USS De Haven (DD-727)
USS De Haven underway on 19 November 1970
| |
History | |
---|---|
United States | |
Name | De Haven |
Namesake | Edwin De Haven |
Builder | Bath Iron Works |
Laid down | 9 August 1943 |
Launched | 9 January 1944 |
Sponsored by | Mrs. H. N. De Haven |
Commissioned | 31 March 1944 |
Decommissioned | 3 December 1973 |
Stricken | 3 December 1973 |
Identification |
|
Honours and awards | See Awards |
Fate | Transferred to South Korea, 5 December 1973 |
Badge | |
South Korea | |
Name |
|
Namesake | Incheon |
Acquired | 5 December 1973 |
Reclassified | DD-918 |
Stricken | 1993 |
Identification | Hull number: DD-98 |
Fate | Scrapped, 1993 |
General characteristics | |
Class and type | |
Displacement | 2,200 long tons (2,235 t) |
Length | 376 ft 6 in (114.76 m) |
Beam | 40 ft (12 m) |
Draft | 15 ft 8 in (4.78 m) |
Propulsion |
|
Speed | 34 kn (63 km/h; 39 mph) |
Range | 6,500 nmi (12,000 km; 7,500 mi) at 15 kn (28 km/h; 17 mph) |
Complement | 336 |
Armament |
|
USS De Haven (DD-727), an
De Haven was
Service history
De Haven escorted
On 10 February 1945, De Haven sortied from Ulithi with TF 58, to prepare for the invasion of
Between 1 February 1946 and 3 February 1947, De Haven served in the Western Pacific, joining the 7th Fleet in operations off the coast of China, and patrolling off the Japanese coast. She operated along the west coast through 1948 and 1949, and on 1 May 1950 cleared San Diego for another tour of duty in the western Pacific, arriving at Yokosuka the last day of May.[1]
Korea
On 13 and 14 September, she stood up a treacherous channel to anchor a scant 800 yards from Wolmi-do island and poured fire into the concealed gun emplacements in preparation for the assault on Inchon. De Haven provided gunfire support for the successful landings the following day, and for her part in this daring action was awarded the Navy Unit Commendation.[1]
Returning to blockade duty on 25 September 1950, De Haven dispersed a North Korean force attempting to ambush a Korean Army unit; aided
During De Haven's second tour of Korean duty from 18 June 1951 to 17 February 1952, she served primarily on blockade patrol. After an overhaul and local operations at San Diego, she sailed from Long Beach 16 September 1952 to serve as flagship for ships on patrol in the
Refugee controversy
According to declassified documents obtained by the
De Haven continued to alternate duty in the western Pacific with local operations along the west coast, making six voyages to the Far East from 1953 through 1959. De Haven participated in Operation Hardtack I near Eniwetok Island during the summer of 1958, witnessing approximately 22 nuclear detonations, one from only three nautical miles. She was also one of the US Navy vessels that ran the Chinese naval blockade on Quemoy-Matsu. On 1 February 1960, she began a major overhaul for modernization at San Francisco, completed in September. De Haven returned to training activities through the remaining months of 1960.[1]
DESOTO patrols
De Haven was the namesake of the DESOTO patrols (DEHAVEN Special Operations off QingdaO).[4] It conducted the first patrol from 14 April 1962 to 20 April 1962 in the area focused around the Qingdao area of the Yellow Sea. The ship was instructed not to approach any Chinese-Communist-held territory, including offshore islands closer than 10 miles.[5]
These patrols were a response to Chinese Communist's unexpected re-definition of their territorial waters to include all waters shoreward from lines drawn tangentially to, and between, twelve mile circles drawn around their offshore islands. Such a declaration represented a huge expansion of their claims. This inhibited the lawful navigation of international waters and increased the likelihood and frequency of formal diplomatic "serious warnings" issued by Beijing when any Seventh Fleet units navigated through these areas. This became a situation to which Commander Seventh Fleet felt compelled to respond.[4]
There were three components to the purpose of these patrols. First, they would establish and maintain the presence of the
This first DESOTO patrol was highly effective in evoking Chinese Communist reaction. For example, De Haven was shadowed by three or more
These patrols were conducted in later years by other ships. These patrols and other factors eventually led to international incidents with other ships resulting in the
De Haven was transferred to the Republic of Korea Navy on 5 December 1973, and renamed Incheon, after the Korean city of Incheon. It was first designated DD-98, and then DD-918. The ship was stricken and broken up for scrap in 1993.[6]
Awards
De Haven received five
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j "De Haven II". Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. Navy Department, Naval History and Heritage Command.
- ^ "1950 'shoot refugees' letter was known to No Gun Ri inquiry, but went undisclosed". Associated Press. 13 April 2007.
- ^ British Broadcasting Corp., October Films. "Kill 'em All." Timewatch. 1 February 2002
- ^ a b c Montgomery, James W. "The First DESOTO Patrol". DeHaven Sailors Association. Retrieved 7 July 2013.
- ^ a b c "The Gulf of Tonkin Incident" (PDF). February 1975. Archived from the original (PDF) on 18 September 2013. Retrieved 7 July 2013.
- ^ a b c "Unit Awards". US Navy. Archived from the original on 14 October 2004.
- This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be found here.