USS Manley (DD-74)
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History | |
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Name | Manley |
Builder | Bath Iron Works |
Laid down | 22 August 1916 |
Launched | 23 August 1917 |
Commissioned | 15 October 1917 |
Decommissioned | 14 June 1922 |
Recommissioned | 1 May 1930 |
Decommissioned | 19 November 1945 |
Reclassified |
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Stricken | 5 December 1945 |
Honors and awards | 5 battle stars & Navy Unit Commendation (World War II) |
Fate | Sold for scrapping, 26 November 1946 |
General characteristics | |
Class and type | Caldwell-class destroyer |
Displacement | 1,125 long tons (1,143 t) |
Length | 315 ft 6 in (96.16 m) |
Beam | 31 ft 3 in (9.53 m) |
Draft | 8 ft 1 in (2.46 m) |
Speed | 30 knots (56 km/h; 35 mph) |
Complement | 100 officers and enlisted |
Armament |
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USS Manley (DD-74/AG-28/APD-1), a Caldwell-class destroyer, served in the United States Navy. She was the second Navy ship named for Captain John Manley (c.1733–1793).
Manley was laid down on 22 August 1916 by the
World War I
After fitting out in
Then the
Inter-war years
Manley completed repairs in
The destroyer recommissioned on 1 May 1930 for service as an experimental torpedo-firing ship at Newport, Rhode Island. On 19 August 1930 she joined the Scouting Fleet in battle practice along the eastern seaboard and in the Caribbean. She performed similar duty on the coast of California out of San Diego during 1932. She returned to the Atlantic early in 1933 for operations which continued until she sailed for the Panama Canal Zone on 10 September 1935 and joined the Special Service Squadron that patrolled the Caribbean.
Manley sailed for
As an auxiliary and high-speed transport
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/0d/USS_Manley_%28APD-1%29_underway_on_23_September_1940.jpg/220px-USS_Manley_%28APD-1%29_underway_on_23_September_1940.jpg)
Manley was outfitted as a
World War II
At dusk on 11 April 1942, she picked up 290 survivors from the torpedoed merchant passenger steamer SS Ulysses, and landed them at Charleston, South Carolina the following day. On 13 July 1942 Manley transited the Panama Canal for duty with the Pacific Fleet. Touching the Society and Fiji Islands, she reached Espiritu Santo, New Hebrides on 14 August, and loaded special cargo for Guadalcanal, invaded only one week earlier.
Carrying bombs, ammunition, and gasoline, Manley and Stringham (DD-83) got underway on 16 August. After exchanging their cargo for wounded marines, they returned to Espiritu Santo on the 19th. Manley was ordered to take torpedoed Blue (DD-387) in tow for Tulagi harbor before nightfall. Since a Japanese surface force was approaching, it was necessary to scuttle the destroyer. Manley took 99 survivors on board. Only two hours of fuel remained when the ship made it back to Espiritu Santo on the 26th.
Ordered to cut out all topside weight on the ship, her crew removed everything not essential to survival, painted the ship jungle green and covered her with camouflage nets. Thus arrayed, the high-speed transport made another trip to Guadalcanal on 3 September 1942. After Little (APD-4) and Gregory (APD-3) were sunk on the night of 5 September, she rescued five survivors the next morning.
On 8 September 1942 Manley took part in a surprise landing on
As she was unloading, the shore station ordered her to clear out at highest speed, since a raid by Japanese heavy units was expected momentarily. With 200 marines, including wounded and dead, on board, she hoisted all boats and headed out Lengo Channel with McKean (DD-90) at 21:10. Manley had fuel for only one day's operations and so returned to Tulagi the next day. Taking on enough fuel to reach Espiritu Santo, she was routed onward for voyage repairs at Nouméa, New Caledonia.
A company of marine raiders came on board on 31 October 1942 with orders to establish a beachhead at Aola Bay, Guadalcanal. Task Force 65 (TF 65) put the marines ashore on 4 November 1942, and troops from Manley and McKean reinforced them on the 8th.
The versatile fighting ship left Nouméa on 20 November 1942 carrying six torpedoes, towing two PT boats, and escorting SS Pomona to Espiritu Santo. Here she embarked another company of raiders and sailed for Lunga Point, Guadalcanal where the raiders debarked. The PT boats and torpedoes were then delivered to Tulagi, Solomon Islands. In the following months, the high-speed transport was constantly engaged in the risky business of running supplies into Guadalcanal and escorting other ships through the dangerous Solomons.
Manley arrived at
Manley arrived at Pearl Harbor on 14 December 1943 and joined the
The two high-speed transports were ordered to land 7th Cavalry Regiment reconnaissance troops on Bennett Islands before dawn on 5 February, and Manley was designated fire support ship. The area was well-covered, and the operation went off on schedule.
Three days later Manley got underway as part of a transport screen for Hawaii, arriving Pearl Harbor on the 15th to train Army troops for future landings.
On 30 May Manley joined Task Group 52.15 (TG 52.15) and departed for the
On 10 September Manley took on board 50 tons of explosives, slated as reserves for
After entering Leyte Gulf, Manley was assigned screening stations off the southern transport area at Dulag. On the 19th she picked up casualties from Ross (DD-563), and transferred them to Pennsylvania (BB-38). After marking a navigational buoy during the early morning hours of the 20th, she headed toward Hollandia with TransDiv 28, on the evening of 21 October.
En route, part of the convoy, including Manley, was diverted to
Manley sailed on 4 January 1945 as part of a reinforcement group for the landings at
Manley was one of four high-speed transports assigned to an assault landing at
To block retreat by the Japanese into
On 2 April the transport joined the screen of
1945 and the end of the war
Manley arrived at San Diego on 23 May for overhaul. She was reclassified DD-74 on 25 June 1945 and sailed on 24 July for the
Her name was struck from the Navy list on 5 December 1945; and she was sold for scrapping to the Northern Metal Company, Philadelphia, on 26 November 1946.
Awards
- Navy Unit Commendation
- World War I Victory Medal
- American Defense Service Medal with "FLEET" clasp
- battle stars
- World War II Victory Medal
- Philippine Liberation Medal
References
This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be found here.
- ^ "Casualties of the United States Navy and Coast Guard". Retrieved 19 February 2023.
- ^ "Casualties: US Navy and Marine Corps Personnel Killed and Injured in Selected Accidents and Other Incidents Not Directly the Result of Enemy Action". Naval History and Heritage Command. 3 November 2020. Retrieved 19 February 2023.
External links
- USS Manley website at Destroyer History Foundation
- Photo gallery of USS Manley at NavSource Naval History