USS Hamilton (DD-141)
![]() USS Hamilton
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History | |
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Name | Hamilton |
Namesake | Lieutenant Archibald Hamilton |
Builder | Mare Island Navy Yard |
Laid down | 8 June 1918 |
Launched | 15 January 1919 |
Commissioned | 7 November 1919 |
Decommissioned | 20 July 1922 |
Identification | DD-141 |
Recommissioned | 20 January 1930 |
Decommissioned | 16 October 1945 |
Reclassified |
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Stricken | 1 November 1945 |
Fate | Sold for scrapping 21 November 1946 |
General characteristics | |
Class and type | Wickes-class destroyer |
Displacement | 1,090 tons |
Length | 314 ft 5 in (95.8 m) |
Beam | 31 ft 9 in (9.7 m) |
Draft | 8 ft 8 in (2.6 m) |
Speed | 35 knots (65 km/h) |
Complement | 113 officers and enlisted |
Armament |
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The second USS Hamilton (DD–141) was a Wickes-class destroyer in the United States Navy following World War I, later reclassified DMS-18 for service in World War II.
Namesake
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/00/Lieutenant_Archibald_Hamilton.jpg/220px-Lieutenant_Archibald_Hamilton.jpg)
Archibald Hamilton was born c. 1790, the son of
Appointed Acting
Construction and commissioning
Hamilton was launched on 15 January 1919 by the Mare Island Naval Shipyard, sponsored by Miss Dolly Hamilton Hawkins, great-grand-niece of Archibald Hamilton. The ship was commissioned on 7 November 1919.
Service history
Based at
Hamilton recommissioned on 20 January 1930 and, after
In 1938 an activated-tank stabilization system designed by Nicolas Minorsky was tested in Hamilton but exhibited control stability problems. The outbreak of World War II in Europe in late 1939 interrupted further development as Hamilton was called to active duty.[1] Hamilton joined other members of her class on the Grand Banks Patrol, which sent American ships as far north as Iceland and Greenland to protect their own and neutral shipping. Hamilton continued this duty until converted to a fast minesweeper in June 1941. Reclassified DMS-18 on 17 October 1941, she resumed patrol duty along the East Coast and into the North Atlantic.
World War II
When the United States was catapulted into the war on 7 December 1941, Hamilton's pace accelerated greatly. Wartime duties now took Hamilton on coastal convoys from New York through German U-boat-infested waters as far south as the Panama Canal Zone.
The Caribbean Sea and the waters off Cape Hatteras were particularly rich ground for U-boats, and Hamilton more than once attacked U-boats sighted on the surface or detected by sound contacts. On 9 June 1942 Hamilton rescued 39 survivors of USS Gannet, torpedoed just north of Bermuda.
The shifting tide of war drew Hamilton from the coastal convoy route in the fall of 1942 as she became part of "
Hamilton remained along the North African shore on minesweeping and escort duty out of Casablanca until December when she sailed for the Brooklyn Navy Yard, arriving 26 December. The following year saw Hamilton engaged primarily in coastal convoy duty, guiding and protecting merchantmen as they threaded their perilous way through German submarine packs from Iceland to the Caribbean.
Departing Norfolk on 3 December 1943, Hamilton transited the Panama Canal five days later and reached San Diego on 16 December. From San Diego she steamed to Pearl Harbor and, after a brief training period, sailed for Kwajalein Atoll, a key target in the Marshalls. As the Marines stormed ashore there on 31 January 1944, Hamilton steamed in the area to screen transports and provide the fire support that made it possible to land and stay.
After the successful conclusion of that invasion, Hamilton retired to Nouméa, New Caledonia, to prepare for the invasion of the Admiralty Islands. At Nouméa, Hamilton joined forces with three other destroyers converted to fast minesweepers-Hovey, Long, and Palmer—to form a preliminary sweep unit. It was the mission of these ships to enter enemy harbors three to five days before landings to clear out mines and provide safe anchorage for the invasion force. The toll of these operations, conducted before enemy shore batteries had been taken out, was high. Of her original unit only Hamilton survived the war.
Under enemy fire, Hamilton and her group entered Seeadler Harbor, Admiralty Islands on 2 March 1944 to begin sweeping operations. After the invasion was launched, she remained in the area screening transports and patrolling on ASW duty until early April when she returned to Nouméa to prepare for the invasion of Aitape. After sweeping operations there before the 22 April invasion, Hamilton served on general sweeping duty in the Solomons and then readied for the Mariana campaign.
Entering
Hamilton's next tour of minesweeping duty fell at
She departed Manus on 10 October and entered Leyte Gulf on 17 September. Three days before Army divisions came ashore, Hamilton swept the channels around Diriagat Island and Looc Bay to clear the way to the invasion beaches. To add to the usual turmoil of the invasion, the fleet as a whole was under almost constant air attack. In the Battle of Leyte Gulf, the Imperial Japanese Navy was virtually annihilated; the Japanese lost three battleships, four carriers, six heavy and four light cruisers, and nine destroyers. American losses were two escort carriers, a light carrier, and three destroyers. This battle marked the end of Japanese sea power as an important threat. The fleet had cleared the way for the final assaults leading into Japan.
Arriving at Manus, Admiralty Islands on 31 October, Hamilton underwent availability and repairs and, once more ready for battle, sailed on 23 December to prepare the way for the invasion of Lingayen Gulf. As the minesweepers steamed through the channel on 6 January 1945, wave after wave of kamikazes attacked. Hamilton emerged from the kamikaze attacks unscathed. After the invasion forces landed at Lingayen Gulf on 9 January, Hamilton remained as a transport screen and escort until 1 February when she sailed for Saipan.
From Saipan, the veteran ship again steamed into battle, this time appearing off Iwo Jima. Hamilton recorded no casualties during sweeping operations which began on 16 February, but she had to aid Gamble, left powerless by a direct bomb hit on 18 February. In addition to helping the wounded ship fight myriad fires, Hamilton took on board and care for the more seriously injured sailors. After marines stormed ashore on Iwo Jima on 19 February, Hamilton patrolled off the island until on 27 February. The four-stacker then returned to Iwo Jima as a convoy escort 7 March. Three days later Hamilton sailed from the battle and from the Pacific War. Steaming for Eniwetok, she changed course to rescue 11 men from a downed Boeing B-29 Superfortress aircraft on 11 March.
Hamilton reached Pearl Harbor via Eniwetok on 25 March 1945 and, after a brief period of training, headed back to the continental United States. As she sailed under the
Awards
Hamilton earned nine
References
This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be found here.