USS Peary (DD-226)

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USS Peary (DD-226)
USS Peary in the 1920s
USS Peary in the 1920s
Ship data
flag United StatesUnited States (national flag) United States
Ship type destroyer
class Clemson class
Shipyard William Cramp & Sons , Philadelphia
Build number 492
Keel laying September 9, 1919
Launch April 6, 1920
Commissioning October 22, 1920
Whereabouts Sunk by Japanese bombers on February 19, 1942 in Darwin harbor.
Ship dimensions and crew
length
95.83 m ( Lüa )
94.5 m ( Lpp )
width 9.65 m
Draft Max. 2.84 m
displacement 1190  ts standard
 
crew 101–153 men
Machine system
machine 4 White-Forster boilers
2 Parsons - geared turbines
Machine
performance 		26,500 hp (19,491 kW)
Top
speed 		35 kn (65 km / h)
propeller 2
Armament
Sensors

sonar

The USS Peary (DD-226) was a Clemson destroyer in the United States Navy . The ship was named after polar explorer Robert Edwin Peary , who died six weeks before the destroyer was launched. His daughter Marie Peary Stafford (1893–1978) named the destroyer when it was launched.

The Peary was the first US Navy destroyer to be lost in the Pacific during World War II.

history

The USS Peary was laid down on September 9, 1919 under the hull number 492 at the same time as the sister ships Stewart (DD 224) and Pope (DD 225) at William Cramp & Sons in Philadelphia and when it was launched on April 6, 1920 by the daughter of Baptized by the namesake. The Clemson- class destroyer was commissioned on October 22, 1920. In
1922, the Peary moved to the American west coast and then to the Philippines to the American Asian fleet , where she remained until the outbreak of war with Japan in December 1941. The destroyer was primarily used there to protect American interests in the Republic of China . This included service in the Yangtze Patrol Force on the Yangtze from 1923 to 1931 , followed every year by deployments in Chinese coastal waters and intensified training exercises in the winter months near the Philippines until the American entry into the Pacific War as a result of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in late 1941 .

War effort

The Whippoorwill

At the beginning of the Japanese invasion of the Philippines , the Peary lay for repairs at the Cavite base in Manila Bay after a collision with the sister ship Pillsbury . When Japanese bombers attacked the American base on December 10, the non-operational destroyer was hit amidships at its pier, killing eight crew members and wounding numerous others, including the commander. The undamaged Pillsbury , which was on the other side of the pier, helped the sister ship extinguish the fire with a chain of buckets and took over the injured from the Peary . Since there was now a fire in many areas of the naval yard and supplies threatened to explode, the Pillsbury set off to leave the yard . The mine sweeper Whippoorwill , who had arrived in the meantime , was able to drag the not ready to drive Peary out of the burning yard and use her hoses to extinguish the fire on the destroyer, which was anchored in a nearby bay. In the coming days, the Peary was made ready to sail again and was able to complete her crew again. The new commander was Lieutenant John M. Bermingham, who had last been Chief Officer of the Stewart and was supposed to return to the USA for a new assignment. The repairs made the destroyer seaworthy, but not fully operational.

On December 17th, the Japanese already had bases on Luzon and Mindanao and there were daily attacks, so that all seaworthy ships should leave Cavite to the south. Peary and Pillsbury wanted to join these ships. However, they were ordered to form combat groups with the speedboats that were still in existence . Each of the destroyers dismantled two of their torpedo tube sets and each made a reconnaissance trip towards Mindoro . Peary carried out her mission on December 23rd. On the 24th, the Navy learned of Commander-in-Chief Douglas MacArthur's plans . The navy then destroyed their facilities around Manila, the destroyers were refueled and survived another air raid with minor damage on the 26th. The destroyers were free to find the route that best suited them to the Allies in Surabaya . The Pillsbury chose a route across the open sea to Balikpapan ( outside route ), Peary followed on the evening of the 26th on the so-called inside route south. On the 27th, the destroyer reached Campomanes Bay off Negros Island . In order to be as inconspicuous as possible during a march near the coast, the ship's command decided to paint the ship green and camouflage it with palm fronds. The idea of ​​escaping the Japanese Enlightenment in this way immediately proved its worth. At least twice, Japanese planes showed no interest in the little green island. In the dark, the destroyer passed the Pilas Strait in the Sulu Archipelago and continued to the southeast towards Manado , ( Sulawesi ) and then continued to the Dutch-Australian base in Ambon . A Japanese flying boat, initially identified as an Allied flying boat, accompanied the destroyer from the early morning. At around 2:20 p.m., other Japanese planes attacked the destroyer. The destroyer managed to avoid both bombs and torpedoes from the attackers.
Unbeknownst to the Peary , an Australian Catalina had previously observed the destroyer and the aircraft following it and thought the Peary was a Japanese destroyer secured by a flying boat. When the destroyer arrived at Menado at around 4.45 p.m. , he tried to continue despite the impending darkness. Around 6 p.m., the Peary was attacked by three Australian Lockheed Hudson bombers. The Peary recognized the allies, but despite the waving crew they made two attacks. All the bombs hit close to the destroyer. More precisely, one man died on board, two others were injured and a fourth went overboard and survived in Japanese captivity thanks to a fishing boat that took him in. The reason for the death of the sailor from the fire of an Australian machine was given in the destroyer's logbook as “friendly fire”, a phrase that has meanwhile gained worldwide acceptance. In addition to minor, insignificant damage from the fire of the Australian friends , a control rope was also shot. The Peary started her march that night, when the bearing of the starboard engine overheated, so it was shut down to protect the camp. The destroyer also had hardly any boiler water and urgently needed a supply point. Still able to run 22 knots, the destroyer continued to Ambon , where a Dutch / Australian base was located. After a makeshift repair there, Peary drove to Darwin in Australia at the end of the year .

The US warships Houston and Peary in Darwin in 1942

In Darwin it turned out that a large part of the team had malaria. The Peary spent January and early February 1942 patrolling submarine hunting in the Darwin area. In mid-February, the destroyer, which was still only partially operational, was to become part of the escort for a convoy to Kupang that had loaded urgently needed reinforcements for the defense of Timor , including an Australian engineer battalion and an artillery battalion of the US Army . The escort was correspondingly large, in addition to the Peary, the heavy cruiser Houston and the Australian sloops Swan and Warrego . On February 16, there was a heavy attack by 54 Japanese aircraft. There was only slight damage in the convoy from close hits, but due to the severity of the attack and since further heavy attacks were to be expected before reaching Kupang, the convoy was forced to return to Darwin. From there ran Peary along with Houston on the evening of February 18th again immediately to sign in Java the Federation of ABDA fleet under Rear Admiral Karel Doorman to the defense of Java to connect. Before Darwin, however, there was a submarine contact, in the pursuit of which the destroyer consumed so much fuel that he was ordered to refuel again after Darwin, while the Houston continued alone.

The end of the peary

The burning USS Peary before sinking in 1942

Therefore, the Peary was in the port of Darwin when the machines of four aircraft carriers ( Akagi , Kaga , Hiryū and Sōryū ) of the Kidō Butai attacked the city on February 19. The attack caused severe damage in Darwin, numerous ships were sunk or damaged, including the four transporters in the convoy. The destroyer itself received five bomb hits, including a. in the forward magazine and in the aft engine room when he tried to protect a hospital ship by laying a wall of smoke during the attack. The Peary sank around 1 p.m. as a result of the hits in the harbor. Of the crew, 89 men died and 16 were wounded, only 37 seamen were uninjured. Of the destroyer's five officers, only one survived wounded. The Peary was the US Navy's first destroyer loss in the Pacific.

Honors

The memorial to USS Peary in Darwin
Commemorative plaque for the USS Peary
The dead of the USS Peary

Today, a memorial in Darwin's Bicentennial Park commemorates the dead in the first air strike on Australia and the port's defenders. The most striking component is a 4-inch cannon from the USS Peary , which was recovered from the bay by divers.
The weapon has the in-bay wreck that there in 27 m depth at 12 ° 29 '  S , 130 ° 50'  O coordinates: "" 30 12 ° 28  S , 130 ° 49 '45 "  O is located.

The anniversary of the attack is usually celebrated with a commemoration ceremony. American units have also taken part in the celebration.

From the American side, Peary and her crew were honored by naming three ships:

  • As early as 1943 the destroyer escort USS Robert E. Peary (DE 132) of the Edsall class came into service with the fleet;
  • In 1972 a Knox-class frigate, FF 1073 with this name followed, which was delivered to Taiwan in 1995.
  • From 1944 to 1946, the US Navy had the Evarts-class USS John M. Bermingham (DE 530), a destroyer escort named after the last commander of the USS Peary (DD-226).

Web links

Commons : USS Peary (DD-226)  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files
Commons : Darwin Air Raid  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files