USS Little (DD-803)
History | |
---|---|
United States | |
Name | Little |
Namesake | George Little |
Builder | Seattle-Tacoma Shipbuilding Corporation, Seattle |
Laid down | 13 September 1943 |
Launched | 22 May 1944 |
Commissioned | 19 August 1944 |
Fate | Sunk by Kamikaze,[1] 3 May 1945 |
General characteristics | |
Class and type | Fletcher-class destroyer |
Displacement | 2,050 tons |
Length | 376 ft 5 in (114.7 m) |
Beam | 39 ft in (12.1 m) |
Draft | 13 ft 9 in (4.2 m) |
Propulsion |
|
Speed | 35 knots (65 km/h; 40 mph) |
Range |
|
Complement | 329 |
Armament |
|
USS Little (DD-803), a Fletcher-class destroyer, was the second ship of the United States Navy to be named for Captain George Little (1754–1809).
Little was laid down by
History
After training off the West Coast, Little departed Seattle 11 November 1944 to escort a
Shore bombardment at Iwo Jima began 19 February. Little furnished fire support for ground forces until the 24th when she left for Saipan. She returned 4 March for bombardment, screening, and radar picket duties, and was back at Saipan 14 March to prepare for the Okinawa invasion.
Little sailed for
On 3 May Little and Aaron Ward (DM-34) were again on picket duty. At 18:13 hours, 18 to 24 aircraft attacked from under cloud cover. Aaron Ward took the first hit at 18:41. An instant later Little was hit on the portside. Within four minutes three more enemy kamikazes had hit her, breaking her keel, demolishing the amidship section, and opening all three after machinery spaces. At 19:55 Little broke up and sank. Thirty-one of the Little's approximately 320 crew members perished, while another 49 suffered injuries.[2][3]
Little received two
Citations
- ^ Brown (1990), p. 149.
- ^ Fenoglio, Melvin (May 1985). "The History of the USS Little DD803". USS Little's 40th Reunion booklet.
- ^ Green, Rick (5 July 2013). "70 Years Later, A Purple Heart". Hartford Courant. Archived from the original on 2 November 2013. Retrieved 5 July 2013.
References
- Brown, David (1990). Warship Losses of World War Two. London, UK: Arms and Armour. ISBN 0-85368-802-8.
- This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be found here.