USS Hunt (DD-674)

History
United States
Namesake	William H. Hunt
Builder	Federal Shipbuilding & Drydock Co., Kearny, N.J.
Laid down	31 March 1943
Launched	1 August 1943
Commissioned	22 September 1943 to 15 December 1945; 31 October 1951 to 30 December 1963;
Stricken	1 December 1974
Fate	Sold for scrap 14 August 1975
General characteristics
Class and type	Fletcher-class destroyer
Displacement	2,924 tons ( full)
Length	376 ft 5 in (114.7 m)
Beam	39 ft 7 in (12.1 m)
Draft	13 ft 9 in (4.2 m)
Propulsion	60,000 shp (45 MW);; geared turbines;; 2 propellers;
Speed	38 knots (70 km/h; 44 mph)
Range	6,500 nautical miles at 15 kt; (12,000 km at 30 km/h);
Complement	273 officers and crew
Armament	5 × 5 in (130 mm)/38 guns,; 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 Hunt (DD-674) was a Fletcher-class destroyer of the United States Navy, the second Navy ship named for William H. Hunt, Secretary of the Navy under President James A. Garfield.

Hunt was

Vice Admiral Hewitt, and granddaughter of the namesake; and commissioned

22 September 1943.

World War II

After shakedown off

3rd Fleet's TF 38) operating as a part of the antisubmarine screen for a task group which included aircraft carriers Essex (CV-9), Intrepid (CV-11), and Cabot

(CVL-28).

1944

Hunt sortied with the carrier task force 16 January 1944 to support the

Namur Islands. After 2 days on bombardment station she rejoined the screen of the carriers who were furnishing planes to support landing operations on the small islands adjoining Roi and Namur. She entered newly won Majuro

Lagoon in company with Essex 5 February 1944 for replenishment.

On 12 February Hunt sailed with most of the Fast Carrier Force to

Japanese Combined Fleet

to shun Truk, its base since July 1942, in favor of safer areas closer to home.

After clearing Truk, Hunt, in company with carrier

Hickox

(DD-673) to destroy two 125-foot patrol craft which had been firing on American planes.

She returned to Majuro on 6 April for replenishment, then set course with the Bunker Hill carrier task group to lend support to the invasion and occupation of Hollandia, D.N.G. Planes from the carriers repeatedly struck enemy emplacements in the area, and night fighters successfully repelled all enemy planes which approached the warships. On the passage returning to Majuro Hunt's carriers paused off Truk 29 and 30 April for another raid on that weakened but reinforced enemy base. Thereafter Truk was almost useless to the Japanese.

May was a welcome interlude devoted to training exercises in the Marshalls enlivened by a diversionary raid on

oilers while damaging several other Japanese ships. This carrier battle, the greatest of the war, virtually wiped out the emperor's naval air power which would be sorely missed in the impending battle for Leyte Gulf

.

The next evening the task force gave up the chase and set course for Saipan. On the return passage, Hunt rescued four pilots and seven crewmen from planes which had been unable to land on their carriers. Once back in the Marianas, Hunt and her sister ships resumed the task of supporting the American forces which were taking Saipan, Tinian, and Guam. They continued this duty until fighting in these islands ended early in August.

After voyage repairs at Pearl Harbor, she departed 30 August as part of the screen for Admiral

Kossol Passage

30 September to embark Admiral Halsey and his staff for passage to Peleliu. Hunt put him ashore that afternoon and steamed off shore as stand-by flagship until the following afternoon when he again came on board to be returned to Kossol Passage.

On 6 October, she cleared port with the Bunker Hill carrier task group for air strikes against

Okinawa Jima. Hunt rescued a pilot and two crewmen of a splashed Bunker Hill plane 10 October. She repeated this fjeat 2 days later when she saved a pilot and two crewmen whose plane had been downed during an attack on Formosan

airbases.

Hunt accompanied the carriers off Northern

Battle for Leyte Gulf

they went after the Japanese northern force and sank four carriers and a destroyer besides damaging several other ships.

1945

For the rest of the year, Hunt continued to serve as a screening unit for the carrier strikes against Formosa and Japanese-held areas in the Philippines. On 16 February 1945, her fast carrier task force hit hard at the

Honshū, Japan and another swipe at Tokyo Bay, 25 February. On the way to Ulithi

the carriers paused to strike Okinawa 1 March.

Hunt departed Ulithi 14 March for rendezvous with carrier

Kobe Harbor. Suddenly a single enemy plane broke through the cloud cover and made a low level run to drop two semi-armor-piercing bombs on the gallant ship. The carrier burned furiously as the flames triggered ammunition, bombs, and rockets. Hunt closed the stricken ship to assist in picking up survivors blown overboard by the explosions. After rescuing 429 survivors, she joined three other destroyers in a clockwise patrol around the stricken ship which had gone dead in the water within 50 miles of the Japanese Coast. Cruiser Pittsburgh (CA-72) took the ship in tow and, after an epic struggle, managed to get her to Ulithi 24 March. Hunt put the survivors ashore and sped to the Ryukyus 5 April to support troops who were struggling to take Okinawa

.

Hunt took up

Okinawa 8 April. On 14 April a kamikaze

roared in toward Hunt and was riddled by her guns during the approach. It struck the destroyer at deck level shearing off the mainmast and slicing into the forward stack, where it left its starboard wing. The fuselage of the suicide plane splashed into the water about 25 yards from Hunt whose crew quickly doused the small fires which had broken out on board. A second kamikaze which approached Hunt that day was knocked down by her alert gunners before it could reach the ship.

Hunt continued to guard the carriers as they gave direct support to troops on Okinawa, taking time out on 4 separate days for radar picket duty in dangerous waters. When she departed Ryukyus 30 May for tender overhaul in Leyte Gulf, her crew had been to general quarters 54 times.

Hunt sailed for the United States 19 June 1945, arrived in

San Diego, Calif.

1951 – 1963

Hunt recommissioned at San Diego 31 October 1951. After refresher training in local areas, she departed 14 February for

Sasebo, Japan, on the second leg of a world cruise which took her to Hong Kong, Singapore, the Suez Canal, and Naples which she reached 20 November 1954. She passed through the Strait of Gibraltar

12 December 1954 and arrived back in Newport 18 December.

The next 2 years were filled with intensive antisubmarine warfare and

Arabia

, set course 14 October for the Mediterranean and maneuvers with the 6th Fleet en route home to Newport, arriving 13 November.

Hunt operated out of Newport with occasional cruises in the Caribbean conducting exercises in antisubmarine warfare and battle practice. She won the

Philadelphia, Pa.

Hunt was stricken from the Naval Vessel Register 1 December 1974. She was sold 14 August 1975 and broken up for scrap.

Awards

American Campaign Medal
Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal
World War II Victory Medal
China Service Medal
National Defense Service Medal with star
Korean Service Medal
United Nations Korea Medal
Philippine Liberation Medal

References

This article includes information collected from the Naval Vessel Register, which, as a U.S. government publication, is in the public domain. The entry can be found here.
This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be found here.

External links

Hazegray Destroyer Database, DD-674
Destroyer Photo Index, USS Hunt
Unofficial web site, run by former officers.