USS Cummings (DD-365)
_underway_in_San_Diego_harbor,_circa_1938_(NH_61868).jpg) USS Cummings (DD-365) (Peace Painting) |
|
| Overview | |
|---|---|
| Shipyard |
United Dry Docks |
| Keel laying | June 26, 1934 |
| Launch | December 11, 1935 |
| 1. Period of service |
.svg){kind=small}
|
| Commissioning | November 25, 1936 |
| Decommissioning | December 16, 1946 |
| Removed from ship register | January 28, 1947 |
| Whereabouts | Sold for demolition on July 17, 1947 |
| Technical specifications | |
| displacement |
1500 ts |
| length |
341 ft 4 in (104.04 m) |
| width |
34 ft 8 in (10.57 m) |
| Draft |
17 ft (5.18 m) |
| crew |
8 officers, 150 men. |
| drive |
4 boilers, 2 steam turbines , 2 shafts , 48,000 hp |
| speed |
36 kn (67 km / h) |
| Armament |
Originally |
The USS Cummings (ID DD-365) was a destroyer of the US Navy of Mahan class and the second ship that bore that name. It was named after Lieutenant Commander Andrew Boyd Cummings .
The ship's godmother was Mrs. WW Mills, niece of the namesake; The first in command was Commander CP Cecil.
The shipyard was “United Dry Docks Inc.” (a subsidiary of Bethlehem Steel ) on Staten Island , New York .
The destroyer last painted according to camouflage scheme 32, pattern 23d (Medium Pattern System, High Contrast) with the colors:
- Light gray (5-L)
- Ocean gray (5-O)
- Dull black (BK)
Mission history
1936-1943
On September 29, 1937 moved the Cummings from New York City to San Diego , California, where it was added to the battle fleet on October 30, 1937. This was followed by training trips in the waters around Hawaii and the fleet survey in July 1938 by President Roosevelt in the Bay of San Francisco .
From January to April 1939 training trips were carried out in the Panama Canal Zone and in the Caribbean .
Returning to San Diego on May 12, 1939, the Cummings took part in several naval maneuvers and drove in the anti- aircraft shield around the aircraft carriers USS Yorktown (CV-5) and USS Lexington (CV-2) , which have served as a security patrol on the west coast of the USA since 1940 were used. During this task, the Cummings continued their training in aircraft and anti-submarine defense. From April 26, 1940, the destroyer was stationed in Pearl Harbor , Hawaii.
During the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor , the Cummings was able to avoid the bombs and torpedoes by skillful maneuvering and suffered only minimal damage from fragments. She left the port during the attack and immediately began patrols off the coast of the island.
From December 19, 1941 to May 4, 1942, the Cummings conducted escort duties between Pearl Harbor and San Francisco. She then took over from June 9 to August 13, 1942 similar tasks in the area of Suva , Fiji Islands , and Auckland ( New Zealand ).
She was then overtaken in San Francisco and escorted a convoy to Wellington in November 1942 . This mission was followed by the operations against Guadalcanal in the form of patrol and escort trips, which were carried out from the bases on Espiritu Santo and Nouméa and which lasted until May 17, 1943. After a brief overhaul in Auckland, the Cummings returned to Nouméa on June 4 and was used again in convoy service to Auckland until the end of July. She then made patrols around Efate from August 5 to September 4, 1943.
After another overhaul in San Francisco, the Cummings was briefly assigned to Task Force 94 (TF 94) and operated between December 1 and 16, 1943 off Adak ( Alaska ) before returning to Hawaii on December 2, 1943.
1944
Now assigned to the 5th Fleet, the ship left Hawaii on January 19, 1944 to take part in operations against the Marshall Islands . The Cummings drove around the aircraft carriers carrying air strikes against Votje and Eniwetok until February 21 . On March 4, 1944, she drove from Majuro to Trincomalee ( Ceylon ), where she undertook training trips with British naval forces on March 31. On April 16, the Cummings drove in the association of the "British Force 70" with the task of covering air strikes against Sabang in Sumatra . She returned to Ceylon on April 16, to sail to Exmouth in Western Australia on May 6 . With the "British Force 66" the Cummings left Exmouth on May 15 to support air strikes against Surabaya on Java . Then the destroyer left the British Naval Association to return to Pearl Harbor via Sydney .
She then moved to San Francisco, where the Cummings came in on July 7, 1944. Then, from July 21, the ship provided escort for the cruiser USS Baltimore , which had President Roosevelt on board. The journey went via Pearl Harbor and Adak to Juneau . On the return trip, President Roosevelt came on August 8 aboard the Cummings to look out for Seattle to be transported. There he gave a national address to the nation on the foredeck of the destroyer.
After leaving Seattle on August 13, 1944, the Cummings joined TG 12.5 (Task Group 12/5) in Pearl Harbor to jointly carry out air strikes and coastal bombardments on Wake Island on September 3, 1944 . Then the 3rd Fleet fired at Marcus Island , and from October 9th, escort duties were carried out for the porters who attacked the islands of Luzon , Cebu , Leyte , Samar and Negros as part of the operations against the Philippines . It was used during the Battle of Leyte Gulf . On November 11th and 12th, 1944, they participated in the bombardment of Iwo Jima . On November 21, 1944, the Cummings began a port layover in Saipan , which had to be broken off on December 8, 1944 in order to provide fire support to the troops on Iwo Jima until March 19, 1945. This was followed by patrols in Japanese waters, including in particular the search and rescue of shot down pilots as a result of the intense bombing of Okinawa and the main Japanese island.
The ship monitored the occupation of Haha-jima on September 9, 1945 and began the journey home to San Pedro , California on September 19, 1945 . From there she moved via Tampa to Norfolk , where she was decommissioned on December 16, 1945 and sold for demolition on July 17, 1947.
Fleet Allocations
- September 30, 1939
- Destroyer Flotilla 1
- DESRON (Destroyer Squadron) 3
- DESDIV (Destroyer Division) 6
- October 1, 1941
- Destroyer Flotilla 1
- DESRON (Destroyer Squadron) 3
- DESDIV (Destroyer Division) 6
Honors
The Cummings were awarded seven Battle Stars for their services during the war .
Ship commanders
- Cdr Charles Purcell Cecil: November 25, 1936 -? (later Rear Admiral )
- Lt Cdr Carlton Rice Todd: 1940 (later Rear Admiral)
- Lt Cdr George Dudley Cooper: 1941
- Lt Cdr Paul Donnelly Williams: 1943
literature
- Stefan Terzibaschitsch : Destroyer of the US Navy . ISBN 3-86047-587-8
Web links
- History of USS Cummings (DD-365) in the Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (English)
- Pictures of the Cummings at navsource.org
.svg){kind=small}