USS Jarvis (DD-393)
USS Jarvis off the Puget Sound Navy Yard, circa December 1937
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History | |
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United States | |
Name | Jarvis |
Namesake | James C. Jarvis |
Builder | Puget Sound Navy Yard |
Laid down | 21 August 1935 |
Launched | 6 May 1937 |
Commissioned | 27 October 1937 |
Fate | Sunk by Japanese aircraft off Guadalcanal 9 August 1942. |
General characteristics | |
Class and type | Bagley-class destroyer |
Displacement | 2,325 tons (full), 1,500 tons (light) |
Length | 341 ft 8 in (104.1 m) |
Beam | 35 ft 6 in (10.8 m) |
Draft |
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Propulsion |
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Speed | 38.5 knots (71.3 km/h; 44.3 mph) |
Range | 6,500 nmi (12,038 km) at 12 knots (22.2 km/h; 13.8 mph) |
Complement | 158 (254 wartime) |
Armament |
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USS Jarvis (DD-393), was a
Construction and service history
The second Jarvis (DD-393) was
Clearing
Attack on Pearl Harbor
Three days later the Japanese executed an attack on Pearl Harbor. Moored next to Mugford in berth B6 of the Navy yard for minor repairs, Jarvis opened fire with 5-inch guns and machine guns and made preparations to get underway. Her gunners claimed four aircraft destroyed, as the first wave of bombers attacked Battleship Row with torpedoes and bombs. Ensign W. F. Greene made the following entry in Jarvis' Deck Log: "0758 Hostilities with Japan commenced with an air raid on Pearl Harbor. Went to General Quarters." [citation needed] Emerging from the attack with no loss of crew and only superficial damage, Jarvis sortied that morning with several cruisers and destroyers to conduct surveillance and anti-submarine warfare (ASW) patrols.
First war cruises
On 16 December she cleared Pearl Harbor with the
Jarvis departed Pearl Harbor on 5 February to escort a convoy to Brisbane, Australia. Following her return on 27 March, the destroyer sailed on 8 April for San Francisco to undergo alterations with the other ships of DesRon Four. She returned to Pearl Harbor on 18 May escorting 13 ships and proceeded five days later via Fiji to Sydney, Australia. Arriving on 18 June, Jarvis commenced convoy escort and ASW patrols from Australia to New Caledonia, continuing with this duty until she was tasked to participate in the invasion of Guadalcanal.
Guadalcanal campaign
Sailing from Sydney on 14 July, Jarvis arrived in Wellington, New Zealand, on 19 July to join Task Force 62. The task force sailed on 22 July for the Solomons. After conducting rehearsal landings in the Fiji Islands from 28 to 30 July, the invasion force of 84 ships and 20,000 Marines steamed for Guadalcanal on 31 July. Protected from Japanese search planes by rain and heavy mist, the force arrived off the landing beaches at dawn on 7 August.
Following naval and air bombardment of enemy defenses, the first amphibious operation of the war commenced at 0650. Jarvis patrolled as part of the protective screen while Marines established a beachhead. As landing operations progressed, the Allied forces expected the Japanese to strike at the transports with land-based aircraft. However, during the two attacks that occurred that afternoon, the American ships sustained only minor damage and claimed to have destroyed 14 attacking aircraft.
Following a night patrol off the southern end of
Despite a 50-foot (15 m) gash in her side, she was considered seaworthy and ordered to proceed under cover of darkness to
The destroyer, continuing to retire westward, had little speed, no radio communications, and few operational guns but she refused aid from the destroyer Blue upon being sighted at 0325. After daybreak a Saratoga-based scout plane sighted her 40 miles off Guadalcanal, trailing fuel oil and down by the bow.
Loss of Jarvis
The Japanese, still mistaking Jarvis for an escaping cruiser, dispatched 31 planes from Rabaul to search out and destroy her. Once discovered, the badly damaged destroyer was no match for bombers raking the ship with bullets and torpedoes. According to Japanese records, Jarvis "split and sank" at 1300 on 9 August. None of her 233 remaining crew survived.
Jarvis received three
References
This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be found here.