USS Charles F. Hughes
USS Charles F. Hughes (DD-428) in 1945
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History | |
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United States | |
Name | USS Charles F. Hughes (DD-428) |
Namesake | Charles Frederick Hughes |
Builder | Puget Sound Naval Shipyard |
Launched | 16 May 1940 |
Commissioned | 5 September 1940 |
Decommissioned | 18 March 1946 |
Stricken | 1 June 1969 |
Fate | Sunk as target, 26 March 1969 |
General characteristics | |
Class and type | Benson-class destroyer |
Displacement | 1,620 tons |
Length | 348 ft 3 in (106.15 m) |
Beam | 36 ft 1 in (11.00 m) |
Draught | 11 ft 9 in (3.58 m) |
Speed | 33 kts |
Complement | 191 |
Armament | 4 x 1 5 in (127 mm)/38 guns, 2 x 5 21 inch (533 mm) tt. |
USS Charles F. Hughes (DD-428) was a
Charles F. Hughes was launched 16 May 1940 by
1941
After training operations in the Caribbean, Charles F. Hughes reported at Newport, Rhode Island 3 April 1941 to join in the U.S. Navy's support of Britain. In September 1941, Hughes and other American destroyers took up the responsibility for providing convoy escort in the western Atlantic.
Twice during this period, Hughes rescued survivors from sunken merchantmen. The first rescue came as she steamed escorting the Marine forces bound for the occupation of Iceland in July 1941, when she saved fourteen survivors, including four American Red Cross nurses, from a torpedoed Norwegian freighter. On 16 October, she rescued seven men from a lifeboat, survivors of the British Freighter SS HATASU, a straggler form convoy ON19, sunk a few days previously by U-431.
1942
When the United States entered the war, Hughes guarded merchant shipping in coastal convoys, Caribbean sailings, and from the midocean meeting points to Iceland and New York. Between 30 April and 19 May 1942, she made her first complete crossing of the Atlantic in a convoy to Belfast, Northern Ireland, returning to Boston to resume western Atlantic duty. From August 1942, transatlantic convoy duty was her service, with Northern Ireland her usual destination. On 2 November, she sailed from New York to escort the first reinforcement convoy UGF 2 for the North African landings to Casablanca, arriving 18 November. Here she remained on patrol for a month before returning to her usual escort duties.
1943-1944
In 1943, Hughes joined in regular UC and
Hughes escorted a convoy to Casablanca, returning to New York, in November and December 1943, and on 4 January 1944, sailed from
Through early March, she returned to Anzio again and again, to provide shore bombardment, screening, and patrol services. For the American troops dug in under almost constant German counterattack, the whistle of shells over head from such ships as Hughes was a most comforting sound. From 3 March to 4 April, the destroyer resumed convoy escort duties in north African waters and patrol at Gibraltar, then returned to operate off Anzio until just before the final breakout from the beachhead late in May.
Returning to antisubmarine patrol and escort duties in the western Mediterranean, Hughes arrived at Naples 30 July 1944 to prepare for the invasion of southern France. While protecting the eastern flank of the shipping off the beachhead from attack on the night of 19/20 August, she spotted three German E-boats attempting to penetrate the screen, and forced two of them to beach while she sank the third by gunfire. With the beachhead secure, Hughes resumed patrol and escort services throughout the western Mediterranean, particularly in the Gulf of Genoa. Between 7 and 16 December, she provided call-fire support off Monaco, previously bypassed because of its neutrality, but now under attack because German forces had invested it.
End of World War II and fate
Hughes returned to
Hughes was sunk as a target off Virginia on 26 March 1969 and struck from the Naval Vessel Register on 1 June 1969.
Convoys escorted
Convoy | Escort Group | Dates | Notes |
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task force 19 | 1–7 July 1941[1] | occupation of Iceland prior to US declaration of war | |
ON 18
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24 Sept-2 Oct 1941[2] | from Iceland to Newfoundland prior to US declaration of war | |
HX 154 | 12-19 Oct 1941[3] | from Newfoundland to Iceland prior to US declaration of war | |
ON 30
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2-9 Nov 1941[2] | from Iceland to Newfoundland prior to US declaration of war | |
HX 162 | 29 Nov-7 Dec 1941[3] | from Newfoundland to Iceland prior to US declaration of war | |
AT 18 | 6-17 Aug 1942[4] | troopships from New York City to Firth of Clyde | |
UGF 2 | 2-18 Nov 1942 | from Chesapeake Bay to Morocco | |
UC 1 | 15 Feb-6 March 1943[5] | from Curacao
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CU 1 | 20 March-1 April 1943[6] | from Curacao to Liverpool | |
UC 2 | 9–23 April 1943[5] | from Liverpool to Curacao | |
CU 2 | 21 May-5 June 1943[6] | from Curacao to Liverpool | |
UC 3 | 10–26 June 1943[5] | from Liverpool to Curacao | |
CU 3 | 11–24 July 1943[6] | from Curacao to Firth of Clyde | |
UC 3A | 30 July-10 Aug 1943[5] | from Liverpool to Curacao | |
CU 4 | 26 Aug-9 Sept 1943[6] | from Curacao to Liverpool | |
UC 4 | 15-27 Sept 1943[5] | from Liverpool to Curacao |
Awards
Charles F. Hughes received four
As of 2005, no other ship in the United States Navy has been named Charles F. Hughes.
References
This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships.
- ^ Morison, Samuel Eliot (1975). The Battle of the Atlantic September 1939-May 1943. Little, Brown and Company. pp. 74–79.
- ^ a b "ON convoys". Andrew Hague Convoy Database. Retrieved 19 June 2011.
- ^ a b "HX convoys". Andrew Hague Convoy Database. Retrieved 19 June 2011.
- ^ "AT convoys". Andrew Hague Convoy Database. Retrieved 20 June 2011.
- ^ a b c d e "UC convoys". Andrew Hague Convoy Database. Retrieved 20 June 2011.
- ^ a b c d "CU/TCU convoys". Andrew Hague Convoy Database. Retrieved 20 June 2011.