USS Harrison (DD-573)

	USS Harrison alongside USS McKee, 5 March 1945.
History
United States
Name	USS Harrison (DD-573)
Namesake	Napoleon Harrison
Builder	Consolidated Steel Corporation, Orange, Texas
Laid down	25 June 1941
Launched	4 May 1942
Sponsored by	Mrs. Harry B. Hird
Commissioned	25 January 1943
Decommissioned	1 April 1946
Stricken	1 May 1968
Fate	Sold as-is to Mexico, 19 Aug 1970
History
Mexico
Name	ARM Cuauhtémoc (E01)
Acquired	19 August 1970
Decommissioned	1982
Fate	dismantled
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) at 15 kt
Complement	273
Armament	5 x 5 in (130 mm),; 4 × 40 mm AA guns,; 4 × 20 mm AA guns,; 10 × 21 inch (533 mm) torpedo tubes,; 6 × depth charge projectors,; 2 × depth charge tracks;

USS Harrison (DD-573) was a Fletcher-class destroyer of the United States Navy. She was second Navy ship of that name.

Namesake

Napoleon Bonaparte Harrison was born on 19 February 1823 in Martinsburg, Virginia (now West Virginia). He was appointed a midshipman on 26 February 1838 and received promotion to passed midshipman on 20 May 1844. Serving in California during the Mexican–American War on USS Portsmouth, he was a volunteer in the expedition to rescue General Philip Kearny's command, and spent five days en route from San Francisco to Monterey in a small boat carrying despatches.

He was promoted to master on 2 April 1852 and then to

Portsmouth Navy Yard, Kittery, Maine

.

Following the Civil War, he taught at the

Commandant of Midshipmen in 1868–1870, before taking command of his last ship, the sloop USS Congress. He died on 27 October 1870 at Key West

, Florida.

Construction and commissioning

Harrison was

launched by Consolidated Steel Corporation, Orange, Tex., 4 May 1942, sponsored by Mrs. Harry B. Hird; and commissioned

25 January 1943.

1943

Following shakedown training in the

Mediterranean returned 1 June to Charleston. Harrison was then assigned to anti-submarine exercises in Caribbean waters with carrier USS Yorktown (CV-10)

, after which she performed escort duty in the area until 22 July 1943.

Harrison was assigned in mid-1943 to the

Tarawa, interspersed with short resupply stops at Pearl Harbor. With these vital preliminary operations complete, Harrison departed 21 October for duty in the Solomons

, long the scene of bitter fighting both on land and sea.

She arrived

Makin. The ship then sailed to Funafuti 7 December and engaged in training exercises before anchoring at Pearl Harbor 1 January 1944. She remained in Hawaiian waters for most of January taking part in fire support exercises for impending invasion of the Marshall Islands

.

1944

Harrison sailed with the Southern Attack Force 22 January, and arrived off

Kwajalein 31 January. She screened battleships USS New Mexico (BB-40) and USS Mississippi (BB-41) while the larger ships pounded shore installations, and sank a small tanker with her guns as the Japanese ship attempted to escape from the lagoon. As the Marines landed on Kwajalein and advanced over the numerous islands in the atoll, Harrison entered the lagoon 4 February and rendered close fire support. She spent the next 4 weeks patrolling offshore and anchored in the lagoon, departing 1 March for Efate

, New Hebrides.

The destroyer arrived Efate 7 March and after a short rest screened a task group during the strike on

Humboldt Bay for the assault. Carriers screened by the destroyer and her sisters bombarded enemy airfields and supported the successful landing, after which Harrison arrived Port Purvis on Florida Island in the Solomons

on 11 May for a month of local exercises and patrols.

Next on the timetable of conquest in

Eniwetok

16 August.

Harrison departed 22 August for New Guinea, where she supported with gunfire Rear Admiral Barbey's landing on

Leyte

20 October and delivered accurate shore fire for the assault forces during the initial stages. She then assumed escort duties in already crowded Leyte Gulf until returning to Humboldt Bay 23 October.

1945

After her many long months in the Pacific forward areas, Harrison departed for the United States 1 November and arrived

Okinawa

for photo-reconnaissance missions 1 March. This completed, Harrison and the rest of the task force arrived Ulithi 5 March 1945.

The great task force sortied once more from Ulithi 14 March to support the Okinawa operation, last stop on the island road to Japan. In heavy strikes 18–19 March the carrier forces inflicted great damage on Okinawa in preparation for the invasion, and Harrison shot down another attacking enemy aircraft. Attacks against Japanese airfields in the home islands were also launched, cutting down significantly the air opposition over Okinawa during the initial assault. After the Marines stormed ashore 1 April, the carrier groups and their destroyers turned to direct support of the landing. As a Japanese task force, built around the giant battleship Yamato, sortied from the inland sea to attack the beaches at Okinawa, TF 58 aircraft delivered a skillful and effective attack, sinking Yamato and five other ships while suffering only small losses.

During her operations off Okinawa Harrison began to experience increasing

3d Fleet, continued this pattern, including periodic strikes against Japan, until after the great June typhoon. Harrison rode out the storm 5 June in which USS Pittsburgh (CA-72) lost her bow and the ships put in at Leyte Gulf

11 June to repair damage.

After replenishing the great task force moved once more toward Japan 1 July. During the next 2 months, devastating air strikes were carried out against Japan, and retaliatory air attacks were fought off by Harrison and the other protecting destroyers. Refueling at sea, the carriers kept up a constant bombardment of the home islands. In addition, Harrison with four

aluminum

plant.

Task Force 38 kept up its relentless attacks against Japan until the surrender 15 August. Harrison arrived at Guam 26 August and Pearl Harbor 14 September. There the veteran destroyer got underway with carrier USS Enterprise (CV-6) for the Panama Canal Zone and the East Coast, arriving Boston 17 October 1945. After Navy Day celebrations in Boston the ship arrived Charleston 3 November and decommissioned in reserve 1 April 1946. Harrison was shifted to Philadelphia in 1965 and Orange, Texas, in 1968.

Harrison received 11

battle stars

for World War II service.

BAM Cuauhtemoc (E-01)

The ship was sold as-is to

Aztec

emperor of the Mexica. She was taken out of service in 1982.

References

This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be found here.
USS Harrison (DD573) folder, Ship Histories Branch, Naval Historical Center, Washington, D.C.