 55 ′ 0 ″ E