USS Kearny
History | |
---|---|
United States | |
Name | Kearny |
Namesake | Lawrence Kearny |
Builder | Federal Shipbuilding and Drydock Company |
Laid down | 1 March 1939 |
Launched | 9 March 1940 |
Commissioned | 13 September 1940 |
Decommissioned | 7 March 1946 |
Stricken | 1 June 1971 |
Fate | Sold for scrap, 6 October 1972 |
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 (69.3 km/h; 43.0 mph) |
Range | 6,500 nautical miles (12,000 km; 7,500 mi) at 12 knots (22 km/h; 14 mph) |
Complement | 16 officers, 260 enlisted |
Armament |
|
USS Kearny (DD-432), a
She was named for Commodore Lawrence Kearny (1789–1868).
Early history
Kearny was launched 9 March 1940, by the Federal Shipbuilding and Drydock Company in Kearny, New Jersey, sponsored by Miss Mary Kearny. She was commissioned on 13 September 1940.
After shakedown and sea trials, Kearny got underway 19 February 1941, from
Convoys escorted
Convoy | Escort Group | Dates | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
HX 151 | 24 Sept-1 Oct 1941[1] | from Newfoundland to Iceland prior to US declaration of war | |
ON 24
|
13-14 Oct 1941[2] | from Iceland to Newfoundland prior to US declaration of war | |
SC 48 | 16-17 Oct 1941[3] | battle reinforcement prior to US declaration of war; torpedoed by U-568 | |
AT 18 | 6-17 Aug 1942[4] | troopships from New York City to Firth of Clyde |
Kearny incident
On October 17, 1941, while the U.S. was still officially neutral in World War II, Kearny was docked at Reykjavík in Iceland, whose occupation had been taken over from the Allies by the Americans in July that year. A "wolfpack" of German U-boats attacked a nearby British convoy, and overwhelmed her Canadian escorts. Kearny and three other U.S. destroyers were summoned to assist.
Immediately on reaching the action, Kearny dropped
The survival of Kearny led to renewed support for split fire rooms and engine rooms in naval vessels.[6]
Later history
From 5 April to 28 September 1942, Kearny escorted convoys to Great Britain, the
Through most of 1943, Kearny escorted ships to Port of Spain, Trinidad; Recife, Brazil; and Casablanca. On 25 November 1943, Kearny joined the "hunter-killer" task group based on the escort carrier Core on 25 November. During the day of 1 January 1944, in coordination with Core's planes, Kearny fired a depth charge attack on a submarine resulting in a large oil slick. She returned to New York 18 January.
Next month Kearny joined the
Kearny was detached from the group the beginning of June and steamed to Anzio alone to give Allied troops their last naval fire support prior to their breakthrough and capture of Rome. The veteran destroyer saw more convoy duty before sailing for the invasion of southern France on 15 August.
Kearny was inner fire support ship for Red Beach in
Afterward, Kearny made several trans-Atlantic voyages between New York and
Awards
- American Defense Service Medal with "FLEET" clasp and "A" device
- battle stars
- Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal
- World War II Victory Medal
- Navy Occupation Medalwith "ASIA" clasp
See also
- Battle of the Atlantic (1939-1945)
References
This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be found here.
- ^ "HX convoys". Andrew Hague Convoy Database. Retrieved 19 June 2011.
- ^ "ON convoys". Andrew Hague Convoy Database. Retrieved 19 June 2011.
- ^ "SC convoys". Andrew Hague Convoy Database. Retrieved 19 June 2011.
- ^ "AT convoys". Andrew Hague Convoy Database. Retrieved 20 June 2011.
- ^ German Declaration of War with the United States : 11 December 1941
- ISBN 9781557504425. Retrieved 10 January 2014.
- ^ "Tin Can Sailors - The National Association of Destroyer Veterans". Destroyers.org. Retrieved 10 January 2014.