USS Flusser (DD-368)
 USS Flusser before 1941 |
|
| Overview | |
|---|---|
| Shipyard | |
| Keel laying | June 4, 1934 |
| Launch | September 28, 1935 |
| 1. Period of service |
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|
| Commissioning | October 1, 1936 |
| Decommissioning | December 16, 1946 |
| Removed from ship register | April 7, 1947 |
| Whereabouts | Sold for demolition on January 6, 1948 |
| Technical specifications | |
| displacement |
1,600 tons ts (standard) |
| length |
341 ft 4 in (104.04 m) |
| width |
36 ft (10.97 m) |
| Draft |
9 ft 10 in (3 m) |
| crew |
168 |
| drive |
4 steam boilers / 2 turbines. 49,000 hp on two propellers |
| speed |
37 knots (69 km / h) |
| Armament |
Originally: |
The USS Flusser (ID DD-368) was a destroyer in the US Navy and the fourth ship to bear that name. It belonged to the 18-unit Mahan class and was named after Charles Williamson Flusser .
The ship was christened by Mrs. F. W. Packard; Commander F. L. Lowe received the first command on October 1, 1936 .
For their services during World War II , the Flusser were awarded eight Battle Stars .
Mission history
Before World War II
The Flusser was assigned to the commissioning of the first Squadron 40-T and ran on 1 December 1936 by New York in the western Mediterranean in order there during the Spanish Civil War, the interests of the United States to uphold. On February 9, 1937, the ship returned to Hampton Roads and took over coastal defense duties between Virginia and Maine for the next five months . She then moved to San Diego on July 16, 1937, and then from October 1939 to the Pearl Harbor naval base .
1941-1943
On December 5, 1941, she ran out with the carrier group around the Lexington (CV-2) from Pearl Harbor and thus escaped the Japanese attack. The forces around the Lexington initially tried in vain to intercept the withdrawing Japanese naval forces and returned to Pearl Harbor on December 12th.
By April 1942, the Flusser took over escort duties between Hawaii and the American west coast and on April 21, 1942, dropped a troop of marines on the Palmyra Atoll. Then she carried out escort tasks in the southwestern Pacific , which also involved various calls to Australian ports.
After a lay in the shipyard between July 1942 and February 1943 in Pearl Harbor, the Flusser resumed her duties in escort protection and submarine hunting in the area south of the Solomon Islands .
After a brief overhaul at Pearl Harbor between July 25th and August 4th, 1942, the Flusser returned to Efate , where she arrived on August 17th. Here she took over again escorts and patrols in the area of the Fiji Islands , Espiritu Santo , Samoa and Tonga . This was followed by another shipyard layover in Pearl Harbor between September 1942 and February 1943. From February 17, 1943 arrival in Espiritu Santo with assumption of escort duties for both transporters and warships in the area of the Pacific naval bases, to and from Australia and Guadalcanal . In preparation for the invasion of New Guinea , the Flusser moved from Australia to Milne Bay on August 22nd. From here she actively intervened in the landing operations at Lae and Finschhafen , gave fire protection during the troop landings, escorted reinforcement vehicles and sank three Japanese barges in Finschhafen on September 22nd. The Flusser saw the next action at the landing company in Arawa , New Britain and at the occupation of Cape Gloucester and Saidor.
1944-1945
From January 11, 1944 to January 30, 1944 there was a brief overhaul of the ship with subsequent resumption of operations in Australian waters. Then transfer to Milne Bay and escort trips to Saidor and Cape Gloucester. then participation in the landing operations at Los Negros and the Admiralty Islands . The high demands on material and crew required another overhaul, which was carried out between April and June 1944 in the Mare Island Naval Shipyard .
On August 1, 1944, the ship left Hawaii, escorted a convoy to Eniwetok and reached Majuro on August 16. From here a six-week patrol took place in front of the atolls held by the Japanese in the southwestern area of the Marshall Islands . On September 7, the Flusser fought a gun battle with a Japanese coastal battery on Wotje , in the course of which 9 crew members were wounded. From October 1st, the ship led a convoy to Eniwetok, Ulithi , and Hollandia . This was followed by a transfer to San Pedro Bay (Philippines), where the Flusser arrived on October 29 and immediately began patrols in the Gulf of Leyte and the Strait of Surigao . On November 18, the destroyer managed to shoot down a Japanese kamikaze , the plane hitting the water so close to the hull that the pilot's parachute was thrown onto the forecastle. Further escort duties followed between Hollandia and Leyte. On December 4, 1944, the ship was damaged in a kamikaze attack. Further kamikaze attacks the next day sank the landing ship LSM-20, with the Flusser helping to save the crew. She managed to shoot down several Japanese planes.
The destroyer left Leyte on December 6th to support the landing in Ormoc Bay. The next day, another heavy kamikaze attack occurred, in which the Flusser shot down an airplane. She helped rescue sailors floating in the water and escorted the badly hit destroyer USS Lamson (DD-367) back to San Pedro.
Then transfer to Hollandia and Biak in preparation for the invasion of Lingayen . On January 13, 1945, the Flusser arrived as escort of the convoy of the second reinforcement wave in the Gulf of Lingayen. On January 31, it provided fire protection on the landing near Nasugbu and was involved in the attack on Puerto Princesa and Palawan . Escorts followed between Leyte, Mindoro, and Palawan.
The Flusser remained in the Philippines and took part in the landing on Cebu on March 26, 1945 . After that, reinforcements were escorted to this island, escort duties until July 1 from Morotai to Polloc Harbor and the Gulf of Davao . The destroyer took part in the operation against Balikpapan , gave fire protection, and escorted ships from Morotai until July 20. Then arrival in Manila . After a brief regeneration, the Flusser moved to Okinawa for escort duties on August 31, and she arrived in Sasebo on September 16 .
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Officers of the ship were assigned to inspect Japanese war and merchant ship affairs. On October 29, 1945, the destroyer left Sasebo and returned to San Diego, where it arrived on November 19.
1946
In the summer of 1946, Flusser took part in Operation Crossroads and returned to Pearl Harbor on September 14, 1946. She then moved to Norfolk, Virginia, where she arrived on November 12, 1946 and was decommissioned.
Membership in combat units
- October 1, 1941: DESFLOT 1 / DESRON 5 / DESDIV 9
- Landing at Cap Gloucester - December 1943: TF 76 / DESDIV 48
- Landing on Leyte - 17. – 25. October 1944: 7th Fleet / TG 78.8 / DESRON 5
- Landing on Luzon - January 1945: 7th Fleet / TG 78.9 / DESRON 5
- Liberation of the southern Philippines - February – April 1945: 1. Palawan TG 74.2
Remarks
- ↑ Destroyer Flotilla
- ↑ DEStroyer squadRON = Destroyer Squadron
- ↑ Destroyer Division
- ^ Task Force
- ^ Task Group
swell
literature
- Stefan Terzbaschitsch: Destroyer of the US Navy .