USS Stewart (DD-224)

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USS Stewart (DD-224)
USS Stewart 1930
USS Stewart 1930
Ship data
flag United StatesUnited States (national flag) United States Japan
JapanJapan (naval war flag) 
other ship names

1943: Dai-102-Gö shökaitei
1945: DD-224

Ship type destroyer
class Clemson class
Shipyard William Cramp & Sons , Philadelphia
Build number 490
Keel laying September 9, 1919
Launch March 4, 1920
Commissioning September 15, 1920
Whereabouts sunk on March 2, 1942 in Surabaya itself
1943 in Japanese service
1945 sunk again USN
May 24, 1946 as a target
Ship dimensions and crew
length
95.83 m ( Lüa )
94.5 m ( Lpp )
width 9.4 m
Draft Max. 3.0 m
displacement 1190  ts standard
1,308 t maximum
 
crew 120 men
Machine system
machine 4 White-Forster boilers
2 Westinghouse - geared turbines
Machine
performance 		27,000 PS (19,858 kW)
Top
speed 		35 kn (65 km / h)
propeller 2
Armament

1945

Sensors

1943: Sonar , 1945: Radar

The USS Stewart (DD-224) was a Clemson-class destroyer in the United States Navy . The destroyer had been part of the United States Asiatic Fleet since 1923 and was badly damaged in the naval battle in the Strait of Badung . The destroyer was still able to reach Surabaya on February 22, 1942. The wreck was sunk during the evacuation of the Indonesian port by the Allied troops with the floating dock in which it had been since arrival.

In the USA, the destroyer escort USS `` Stewart '' (DE-238) of the Edsall class was built in 1942/43 .

In February 1943 the Japanese occupiers lifted the sunken Stewart and began repairing the old destroyer. In autumn 1943 the ship was put into service as a guard ship N ° 102 ( Dai-102-Gö shökaitei ) for the Imperial Japanese Navy . Like the former Stewart , the Japanese Navy also took the S-class destroyer HMS Thracian (D86), sunk by the British in Hong Kong, as guard ship No. 101 and the Dutch van Galen-class destroyer Bankert, which sank in Surabaya, as guard ship No. 106 in service. The three formerly allied destroyers survived the war.

In autumn 1945 the former American destroyer was returned to the US Navy. The former destroyer was only given its old identification DD-224 , as its name had meanwhile been taken again and was then sunk as a target in May 1946 off San Francisco .

The former USS Stewart after readmission

History of the ship

Construction of the destroyer DD-224 began on September 9, 1919 at the shipyard of William Cramp & Sons in Philadelphia with hull number 490. The shipyard has been building this type since August 1918 [USS Chandler (DD-206 / DMS-9 / AG -108) BN ° 472] and until April 19, 1921 [USS Paul Jones (DD-230) BN ° 496]: a total of 25 destroyers of this type. The destroyer was launched on March 4, 1920 and was named after Rear Admiral Charles Stewart (1778-1869) from his granddaughter, Mrs. Margaretta Stewart Stevens. On September 15, 1920, the new building was taken over by the US Navy.

Use in the US Navy

The new destroyer was assigned to the Reserve Division and was mostly used near the coast. On October 12, 1921, the Stewart was assigned to the Destroyer Squadron, Atlantic . The destroyer took part in the naval maneuvers in the Caribbean from January 12 to April 22, 1922 . After some repairs the destroyer moved to Newport (Rhode Island) . From there the Stewart set off for East Asia on June 20. The destroyer ran over the Mediterranean and the Indian Ocean to the Philippines in order to remain in service with the Asian fleet . The ship was not supposed to return to the US for the next 23 years.

On August 26, 1922, the destroyer was taken over into service with the US Asia Fleet in Chefoo . Stewart began the routine service of the Asian fleet with exercises from the ports of Chefoo and Tsingtau in summer and Manila in winter as well as visits to other Chinese ports during the marches to the winter and summer stations. A first of the routine was the visit of Yokosuka from September 6 to 21, 1923 to participate in the relief efforts of the US fleet after the Great Kanto earthquake there and in Tokyo on 30/31. August. From May 25 to June 16, 1924 the Stewart supported the three Douglas World Cruisers of the US Army in their attempt to be the first aircraft to fly around the earth. She supported the planes in Japan and then in Shanghai . Serious xenophobic attacks occurred in Shanghai and Canton between 1924 and 1928 . In January 1925, the Stewart transported Marines to Shanghai. In the following years the destroyer intensified the usual inspection trips with gunboats on the Yangtze and in the Canton area. When communist Chinese troops attacked foreigners in Nanking on March 24, 1927 , the Stewart was in Shanghai and then stayed on the river for the next 3.5 weeks to protect American citizens and shipping. Initially stationed in the contract port of Wuhu , the destroyer was later also in Nanking, Shanghai and other ports. In January 1932, the destroyer was also on the Chinese coast when the Japanese attacked Shanghai from the sea and from the air. The destroyer protected Americans and their interests first in Swatow from February 1st to 3rd , then in Amoy from February 9th to 24th and from February 26th to May 23rd 1932 the American interests in Shanghai.

When the Sino-Japanese War openly broke out in 1937 , the Stewart was mostly stationed in Chinese ports. The destroyer was in Tsingtau and Shanghai from August 15 to December 18, 1937, then from February 21 to March 21, 1938 and from June 3 to September 4, 1939. Because of the war that has broken out in Europe in the meantime the destroyer was ordered to the Philippines. The stewart was supposed to take part in securing the waters there. The task ended on April 5, 1940, when the destroyer called on schedule at the naval shipyard in Cavite , where it remained until June 1. After the overhaul, the Stewart, as a security destroyer, secured air traffic with flying boats on the last leg of the Orient Line of the PanAm between Guam and the Philippines. From July 7th to November 27th 1940 the Stewart was deployed again off China. The worsening international situation prevented the destroyer from being used again off the Chinese coast in 1941. The destroyer stayed in the Philippines in 1941 to secure the American possessions. On November 27, 1941, the destroyer received the order, like all larger units of the Asiatic Fleet , to join the Dutch fleet in the Dutch East Indies .

Use in World War II

Stewart was in Tarakan , Borneo with other American and Dutch ships when reports of the outbreak of war with Japan came in. In the final weeks of 1941, the destroyer secured support ships for the US Navy as it withdrew from the Philippines to Port Darwin in Australia . On January 9, 1942 the Stewart left Darwin with the cruisers Boise and Marblehead and the destroyers Bulmer , Pope , Parrot and Barker in the direction of Surabaya with the Dutch transporter Bloemfontein (10081 BRT, built in 1934). On the transporter were then reinforcements of the US Army for the battle for the Dutch East Indies , whereby the so-called Pensacola convoy had previously been reloaded . On board the transport were mainly artillery units of the US Army, which were actually intended for the Philippines, but could no longer be brought there, especially since the decision to withdraw from there had been decided in the meantime. The convoy reached the Dutch port of Surabaya on January 11th.

From January 30th, Stewart accompanied the Marblehead and pushed the cruiser from Bunda Roads on February 4th against Japanese units at the south entrance of the Strait of Macassar . The Marblehead was badly damaged by Japanese air raids in daylight and Stewart escorted the cruiser back to the base in Tjilatjap , Java . The destroyer was then assigned to the ABDA fleet under Admiral Karel Doorman , which advanced on February 14 against Japanese forces advancing along the north coast of Sumatra. During the approach, the Stewart was only just able to avoid a collision with the Dutch destroyer in front of her, which had run aground on a reef in Stolze Street . On the 15th, the unit on Bangka Street was attacked several times from the air. Although the air strikes could be repulsed, the admiral decided to terminate the company, since he thought it would be pointless to continue without its own air security and ordered it to be terminated. Stewart was released on February 16 to refuel in Sumatra's Ratai Bay . When the Japanese landed in Bali on February 19, Admiral Doorman's units were relatively widely distributed. Nevertheless, he decided to attack the Japanese in three groups, which then led to the battle of Badung Street on the night of February 20th . Stewart led the second group with the Dutch cruiser Hr.Ms. Tromp and three other American destroyers in this attack that night. The group around the Stewart got into very precise fire from Japanese destroyers, the Stewart lost its boats and received further hits in various areas. Despite severe damage, the destroyer was able to hold its position and reached Surabaya the following morning.

Loss of the ship

As the most heavily damaged ship, the Stewart first came to a floating dock in Surabaya on February 22, 1942 after the battle. Inadequately supported, the destroyer tipped on its side while floating up the dock. Parts of the ship were therefore in the water. The mistake caused further damage, twisted their screws, and caused further damage. Since the port was constantly being attacked by the Japanese from the air and the threat of occupation by Japanese ground troops, a repair of the destroyer was no longer to be expected. Hence the destroyer itself should be destroyed. The crew cleared the ship and the still functioning port administration should sink the destroyer.

Explosive devices were installed on the ship. The heavily damaged ship was hit again by an aerial bomb in the floating dock. On March 2, 1942, the port was cleared and the dock and its contents sunk.
On March 25, 1942, the ship was officially removed from the Navy list . The name was given to the new destroyer escort USS Stewart (DE-238), which is now part of the Historic Place in Seawolf Park in Galveston .

Operation under the Japanese flag

Even during the war, American pilots reported about an American warship within enemy-controlled waters. The ship had a typical Japanese merged front chimney but the typical hull shape of American four-chimneys.

After more than a year underwater, the Japanese had lifted the Stewart in February 1943 and transferred it to the Imperial Japanese Navy on September 20, 1943 as guard boat No. 102 ( Dai-102-Gö shökaitei ) for the South East Aera Fllet . The new boat was armed with two 3-inch guns and two heavy 0.5-inch FlaMGs from Dutch stocks, two light Japanese 25-mm automatic cannons and 72 depth charges. Three boilers were still usable from the machine system, which could be used up to an output of 14,000 hp and enabled a top speed of 26 knots.

The ship took on escort duties in the area of ​​the Japanese Southwest Area Fleet . On August 23, 1944, the boat was involved in the sinking of the American submarine Harder by the Japanese submarine hunter CD-22 . In November 1944, PB-102 came to Kure for repairs . At the same time, a light tripod mast was installed at the front, the ship's anti-aircraft defenses were strengthened and the sensors were modernized. The armament now consisted of two 80 mm type 3 anti-aircraft guns , fourteen 25 mm anti-aircraft guns (four triplets and two single guns), and two heavy machine-gun twins .

The attempt to get back to the South Pacific failed. On April 28, 1945, the boat was badly damaged by American planes in Mokpo, Korea . The ship, which until then still belonged to the Southwest Area Fleet , was handed over to the Kure Navy District . In August 1945, American occupation troops found the former American destroyer in Hiro Bay near Kure.

DD-224 reached San Francisco in March 1946

Return to US Navy service and end of Stewart

DD-224 sinks as a target ship

With a solemn ceremony, the former destroyer was put back into service by the United States Navy in Kure on October 29, 1945 . The official name of the ship was then simply DD-224 , but was called " RAMP-224 " by its crew ; RAMP stood for "Recovered Allied Military Personnel". On the way home, the engines failed near Guam and the ship did not reach San Francisco until the beginning of March 1946 in tow.
DD-224 was finally decommissioned on May 23, 1946 and sunk off San Francisco as a target for aircraft the following day. Five F6F Hellcat fighter- bombers hit the ship with 18 missiles and countless hits from their heavy machine guns, without being able to sink the ship. The old destroyer was eventually sunk by USS PC-799 with another twelve 40mm and seventeen 3-in hits from close range.

Web links

Commons : USS Stewart (DD-224)  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e f Stewart II on DANFS