USS Caldwell (DD-605)

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For other ships with the same name, see USS Caldwell.
USS Caldwell (DD-605) off San Francisco in June 1942
History
United States
NameUSS Caldwell (DD-605)
NamesakeJames R. Caldwell
BuilderBethlehem Shipbuilding Corporation, San Francisco, California
Launched15 January 1942
Commissioned10 June 1942
Decommissioned24 April 1946
Stricken1 May 1965
FateSold for scrap on 4 November 1966
General characteristics
Class and typeBenson-class destroyer
Displacement1,620 tons
Length348 ft 2 in (106.12 m)
Beam36 ft 1 in (11.00 m)
Draught17 ft 6 in (5.33 m)
Speed36.5
Complement276
Armament5 x
21 inch (533 mm)
ntt.

USS Caldwell (DD-605) was a Benson-class destroyer in the United States Navy during World War II. She was named for James R. Caldwell.

Caldwell was launched 15 January 1942 by

Lieutenant Commander J. F. Newman, Jr.
, in command.

Service history

On 11 September 1942, Caldwell turned her bow northward from San Francisco and joined the screen of an

Kiska, Alaska on 16 August 1943, the day after the first landings
on that rugged island.

Caldwell left the fog, mists, and cold of the Aleutians behind in September 1943, and steamed south to join TF 15 for the 18 September air strikes which destroyed half of the enemy airplanes on

Tarawa. Action followed thick and fast for the next month as the destroyer joined TF 14, the largest fast carrier force yet organized, in blasting Wake Island. Caldwell bombarded Peale and Wake Islands and screened aircraft carriers
launching air attacks against those islets.

The destroyer's next mission found her covering

Kwajalein and Majuro 31 January 1944. During the continual maneuvering, characteristic of carrier task forces, Caldwell and White Plains collided; the destroyer remained with the task force another week, then returned to Pearl Harbor for repairs. At sea again, Caldwell joined TF 58 in the Palau-Yap-Ulithi-Woleai raids (30 March-1 April); strikes on New Guinea in support of Army landings on that island (22–24 April); and the Truk
-Satawan-Ponape raids (29 April-1 May). She remained on patrol in the Marshall Islands until mid-August when she sailed to Pearl Harbor for much-needed upkeep.

Caldwell's next assignment sent her by way of Ulithi and Manus to screen convoys supplying the forces which had landed in the Philippines. On 11 December, Caldwell had a near miss with a kamikaze,[1] and the next day, while escorting landing craft to Ormoc Bay, she bore the brunt of the air attack. Hit on the bridge simultaneously by a kamikaze and fragments from a two-bomb straddle, the destroyer suffered 33 killed and 40 wounded including the commanding officer. Despite the heavy damage, Caldwell's after guns continued to fire on enemy planes, while her damage control parties saved the ship.

Temporary repairs made at San Pedro Bay, Philippines, fitted Caldwell for the voyage to San Francisco where she was again put in fighting trim. April 1945 saw the destroyer once more in her familiar role as convoy escort, this time in support of the invasion of

Leyte followed in September and October 1945. After a visit to Tokyo Bay, Caldwell returned to the States; she was placed out of commission in reserve at Charleston, South Carolina
, on 24 April 1946. She was struck 1 May 1965 and sold for scrap on 4 November 1966.

Awards

Caldwell received eight

battle stars
for service in World War II.

References

  1. OCLC 41977179
    . Retrieved 2007-12-12.


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