USS Van Valkenburgh
Van Valkenburgh in 1944
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History | |
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United States | |
Name | Van Valkenburgh |
Namesake | Franklin Van Valkenburgh |
Laid down | 15 November 1942 |
Launched | 19 December 1943 |
Commissioned | 2 August 1944 |
Decommissioned | 26 February 1954 |
Identification | DD-656 |
Fate | Transferred to Turkey, 28 February 1967 |
Stricken | 1 February 1973 |
Turkey | |
Name | İzmir |
Acquired | 28 February 1967 |
Stricken | 1987 |
Identification | D 341 |
Fate | Scrapped, 1987 |
General characteristics | |
Class and type | Fletcher-class destroyer |
Displacement | 2,050 tons |
Length | 376 ft 6 in (114.76 m) |
Beam | 39 ft 8 in (12.09 m) |
Draft | 13 ft 9 in (4.19 m) |
Propulsion |
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Speed | 38 knots (70 km/h; 44 mph) |
Range | 6,500 nautical miles (12,000 km; 7,500 mi) at 15 knots (28 km/h; 17 mph) |
Complement | 319 officers and enlisted |
Armament |
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USS Van Valkenburgh (DD-656) was a Fletcher-class destroyer of the United States Navy, named for Captain Franklin Van Valkenburgh (1888–1941), captain of the battleship Arizona when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor.
Van Valkenburgh was
World War II
Van Valkenburgh conducted trials and structural firing tests after her initial fitting-out period and, while returning from her gunnery tests on 7 August, received a request for help from the Army tug LT-18. The destroyer altered course and soon came across the disabled tug, with three barges laden with explosives in tow. Van Valkenburgh patrolled on various courses around LT-18, standing by to render assistance if necessary, until help arrived early on the 8th. Returning to Mobile, the destroyer continued the fitting-out process before getting underway for Bermuda on 20 August.
Van Valkenburgh conducted her shakedown training out of Great Sound, Bermuda, into late September and, on 26 September, headed for Charleston, South Carolina, and post-shakedown availability. Shifting to Hampton Roads soon thereafter, the destroyer conducted training evolutions before rendezvousing with the light cruiser Wilkes-Barre on 22 October.
Van Valkenburgh escorted that new light cruiser to the
, before arriving at Pearl Harbor on 17 November.Van Valkenburgh subsequently operated out of Pearl Harbor, engaging in an intensive slate of training activities. She made practice torpedo runs, antiaircraft firings, and shore bombardments—exercises occurring in such an endless parade that it moved a Van Valkenburgh sailor to write that "the real thing could be no more of a strain."
Battle of Iwo Jima
Van Valkenburgh trained in Hawaiian waters through the end of December 1944 and, after a tender availability alongside
The morning of 19 February dawned gray and wet as the force reached their objective. Van Valkenburgh soon commenced her patrols as part of the three-deep screen around the unloading transports and took her turn at firing gunfire support for the marines ashore. For a week off Iwo, the destroyer alternately screened, escorted, and bombarded.
As transports and freighters unloaded their holds and disembarked their mottle-garbed marines, Van Valkenburgh received orders to escort a group of empty ships back to the Marianas. After shepherding a group to Saipan, Van Valkenburgh returned to Iwo Jima at noon on 3 March. Five days later, she made another trip to Saipan, returning on 18 March to resume screening duties as escort for an amphibious group.
Battle of Okinawa
After joining that unit, Van Valkenburgh participated in landing rehearsals and exercises on neighboring
Van Valkenburgh's group was ordered to feint a landing on the southwest coast of the island to draw off the
"While opposition on land was slow in gathering", wrote Van Valkenburgh's ship's historian, "air opposition was immediate." As the destroyer made her sweep close inshore, a kamikaze attacked LST-884, a ship loaded with ammunition and an embarked detachment of marines. Fortunately, the plane carried no bomb, but holed the ship near the waterline forward, starting fires in the double bottom. Van Valkenburgh stood by LST-884 for eight hours, sending the stricken ship a fire and rescue party and fire-fighting equipment under the command of Lt. Comdr. W. Brown (attached to the staff of Capt. W. D. Chandler, screen commander embarked in Van Valkenburgh) to aid in fighting the blazes. Due in large part to the work of Brown's party, the fires were extinguished; and, in spite of an initially dangerous starboard list, LST-884 reached
On 4 April, Van Valkenburgh retired almost 100 miles (160 km) to the east of Okinawa with the feint group whose maneuvers had accomplished their purpose. That group remained as a floating reserve, occasionally detaching transports to disembark their needed troops and marines on Okinawa, until they sailed back to the Marianas, reaching Saipan on 15 April. Four days later, Van Valkenburgh returned to Okinawa, and spent the initial part of that tour in the inner screen, patrolling the transport area just off the beach. "The first night ...", the destroyer's commanding officer recounted, "... we had eighteen raids and not one of them turned out to be friendly."
As Van Valkenburgh subsequently entered the anchorage at Kerama Retto, a group of small, rocky islands 15 miles (24 km) off the southwestern coast of Okinawa, her men saw the after-effects of other ships' encounters with the "Special Attack Corps", or, the kamikaze. After seeing the devastation wrought by the suicide planes, Van Valkenburgh headed out to report and relieve J. William Ditter on radar picket station 14 (RP-14), as support ship to Wickes. The radar picket was 72 miles (116 km) to the northwest of Okinawa, and was, in the words of Van Valkenburgh's commanding officer, "more nearly in the direction of Japan than anywhere else." The proximity to Japanese air bases soon became evident. Within six hours of her assuming station, the local combat air patrol (CAP), controlled by Wickes, had shot down 21 planes. Van Valkenburgh herself accounted for another and assisted in destroying a second. Van Valkenburgh also went to the aid of a second kamikaze victim, LCS-15, which was hit by a flaming suicider and sank immediately. The destroyer picked up the ship's survivors; and her doctor, assisted by his pharmacist's mates, worked into the wee hours of the morning on the wounded, some of them badly burned.
Over half of the following 63 days which the destroyer spent in Okinawan waters were spent on one of the 15 stations surrounding the island itself. The radar picket ships not only provided an early warning of the approach of enemy aircraft or surface units but also drew fire. The Japanese concentrated their kamikazes on the picket line of destroyers and smaller units like LCIs and LCSs. During those weeks, no one rested. Few, if any, of the crew even bothered to undress when attempting sleep. Most slept fully clothed, awaiting the general quarters alarm. Van Valkenburgh experienced at least two general quarters alarms per night; often four or five times between 21:00 and dawn. As soon as it was light,
On 28 April, within a week of her rescue of the survivors of LCS-15, Van Valkenburgh made her third "Good Samaritan" trip. Twiggs and Daly, on RP-1, drew the ire of a determined group of suiciders. Daly suffered heavy casualties when a kamikaze, plummeting downward, exploded just before it was about to crash the bridge on the port side. Among those killed by the shrapnel and flying debris was the ship's doctor. Van Valkenburgh went alongside Daly and transferred her doctor, Lt. M. E. Smale, to her stricken sister ship, along with Pharmacist's Mate 3d Class Charles B. Reed, to attend the wounded. Since neither Daly nor the other damaged ship required any further assistance, Van Valkenburgh returned to her station and later embarked Doctor Smale and Pharmacist's Mate Reed at Kerama Retto.
Between her tours on the radar picket stations, Van Valkenburgh received upkeep back at Kerama Retto and conducted one shore bombardment mission. It was a one-night assignment at
The busiest time for Van Valkenburgh came on the evening of 17 May, when, in company with Douglas H. Fox and a group of four LCIs, she was on patrol on RP-9. The CAP had just returned to base, and the group wondered when they could secure from the evening alert when suddenly the word came: "Several planes approaching from the west—very low—on the deck." Over the next 30 minutes, a "melee" took place. "Apparently", Van Valkenburgh's commanding officer recalled, "we were marked for 'liquidation' that night as RP-10 had been on the night of the sinking of the Little." With "everybody for himself", Van Valkenburgh twisted and turned, maneuvering while firing with every gun that could be brought to bear. At one point, five blips appeared on the radar screen within a 4-mile (6.4 km) radius.
Two Japanese planes splashed—victims of Van Valkenburgh's direct fire—one only 50 yards (46 m) off the fantail. Douglas H. Fox splashed two more, and the pair of destroyers teamed up for a fifth kill. Unfortunately for Douglas H. Fox, one kamikaze found its mark, crashing that destroyer's forward gun mount. Van Valkenburgh closed her stricken sister and rendered what aid she could. While thus engaged, she diverted her attention long enough to lay down a barrage to discourage a seventh Japanese plane "who appeared to be calculating his chances in on the attractive target of the two slow-moving destroyers." At a range of 12 miles (19 km), the plane suddenly disappeared from the radar screen, and Van Valkenburgh claimed that her antiaircraft fire had scored again. After assisting Douglas H. Fox, Van Valkenburgh patrolled the area to search for possible missing men. The night prowl proved fruitless, but the ship was later relieved to hear that only one man of the stricken destroyer's complement remained unaccounted for.
Subsequently, Van Valkenburgh was deployed to RP-16, in company with Robert H. Smith, and spent a relatively quiet patrol until her radar picked up the approach of Shubrick, en route to relieve Robert H. Smith. While Shubrick was still some 10 miles (16 km) away and as Van Valkenburgh was about to secure from general quarters, the latter's radar picked up two low-flying bogies, 10 miles to the north and closing. Van Valkenburgh and Robert H. Smith cleared for action, but the pair of planes turned and headed for the newcomer, Shubrick. Van Valkenburgh passed a warning to her sister ship, but too late. At 00:10 on 29 May, one of the two enemy aircraft crashed Shubrick astern. Van Valkenburgh's lookouts saw the splash of fire in the pre-dawn darkness and heard the "crump" of the explosion.
Communicating her intentions to Robert H. Smith, Van Valkenburgh veered off and headed for her damaged sister. She arrived to find that the kamikaze had blown a 30-foot (9.1 m) hole in the starboard side, and one of the stricken destroyer's own depth charges had exploded, causing further damage. With the situation looking grim, Van Valkenburgh came alongside at 01:13, taking on board survivors—some of whom had been badly wounded. "Gear of all types was carried, dumped, and hurled across from the sinking destroyer", as she transferred classified material and all unnecessary personnel. Again Van Valkenburgh's Doctor Smale transformed the wardroom into a dressing station to minister to the casualties. "Once more our decks and passageways bore the stretchers of the dead and dying", wrote Van Valkenburgh's commanding officer. In the wardroom, "plasma flowed in life-giving torrents." With flooding controlled and fires extinguished, Shubrick remained doggedly afloat. ATR-9 soon arrived on the scene and towed the crippled destroyer to Kerama Retto. Van Valkenburgh had performed "Good Samaritan" duty for the fourth time.
The attacks, however, did not cease. On the evening of 5 June, while on RP-11 in company with Cassin Young and Smalley, Van Valkenburgh came under a concentrated torpedo attack. About dusk on that day, four or five planes closed, low from the west and heavy with bombs and torpedoes. Van Valkenburgh's 40 millimeter Bofors batteries hurled out shell after shell, peppering the skies with flak. One bomber launched its torpedo—the "fish" passing 100 yards (91 m) ahead of the ship—but did not emerge from the attack. The destroyer's 40 millimeter barrage slapped it into the sea. The second torpedo dropped, which was aimed in Van Valkenburgh's direction, passed astern.
Following that last incident, Van Valkenburgh's sailors noted a definite slackening in the Japanese attacks. The massive
Final operations
Late on 24 June, Van Valkenburgh finally left the forward areas, bound for the
Early in July, she put to sea as part of a surface force consisting of the new
Neither ships nor planes inquired or resisted the task force's progress, as the ships set a course back to Okinawa after a five-day patrol, 200 miles (320 km) off Shanghai. The task force commander offered consoling thoughts: "If the lack of action is a disappointment at least we have the satisfaction of knowing that the East China Sea was under 'our control.'"
Subsequently, returning to Buckner Bay, Van Valkenburgh lay at anchor there when, at 21:00 on 10 August 1945, "all Hell broke loose." Something akin to a
On 7 September, Van Valkenburgh stood out of Buckner Bay in company with
On 15 September, as Van Valkenburgh steamed into Nagasaki harbor, every available vantage point topside was occupied by men silently taking in the incredible devastation wrought by the
For the next six weeks, Van Valkenburgh remained in Japanese waters, carrying out two courier trips to
1950–1954
On 31 August 1950, some two months after North Korea invaded South Korea, the Navy ordered Van Valkenburgh's activation in light of the recently erupting Far Eastern crisis. Accordingly, Van Valkenburgh was recommissioned at Charleston on 8 March 1951. She trained off the Virginia Capes and up the coast to Nova Scotian waters, as well as into the Caribbean, from Guantanamo Bay to Culebra, Puerto Rico.
Van Valkenburgh subsequently departed
Leaving Yokosuka in her wake on 22 June, Van Valkenburgh spent the next 36 days at sea with Task Force 77 (TF 77), screening the fast carriers as they launched air strikes against Communist forces ashore. Putting into
Van Valkenburgh relieved
Over the ensuing days, Van Valkenburgh expended over 2,400 rounds of ammunition against a variety of targets—ranging from houses to bunkers, artillery positions to sampans, trenches to tents and supply dumps, frequently using air spotters. She conducted her patrol operations in company with ROK YMS-5H. On one occasion—9 August 1952—Van Valkenburgh dueled with a communist shore battery. Taking 10 rounds of 76-millimeter projectiles from Suwan Dan, the destroyer returned immediate counterbattery and slow destructive fire, using airspot, expending 51 rounds of 5-inch projectiles.
After being relieved by
, but returned to the Formosa Strait for a second stint of patrol duty.Then, after a week's upkeep at Subic Bay, from 10 to 17 October, Van Valkenburgh headed for the United States. She completed a circumnavigation of the globe, sailing via Singapore, Federated Malay States; Colombo, Ceylon and Ras Tanura, Aden; the Suez Canal—transiting that waterway on 14 November; Naples and Genoa, Italy; Cannes, France; and Gibraltar; reaching Norfolk, Virginia, on 12 December.
After remaining at Norfolk through the Christmas and New Year's holidays, Van Valkenburgh operated in the
TCG İzmir (D 341)
Transferred on loan to the Government of
İzmir was stricken and broken up for scrap in 1987.
Awards
Van Valkenburgh won the
References
- This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be found here.