USS Childs (AVD-1)

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USS Childs (AVD-1)
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Ship data
flag United StatesUnited States (national flag) United States
other ship names

ex (DD-241)

Ship type destroyer
class Clemson class
Shipyard New York Shipbuilding
Build number 230
Keel laying March 12, 1919
Launch September 15, 1920
Commissioning October 22, 1920
1939 Airplane tender
Whereabouts decommissioned on December 10, 1945,
demolished on May 23, 1946
Ship dimensions and crew
length
95.8 m ( Lüa )
94.5 m ( Lpp )
width 9.68 m
Draft Max. 2.64 m
displacement 1090  ts standard
 
crew 137 men
Machine system
machine 2 steam boilers
2 GE Curtiss - geared turbines
Machine
performance 		13,500 hp (9,929 kW)
Top
speed 		24 kn (44 km / h)
propeller 2
Armament

after reconstruction:

last:

Sensors

Radar , sonar

The USS Childs (AVP-14) ex (DD-241) was a former destroyer of Clemson-class destroyer , which was transformed into a tender for seaplanes from the 1938th By 1941, 13 other destroyers of the class mentioned had been converted into tenders of this type. During the renovation, the two front chimneys and boilers were removed and replaced by tanks for aircraft fuel and rest rooms for aircraft crews. The armament of the newly created aircraft tenders was also changed.

The Childs was the first such conversion. Completed in 1939 as AVP-14 , the ship, now classified as AVD-1 , was used in the American Asian fleet in the Philippines from November 1, 1940 . The ship stayed there until the outbreak of war with Japan. The Childs escaped from there to Australia and was used in this theater of war until the summer of 1944.

History of the USS Childs

The destroyer Childs was registered on March 19, 1919 as destroyer No ° 241 with the New York Shipbuilding Corp. started in Camden with hull number 230 and was launched there on September 15, 1920. The destroyer was named after Lieutenant Earle WF Childs (1893-1918). The American submarine officer died as an observer on the British submarine HMS H 5 when it was erroneously sunk by a British steamer. The Navy took over their new destroyer on October 22, 1920.

After initial tests, the destroyer was soon sent to Europe , where it arrived in Gibraltar on February 14, 1921 . During her service with the US Naval Forces, Europe , the Childs was deployed in the Mediterranean , Adriatic , North and Baltic Seas . Stationed in Istanbul (then Constantinople) from November 25, 1921 , the destroyer was used in humanitarian and diplomatic tasks with regard to Russia until April 1. On July 8, 1922, the destroyer then left Cherbourg for the USA, where it arrived in Philadelphia on the 29th .
In the period that followed, the ship was used for training purposes on the east coast and in the Caribbean. From February 14, 1925, she took part in large maneuvers of the Scouting Fleet , which took them to Hawaii . Also in 1932, 1933, and 1934 she came to the American west coast while participating in maneuvers. From November 9, 1934, San Diego became the new home port of the destroyer, from where he carried out exercises off the northwestern states and Alaska . The Childs returned to the east coast for an overhaul . Back at her station on the Pacific before she left the west coast on May 14, 1938 to be converted into an aircraft tender in Philadelphia.

Seaplane tender

In 1938 the US Navy requested fast tenders as movable bases for their long-range flying boats. On July 1, 1938, it was decided to convert two Clemson class destroyers into fast tenders. The Childs and her sister ship Williamson were selected .

During the renovation, the two front boilers with the associated chimneys were removed. This enabled the installation of tanks for about 50,000 gallons of aviation fuel. The remaining engine power enabled the ships to reach a top speed of 22 to 24 knots. The two 4-inch side cannons, the 3-inch anti-aircraft gun and the four triple topedo tubes have been removed from the armament of the former destroyers. The superstructures were extended to the rear and rest rooms were built in for the aircraft crews. The tender also received a crane and additional work boats to look after the emergency machines.

USS Barnegat (AVP-10)

The converted ships were rated positively and in 1939 five more conversions were approved. In 1940 the order for seven more ships followed, all of which were completed before the outbreak of war in the Pacific.

However, the US Navy also ordered new aircraft tenders, the construction of which began as AVP 10-14 in autumn 1939. The resulting small Barnegat-class aircraft tenders were produced in large numbers and made the converted Childs -class tenders superfluous again at an early stage.

Rebuilt took place the first use of the Childs in the fleet maneuvers in 1939, where it was used off Florida and San Juan . After a brief check-up and pick-up in Philadelphia, the tender moved to its new base in Pearl Harbor on June 29, 1939 . The operations from there took the ship to Midway, Wake and Guam . After the former destroyer had received the new identification AVD-1 on October 1 , it left Pearl Harbor the following day to be used in the US Asiatic Fleet in the future.

On November 1, 1940, the Childs Cavite reached Manila Bay / Philippines , which was to remain her new home base until the war with Japan. Together with the older tenders Langley , the converted first American aircraft carrier, and Heron , a converted minesweeper, as well as the similar William B. Preston, who arrived in December 1940 , she supported the operation of the Patrol Wing 10 , which was in the VP 101 and VP 102 squadrons 28 Consolidated PBY-4 - flying boats possessed.

The tender Heron

Retreat to Australia

When the war broke out, the Childs was in the Cavite shipyard for routine repairs. When the Japanese bombing raids took place on December 10, 1941, the ship in the port basin of the base was not hit, despite the limited ability to move. The flying boats of the Patrol Wing 10 were also stationed in bulk around the Philippine capital. Only the sister ship William B. Preston explored possible uses with four flying boats with Davao on Mindanao as a base. The Heron tested the capabilities of the Navy aircraft from bases on Palawan with four Vought OS2U Kingfisher .
On the 15th, the Childs began to withdraw from Manila via previously explored ports to the south. The sister ship William B. Preston and the other two tenders also withdrew or procured urgently needed supplies. The flying boats watched the movements of the Japanese. Their attack attempts mostly failed due to the overwhelming majority of the Japanese attackers and led to considerable losses. At the beginning of January, the tender met the sister ship William B. Preston , returning from Australia, in Ambon , from which it took over spare parts and fuel.

USS William B. Preston (AVD-7), 1942

Childs was very lucky on January 24, 1942 when the Japanese landed near Kendari, Celebes. The tender left the port there only after the Japanese landed nearby, was discovered by Japanese destroyers, but was able to escape in heavy rain. A later air raid by the enemy was also unsuccessful. When the American flying boats and their companions reached Sumatra , the flying boat strength was more than halved despite some reinforcements and the 102 squadron was disbanded.

The flying boats were withdrawn from the fighting at an early stage and flew, like the individually marching tenders Childs , Heron and Preston , towards Australia, where the Childs arrived on February 28, 1942 in Exmouth Gulf . Childs later met William B. Preston and the Heron , who had already been severely damaged in the great Japanese air raid off Port Darwin on February 19 . For the time being, Childs had to continue looking after American flying boats on his own, as the other two tenders first had to repair their damage and replenish their crews.

Use until the end of the war

Childs remained the tender of American flying boats that were used from Fremantle or other bases in Western Australia. The American flying boats mainly carried out reconnaissance flights, but also carried out combat missions against enemy shipping traffic, or laid mines and rescue flights. The tender was repaired at Australian shipyards. Their task shared the Childs with the sister ship William B. Preston and the Heron . ! In 944, the three tenders initially also took part in the advance over New Guinea to the Admiralty Islands , but only the old Heron remained with the fleet until the Philippines, while the two converted destroyers left the fleet in the summer and underwent major overhauls Were sent home.
The Childs left the fleet on August 12, 1944 and reached the American west coast on September 19, 1944. After the overdue major overhaul, the old ship was not used again for combat tasks, but remained on the American west coast to do training tasks.

Childs , which was awarded a Battle Star during the war , was decommissioned on December 10, 1945 and sold for demolition in January 1946.

The Clemson- class aircraft tender conversions

AVD USS name Shipyard BNo. Keel laying Launch finished AVP from KB Final fate
1 Childs (DD-241) New York Shipbuilding , Camden 230 03/19/19 19.09.20 10/22/20   1.07.38 AVP 14 Philippines, Australia, US West Coast 10.12.45 out of service,
2 Williamson (DD-244) New York Shipbg. 233 03/27/19 16.10.19 10/29/20   1.07.38 AVP 15 3.01.39 Pacific coast, Aleutians , 25.08.42 serious accident ( AVD 27 ), 12.43-2.44 DD , 19.12.45 out of service
3 George E. Badger (DD-196) Newport News Shipbuilding 238 09/24/18   3/6/20 07/28/20   1/8/40 AVP 16 Caribbean, North Atlantic, Bogue submarine hunt group 19.05.44 APD-33 , 3.10.45 a. D.
4th Clemson (DD-186) Newport News 228 05/11/18   5.09.18 12/29/19 11/15/39 AVP 17 Panama, Brazil, Bogue submarine hunt group 7.03.44 APD-31 , 12.10.45 out of service
5 Goldsborough (DD-188) Newport News 230  6/8/18 11/20/18 01/26/20   1.07.40 AVP 18 Greenland, Galapagos Islands , 6.42 Caribbean, 12.43 DD , 7.3.44 APD-32 , 11.10.45 a. D.
6th Hulbert (DD-342) Norfolk Navy Yard 11/18/18 06/28/19 10/27/20   2.08.40 AVP 19 Pearl Harbor, 6.42 Alaska 12.43 DD , escort and target ship, 2.11.45 aD,
7th William B. Preston (DD-344) Norfolk NY 11/18/18   8/9/19 08/23/20 06/14/40 AVP 20 Philippines, Australia, New Guinea, 12.44 USA Decommissioned December 6, 1945
8th Belknap (DD-251) Bethlehem Steel ,
Quincy, Massachusetts 		331 07/31/18 01/14/19 04/28/19 11/22/40 East coast, 9.41 am Iceland, Caribbean, Bogue submarine hunt group 11/15/43 DD , 06/22/44 APD-34 ,
11.01.45 badly damaged, no repair
9 Osmond Ingram (DD-255) Bethlehem 335 15.10.18 02/23/19 06/28/19 11/22/40 Panama CZ, Ecuador, Galapagos, Bogue submarine hunt group 11.43 DD , APD-35 , Okinawa, Japan, 8.01.46 a. D.
10 Ballard (DD-267) Bethlehem 347   3.06.18   6/9/18 23.12.18   2.01.41 Pacific, fleet service, 1-5.44 porter training, fleet service Decommissioned December 5, 1945
11 Thornton (DD-270) Bethlehem 350   3.06.18   12/7/18   5.06.19   5.03.41 Hawaii, 8.42 Alaska, 11.43 South Pacific, 2.44 US West Coast 5.04.45 near Ryūkyūs
badly damaged by collision, cannibalized on site,
12 Gillis (DD-260) Bethlehem 340 12/19/18 05/17/19 09/24/19 03/25/41 6.41-4.44 Alaska, 45 Okinawa Decommissioned October 15, 1945
13 Greene (DD-266) Bethlehem 346   3.06.18   2.11.18   05/9/19   4/6/41 Caribbean, 41 Brazil, South Atlantic, 43 Bogue submarine hunt group, 1.02.44 APD-36 , 9.10.45 badly damaged in typhoon, not repaired
14th McFarland (DD-237) New York Shipbg. 226 07/31/18 03/30/20 09/30/20   5.10.40 Pearl Harbor et al. a., 6.42 South Pacific, 16.10 badly damaged by air raid 12.43 DD training ship, 8.11.45 a. D.
  • Pictures of the class

  • USS Williamson

  • USS George E. Badger (AVP-16)

  • USS Clemson (AVD-4)

  • USS Goldsborough (AVD-5)

  • USS Hulbert (AVD-6)

  • USS Belknap (AVD-8)

  • USS Ballard (AVD-10)

  • USS Thornton (AVD-11)

  • USS Gillis (AVD-12)

literature

  • John Campbell: Naval Weapons of World War Two. Naval Institute Press, 1985, ISBN 0-87021-459-4 .
  • Bernard Fitzsimons: The Encyclopedia of 20th Century Weapons and Warfare. Phoebus (London), 1978.
  • Paul H. Silverstone: US Warships of World War I. Ian Allan 1970.
  • Paul H. Silverstone: US Warships of World War II. Doubleday and Company 1968.

Web links

Commons : USS Childs (AVD-1)  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ AVD conversions
  2. ↑ Heron I (AM-10)
  3. ↑ William B. Preston (Destroyer No. 344)
  4. ↑ Conquest of Celebes