USS J. William Ditter

	At Norfolk, January 1945, in camouflage Measure 32, Design 3d.
History
United States
Name	J. William Ditter
Builder	Staten Island, New York
Launched	4 July 1944
Commissioned	28 October 1944
Decommissioned	28 September 1945
Fate	Scrapped in July 1946
General characteristics
Class and type	Robert H. Smith-class destroyer
Displacement	2,200 tons
Length	376 ft 6 in (114.76 m)
Beam	40 ft 10 in (12.45 m)
Draft	14 ft 2 in (4.32 m)
Speed	36.5 knots (67.6 km/h; 42.0 mph)
Complement	336 officers and enlisted
Armament	6 x 5 in (127 mm)/38 cal. guns; 12 x 40 mm guns; 8 x 20 mm cannons; 2 x depth charge tracks; 4 x depth charge projectors;

USS J. William Ditter (DD-751/DM-31) was a

New York Navy Yard

28 October 1944.

Service history

October 1944 - May 1945

J. William Ditter completed her shakedown off

San Diego, California arrived Pearl Harbor

10 February.

Battle of Okinawa

As the Navy's island-hopping thrust toward Japan reached its climax, Ditter sailed 2 March for

Okinawa. She arrived 25 March off the critical island, soon to be the scene of the largest amphibious assault of the Pacific war, and began hazardous minesweeping operations. The next day she dodged a torpedo during an encounter with a Japanese submarine. On 29 March she discovered two suicide boats off Okinawa, and sank one of them with gunfire. By the day of the invasion, 1 April, Ditter and her sister mine-craft had swept the channels and laid marker buoys, contributing importantly to the success of the initial landing. Next day her duties shifted to convoy escort, as the versatile ship protected transports on night retirement away from Okinawa. On the night of 2 April the ship shot down two bombers, and she continued to come under air attack in the days that followed as the' Japanese made an effort to stop the invasion with kamikaze

tactics.

J. William Ditter was assigned radar picket duty 12 April, and, subsequently, became the target of heavy air attack. She shot down several planes and assisted with several more until retiring to

Kerama Retto 30 April. The ship was soon back on picket

duty, however, and engaged in numerous battles with Japanese aircraft.

June 1945 - July 1946

While patrolling with Harry F. Bauer and Ellyson 6 June, J. William Ditter was attacked by a large group of kamikazes. The ship's gun crews downed five of the planes; but a sixth glanced off her No. 2 stack; and another crashed into her on the port side near the main deck. The ship lost all power and suffered many casualties; but damage control kept her afloat until she could be towed by tug Ute to Kerama Retto the next day. Eventually she was repaired enough to steam to Saipan on 10 July and begin the voyage home. She touched at San Diego and the Canal Zone before arriving New York 12 July 1945. J. William Ditter was decommissioned there on 28 September 1945 and was scrapped in July 1946.

Merits and legacy

J. William Ditter received one

battle star

for World War II service.

As of 2009, no other ship has been named J. William Ditter.

References

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

v t e Robert H. Smith-class destroyer minelayers
United States Navy	Robert H. Smith Thomas E. Fraser Shannon Harry F. Bauer Adams Tolman Henry A. Wiley Shea J. William Ditter Lindsey Gwin Aaron Ward
Turkish Navy	Muavenet (ex-Gwin)
Preceded by: USS Pruitt Followed by: None
List of destroyers of the United States Navy List of mine warfare vessels of the United States Navy