USS Meredith (DD-434)

USS Meredith at Suva, Fiji Islands, 23 June 1942, in dazzle camouflage.
History
United States
Name	Meredith
Namesake	Jonathan Meredith
Builder	Boston Navy Yard
Laid down	1 June 1939
Launched	24 April 1940
Commissioned	1 March 1941
Honours and awards	battle star
Fate	Sunk by Japanese aircraft, 15 October 1942
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	50,000 shp (37,000 kW) 4 boilers 2 propellers
Speed	37.4 kn (69.3 km/h; 43.0 mph)
Range	6,500 nmi (12,000 km; 7,500 mi) at 12 kn (22 km/h; 14 mph)
Complement	208
Armament	5 × 5 in (127 mm)/38 cal guns , 6 × Oerlikon 20 mm cannons, 6 × 0.50 in (12.7 mm) machine guns , 10 × 21 in (533 mm) torpedo tubes, 2 × depth charge tracks

USS Meredith (DD-434), a Gleaves-class destroyer, was the second ship of the United States Navy to be named for Jonathan Meredith, a United States Marine Corps sergeant who served during the First Barbary War.

Meredith was

The force left Norfolk 4 March on a mission as secret as it was important, passed through the Panama Canal, and reached San Diego on 21 March. Departing San Francisco on 2 April, the force rendezvoused with TF 16, 13 April and sailed for the famous Doolittle Raid on Tokyo. On 18 April, the United States Army bombers were launched for this first carrier-based attack on Japan, and Meredith made course for Hawaii, arriving 25 April.

Between 13 May and 21 June Meredith escorted

Meredith was sighted by a Japanese patrol plane on the morning of 15 October, and shortly after midday took aboard the 68-man crew of Vireo to depart the area at high speed. However, while preparing to torpedo Vireo to keep her out of Japanese hands, Meredith was attacked by a force of 38 bombers, torpedo planes, and escort fighters from Zuikaku. In the first three minutes of the attack, Meredith was struck by a bomb that exploded beneath her bridge, destroying all communications, steering control, and gun direction. A second bomb struck the forward port side, and a torpedo exploded below the ready ammunition locker, igniting the ship's pyrotechnics and setting fire to fuel oil leaking from her bunkers.

Meredith fought fiercely, and brought down three of her attackers, but she was struck by an estimated 14 bombs and seven torpedoes. Meredith rolled over and sank in 10 minutes at 11°53′S 163°20′E / 11.883°S 163.333°E / -11.883; 163.333. Of the crew of 273 on board that day, only eight officers and 73 enlisted men survived the attack and the three ensuing days of exposure to the open sea and sharks until they were rescued by