Category Archives: US Navy

Amphibious Bottom Lines and Expeditionary Wishes

Posted on by One comment

The Wasp-class amphibious assault ship USS Boxer (LHD 4) conducts flight operations while the ship transits the Tsushima Strait, Sept. 18, 2024. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class James Finney)

In case you missed it, Gen. Eric Smith, the 39th Commandant of the Marine Corps, recently came out and publicly reiterated that the Corps has to maintain three deployed Marine Expeditionary Units aboard Navy afloat Amphibious Ready Groups— the classic ARG/MEU combo — for sustained deterrence and global response.

Which is refreshing.

The Corps’ North Star must remain a steady 3.0 ARG/MEU presence: three continuous, three-amphibious warship formations forward deployed—one from the East Coast, one from the West, and one patrolling from Okinawa, Japan. (If you ask our combatant commanders what they need, the answer isn’t a total of three ARG/MEUs; it’s closer to five or six.) 3.0 is the minimum required to provide our nation and the Joint Force with a capability that can serve as both a warfighting formation and a cross-service integrator. It’s what keeps pressure on our adversaries, supports the maritime fight, and gives combatant commanders and national decision makers scalable options they can employ without delay to buy time, create decision-space, and if required to do so, be first to fight.

Seven standing MEUs routinely deploy.

They include the CONUS-based 11th, 13th, and 15th MEUs on the West Coast (of I Marine Expeditionary Force/1st Marine Division based at Camps Pendleton/29 Palms).

And the 22d, 24th, and 26th MEUs on the East Coast (of the II MEF/2nd Marine Division based at Camp Lejeune).

The 31st MEU is forward assigned and located in Okinawa, part of the III MEF/3rd MarDiv.

The problem is that, while the Marines may have seven MEUs and three divisions on paper, they only have 19 active duty infantry battalions, grouped in five full-strength (3 bn) and two understrength (2 bn) regiments, to flesh them out. Each of the regiments has its own HHC and logistics battalion.

Pendleton/29 Palms has 11 infantry battalions: the three battalion-strong 1st, 5th, and 7th Marine Regiments, as well as 2nd Bn/4th Marines, and 3/4th. Lejeune has eight infantry battalions: the full three-battalion 2nd and 6th Marine Regiments, along with 1/8th and 2/8th. The reason why Pendleton has three more battalions than Lejeune is that they forward deploy three battalions rotationally to III MEF/3rd MarDiv to Okinawa/Darwin, Australia (one of which forms the 31st MEU).

III MEF/3rd MarDiv also includes the Corps’ two 1,800-man MLRs: 3rd Marine Littoral Regiment (formerly the historic 3rd Marine Regiment, from 1914 through 2022) and the 12th Marine Littoral Regiment (formerly the 12th Marine Regiment, from 1927-45 & 1952-2023). These missile-armed Westpac Marines will be the so-called “Stand in Force” designed to give the Chinese navy heartburn from remote forward locations.

U.S. Marines and Sailors with 3d Littoral Combat Team, 3d Marine Littoral Regiment, 3d Marine Division, pose for a unit photo before a ceremony on Marine Corps Base Hawaii, Nov. 26, 2024. At the ceremony, 3d Marine Littoral Regiment, 3d Marine Division officially received the Navy/Marine Expeditionary Ship Interdiction System from Marine Corps Systems Command, becoming the first U.S. Marine Corps unit to field the system. The NMESIS provides 3d MLR with enhanced sea denial capabilities and maritime lethality. (U.S. Marine Corps photo illustration by Sgt. Jacqueline C. Parsons) (This image was created using photo merging techniques.)

Plus, each of the three active MarDivs has a dedicated HQ, Recon, LAV, Landing Support, Supply, Transportation Support, Medical, and Dental battalions, as well as fires, amtrac, and engineer units.

So, with three deployed MEUs, basic 1:3 workup logic (one deployed, three recovering/rebuilding/working up) would make it obvious that the Marines need at least 12 infantry battalions to support them. The five “extra” battalions leave a slim elasticity for fly-out operations and reinforcement. Gratefully, the 4th Marine Regiment, which was scheduled to be reorganized into the 4th MLR in 2027, will stay infantry, “preserving its core mission while preparing to respond to potential crisis and conflict.”

The October Force Design update from the Commandant noted, “We determined through the Campaign of Learning that two MLRs and one reinforced Marine Infantry Regiment in III MEF is the optimal force composition to meet III MEF’s missions and objectives.”

Bottom line meant that turning the 4th Marines into 4th MLR would have made the 31st MEU untenable.

So it’s a good sign that Force Design 2030 is holding at two rather than three MLRs, as it at least preserves the ability to put 3 MEUs in play around the world while having a modicum of reserve infantry battalions on hand.

Now, as far as the ARG part of the equation, each MEU is built around three ships (LHA/LHD and two LSD/LPDs), which means that, on a 36-month 1:2 workup/availability basis, the Navy would need to have a theoretical 9 LHD/LHAs and 27 LSD/LPDs (36 hulls) to keep the necessary 3.0 MEUs at sea. Actual figures are 9 LHD/LHAs, 10 LSDs, and 13 LPDs: 32 hulls, just one more than the Congress-mandated minimum of 31 ships.

The Navy has an up with Forward Deployed Naval Forces Japan (FDNF-J), which has three ‘phibs in Sasebo: USS San Diego (LPD 22), New Orleans (LPD 18), and Rushmore (LSD 47), that deploy with 31st MEU, typically underway for 2-3 months, in port for 2-3 months, and then out to sea for again for another 2-3 months, etc. But that still leaves them on the hook for the East and West Coast ARGs, and (6 working LHA/LHDs and 18 LPD/LSDs), however, with those hulls having something like a 50 percent availability for ships in “satisfactory” material condition, that’s a problem.

Worse, the LSDs are retiring, and incoming LPD numbers are not sufficient to replace them on a hull-for-hull basis.

Sure, the Navy is working on bumping up those numbers, but it is still an issue, and one that will get worse before it gets better.

Further, as any potential maintenance issue with the FDNF-J’s phibs could leave the 31st MEU hanging, Commandant Smith is asking the Navy to stage five gators from Sasebo to ensure three are ready to deploy at the drop of a hat or already underway. Yes, that would give 31st MEU some insurance, but it would have to come at the price of those other two deployed MEU/ARG combos.

Plus, while the Marines have two MLRs standing up, the Navy still doesn’t have the sealift to carry them to short, so there’s that.

Waking up the Dragon

Posted on by Leave a comment

Some 75 years ago this week.

The mothballed Iowa-class fast battleship USS New Jersey (BB-62) is towed up the East River under the Brooklyn Bridge to the New York Navy Yard, 22 November 1950, for reactivation as a fire support platform for use in the Korean War.

She had been recommissioned at Bayonne the day before.

She would be refitted with SK-2 search radar, MK 12/22 radar on her MK 37 directors, and retained her 20mm Oerlikons, although most of her 40mm Bofors are gone

USS New Jersey (BB-62) commissioning at Bayonne, 21 November 1950, for Korean War reactivation

Already the recipient of nine battle stars for her WWII service, New Jersey had been decommissioned at Bayonne on 30 June 1948, so her hull had only languished on “red lead row” for 28 months and, notably, was still a very young ship, having been commissioned the first time at Philadelphia on 23 May 1943.

After a quick refit and shakedown, New Jersey left for the Seventh Fleet, where she arrived off the east coast of Korea on 17 May 1951 and spent the next seven months as fleet flagship. The recalled battleship’s big guns opened the first shore bombardment of her Korean career at Wonsan just two days later.

Over the next two years, she would pick up another four battlestars.

The battleship New Jersey (BB-62) fires a full nine-gun salvo of her 16″ rifles at a target in Kaesong, Korea, on 1 January 1953. Official USN photograph # 80-G-433953 in the collection of the National Archives,

USS New Jersey (BB-62) fires a nine 16-inch gun salvo during bombardment operations against enemy targets in Korea, adjacent to the 38th parallel. The photo is dated 10 November 1951. Smoke from shell explosions is visible ashore, in the upper left. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives. 80-G-435681

As noted by DANFS:

During her two tours of duty in Korean waters, she was again and again to play the part of seaborne mobile artillery. In direct support to United Nations troops, or in preparation for ground actions, in interdicting Communist supply and communication routes, or in destroying supplies and troop positions, New Jersey hurled a weight of steel fire far beyond the capacity of land artillery, moved rapidly and free from major attack from one target to another, and at the same time could be immediately available to guard aircraft carriers should they require her protection.

New Jersey would be decommissioned a second time on 21 August 1957, was brought back in 1968 to rain 6,000 shells on NVA positions in Vietnam, then decommissioned a third time the next year, and brought back a fourth and final time in 1982.

Big Mamie, returns

Posted on by One comment

The fifth (completed) U.S. Navy vessel named for the Bay State, the future USS Massachusetts (SSN 798), was delivered to the service from Newport News on 21 November. She is the 25th Virginia/774-class submarine, the 12th delivered by the yard, and the seventh of 10 planned Block IV configured boats. Her commissioning is set for 2026.

Future USS Massachusetts (SSN 798) on builder’s acceptance trials. 251008-N-MQ094-002

Future USS Massachusetts (SSN 798) on builder’s acceptance trials. 251008-N-MQ094-001

Future USS Massachusetts (SSN 798) on builder’s acceptance trials. 251008-N-MQ094-003

The first USS Massachusetts was a 4-gun screw steamer built in 1845 and fought during the Mexican-American War.

The second, a 6-gunned screw steamer, fought in the Civil War– the bane of the Confederates on the Mississippi Coast and still has a fort named after her on Ship Island– while the third, an Indiana-class battleship (BB-2), fought in the Spanish-American War.

The last and most famous USS Massachusetts (BB-59) was commissioned in 1942 as a South Dakota-class fast battleship, earning 11 battle stars for exceptional service in WWII from Casablanca to Okinawa before being decommissioned in 1947. She remained in the Reserve Fleet until stricken from the Naval Vessel Register in June 1962 and continues to serve as a floating museum.

USS Massachusetts underway somewhere in the Pacific (1943)

Nice to see the name back on the Naval List.

73rd Burke accepted

Posted on by Leave a comment

Bath has delivered the future USS Harvey C. Barnum Jr. (DDG-124) to the Navy for a planned 2026 commissioning. 

She is the 73rd of her class, the next to last Flight IIA Burke, and one of nine so-called “Technology Insertion” vessels, which have some of the Flight III sensors and mods, such as the new AN/SPQ-9B search and fire control radar instead of the older AN/SPS-67, which was first fielded in 1983.

She also notably is still carrying a CIWS aft rather than a 21-cell RAM launcher, and her forward of the bridge CIWS spot is empty, which means she may be picking up a laser there, be it ODIN, which is on four ships already, or the HELIOS system.

The ship is the first named after retired Marine Col. Harvey Curtiss “Barney” Barnum Jr, a Medal of Honor recipient recognized for his extraordinary heroism and valor during the Vietnam War.

Bath has seven future Burkes under construction: Patrick Gallagher (DDG 127)— the last Flight IIA– and six Flight IIIs: Louis H. Wilson Jr. (DDG 126), William Charette (DDG 130), Quentin Walsh (DDG 132), John E. Kilmer (DDG 134), Richard G. Lugar (DDG 136), and J. William Middendorf (DDG 138).

Sun Shines on the Commissioning of the final Indy LCS

Posted on by 2 comments

The brand-spanking-new Independence-variant littoral combat ship USS Pierre (LCS 38) was brought to life in a ceremony held in Panama City over the weekend in shorts and flip-flop weather, “Under the Bright Florida Sky.”

This came while the landlocked namesake city of Pierre, South Dakota, was basking at a high temperature of 45 degrees.

We’ve posted numerous images of Pierre over the past year during her fitting out at Austal in Mobile, where she was the last of 19 Indies built. Fincantieri is still building the last LCS, the 16th Freedom-class variant, USS Cleveland (LCS-31).

The fact that Pierre was commissioned at PC is telling, as the Indies are seemingly tasked as fast minesweepers, and NSWC Panama City is the Navy Research, Development, Test & Evaluation Laboratory dedicated to mine warfare. In fact, it was established in 1945 as the U.S. Navy Mine Countermeasures Station.

Three Indies– the USS Canberra (LCS 30), Santa Barbara (LCS 32), and Tulsa (LCS 16)— are currently forward-deployed to Bahrain with new MCM mission modules, replacing the legacy Avenger-class ships that have served in Task Force 55 for over 30 years

The current Pierre is the second warship to carry the name, after a 173-foot patrol boat, PC-1141, which served from 1943-58. Hopefully, the new one bests the previous namesake’s 15-year record of service.

Legends at rest

Posted on by Leave a comment

New York City. Some 80 years ago this week, 9 November 1945, from left to right, we see the troopship USS Europa (AP-177), the Iowa-class battlewagon USS Missouri (BB-63), and the famed ocean liner RMS Queen Mary at Pier 90. The ancient three-stack Tennessee-class cruiser-turned-receiving ship, USS Seattle (IX-39) [former USS Washington, ACR-11, disarmed in 1931], is to the far right.

Mary had just delivered 11,209 troops back to the States from Southampton, who were taken directly across the river to New Jersey for demobilization.

The Europa, formerly a German Norddeutscher Lloyd liner taken in May 1945 as a war prize, had just disembarked nearly 10,000 troops herself.

Those two were always competitors.

Marine Experimental Recon, Narco Boats Break Cover during UNITAS

Posted on by One comment

Looking back over the huge photo dump from the recent UNITAS 2025 exercise– which has been trucking along annually since 1960– a somewhat composite view arises of the Marine’s new Maritime Reconnaissance Companies (MRC), and the drone supply boats it looks to use to supply its pair of expeditionary Marine Littoral Regiments in forward, likely isolated, islands in the Western Pacific.

I present to you the carbon-fiber hulled Whiskey Bravo boat in operation, utilizing a tire-clad, retired USCG 87-foot Marine Protector-class patrol boat as the target for a training VBSS team. In Marine use, the 40-foot Australian-built Whiskey Bravo is referred to as the more official Multi-Mission Reconnaissance Craft, or MMRC.

U.S. Marines with 4th Assault Amphibian Battalion, 4th Marine Division and marines with Batallón de Infantería de Marina, Armada de la República Dominicana, (marine Infantry Battalion within the Dominican navy) board a moving ship while on Multi Mission Reconnaissance Craft-A littoral craft, to conduct visit, board, search and seizure training during exercise UNITAS 2025 Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point, North Carolina, Sept. 23, 2025.

U.S. Marines with 4th Assault Amphibian Battalion, 4th Marine Division, prepare to visit, board, search, and seize a vessel during exercise UNITAS 2025 at Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point, North Carolina, Sept. 24, 2025. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Lance Cpl. Michail Stankosky)

U.S. Marines with 4th Assault Amphibian Battalion, 4th Marine Division, prepare to visit, board, search, and seize a vessel during exercise UNITAS 2025 at Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point, North Carolina, Sept. 24, 2025. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Lance Cpl. Michail Stankosky)

The Whiskey Bravo accommodates up to six operators seated on shock-absorbing seats and two crew members at the forward control console.

It can carry twin 4-round Rafael (Lockheed) Spike NLOS canister launchers on the stern (17nm range and a Mini-Typhoon remote-controlled stabilized .50 cal up front.

Without the armament, it can carry as many as 17 combat-loaded troops for short stints. The boat can be rushed to a forward area via C-17 and is air-droppable. Further, the WB can be optionally manned, controlled instead via remote datalink.

A take on how it could be employed.

As described in a November 2024 Proceedings piece by Lt.Col Brian Lusczynski, three active and perhaps one reserve Maritime Reconnaissance Companies will be established, each with 18 Whiskey Bravo boats (MMRCs) and 12 unnamed USV types.

Within a Marine division, the MRC will fall under a parent O-5 command such as the future mobile reconnaissance battalions (which are replacing the light armored reconnaissance units). Each MRC will consist of a headquarters element and three maneuver platoons operating MMRCs and USVs. Each platoon will comprise a headquarters element and three maneuver sections, with each section consisting of two MMRCs and two USVs.

Next, we have the Autonomous Low-Profile Vessel, or ALPV, which takes the nearly awash “narco sub” concept long used to run all sorts of contraband and options it for remote use to carry supplies to calm little lagoons right under the eyes of the PLAN.

It has been tested out by the Logistics Battalions of the Marine Littoral Regiments, and is described as “a semi-submersible autonomous logistics delivery system that has the ability to deliver multiple variations of supplies and equipment through contested maritime terrain.”

An autonomous low-profile vessel assigned to 2nd Distribution Support Battalion, 2nd Marine Logistics Group, pulls out of Mile Hammock Bay during exercise UNITAS 2025 at Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, Sept. 15, 2025. 2nd MLG is working with the Marine Corps Warfighting Lab to experiment with the ALPV for a more lethal, agile, and resilient capability while conducting expeditionary advanced base operations. (U.S. Marine Corps photo Lance Cpl. Franco Lewis)

U.S. Marines with Maritime Distribution Platoon, 2nd Distribution Support Battalion, Combat Logistics Regiment 2 open an autonomous low-profile vessel for refueling operations during exercise UNITAS 2025 at Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, Sept. 18, 2025. 2nd Marine Logistics Group is working with the Marine Corps Warfighting Lab to experiment with the ALPV for a more lethal, agile, and resilient capability while conducting expeditionary advanced base operations. (U.S. Marine Corps photo Sgt. Rafael Brambila-Pelayo)

ALPV has also been seen recently underway in Okinawa.

The Marine Corps tested the Autonomous Low-Profile Vessel (ALPV) during exercise Resolute Dragon 2025 (RD25), in Okinawa, Japan, and surrounding outlying islands. The ALPV is an autonomous logistics delivery system that can be configured to deliver multiple variations of supplies and equipment throughout the littorals. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Connor Taggart)

And a recent view of the cargo capability of the 65-foot ALPV, which seems to have several pallet-sized cargo holds.

The concept of getting some diesel, a few pallets of MREs and water, plus extra batteries and an assortment of lickies and chewies, shipped quietly into a forward atoll, could be a realistic way to keep isolated garrisons fed and semi-happy.

U.S. Marine Corps Cpl. Conor Bassham, left, a metal worker and Sgt. Daymion Noisewater, a small craft mechanic with Combat Logistics Battalion 8, Combat Logistics Regiment 2, 2nd Marine Logistics Group, guides cargo onto an Autonomous Low-Profile Vessel during a concept of operations test at Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, April 23, 2025. The ALPV is an autonomous logistics delivery system that the Marine Corps is testing to resupply a dispersed lethal fighting force discreetly and allow those operating in the littorals to be more sustainable, resilient, and survivable, both in competition and in conflict. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Christian Salazar)

Meanwhile, the 16-foot Blacksea GARC was also seen sporting around during UNITAS.

250923-N-N3764-1097. ATLANTIC OCEAN (Sep. 23, 2025) A U.S. Navy Global Autonomous Reconnaissance Craft (GARC) maneuvers in the Atlantic Ocean during UNITAS 2025, the 66th iteration of the world’s longest-running multinational maritime exercise. Unmanned and remotely operated vehicles and vessels extend the capability of interconnected manned platform sensors to enhance capacity across the multinational force. (Official U.S. Navy photo)

250923-N-N3764-1077 ATLANTIC OCEAN (Sep. 23, 2025) A U.S. Navy Global Autonomous Reconnaissance Craft (GARC) maneuvers in the Atlantic Ocean during UNITAS 2025, the 66th iteration of the world’s longest-running multinational maritime exercise. Unmanned and remotely operated vehicles and vessels extend the capability of interconnected manned platform sensors to enhance capacity across the multinational force. (Official U.S. Navy photo)

It seems like it’s all coming together.

The best preserved Fletcher heads back to the water

Posted on by One comment

The “Pirate of the Pacific,” the Fletcher-class destroyer USS Kidd (DD-661) was launched into the waters off Kearny, New Jersey, on a cold February morning in 1943, then, commissioned just two months later, received four battle stars for World War II service and four battle stars for Korean service.

Used as a Naval Reserve training ship during the Cold War, she saw her last drydocking for hull maintenance in 1962 and was shortly afterward decommissioned to spend nearly two decades on red lead row in Philadelphia.

Disposed of by museum donation in 1982, she has since then been a fixture in Baton Rouge on the Mississippi River, where the destroyer, still largely in her 1945 layout, served as a set for Greyhound and other films.

That was until April 2024, when she was removed from her cradle and then sent for her first full overhaul in drydock in 62 years.

A story in pictures, via the USS Kidd Veterans Museum:

As detailed by the Museum:

For the first time in over 60 years, the USS Kidd has received a full overhaul in drydock. She was removed from her berth in Baton Rouge in April 2024 and towed to the Thoma-Sea Marine Constructors (TMC) shipyard in Houma, LA, for this once-in-a-generation work. Over the past 14 months, the deteriorated steel in the ship was removed and replaced with new steel so that she can survive another 40-60 years as one of the State’s top attractions.  The shipyard’s work is now complete, and the ship is scheduled to be released from her drydock berth on November 11th. USS Kidd’s newly refurbished and repaired hull will therefore be entering the water for the first time on this year’s Veterans Day.

Making Progress on the 84th Burke

Posted on by Leave a comment

Ingalls last week authenticated the keel of the future Flight III Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer USS Thad Cochran (DDG 135), named after a Cold War Navy veteran and former U.S. senator who represented Mississippi across four decades, from 1978 to 2018.

I generally loathe naming warships after politicians, but at least Ole Thad served underway.

After graduating from Ole Miss in 1959, Cochran was commissioned an ensign in the USNR and served aboard the USS Macon (CA-132), a WWII-era Baltimore-class heavy cruiser. He spent 18 months aboard Macon, eventually becoming the ship’s legal officer.

Upon the decommissioning of his cruiser, Cochran was transferred to New Orleans to complete the rest of his active tour assigned to the staff of the Commandant of the Eighth Naval District, then taught military law and naval orientation at OCS in Newport. Cochran completed his active service as a lieutenant in 1961.

While on the Senate Appropriations Committee, Cochran championed funding for critical Navy shipbuilding programs– which, of course, helped Ingalls in Pascagoula– and supported military bases and installations across Mississippi and the nation. He is surely a big reason why half of the Burkes were built in the Magnolia State.

Cochran during a 2014 visit to Ingalls. He was a regular at the yard, as was Pascagoula-local Trent Lott back in the day

In recognition of Cochran’s military and civil service, the Trump-era NAVSEC, Richard V. Spencer, posthumously named the future DDG-135 after him in 2019.

As far as the class goes, as noted by Ingalls:

To date, Ingalls has delivered 35 Arleigh Burke-class destroyers, including the first Flight III, USS Jack H. Lucas (DDG 125), and is currently constructing Ted Stevens (DDG 128), which recently completed its first builder’s sea trials and is currently underway for its second trials, Jeremiah Denton (DDG 129), George M. Neal (DDG 131), Sam Nunn (DDG 133), and Thad Cochran (DDG 135).

Happy Navy Day! A Great Get Together

Posted on by Leave a comment

90 years ago today. 28 October 1935. Official caption: “Huge crowds crammed the Navy Yard as the Navy went on show for the Navy Day celebration. This picture shows the U.S.S. Dale, the largest type destroyer in the service.”

Harris & Ewing, photographer LC-DIG-hec-39511 

The above image, likely at the Washington Navy Yard as Harris & Ewing Inc. was a photo studio in Washington, D.C. owned and run by George W. Harris and Martha Ewing, is just great due to its detailed crowd shot. You can zoom in and just drink in the clothes, the cars, the characters, and the slice of life frozen in time. You can even make out the license plate numbers.

As for the well-dressed and turned-out USS Dale (DD-353), she was a brand-new Farragut-class destroyer that had just been commissioned four months prior (17 June 1935) and was the third warship named for American Revolutionary War hero Richard Dale. She would soon transit to the West Coast where she would take part in one of the most stirring U.S. Navy interwar photo shoots on record.

Destroyers on Maneuvers with planes overhead. Ships from the left are USS Monaghan (DD-354), USS Dale (DD-353), USS Worden (DD-352), and USS Macdonough. Note that signal flags are repeated throughout the squadron. NH 60270.

DesRon20 Steam through a smokescreen laid by planes of Patrol Squadrons Seven, Nine, and Eleven, during an exhibition staged for Movietone News off San Diego, California, 14 September 1936. The ships are, from bottom to top: Farragut (DD-348), Dewey (DD-349), Hull (DD-350), Macdonough (DD-351), Worden (DD-352), Dale (DD-353), Monaghan (DD-354) and Aylwin (DD-355). Courtesy of Commander Robert L. Ghormley, Jr., USN, 1969. NH 67293

What a great picture! A P2Y right, of VP-7 with an early PBY-1, left, of VP-11 flying over USS DALE (DD-353) of DESRON-20, during an exhibition for Movietone News off San Diego on 14 September 1936. Description: Courtesy of Commander Robert L. Ghormley Jr., Washington DC, 1969 Catalog #: NH 67305

However, our destroyer went on to do more than just look pretty.

In the Pacific War from the first day, she was moored with Destroyer Division Two at Berth X-14 at Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941 and fired at incoming Japanese planes within minutes. Dale received 14 battle stars for her World War II service which included screening USS Lexington and Yorktown during the Coral Sea, doing the same for USS Washington and South Dakota during the Guadalcanal campaign, fighting in the push to liberate the Aleutians (which saw her exchange fire with Japanese cruisers at the Battle of the Komandorski Islands), then on to the Marianas, Philippines, and Japan.

Dale was decommissioned on 16 October 1945 and was sold for scrap on 20 December 1946. The name was recycled for a Leahy-class guided-missile destroyer leader (DLG-19, later CG-19) that served from 1963 through 1994, liquidated in the Great Cruiser Slaughter of the Clinton administration.

« Older Entries Recent Entries »