USS Haggard

History
United States
Namesake	Captain Thomas Haggard of the Louisa
Builder	Seattle-Tacoma Shipbuilding Corporation
Laid down	27 March 1942
Launched	9 February 1943
Commissioned	31 August 1943
Decommissioned	1 November 1945
Stricken	16 November 1945
Fate	Sold for scrap, 3 March 1946
General characteristics
Class and type	Fletcher-class destroyer
Displacement	2,050 tons
Length	376 ft 6 in (114.7 m)
Beam	39 ft 8 in (12.1 m)
Draft	17 ft 9 in (5.4 m)
Propulsion	60,000 shp (45 MW); 2 propellers
Speed	35 knots (65 km/h; 40 mph)
Range	6500 nmi. (12,000 km) @ 15 kt
Complement	273
Armament	5 × single 5 in (127 mm)/38 guns; 5 × twin AA guns; 7 × single 20 mm (0.8 in) AA guns; 2 × quintuple 21 in (533 mm) torpedo tubes; 6 × single depth charge throwers; 2 × depth charge racks;

USS Haggard (DD-555) was a Fletcher-class destroyer of the United States Navy named for Captain Haggard of the Louisa, who fought in the Quasi-War.

Haggard was

Seattle, Wash., 9 February 1943, sponsored by Mrs. E. B. McKinney; and commissioned

31 August 1943.

Haggard departed for shakedown training off

Japan

.

Central Pacific

The ship sailed 22 January 1944 for the

Eniwetok Atoll 17–19 February. There the destroyer again provided close fire support with her 5-inch guns, helping to secure Eniwetok. With the Marshalls in American hands, Haggard arrived 7 March at Espiritu Santo, New Hebrides

.

For the next months, Haggard operated with

Franks (DD-554) and Johnston (DD-557) when she picked up an underwater sound contact. The three ships delivered depth charge attacks and were jointly credited with the sinking of the Japanese submarine I-176

.

Haggard joined

5th Fleet at Eniwetok 21 May to prepare for the Marianas operation, as America's amphibious might pressed across the Pacific. Departing Eniwetok 8 July, Haggard arrived Guam with battleships Pennsylvania (BB-38) and New Mexico (BB-40) and other fleet units 17 July and began a bombardment of the beach fortifications. With the landing on Guam

of Marines 21 July, the destroyer turned to close fire support, lending her gunfire to the battle ashore.

Next on the timetable of the Pacific island campaign was the

Palau group, needed to provide an airbase for further advances. Haggard was withdrawn from Guam to Espiritu Santo on 24 August 1944 and later joined the Western Escort Carrier Group off the Solomons. During the invasion of Peleliu 15 September Haggard screened carrier groups as they provided bombardment and close fire support for Marines ashore. Aircraft from her group also bombarded Ulithi before the ships returned to Manus' Seeadler Harbor

1 October.

Philippines

Haggard’s next operation was the start of the

Heermann

(DD-532), and Johnston, attacked the Japanese at close range, while planes from both carrier groups attacked repeatedly in the hope of diverting the overwhelming Japanese force and allowing the American light units to escape. Haggard took position astern of her carriers to protect them, and took many near misses from the big guns of the Japanese fleet. Although two escort carriers and three destroyers were sunk, the attacks saved the smaller American group and inflicted damage on the attackers. Admiral Kurita decided not to steam into Leyte Gulf and returned northward.

Haggard remained with the escort carrier groups through November during air operations in support of the Philippines campaign. After a brief stay at Ulithi 25 November–10 December, the destroyer joined

Indochina, and the Chinese

mainland destroying shipping and airfields in a memorable demonstration of mobile sea power.

Japan

The destroyer returned to Ulithi on 26 January 1945 before sailing with Task Group 58.4 (TG 58.4) for strikes against Japan. Departing on 9 February, the group, including carriers Randolph (CV-15) and Yorktown (CV-10), attacked Tokyo on 16–17 February, just before the landings on Iwo Jima. Haggard’s carrier group lent air support to the assault on Iwo Jima until returning to Ulithi on 4 March 1945.

With the Pacific campaign then reaching its climax, Haggard sortied again with Vice Admiral

Okinawa on 22 March, with Haggard acting as picket destroyer ahead of the formation. Shortly before midnight she detected a surfaced submarine with radar, and after the submarine dived attacked with depth charges. Ten minutes later the submarine surfaced on Haggard's port beam. Commander Soballe brought his ship into a hard left turn toward the submarine at full speed. Haggard rammed the submarine amidships, sinking it in three minutes. Haggard’s crew then made emergency repairs to her damaged bow and took her back to Ulithi on 25 March. Some accounts have identified the submarine she sank as I-371, but the Japanese had already declared I-371 missing 11 days earlier, and Haggard's victim most likely was Ro-41.^[1]^[2]

Haggard sailed from Ulithi on 21 April with battleship

Kerama Retto

, near Okinawa. The ship arrived there on 1 May 1945.

Hampered by lack of materials and almost constant air alerts, Haggard's crew succeeded in repairing her so that she could get underway. She departed Kerama Retto on 18 June 1945 and arrived at Pearl Harbor via

Saipan and Guam on 12 July. From there she steamed to San Diego and the Panama Canal Zone, arriving at Norfolk

on 5 August 1945. Decommissioned on 1 November 1945, Haggard was scrapped because of war damage.

Honors

Haggard received twelve

battle stars for World War II

service. The ship is credited with up to 7 engagements in and around the Pacific during its tour of the war.

References

^ Hackett, Bob; Kingsepp, Sander (2014). "IJN Submarine I-371: Tabular Record of Movement". combinedfleet.com. Retrieved 19 September 2020.
^ Hackett, Bob; Kingsepp, Sander (2017). "IJN Submarine RO-41: Tabular Record of Movement". combinedfleet.com. Retrieved 21 September 2020.

This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be found here.

External links

[1] Hackett, Bob; Kingsepp, Sander (2014). "IJN Submarine I-371: Tabular Record of Movement". combinedfleet.com. Retrieved 19 September 2020.

[2] Hackett, Bob; Kingsepp, Sander (2017). "IJN Submarine RO-41: Tabular Record of Movement". combinedfleet.com. Retrieved 21 September 2020.

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