USS The Sullivans (DD-537)

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USS The Sullivans (DD-537)
USS The Sullivans (DD-537)
Overview
Type destroyer
Shipyard

Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corporation, San Francisco

Keel laying October 10, 1942 (as Putnam )
Launch April 4, 1943
1. Period of service flag
period of service

September 30, 1943 -
January 7, 1965

Whereabouts Museum ship
Technical specifications
displacement

2,150 ts

length

114.8 meters (376 ft 6 in)

width

12.1 meters (39 ft 8 in)

Draft

4.1 meters (13 ft 5 in)

crew

9 officers, 264 men

drive
speed

35 knots

Range

4,900  nautical miles (9,075 km) at 12 knots

Armament

upon commissioning

  • 5 × 5 inches / 38 Mk 30 (5 single towers)
  • 10 × 40 mm Flak Mk 1 (5 twin guns)
  • 7 × 20 mm Flak Mk 4
  • 10 × 21 inch torpedo tubes Mk 14 and Mk 15 (2 groups of five)
  • 6 Mk 6 WaBo thrower
  • 2 Mk 3 WaBo drainage racks

from 1945

  • 5 × 5 inches / 38 Mk 30 single towers
  • 6 × 40 mm Flak Mk 1 (3 twin guns)
  • 8 × 40 mm Flak Mk 2 (2 quadruple guns)
  • 12 × 20 mm Flak Mk 24 (6 twin guns)
  • 5 × 21 inch torpedo tubes Mk 14 (1 group of five)
  • 6 Mk 6 WaBo thrower
  • 2 Mk 3 WaBo drainage racks

from 1959

  • 4 × 5 inches / 38 Mk 30 single towers
  • 6 × 3 inch / 50 Mk 27 (3 twin guns)
  • 5 × 21 inch torpedo tubes Mk 14 (1 group of five)
  • 2 7.2 inch Mk 10 Hedgehog
  • 2 Mk 3 WaBo drainage racks

The USS The Sullivans (DD-537) is a destroyer of the US Navy , and the first ship to bear that name. It is named after the Sullivan brothers . The ship served in the US Navy from 1943 to 1965 and is now a museum ship.

technology

For detailed information, see the article on the class: → Fletcher class

history

The Sullivan brothers aboard the USS Juneau (CL-52). Left to right: Joseph, Francis, Albert, Madison and George Sullivan

Construction and commissioning

The destroyer DD-537 was laid down in San Francisco on October 10, 1942 and was originally supposed to be called Putnam . The name was changed to The Sullivans on February 6, 1943 in honor of the five Sullivan brothers who were killed in the Battle of Guadalcanal on Friday, November 13, 1942 as a result of the sinking of the cruiser USS Juneau . The ship was launched on April 4, 1943; Godmother was Mrs. Thomas F. Sullivan, mother of the five brothers. The Sullivans entered service on September 30, 1943 .

Second World War

Under the command of Commander Kenneth Gentry, The Sullivans reached Pearl Harbor on December 28, 1943 . In the next 18 months she was used in various operations as escort, for coastal bombardment or as an anti- kamikaze outpost. For example, it was used to shield aircraft carriers during air strikes on the Kwajalein Atoll as part of the Battle of Kwajalein and on Truk as part of Operation Hailstone . She shot down her first plane on April 29, 1944.

On September 28, 1944, The Sullivans was damaged when it was pushed against the battleship USS Massachusetts (BB-59) in Saipan . She also had to survive the devastating Typhoon Cobra , which hit Task Force 38 about 200 nautical miles east of the Philippines on December 18, 1944 .

On various occasions, The Sullivans assisted other ships that had been damaged in attacks. For example, she accompanied the USS Intrepid, which was badly damaged by a torpedo hit on February 17 . She took over 118 sailors from the USS Houston (CL-81) torpedoed on October 16, 1944, and 166 survivors from the USS Bunker Hill (CV-17) , which was hit by two kamikaze pilots on May 11, 1945.

The Sullivans saw their last combat action in World War II when they shot down an aircraft on May 14, 1945 while supporting the USS Enterprise (CV-6) . On January 10, 1946, she was decommissioned in San Diego .

Korean War

On July 6, 1951, The Sullivans was put back into service for service in the Korean War . It served as escort for the aircraft carriers and carried out coastal bombing in support of the ground troops. Her favorite destinations included rail tunnels, bridges and rolling stock.

Cold War

From April 1954, The Sullivans switched between operations off the east coast of the United States and in the Mediterranean . In particular, it supported the landings in Beirut during the Lebanon crisis in 1958 .

On May 5, 1961, the destroyer took part in the Mercury-Redstone 3 space mission , assisting in the return of astronaut Alan Shepard .

During the Cuban Missile Crisis in October 1962, The Sullivans were involved in the naval blockade of Cuba .

Museum ship

The destroyer The Sullivans (back left) next to the cruiser Little Rock and the submarine Croaker

On January 7, 1965, The Sullivans in Philadelphia was decommissioned. Then she was in the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard until she was acquired by the City of Buffalo in 1977 to be exhibited as a museum ship. Today she lies next to the cruiser USS Little Rock (CL-92) and the submarine USS Croaker (SS-246) in the Buffalo and Erie County Naval & Military Park .

On January 14, 1986, the ship received the status of a National Historic Landmark and was entered on the National Register of Historic Places .

literature

  • Al Ross: The Destroyer The Sullivans . Conway Maritime Press Ltd, London 1988, ISBN 0-85177-476-8 .
  • Robert Gardiner (Ed.): Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1922-1946 . Conway Maritime Press Ltd, London 1980, ISBN 0-85177-146-7 , pp. 130-132 .
  • Robert Gardiner (Ed.): Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1947–1995 . Naval Institute Press, Annapolis, Maryland 1996, ISBN 978-1-55750-132-5 , pp. 560-563, 593 .

Web links

Commons : USS The Sullivans (DD-537)  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Listing of National Historic Landmarks by State: New York. National Park Service , accessed February 1, 2020.
    USS THE SULLIVANS (destroyer) on the National Register Information System. National Park Service , accessed February 1, 2020.

Coordinates: 42 ° 52 '39.2 "  N , 78 ° 52' 49.4"  W.