USS Mahan (DD-364)
-Tarn.jpg) USS Mahan in front of the Mare Island Navy Yard , California, June 21, 1944 (camouflage scheme 31, design 23d) |
|
| Overview | |
|---|---|
| Shipyard |
United Dry Docks |
| Keel laying | June 12, 1934 |
| Launch | October 15, 1935 |
| 1. Period of service |
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|
| Commissioning | September 18, 1936 |
| Whereabouts | Sunk on December 7, 1944 due to enemy action |
| Technical specifications | |
| displacement |
1500 ts |
| length |
341 '4 "ft (104.04 m) |
| width |
34 '8 "ft (10.57 m) |
| Draft |
17 ft (5.18 m) |
| crew |
8 officers, 150 men. |
| drive |
4 boilers, 2 steam turbines , 2 shafts , 35 MW (48,000 PS) |
| speed |
35 kn (65 km / h) |
| Armament |
Originally |
The USS Mahan (registered DD-364) was a destroyer of the United States Navy during World War II and the second ship to bear that name. She was the type ship of the Mahan class and named after Alfred Thayer Mahan .
The ship's godmother was Miss Kathleen H. Mahan, great-granddaughter of the namesake; The first in command was Commander JB Waller.
The shipyard was United Dry Docks Inc. , in Staten Island , New York .
The destroyer last painted according to camouflage scheme 31, pattern 23d (Dark Pattern System) with the colors:
- Haze gray (5-H),
- Ocean gray (5-O),
- Dull black (BK).
Mission history
1936-1942
The Mahan left New York City on November 16, 1936 for a two-month training voyage to the Caribbean and South America . After returning in January 1937, the ship was on patrol on the east coast of the USA until it was relocated to the west coast in July of the same year. This was followed by training trips in the fleet off the coast of southern California and then the final assignment of Pearl Harbor as the home base. Sporadic visits to the west coast and the Caribbean followed by December 1941, and extensive training programs were carried out in the waters around Hawaii .
During the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor , the Mahan was part of Task Force 12 on a routine patrol. After the attack, the TF 12 was instructed to head for a position near Jaluit in order to intercept the Japanese naval forces suspected there. After searching in vain, the Mahan returned to Pearl Harbor on December 12, 1941.
At the end of December 1941, the destroyer transported reinforcements from the Marines to Johnston Island and brought the civilians to be evacuated from there to Hawaii. After that, the ship carried out escort duties until February 24th and from then on was initially assigned to the naval base on Canton Island in order to undertake patrol trips from here. From March 25, 1942, the Mahan was withdrawn from active activities, it first went to Hawaii and then to the west coast for overhaul.
This was followed by patrols in the waters between Hawaii and California to be relocated to the South Pacific from October 16, 1942. During the crossing, the Mahan and the accompanying USS Lamson was involved in a battle with Japanese patrol boats on October 22, 1942 south of the Gilbert Islands , in the course of which two of these boats were sunk.
As part of the TF 61 association, the Mahan was attacked by Japanese aircraft north of the Santa Cruz Islands on October 27 . Four of the attackers could be shot down. On the same day after the battle of the Santa Cruz Islands ended, the Mahan collided with the battleship USS South Dakota . The damage to the destroyer was so great that it first had to call at Nouméa in New Caledonia , where it was temporarily repaired. Then the ship began its journey home to Pearl Harbor, where the entire bow had to be replaced in the shipyard.
1943-1944
After the repair, the Mahan returned to the South Pacific on January 9, 1943 and took over convoy duties in the New Hebrides , New Caledonia and Fiji Islands . In April she first went to Guadalcanal and was sent to Australian waters for operations on her return.
Then she was moved to New Guinea , where Milne Bay was assigned as a base from July 2nd . In the following three months, the Mahan was involved in various operations, such as the landing in Nassau Bay on August 9th, the bombardment of Finschhafen on August 22nd and 23rd, and from September 4th to 8th the protection of the landing forces from Lae and Support of the Australian landing forces off Finschhafen, where they shot down three Japanese planes.
During the months of October and November, the destroyer operated from the Buna base and carried out patrols in the waters around Papua New Guinea . In December, Japanese facilities in New Britain were bombarded, followed by fire support for the landing at Cape Gloucester. Then the bombardment of Gali in New Guinea, a short stay in Sydney Harbor and escort duties between New Guinea and New Britain. Before taking on escort duties at the Admiralty Islands , the Mahan fired at Japanese positions on February 28, 1944 on the Los Negros Island, which belongs to this group of islands.
After two years of grueling work, the Mahan was ordered to the shipyard for overhaul in San Francisco in the spring of 1944. Here, the radar system and the fire control systems were modernized and the air defense system strengthened. She moved to Pearl Harbor in early July and carried out training assignments until August 15, 1944. She then drove via Eniwetok , Jaluit, Guam , Saipan , and Ulithi to New Guinea, where she arrived on October 20th. Here the Mahan carried out escort duties between Hollandia and Leyte and then drove anti-submarine patrols in this area until the end of November.
Loss of the ship
While on patrol between Leyte and Ponson Island, the destroyer was attacked on December 7, 1944 by six Japanese kamikaze planes. Although the Mahan managed to shoot three of them, the other three rushed onto the ship, which immediately broke out in fire that could no longer be brought under control. A short time later, the Mahan had to be abandoned, and the surviving crew members were picked up by ships hurrying up. An hour later, the destroyer USS Walke sank the burning wreck by gunfire and torpedoes .
Fleet Allocations
- September 30, 1939
- Destroyer Flotilla 1
- DESRON (Destroyer Squadron) 2
- DESDIV (Destroyer Division) 3
- October 1, 1941
- Destroyer Flotilla 1
- DESRON (Destroyer Squadron) 5
- DESDIV (Destroyer Division) 9
Honors
The Mahan were awarded five Battle Stars for their services during the war .
literature
- Stefan Terzibaschitsch: Destroyer of the US Navy . ISBN 3-86047-587-8
Web links
- History of Mahan in the Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (English)
- Pictures of the Mahan in the Naval Historical Center
- Pictures of the Mahan at navsource.org (English)
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