USS Herndon (DD-638)
_during_World_War_II.JPG)
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| History | |
|---|---|
 United States | |
| Name | Herndon |
| Namesake | William Lewis Herndon |
| Builder | Norfolk Navy Yard |
| Laid down | 26 August 1941 |
| Launched | 2 February 1942 |
| Commissioned | 20 December 1942 |
| Decommissioned | 28 January 1946 |
| Stricken | 1 June 1971 |
| Fate | Sunk as target off Florida, 24 May 1973 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type | Gleaves-class destroyer |
| Displacement | 1,630 tons |
| Length | 348 ft 3 in (106.15 m) |
| Beam | 36 ft 1 in (11.00 m) |
| Draft | 11 ft 10 in (3.61 m) |
| Propulsion |
|
| Speed | 37.4 knots (69 km/h) |
| Range | 6,500 nmi (12,000 km; 7,500 mi) at 12 kn (22 km/h; 14 mph) |
| Complement | 16 officers, 260 enlisted |
| Armament |
|
USS Herndon (DD-638), a Gleaves-class destroyer, was the second ship of the United States Navy to be named for Commander William Lewis Herndon.
Herndon was
Norfolk Navy Yard, sponsored by Lucy Herndon Crockett, great-grandniece of Comdr. Herndon, and commissioned
on 20 December 1942.
Service history
Atlantic service
After
D-Day, 6 June 1944, Herndon was off Utah Beach
, down front in "Bald-headed Row" ahead of the first assault waves. Despite heavy counter fire from enemy batteries, she bombarded enemy targets ashore.
Herndon remained off the
Baie de la Seine. Further screening duties followed until 11 July, when she reported to Belfast for training as an escort in the Mediterranean. Operation Anvil was the Allies' next major operation. Herndon was part of the joint task force screening aircraft carriers on 16 August when the invasion of southern France
was begun.
The destroyer remained in the Mediterranean until sailing for New York on 3 September. After two weeks of experimental operations in
Naval Research Laboratory, Herndon headed back toward the Mediterranean as a convoy escort on 14 October. Returning to the United States on 12 November, she conducted battle exercises in Casco Bay and escorted convoys along the Atlantic coast through February 1945. In that month. Herndon escorted President Franklin D. Roosevelt on the first leg of his voyage to the historic Yalta Conference. On January 11, 1045 Herndon collided with and sank the auxiliary motor minesweeper YMS-14 in Boston Harbor.[1]
Pacific Service
The destroyer and her crew turned south 21 April 1945 and headed for the still-hot war in the Pacific, reaching
Saipan
through the end of the long Pacific war.
Japanese capitulation came at last with the formal signing of the surrender in
Vice Admiral
Kanako, and his staff came aboard Herndon to sign and implement the unconditional surrender of all Japanese-controlled combatant and merchant vessels in the Qingdao area.
Post World War II and fate
Herndon spent the fall and winter escorting Japanese prize vessels along the coast, patrolling the Korean and China coasts, and assisting the repatriation of Japanese soldiers and the movement of
Okinawa
, and Pearl Harbor on 27 December. After disembarking some of the troops, Herndon continued on to New York with the rest, arriving 15 January 1946.
Herndon arrived
Philadelphia in January 1947 and in June 1965 was transferred to Orange, Texas. Stricken from the Naval Vessel Register on 1 June 1971, Herndon was sunk as a target off Florida
on 24 May 1973.
Herndon received three
battle stars
for World War II service.
References
This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be found here.
External links
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Shipwrecks and maritime incidents in 1973 | |
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| Shipwrecks |
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| Other incidents |
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