USS Taylor (DD-468)

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For other ships with the same name, see USS Taylor and Italian destroyer Lanciere.

USS Taylor (DD-468), 1944.
USS Taylor (DD-468), 1944.
History
United States
NamesakeWilliam Rogers Taylor
BuilderBath Iron Works
Laid down28 August 1941
Launched7 June 1942
Commissioned28 August 1942
Decommissioned3 June 1969
Stricken2 July 1969
Fate
  • Transferred to Italy,
  • 2 July 1969
History
Italy
NameLanciere
Acquired2 July 1969
DecommissionedJanuary 1971
StrickenJanuary 1971
FateCannibalized for parts
General characteristics
Class and typeFletcher-class destroyer
Displacement2,050 tons
Length376 ft 6 in (114.7 m)
Beam39 ft 8 in (12.1 m)
Draft17 ft 9 in (5.4 m)
Propulsion60,000 shp (45 MW); 2 propellers
Speed35 knots (65 km/h; 40 mph)
Range6500 nmi. (12,000 km) at 15 kt
Complement336
Armament

USS Taylor (DD/DDE-468) was a

Charlestown Navy Yard near Boston, Mass.[1]

Taylor was the first

William F. Halsey, "admirably performed every mission assigned to her."[2]

World War II

Taylor began her naval career with the

Atlantic Fleet. Assigned to Destroyer Squadron 20 (DESRON TWO ZERO), the destroyer trained at Casco Bay, Maine, and made her shakedown cruise in the northern Atlantic before beginning duty as a coastwise convoy escort. The latter duty lasted until mid-November when she escorted a transatlantic convoy to a point just off Casablanca. The transit was uneventful, save for the interception of a Spanish merchantman, SS Darro. A boarding party from Taylor sent the neutral ship off to Gibraltar to prevent her from transmitting information about the convoy to the enemy. Taylor returned to the United States at Norfolk early in December and remained there until mid-month.[1]

Rennell Island, Jan. 1943

On 17 December, the warship cleared

escort carriers.[1]

On 27 January, Taylor cleared

William Halsey, operating upon intelligence which indicated a major Japanese attempt to reinforce their beleaguered garrison on the island, sent out the large screening force in the hope and expectation of a major naval engagement. That sea battle never materialized because the enemy activities upon which he predicated his actions were actually movements preparatory to a Japanese withdrawal. Instead, at the battle of Rennell Island, the enemy subjected TF 18 to a scathing air attack. On the evening of 29 January, enemy Mitsubishi G4M "Betty" bombers attacked TF 18 with torpedoes. The ships brushed off the first attack with antiaircraft fire, suffered negligible damage, and raced on to rendezvous with the other elements of the covering force. After a concerted effort, the Japanese fliers finally scored a crippling torpedo hit on Chicago (CA-29). When Louisville (CA-28) took the stricken cruiser in tow, Taylor helped to screen the retiring ships as they steamed out of range of enemy aircraft. The following day, more enemy planes appeared and attacked. After Chicago took four more torpedo hits, her crew and the warships covering her abandoned the heavy cruiser to her watery fate and returned to Efate.[1]

Feb. – April 1943

On 4 February, Taylor and the other ships of DesRon 21 were transferred to TF 67, Rear Admiral

Aloe (YN-1), and six coastal transports to Guadalcanal. The ships reached Tulagi on the 29th; and, while Kanawha discharged cargo, Taylor resumed operations at sea with Ainsworth's cruisers.[1]

On the nights of 4, 5, and 6 April, she joined them in sweeps up "the Slot" before being ordered back to Tulagi on the 7th to pick up Kanawha. When the destroyer was just about to enter Tulagi, a strong Japanese air raid cancelled her mission by severely bombing Kanawha before the old oiler could clear the harbor completely. With Kanawha disabled, Taylor rang up 30 knots and cleared the area via Sealark Channel. During her transit of the channel, the warship claimed the destruction of three enemy planes and hits on two others.[1]

For much of the month, Taylor escorted convoys in the Solomons and between those islands and Espiritu Santo. On 20 April, she rejoined TF 18. After a brief tender overhaul, the destroyer accompanied the cruisers up the "Slot" twice during the 10 days between 4 and 14 May to cover mining operations in Vella Gulf. During the second operation, conducted between the 11th and the 14th, she and the other warships bombarded enemy installations at Vila, Bairoko Harbor, and Enogai Inlet.[1]

May – July 1943

Between late May and early July, Taylor performed escort duty. On 25 May, she cleared Espiritu Santo with

Sangamon (ACV-26) until 6 July when she headed for Tulagi to report for duty with TF 31.[1]

For the next four months, Taylor supported the invasions of the central Solomons. In July, she supported the

Shunji Izaki.[1]

Following the

Munda area of New Georgia.[1]

Aug. – Sept. 1943

On 30 July, Taylor cleared Guadalcanal in company with a troop transport convoy bound for New Caledonia. She was detached en route to Nouméa and ordered to join TF 37 at Efate. On 11 August, Nicholas,

subchasers (Cha-5 and Cha-12), an equal number of torpedo boats, and one barge before retiring. Forty-eight hours later, the four American destroyers returned once again to the area northwest of Vella Lavella to seek out enemy barge traffic. They encountered nothing except enemy aircraft and dodged heavy bombing attacks throughout the evening. Over the next nine days, Taylor and her division mates made eight more trips up the "Slot"—one of which was to cover mining operations off the west coast of Kolombangara—but saw little or no action.[1]

Taylor departed Guadalcanal and the Solomons on 28 August to escort

Titania (AKA-13) to Nouméa. Then—after a ten-day repair, rest, and relaxation period in Sydney, Australia—the destroyer escorted a troop transport convoy from Nouméa to Guadalcanal. She returned to the Tulagi-Purvis Bay area on 30 September and resumed support of the subjugation of Vella Lavella. By this time, the Japanese had already begun to evacuate bypassed Kolombangara and would soon make the decision to do the same at Vella Lavella. Thus, Taylor and other destroyers continued their nocturnal forays up the "Slot" to interdict barge traffic.[1]

Vella Lavella, Oct. 1943

On the night of 2 October, she,

Battle of Vella Lavella. While south of New Georgia escorting a convoy, Taylor, Ralph Talbot, and La Valette (DD-448) were ordered to join O'Bannon, Chevalier, and Selfridge already embroiled in a slugfest with nine Japanese destroyers covering the Vella Lavella evacuation group. During the ensuing battle, the American and Japanese forces traded torpedo salvoes and gunfire, as well as exchanged destroyer Chevalier for Yūgumo. During the battle, Selfridge also received a torpedo hit and O'Bannon ran into Chevalier's stern, but neither was lost. Taylor went alongside Selfridge in the closing moments of the battle and evacuated most of her crew while a skeleton crew began their successful attempt to save the damaged destroyer. She then screened the two cripples while they limped back down the "Slot" to Purvis Bay.[1]

On 17 October, Taylor departed the southern Solomons with the other members of DesDiv 41. She and her consorts escorted a convoy of troop transports to Efate, where they reported for duty with

Aldebaran (AF-10) to Efate.[1]

Nov. – Dec. 1943

Taylor and her division were reassigned to the

Gilberts assault. During the actual landings and occupations, she protected her charges from enemy aircraft and submarines while their planes took off to help those of the escort carriers maintain air supremacy over the islands. Following the Gilberts operation, she steamed with the carriers during raids on the Marshall Islands. Near the end of those forays, she teamed up with La Vallette and USS San Francisco (CA-38) to splash two of four enemy Nakajima B5N "Kates" which attacked the task group just after noon on 4 December.[1]

Feb. – May 1944

Following those raids, Taylor was ordered back to the United States for extensive yard work, arriving in

7th Fleet.[1]

The warship reached Milne Bay on 7 April and, the following day, headed on to

3d Fleet in the Solomons, dropped off the convoy, and departed again to screen another convoy to New Caledonia.[1]

May – Aug. 1944

On 24 May, she stood out of Nouméa in company with DesDiv 41 to return to the Solomons and arrived at her new base of operations,

Blanche Harbor, on 27 May. Taylor operated out of that port in the northern Solomons and Bismarcks area until early August. On the night of 28–29 May, she patrolled off Medina Plantation on New Ireland while her sister ships bombarded the area to neutralize mobile coastal guns. From 1 to 6 June, she operated with DesDiv 41 conducting antisubmarine operations. During the week from 7 to 14 June, Taylor and the other ships of DesDiv 41 joined TG 30.4 for hunter-killer antisubmarine operations. On the 10th, she depth-charged an enemy submarine, forced it to the surface, and damaged it heavily with 5 inch and 40-mm fire. The submarine submerged again, and Taylor made two more depth charge runs and netted a probable kill. She returned to Blanche Harbor on the 15th and operated in that vicinity until the first week in August.[1]

On 5 August, she changed operational command from the 3d Fleet to the 7th Fleet. She began her duty with that fleet with a practice bombardment of the

Netherlands East Indies on 15 September. For the remainder of the month, she acted as fighter director ship and as a unit of the invasion force's antisubmarine and antiaircraft screen. The destroyer also escorted convoys to the landing area until mid-October.[1]

Oct. – Dec. 1944

Between 18 and 24 October, Taylor was a unit of the screen for the second reinforcement echelon for the

Petrof Bay (CVE-80). Frequently, she helped fend off Japanese air attacks.[1]

On 29 October, she joined TG 77.2 and departed the area of

Leyte on 28 December to prepare for the invasion of Luzon.[1]

Jan. – June 1945

Taylor departed Leyte Gulf on 4 January 1945 in the screen for the cruisers in the covering force. The next day, the destroyer sighted two torpedoes running toward her formation. After giving the submarine alarm, Taylor launched a depth-charge attack on the enemy submarine—a midget. Following those attacks, she rammed the small submarine and sent it on its last dive. During the Allied approach to Lingayen Gulf and in the days following the landings, the Japanese subjected Taylor and her sister ships to a series of heavy air raids. Taylor's antiaircraft gunners assisted in splashing at least two of the attackers. Through the end of January, the warship screened the cruisers and the escort carriers on patrol west of Luzon.[1]

From early February through mid-June 1945, Taylor operated out of

Cebu Island
, where she joined Boise (CL-47), Phoenix (CL-46), Fletcher (DD-445), Nicholas, Jenkins (DD-447), and Abbot (DD-629) in laying down a heavy pre-landing bombardment.[1]

After a short two-day sightseeing visit to

Tawi Tawi on a raft. On 27 April, Taylor and her sister ships reached the vicinity of the invasion—Tarakan, a small island located just off the eastern coast of Borneo and north of Makassar Strait. She operated in that area until 3 May and delivered a preinvasion bombardment and call fire. On 3 May, two days after the actual landings, she departed Tarakan to resume duty in the Philippines, where for the remainder of the month she conducted training operations.[1]

June – Nov. 1945

In mid-June, Taylor rejoined the 3d Fleet at Leyte Gulf and, for the remainder of the war, screened various units of that fleet. During the latter part of the month, she screened aircraft carriers operating south of

Honshū until 3 August when she joined the screen of one of the fast carrier task groups, TG 38.4. On 8 August, she resumed duty with the logistics group for five days. On the 13th, Taylor rejoined TG 38.4 just in time to be a part of the last offensive actions directed at Japan.[1]

Following the cessation of hostilities on 15 August, she patrolled off Honshū with the fast carriers. Admiral William Halsey, commander of the

3rd Fleet ordered that the destroyers from DesRon 21 be present in Tokyo Bay
for Japan's surrender "because of their valorous fight up the long road from the South Pacific to the very end." On 23 August, Taylor and her old sisters Nicholas and O'Bannon formed the screen of Missouri (BB-63), and as such she was one of the first American warships to enter Tokyo Bay, arriving on 29 August.[1] The destroyer was present at the surrender ceremony conducted on board Missouri on 2 September and carried Allied war correspondents to and from the ceremony. She operated in the Far East when she departed Tokyo Bay. On 7 October, she docked at Okinawa and picked up troops returning to the United States. On 18 October the Taylor dropped off her passengers at Portland, Oregon and arrived in San Francisco on 1 November and began preparations for inactivation. On 31 May 1946, the destroyer was decommissioned and placed in reserve at San Diego.[1]

1951 – 1953

After four years of inactivity, Taylor moved to the

Yokosuka, Japan, before joining TF 77 on 16 June to screen the carriers during air operations off the Korean coast.[1]

During the five months that she spent in the Far East, Taylor drew several different assignments. Initially, she operated with the fast carriers and conducted bombardments of enemy-held positions along the coasts of Korea. During the second week in July, she returned to Yokosuka for upkeep and then went to sea again for exercises which included several weeks of hunter-killer operations. On 1 August, the escort destroyer rejoined TF 77 and, in September, stood blockade watch off Wonsan for three weeks. Her blockade duty at Wonsan was far from passive for, on numerous occasions, she was called upon to shell enemy shore batteries and lines of transportation and to screen minesweepers during daily sweeps of the harbor. Late that month, Taylor headed south for a tour of duty on the Taiwan Strait Patrol during which she made a weekend port call at Hong Kong. In late October, the escort destroyer returned north to the western coast of Korea where she patrolled with two British warships, the carrier HMS Glory (R62) and the cruiser HMS Birmingham (C19). On 21 November, Taylor returned to Yokosuka, completing the first leg of her voyage home.[1]

After conducting patrols in the

USS Bairoko (CVE-115) and HMS Ocean (R68) off the western coast of Korea. For the most part, she screened the carriers during air operations; however, on two occasions, she patrolled close to the enemy-held shoreline to discourage the North Koreans from attempting to take offshore islands held by United Nations forces. She returned to Sasebo on 1 June for 11 days of upkeep before heading for Okinawa and two weeks of antisubmarine warfare (ASW) training. On 25 June, Taylor returned to Japan at Yokosuka, but she departed again almost immediately for duty with the Taiwan Strait Patrol. During that assignment, she visited Hong Kong once again as well as Kaohsiung, where she trained sailors of the Republic of China Navy. The escort destroyer returned to Yokosuka on 20 July and, after two days of voyage repairs, departed the Far East. She arrived in Pearl Harbor on 31 July and, the following day, entered the naval shipyard there for a three-month overhaul.[1]

Taylor's return to Pearl Harbor coincided very closely with the formal end to hostilities in Korea. The armistice came on 27 July 1953 when she had just passed the midpoint of her voyage—five days out of Yokosuka and four days from Pearl Harbor. While she saw some action during her two Korean War deployments, they occurred during the relatively quiet, final two years of the conflict. Her subsequent deployments, while they included both duty off Korea and on the Taiwan Strait Patrol, were entirely peaceful in nature until the expansion of the American role in the Vietnamese civil war in 1965.[1]

1954 – 1962

In the five years between 1 March 1954 and 1 March 1959, Taylor completed five more deployments to the western Pacific. During each, she conducted training exercises and made goodwill visits to Far Eastern ports. When not in the Orient, she conducted normal operations out of Pearl Harbor. During her sixth post-Korean War deployment in 1959 and 1960, she visited Australia for the celebration commemorating the victory at the

nuclear tests conducted in the upper atmosphere. In October, she returned to Hawaii to begin a repair period which saw her through the end of 1962. During that year, she reverted to the classification of destroyer and was re-designated DD-468 on 7 August 1962.[1]

1962 – 1965

Local operations in the Hawaiian Islands occupied the remainder of 1962 and the first six months of 1963. On 4 June 1963, the destroyer stood out of Pearl Harbor with a hunter/killer group bound for duty with the 7th Fleet. During this deployment to the Far East, Taylor called at

drydock for a three-month overhaul. In July she resumed operations in Hawaiian waters.[1]

Those operations continued throughout most of the fall of 1964. On 23 November, the destroyer cleared Pearl Harbor in company with

Yorktown
(CVS-10) and Thomason (DD-746) to return to the Orient. The task unit steamed via Midway Atoll and, on 3 December, made port at Yokosuka, Japan. Four days later, she put to sea for two weeks of combined antiaircraft/ antisubmarine warfare exercises conducted with
Hancock
(CVA-19) and Strauss (DDG-16) near Okinawa. On 19 December, the warship returned to Japan at Sasebo and remained there through the holidays and into the New Year.[1]

On 4 January 1965, Taylor cleared Sasebo and rejoined Yorktown and Thomason for a voyage to Hong Kong. The three ships remained in the

British Crown Colony for five days before clearing port for a series of special operations conducted in the Philippine Sea. At the conclusion of that duty, she put into Subic Bay on 24 February. After four days in the Philippines, Taylor headed back to Sasebo, where she arrived on 3 March. Exactly two weeks later, the destroyer got underway for the western portion of the South China Sea. She arrived off the coast of Vietnam on 21 March and patrolled there for the following five weeks. On 27 April, Taylor headed back to Yokosuka for a brief stop—from 3 to 6 May—before returning to Hawaii. The destroyer reentered Pearl Harbor on the 13th and conducted local operations in Hawaiian waters. On 6 December, Taylor entered the drydock for another overhaul.[1]

1965 – 1967

The destroyer left the dock in mid-January 1965 and stood out of Pearl Harbor on 7 February and, with the other ships of DesDiv 111, shaped a course for the western Pacific. The warship reached Yokosuka 10 days later and spent eight days undergoing voyage repairs. On 25 February, she departed Yokosuka to join Task Group 70.4 off the coast of Vietnam the following day. She patrolled Vietnamese waters until the Ides of March, when she headed north to patrol the Taiwan Strait. During her stay in the area around Taiwan, she visited Kaohsiung. Her relief arrived on 12 April, and Taylor steamed off to Hong Kong for a five-day port call. On the 21st, she returned to Yankee Station to resume operations in support of American and South Vietnamese forces ashore. Among other tasks, she brought her main battery to bear on the enemy and rendered naval gunfire support between 28 April and 1 May. She conducted upkeep at Sasebo in May and ASW drills from 26 May to 10 June before resuming patrols in the Taiwan Strait on the 11th ( during operation Sand Pan she started to tie up at Da Nang then incoming we quickly pulled away and were request to render gun fire on co-ordnance given one shot hit objective then we sail north for more Sand Pan duty). She cleared the area again on 5 July, rejoined TG 70.4 on 7 July, and put into Yokosuka the following day. After a week of preparations, the warship departed Yokosuka to return to Pearl Harbor, where she arrived on 22 July.[1]

On 2 August 1965, Taylor began a tender availability period alongside Prairie (AD-15) which lasted through the end of the month. Following a short cruise for gunnery practice, Taylor commenced a restricted availability which lasted until late in November. During the first two weeks in December, the destroyer made a round-trip voyage to Pago Pago, American Samoa. She returned to Pearl Harbor on 16 December for holiday leave and upkeep. During the first three months of 1967, the ship conducted local operations around Hawaii, made repairs, and generally prepared to return to the Far East in late spring.[1]

Following an Operational Readiness Inspection in mid-April, she cleared Pearl Harbor on the 18th to join the 7th Fleet in the Orient. On 25 April, she changed operational control from the

Indochina on the 12th, and, after a five-day stop at Hong Kong and another tour of duty in the Gulf of Tonkin, she returned to Yokosuka on 11 October. Five days later, she shaped a course back to Hawaii.[1]

1968 – 1969

Taylor arrived in Pearl Harbor on 23 October, and the destroyer commenced her regular overhaul on 11 December. Repairs and modifications occupied her time through the first three months of 1968. The warship completed overhaul on 22 March and conducted sea trials during the first week in April. Later, engineering problems forced the postponement of further operations until the end of the month. At that time, she began preparations for refresher training. The warship conducted refresher training in May and June, then got underway for

Kahoolawe Island and then entered Pearl Harbor on the 17th. Three weeks later, the destroyer cleared Pearl Harbor on 5 August and set course for the Gulf of Tonkin.[1]

After fueling stops at Midway, Guam, and Subic Bay, she arrived on station off Vietnam on 21 August. Taylor did plane guard duty for

Intrepid
(CVS-11) for a day; then steamed off with the carrier and destroyers Maddox (DD-731) and Preston (DD-795) toward Sasebo. She returned to the Gulf of Tonkin on 5 September and conducted air and surface surveillance as well as antisubmarine warfare exercises in addition to planeguarding for the carriers. On the 19th, the destroyer moved in closer to the coast to provide naval gunfire in support of troops ashore. That duty continued until 6 October when she cleared the combat zone to return to Subic Bay for repairs, supplies, and ammunition. On 20 October, the warship took up where she left off and began a week pounding various targets in Vietnam. That line period was followed by visits to Cebu City and Subic Bay in the Philippines. During late November and early December, she resumed duty on the gunline. On 4 December, she cleared the combat zone and set a course through the Luzon Strait to Yokosuka, where she arrived on the 12th. She spent Christmas in Yokosuka, but returned to Yankee Station by New Year's Day 1969.[1]

In mid-January, she departed Vietnamese waters for the last time. After stops at Subic Bay;

Navy list on 2 July 1969.[1]

Lanciere (D 560)

She was transferred to the

Italian Navy the same year as Lanciere D 560 until January 1971. She was subsequently cannibalized to maintain her sister ships still serving in the Italian Navy.[1]

Honors

Taylor earned a

most decorated US ships of World War II. In addition, she earned two battle stars for her Korean War service, and five[1] battle stars for her Vietnam War service.[1]

See also

See USS Taylor for other ships of the same name.

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac ad ae af ag ah ai aj ak al am an ao ap aq ar as "Taylor II (DD-468)". Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. Navy Department, Naval History and Heritage Command. 28 June 2019.
  2. ^ "USS Taylor (DD DDE 468) - The Ship". USS Taylor Reunion Association. Retrieved 24 January 2016.

External links

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