USS Preston (DD-795)
_underway_in_San_Francisco_Bay,_California_(USA),_on_22_October_1966_(NH_99283).jpg) USS Preston in front of the San Francisco Bay Naval Shipyard, Hunters Point, California, October 22, 1966. |
|
| Overview | |
|---|---|
| Shipyard |
Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corporation |
| Keel laying | June 13, 1943 |
| Launch | December 12, 1943 |
| 1. Period of service |
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|
| Commissioning | March 20, 1944 |
| Decommissioning | 15th November 1969 |
| Removed from ship register | 15th November 1969 |
| Whereabouts | Delivered to Turkey on November 15, 1969 |
| Technical specifications | |
| displacement |
2940 ts (standard) |
| length |
123.60 m (376 ft 5 in) |
| width |
12.87 m (39 ft 3 in) |
| Draft |
5.77 m (17 ft 8 in) |
| crew |
320 |
| drive |
4 boilers, 2 turbines, 60,000 shp (45 MW); 2 screws |
| speed |
35 knots (65 km / h) |
| Armament |
5 × 5 "guns (127 mm, L / 38) in single mounts, |
The USS Preston (identifier DD-795) was a destroyer operated by the US Navy during World War II , the Korean War, and the Cold War . It was the sixth ship to bear that name. She belonged to the Fletcher class and was named after Samuel W. Preston .
The ship's godmother was Mrs. RF Gross; First in command was Commander GS Patrick.
The shipyard was the Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corporation (a subsidiary of Bethlehem Steel ) in San Pedro (Los Angeles) .
Mission history
Second World War
After the commissioning, extensive training trips followed in the waters around Hawaii . On July 1, 1944, the Preston moved from Pearl Harbor to the Mariana Islands , where she stayed until July 17, and then took over transport security in the area of the amphibious landing zones until August 8, 1944. Then she marched from Guam to Eniwetok to join Task Force 38 (TF 38) there on August 29, 1944 . Between September 6 and 8, the ship escorted the carrier group that was deployed in the attack against Palau . This was followed by a similar task in the air strikes against Japanese positions in the southern and central Philippines . From August 14th, return to the Palau Islands to cover the landings on Peleliu and Anguar. This was followed by a trip to the Philippines with subsequent transfer to Ulithi .
On October 6, 1944, the combat group ran out to take part in the Battle of Leyte as part of the invasion of the Philippines. On October 24th, Task Group 38.3 (TG 38.3) was violently attacked by the Japanese, with the USS Princeton (CVL-23) being lost. On the same evening, TG 38.3, TG 38.2 and TG 38.4 moved north to search for the Japanese carrier group. After various air strikes against the Japanese units, the combat group followed the fleeing Japanese through San Bernardino Street .
On November 5, 1944, the Preston was moved to the area in front of Luzon to carry out combat operations against the enemy positions in this area. This was followed by patrols in the area of the central Philippines with the focus on disrupting Japanese supplies in Ormoc Bay.
On December 30, 1944, the combat group drove to the area northwest of Ulithi in order to carry out actions against Formosa and Nansei Shoto in the course of the Battle of Luzon . After that, the association moved to the South China Sea and attacked enemy ship movements and coastal facilities along the coast of Indochina . From January 15, 1945, the carrier group stood west of Formosa and fought targets on this island and on Okinawa . During the month of February, the Preston escorted the aircraft carriers during air raids on the Japanese mainland, after which they were again transferred to the waters around Okinawa. At the beginning of March 1945, the Preston first went to Ulithi to rejoin the TF 54 there. Then the association was transferred to the Ryūkyū Islands . Between March 24 and April 1, 1945, the Preston operated off the Kerama Islands and then moved to fire support off Hagushi . Until June 1, the Battle of Okinawa continued to provide fire support to the US Army and Marine Corps troops fighting on the Motobu Peninsula .
In early June, the Preston initially patrolled possible Japanese kamikaze boats and then returned to fire support measures against Japanese positions. In July patrol services took place off the northern tip of Okinawa and in August 1945 escort duties for convoys in the Buckner Bay area.
After the Japanese surrender on August 14, 1945, the Preston initially remained in the Okinawa area and began her return journey to the USA on September 6. On September 24th, she arrived in San Diego, where disarmament work began immediately on "Naval Station San Diego". On April 24, 1946, the destroyer was decommissioned, transferred to the "Pacific Reserve Fleet" and mothballed.
1951-1969
After the start of hostilities in Korea , the Preston was reactivated and put back into service on January 26, 1951. In April 1951 it was moved to the east coast of the USA, where it was modernized in the Philadelphia Navy Yard and then called for a short stay in its home port of Newport . On January 9, 1952, the Preston sailed into the Mediterranean to join the Sixth Fleet operating there. Returning from this assignment in May, she took part in fleet maneuvers and training drives along the east coast from Labrador to the Caribbean .
On April 1, 1953, the ship left the New England coast for combat duties in the Far East . Arrived in Japan at the beginning of May, she was assigned to the TF 77 fast carrier group, where she took over escort and security tasks until June. Then she was assigned to TF 95, which carried out the coastal blockade off North Korea on behalf of the United Nations .
After the conclusion of the armistice on July 27, 1953, the Preston began the return journey through the Suez Canal to Boston . After an overhaul phase, the ship operated between May and September 1954 in the association of anti-submarine groups of the Atlantic Fleet .
In 1955 there was another trip to the Mediterranean with anti-submarine training missions, after which the destroyer returned to Narragansett Bay on March 15 , in order to start the journey to the west coast from here. The Preston ran on April 15 in Long Beach and was assigned to the "Destroyer Squadron 23" (DesRon 23). In June she moved again to the Far East and completed patrols between the 7th and 1st US Fleet. This included maneuvers as part of the SEATO , other allied maneuvers and the so-called "Taiwan Patrol". Further training trips and trips to the Arctic and the Central Pacific followed.
In December 1958 the Preston was able to provide first aid to the population of the Japanese city of Keniya, which had been badly affected by a great fire, by delivering food and clothing.
In 1962 winter operations followed in the Arctic and participation in nuclear tests in the Pacific. In 1965 the Preston moved to the coast of Vietnam, where escorts were deployed for the aircraft carriers USS Coral Sea (CV-43) and USS Ticonderoga (CV-14) . Bombardments of the coastal strip in support of the land troops followed until January 15, 1966.
After that, the ship returned to the US and was deactivated. Decommissioned on November 15, 1969 and struck from the ship register, it was handed over to Turkey on the same day.
The Preston was awarded six Battle Stars for service in World War II and one Battle Star for the Korean War.
TCG İçel
In the Turkish Navy the ex- Preston was named TCG İçel (D 344) and was in service until 1981. Then it was sold for demolition.