USS Allen (DD-66)
| History | |
|---|---|
 United States | |
| Name | USS Allen |
| Namesake | Lieutenant William Henry Allen (1784–1813) |
| Builder | Bath Iron Works, Bath, Maine |
| Laid down | 10 May 1915 |
| Launched | 5 December 1916 |
| Commissioned |
|
| Decommissioned |
|
| Stricken | 1 November 1945 |
| Identification | DD-66 |
| Fate | Sold for scrap 26 September 1946. |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type | Sampson-class destroyer |
| Displacement | 1,111 tons (normal), 1,225 tons (full load) |
| Length | 315 ft 3 in (96.09 m) |
| Beam | 30 ft 7 in (9.32 m) |
| Draft | 10 ft 9 in (3.28 m) |
| Propulsion |
|
| Speed | 29.5 knots (54.6 km/h) |
| Complement | 99 officers and crew |
| Sensors and processing systems | Fitted with radar in WW-2, SC and SU type antennas seen mounted on ship by late 1942. |
| Armament |
|
USS Allen (DD-66) was a Sampson-class destroyer of the United States Navy launched in 1916. She was the second Navy ship named for Lieutenant William Henry Allen (1784–1813), a naval officer during the War of 1812. She was the longest-serving destroyer on the Naval Vessel Register when she was sold in 1946 and was one of the few US Navy ships completed during World War I to serve in World War II.
Construction and design
The construction of six destroyers of the
Allen was 315 ft 3 in (96.09 m)
The ship was armed with four 4-inch (102 mm) 50-calibre guns,[1] with two 1-pounder (37 mm) pom-pom autocannon providing anti-aircraft protection.[8] Four treble mounts for 21-inch (533 mm) torpedo tubes were fitted.[1] Crew was 136 officers and other ranks during wartime and 103 during peacetime.[7]
By 1930, Allen's pom-poms had been replaced by a single 3-inch (76 mm) anti-aircraft gun.[6] Allen was rearmed during World War II for escort operations, with two triple torpedo-tube mounts being removed to accommodate depth charge projectors and six Oerlikon 20 mm cannons.[9]
Service history
World War I
In the five months after commissioning, Allen conducted patrol and escort duty along the eastern seaboard of the US and in the
That duty included escort missions into both French and British ports. During her service at Queenstown, she reported engagements with German submarines on 10 separate occasions, but postwar checks of German records failed to substantiate even the most plausible of the supposed encounters.
On 14 July 1917, Allen was escorting the merchant ships SS Rhesus and SS Idomeneus when Rhesus was missed by a torpedo, possibly from the German submarine U-49 or U-58.[10] One of the last duties the destroyer performed in European waters came in December 1918 when she helped to escort George Washington, with President Woodrow Wilson embarked, into Brest, France, on the 13th. Following that mission, the destroyer returned to Queenstown, whence she departed on the day after Christmas, bound for home. Allen pulled into New York on 7 January 1919.
Inter-War Period
After voyage repairs, the destroyer resumed duty along the East Coast and in the West Indies with the
World War II
Following a brief period of service on the
. Therefore, Allen moved to the Hawaiian base, whence she operated until the beginning of hostilities between the United States and Japan.On the morning of 7 December 1941, Allen was moored in East Loch to the northeast of Ford Island and just southeast of the hospital ship USS Solace (AH-5). During the Japanese attack on the harbor that morning, she claimed to have assisted in downing three enemy planes.[11]
Following the attack, Allen began duty escorting ships between islands of the Hawaiian chain and patrolling the area for enemy ships, primarily submarines. A primary training function of Allen during this period was to work up new submarine crews in penetrating ASW defensive positions, with Allen acting as the defender. This task is recorded in several histories of US submarine operations in the Pacific as their first actual action against a ship. She also made periodic round-trip voyages to the
In September 1945, Allen steamed from Hawaii to Philadelphia, where she was placed out of commission on 15 October 1945. Her name was struck from the
Being in service prior to the US entry into World War I, and serving through World War II, Allen was the longest-serving destroyer on the Naval Register when she was sold.
Awards
- World War I Victory Medal with "DESTROYER" clasp
- American Defense Service Medal with "FLEET" clasp
- battle star
- World War II Victory Medal
References
- ^ a b c d Gardiner & Gray 1985, p. 123
- ^ Ships' Data Vol. I 1945, p. 118
- ^ a b Cheser, Sidney M. (11 December 2016). "Allen II (Destroyer No. 66): 1917–1945". Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. Navy Department, Naval History and Heritage Command. Retrieved 6 July 2019.
- ^ "Table 21 – Ships on Navy List June 30, 1919". Congressional Serial Set. U.S. Government Printing Office: 762. 1921.
- ^ Ships' Data Vol. I 1945, pp. 114–115
- ^ a b Parkes 1931, p. 478
- ^ a b Moore 1990, p. 146
- ^ Friedman 1982, p. 31
- ^ Friedman 1982, p. 33
- ^ Naval Staff Monograph No. 35 1939, p. 224
- ^ Miller, Daniel B. (14 December 1941). "USS Allen, Report of Pearl Harbor Attack". Retrieved 6 July 2022.
- This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be found here.
- Friedman, Norman (1982). U.S. Destroyers: An Illustrated Design History. Annapolis, Maryland, USA: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 0-87021-733-X.
- Gardiner, Robert; Gray, Randal, eds. (1985). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1906–1921. London: Conway Maritime Press. ISBN 0-85177-245-5.
- Moore, John (1990). Jane's Fighting Ships of World War I. London: Studio. ISBN 1-85170-378-0.
- Monograph No. 35: Home Waters—Part IX.: May, 1917–July 1917 (PDF). Naval Staff Monographs (Historical). Vol. XIX. Naval Staff, Training and Staff Duties Division. 1939.
- Parkes, Oscar (1973) [1st pub. Sampson Low, Marston & Co, 1931]. Jane's Fighting Ships 1931 (Reprint ed.). Newton Abbot, UK: David & Charles (Publishers) Limited. ISBN 0-7153-5849-9.
- Ships' Data U.S. Naval Vessels: Vol. I: BB, CA, CB, CL, CV, CVL, CVB, CVE, DD, DE, SS, CM, DM : NAVSHIPS 250-010 (PDF). Washington: Bureau of Ships, Navy Department. 15 April 1945. Retrieved 6 July 2019.
- U.S. Flush Deck Destroyers in Action by Al Adcock & Don Greer. Squadron Publications
External links
- Tin Can Sailors.com USS Allen DD-66 Archived 17 May 2011 at the Wayback Machine
