USS La Vallette (DD-448)
_underway,_circa_in_late_1942.jpg) The USS La Valette |
|
| Overview | |
|---|---|
| Type | destroyer |
| Shipyard | |
| Keel laying | November 27, 1941 |
| Launch | June 21, 1942 |
| 1. Period of service |
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|
| Commissioning | August 12, 1942 |
| Decommissioning | April 16, 1946 |
| Whereabouts | Sold 1974 |
| Technical specifications | |
| displacement |
2,100 ts |
| length |
114.7 meters |
| width |
12.2 meters |
| Draft |
5.4 meters |
| crew |
9 officers, 264 men |
| drive |
|
| speed |
35 knots |
| Range |
6,500 nautical miles (11,700 km) at 15 knots |
| Armament |
upon commissioning
|
The USS La Vallette (DD-448) was an American destroyer of Fletcher Class , which in World War II was used. The ship was named after Rear Admiral Elie AF La Vallette .
history
The La Vallette was laid down on November 27, 1941 at the Federal Kearny shipyard. The launch was on June 21, 1942. It was put into service on August 12, 1942 under the command of Corvette Captain HH Henderson .
After training trips and accompanying missions in the Atlantic and the Caribbean , she left New York on December 16, 1942 to run through the Panama Canal into the Pacific . She had her first enemy contact on January 29, 1942 off Guadalcanal , when she covered Task Force 18. The La Vallette was able to shoot down three aircraft.
When she was attacked again on January 30th, she was protecting the Chicago , her team managed to shoot down six Mitsubishi G4M Bettys . However, the La Vallette was hit by a torpedo , which killed 22 men. She was towed to Espiritu Santo , where the most necessary repairs were carried out. She then ran to the Mare Island naval shipyard in California , where she arrived on April 1.
Fully repaired, she ran out to Hawaii on August 6 , where she joined an aircraft carrier combat group that carried out an attack on Marcus Island . Then she was used on patrols in the Solomon Islands , where she discovered a Japanese convoy on the night of October 1 to October 2, 1943, from which she sank four barges that were used to transport troops and damaged two more. The La Vallette was then assigned to escort during the landings on the Gilbert Islands . It was also used in the attacks on Kwajalein and Wotje , where it shot down another plane.
On February 1, 1944, she took part in coastal bombardments in preparation for the landing on Kwajalein . In April she was still firing at Aitape in New Guinea and on June 2 she supported the landings on Noemfoor, off New Guinea. In between, she was used for patrol and escort trips.
She then accompanied some convoys in the first attacks on the Philippines , and had just left the Gulf of Leyte as a convoy escort when the sea and air battle took place in the Gulf of Leyte . She returned to the Philippines on December 5, where she shot down a kamikaze plane in the Strait of Surigao . From December 1944 to January 1945 she was involved in five other landings in the Philippines. She then protected some mine clearance boats that were cleaning Manila Bay . On February 14, she ran into a mine in Mariveles Harbor , killing 6 and injuring 22. She was towed to a dry dock at Subic Bay Naval Base and then ran to the Hunters Point Naval Yard in San Francisco , where it was fully repaired. On August 7, she ran to San Diego , where she was decommissioned on April 16 and assigned to the reserve fleet. It stayed there until 1969. In 1974 it was sold to Peru as a spare parts donor .
The La Vallette received ten Battle Stars for their service in World War II .