USS Abner Read (DD-526)
_in_San_Francisco_Bay,_California_(USA),_on_13_June_1943.jpg) USS Abner Read (DD-526) July 1943
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| History | |
|---|---|
 United States | |
| Name | Abner Read |
| Namesake | Abner Read |
| Builder | Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corporation, San Francisco, California |
| Laid down | 30 October 1941 |
| Launched | 18 August 1942 |
| Commissioned | 5 February 1943 |
| Fate | Sunk by kamikaze,[1] 1 November 1944 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type | Fletcher-class destroyer |
| Displacement | 2,050 tons |
| Length | 376 ft 6 in (114.76 m) |
| Beam | 39 ft 8 in (12.09 m) |
| Draft | 17 ft 9 in (5.41 m) |
| Propulsion | 60,000 shp (45,000 kW); 2 propellers |
| Speed | 35 knots (65 km/h; 40 mph) |
| Range | 6,500 nmi (12,000 km) at 15 kn (28 km/h) |
| Complement | 336 |
| Armament |
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USS Abner Read (DD-526) was a
Aleutian Islands Campaign and in 1943 she survived hitting a mine that blew off her stern. After repairs, she returned to service and operated in support of Allied forces in the New Guinea campaign and the Battle of Leyte. She was sunk in an air attack off Leyte
on 1 November 1944.
Construction and commissioning
Abner Read was
launched on 18 August 1942, sponsored by Mrs John W. Gates. She was commissioned
on 5 February 1943.
Service history
Abner Read held
Task Group (TG) 51.2 for the Aleutian Islands. She assumed patrol duties on 4 May 1943 and on 11 May 1943, shelled targets on Japanese-occupied Attu Island, supporting the United States Army's 7th Division during the Battle of Attu. Abner Read again bombarded Attu on 16 May 1943 before returning to San Diego
, California, arriving 31 May 1943.
Kiska Island
on 18 August 1943After two weeks in drydock at San Francisco, Abner Read got underway on 14 June 1943 for
Aleutians. On 22 July 1943, as part of Task Group 16.22, she took part in a bombardment of Kiska. Between 12 and 15 August 1943, Abner Read shelled Kiska in support of Operation Cottage
, in which Allied forces landed on Kiska. On 17 August 1943, the American and Canadian forces discovered that Japan had left the island prior to the Allied invasion.
Abner Read had been conducting an
antisubmarine
patrol off Kiska for two days without any sign of the enemy, steaming in a figure-eight pattern, when,
while making 5 knots, she was shaken by an explosion aft at 0150 on 18 August.[2][3] The nearest Japanese minefield was thought to be 2,000 yards (1,800 meters) away,[2] and her crew initially thought a torpedo had struck her;[3] the U.S. Navy later concluded that the destroyer had struck a mine. The concussion tore a huge hole in her stern and set off the ship's smoke screen generator, which began to pour toxic smoke over the stern.[2] Men sleeping in aft compartments suffered from smoke inhalation. In the darkness, a few men fell through holes in the deck into fuel oil tanks below.
After remaining attached to the ship by the
flotation devices to the men in the water and launched a rescue boat but the fuel oil created slippery conditions that made rescue difficult,[3] and the cold water killed many men before they could be brought back aboard.[2] About 20 men were pulled from the water, as was the body of a dead crewman.[3] The destroyer lost 70 men killed, one missing and 47 wounded[4]
Disabled and adrift, Abner Read was in danger of drifting ashore on Kiska or onto more Japanese mines, but the destroyer
Operation Reckless. Her next targets were the Japanese airstrips on Wakde Islands off the coast of Dutch New Guinea, conducted on 30 April 1944. Abner Read then moved on to Wewak, New Guinea and on 12 May 1944 to shell Japanese shore batteries which had been hindering the efforts of motor torpedo boats to attack Japanese barge
traffic.
Abner Read gave fire support for the landings at Arara, New Guinea and shelled the Wakde-Toem area on 17 May 1944. As part of Task Group 77.3, she shelled
Noemfoor Island, on 2 July 1944 to cover the allied landings on the island. Following this extended period of action, she retired to Seeadler Harbor for repairs by a destroyer tender
.
Getting underway on 8 August 1944, Abner Read made a trip to
Morotai Island in the Halmahera group. Her next action was a shore bombardment of Ponam Island in the Admiralty Islands on 7 October 1944. On 17 October 1944, she began steaming toward Leyte Gulf entering San Pedro Bay on 20 October 1944, for invasion of Leyte and patrolled off the beachheads
in ensuing days.
Fate
On 1 November 1944, the Japanese launched air attacks against TG 77.1 who were patrolling lower Leyte Gulf. At around 13:41, an
Antiaircraft guns blew a wing off the aircraft[3] but its bomb dropped down one of the destroyer's stacks and exploded in her aft engine room. The aircraft crashed across the main deck, hitting the 40mm fire director, the aft torpedo tubes, sweeping the port 20mm Oerlikons over the side and setting fire to the aft section.[5] The ship lost water pressure making firefighting impossible and at 13:52, a large internal explosion caused her to list about 10° to starboard and to sink by the stern.[5] At 14:15, Abner Read rolled over on her starboard side and sank. Destroyers came to her aid and rescued survivors but 24 members of her crew were lost.[4]
Discovery of original stern section
Abner Read's original stern section lost in the 18 August 1943 mine detonation and aft 5"/38 caliber gun, were discovered on 17 July 2018 by an expedition funded by the U.S.
multibeam sonar, they found the stern section – 75 feet (23 meters) long and 18 feet (5.5 meters) high[3] – near where it sank off Kiska, lying on its side on the ocean floor about 290 ft (88 m) down.[2] They sent down a camera-equipped remotely operated underwater vehicle, which sent images of the gun, stern section and rudder control to the surface and photographed the wreckage.[3] All of the wreckage was encrusted with corals and other sea life.[3] Project Recover announced the discovery on 15 August 2018.[2] The U.S. Navy's Naval History and Heritage Command announced at the time that the Navy regarded the site as a war grave and had no plans to conduct or expectation of conducting recovery operations.[3][6][7]
Honors
Abner Read received four
battle stars for her World War II
service.
References
- ^ Brown p.129
- ^ a b c d e f g h i E. Ruane, Michael (15 August 2018). "Searchers find the sunken stern of a doomed World War II destroyer off the coast of Alaska". The Washington Post. Retrieved 16 August 2018.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Almasy, Steve, "WWII destroyer remains found off the coast of Alaska," cnn.com, August 16, 2018, 12:34 p.m. EDT Retrieved August 18, 2018
- ^ a b Roll of Honor for USS Abner Read
- ^ ISBN 9781781593134.
- ^ Price, Mark (15 August 2018). "Ocean explorers find lost WWII shipwreck that 'entombed' 70 US sailors as they slept". The Charlotte Observer. Retrieved 15 August 2018.
- ^ "Stern of World War II U.S. destroyer discovered off remote Alaskan island by NOAA-supported scientists". noaa.gov. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
- Brown, David. Warships Losses of World War Two. Arms and Armour, London, Great Britain, 1990. ISBN 0-85368-802-8.
- This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be found here.
Bibliography
Online resources
- wrecksite (24 August 2012). "USS Abner Read (DD-526) (+1944)". Wrecksite. Retrieved 3 August 2016.
External links
Shipwrecks and maritime incidents in August 1943 | |
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| Other incidents |
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Shipwrecks and maritime incidents in November 1944 | |
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| Other incidents |
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