_underway_on_14_January_1958_(NH_107175).jpg) USSCassin Young underway on 14 January 1958 | |
| History | |
|---|---|
 United States | |
| Name | Cassin Young |
| Namesake | Cassin Young |
| Builder | Bethlehem Shipbuilding |
| Laid down | 18 March 1943 |
| Launched | 12 September 1943 |
| Sponsored by | Mrs. Eleanor Young |
| Commissioned | 31 December 1943 |
| Decommissioned | 28 May 1946 |
| Recommissioned | 8 September 1951 |
| Decommissioned | 29 April 1960 |
| Stricken | 1 December 1974 |
| Identification |
|
| Honours & awards | SeeAwards |
| Status | Museum ship at the formerBoston Navy Yard inBoston, Massachusetts. |
| Badge | _Insignia.png) |
| General characteristics | |
| Class & type | Fletcher-classdestroyer |
| Displacement | 2,050 tons |
| Length | 376.4 ft (114.7 m) |
| Beam | 39.6 ft (12.1 m) |
| Draft | 13.8 ft (4.2 m) |
| Propulsion |
|
| Speed | 36.5 knots (67.6 km/h; 42.0 mph) |
| Range | 6,500 nmi (12,000 km; 7,500 mi) at 15 knots (28 km/h; 17 mph) |
| Complement | 325 |
| Armament |
|
 | |
  | |
| Location | Charlestown Navy Yard,Boston, Massachusetts |
| Coordinates | 42°22′20″N71°03′16″W / 42.37222°N 71.05444°W /42.37222; -71.05444 |
| Built | 1943 |
| Architect | Bethlehem Steel Corp. |
| NRHP reference No. | 86000084[1] |
| Added to NRHP | 14 January 1986 |
USSCassin Young (DD-793) is aFletcher-classdestroyer of theUnited States Navy named forCaptainCassin Young (1894–1942), who was awarded theMedal of Honor for his heroism at theJapanese attack on Pearl Harbor and killed in theNaval Battle of Guadalcanal in the fall of 1942.
Cassin Young (DD-793) waslaunched 12 September 1943 byBethlehem Shipbuilding,San Pedro, Los Angeles; sponsored by Mrs. Eleanor Young; andcommissioned on 31 December 1943.
After serving inWorld War II, including theBattle of Leyte Gulf and theBattle of Okinawa,Cassin Young was decommissioned, but was reactivated during theKorean War and continued in active service until 1960. She is preserved today as amemorial ship, berthed atBoston Navy Yard inMassachusetts, across from theUSS Constitution. She was designated aNational Historic Landmark in 1986 as one of only four survivingFletcher-class destroyers still afloat.
TheUSS Cassin Young can now be visited seasonally free of charge in the Boston Navy Yard atBoston National Historical Park.
Cassin Young arrived atPearl Harbor 19 March 1944 to complete her training before sailing on toManus, where she joined the massiveFast Carrier Task Force (then called TF 58, at other times called TF 38, depending on whether the overall organization was called5th Fleet or3rd Fleet). On 28 April, this force sortied for air attacks on Japanese strongholds atTruk,Woleai,Satawan, andPonape, during whichCassin Young operated as apicket ship, assigned to warn her group of possible enemy counterattack.
She returned toMajuro, and then Pearl Harbor for further training before reporting toEniwetok on 11 June to join the screen ofescort carriers assigned to covering duty in the invasion ofSaipan four days later. In addition to radar picket and screening duty, she was also called upon for inshore fire support. As the battle for Saipan raged ashore, escort carriers ofCassin Young's group launched attacks on the island, as well as sorties to neutralize enemy air fields onTinian,Rota, andGuam. Similar operations supporting the subsequent assaults on Tinian and Guam claimed the services ofCassin Young until 13 August, when she returned to Eniwetok to replenish.
_underway_in_1944.jpg)
Between 29 August and 2 October 1944,Cassin Young guarded the carriers of Task Group 38.3 as strikes were flown from their decks to hit targets onPalau,Mindanao, andLuzon in support of the assault on the Palaus, stepping-stone to the Philippines. Only four days after her return from this mission toUlithi,Cassin Young sailed on 6 October with the same force on duty in the accelerated schedule for the Philippines assault. First on the schedule were air strikes onOkinawa, Luzon, andFormosa; these led to the furiousFormosa Air Battle of 10 to 13 October, during which the Japanese tried to destroy the carrier strength of the imposing TF 38. On 14 October, thecruiserReno was struck by akamikaze, which wounded five ofCassin Young's men with machine gun fire.Cassin Young aided in shooting down several aircraft in this attack.
On 18 October 1944, TF 38 took position east of Luzon to launch strikes immobilizing enemy air fields there in preparation for theassault on Leyte two days later. After standing by to render support if called upon during the initial landings,Cassin Young's group began to search for the enemy forces known to be moving towardLeyte Gulf on 23 October, and next day moved in towardSan Bernardino Strait, ready to launch strikes. In the most vigorous and successful air attack mounted by the Japanese during the Leyte operation, at 09:38 on 24 October, an enemy bomb struck the aircraft carrierPrinceton, andCassin Young rejoined TG 38.3 for the dash northward to attack theJapanese Northern Force. This developed on 25 October into theBattle off Cape Engaño, a series of air strikes in which four Japanese carriers and a destroyer were sunk.
Cassin Young continued operations in support of the Leyte conquest, as her carriers continued to range widely, striking at enemy bases on Okinawa, Formosa, and Luzon. With Ulithi as her base, the destroyer screened carriers during the January 1945South China Sea raid as their aircraft pounded away at Formosa, Luzon,Camranh Bay,Hong Kong,Canton, and theNansei Shoto in their support for the assault on Luzon. A brief overhaul at Ulithi prepared her for the operations supporting theinvasion of Iwo Jima with air strikes onHonshu and Okinawa, the bombardment ofParece Vela, and screening offIwo Jima itself during the initial assault on 19 February.
Cassin Young returned to Ulithi, where she was attached toTask Force 54 (TF 54)for theinvasion of Okinawa, for which she sailed from Ulithi 22 March 1945. After screening heavy ships in the massive pre-invasion bombardment,Cassin Young moved inshore to support the activities ofunderwater demolition teams preparing the beaches. On invasion day itself, 1 April, the destroyer offered fire support in the assault areas, then took up radar picket duty. As the Japanese air arm had been decimated by this point in the war, the lack of trained and experienced pilots led to its most extensive deployment ofkamikaze attacks during this battle; on 6 April,Cassin Young experienced her firstkamikaze action, rescuing the survivors of two nearby destroyers that were sunk.[2]
On 12 April, a massive wave ofkamikazes came in at midday.Cassin Young's accurate gunfire had aided in shooting down five aircraft, but a sixth crashed high-up into her foremast, exploding in midair only 50 feet (15 m) from the ship. Surprisingly only one man was killed, TM3cT Robert Dean "Bobby" Moore, 19, of Enid, Oklahoma. 58 were wounded, many seriously.Cassin Young, although damaged, made it toKerama Retto under her own power.[3] After repairs there and at Ulithi, she returned to Okinawa on 31 May, and resumed radar picket duty.
As thekamikaze attacks continued,Cassin Young had respite only during two briefconvoy escort voyages to theMarianas. On 28 July, her group was again a prime target for the Japanese, with one destroyer sunk and another badly damaged bykamikazes. During the engagement,Cassin Young assisted in shooting down two enemy aircraft, and rescued survivors from the sunken ship. At 0200 30 July,[4] she was struck for the second time, when a low-flying aircraft hit her starboard side, striking her fire control room. A tremendous explosion amidships was followed by fire, but the crew managed to restore power to one engine, get the flames under control, and had the ship underway for the safety of Kerama Retto within 20 minutes. Twenty-two men were killed and 45 wounded. For her determined service and gallantry in the Okinawa radar picket line she was awarded theNavy Unit Commendation.
Cassin Young clearedOkinawa 8 August and headed home for repairs. Arriving home in San Pedro, California she was fully repaired, and then decommissioned and placed in reserve inSan Diego on 28 May 1946.[5]
Recommissioned 8 September 1951, she cleared San Diego on 4 January 1952 for her new home port,Newport, Rhode Island. In September 1952 she entered Dry Dock #1 in theBoston Navy Yard for the first of four major overhauls she would undergo in this shipyard. At this time the ship was updated to its current configuration. TwoHedgehog anti-submarine (ASW) launchers and two torpedo carriages for theMark 32 torpedo were added, with one21 inch (533 mm) quintuple torpedo tube mount removed. Also, four40 mm Bofors twin mounts were replaced by two quadruple mounts. The forward pole mast was replaced by a tripod mast to accommodate improved radar and electronics systems. Local operations and refresher training in the Caribbean preceded a period of antisubmarine exercises offFlorida from 7 May to 12 June 1953. Her first tour of duty with the6th Fleet in the Mediterranean took place from 16 September to 30 November 1953. After another period of local operations, and exercises in the Caribbean Sea early in 1954, she cleared Newport on 3 May for a round-the-world cruise, which included exercises with the7th Fleet in the western Pacific, patrols offKorea, and good-will visits to Far Eastern and Mediterranean ports. She returned to Newport on 28 November 1954. Her operations from that time until 1960 included training exercises in the Caribbean and off the eastern seaboard as well as tours of duty in the Mediterranean in 1956, winter 1956–57, and 1959, and a round of visits to ports of northern Europe in 1958. During that last overseas deployment an issue was discovered with her rudder that put her into dry dock in France. At that point the repair costs outweighed retaining the aging ship. Consequently, on 6 February 1960 she arrived atNorfolk Naval Shipyard to be decommissioned. The ship was put into long-term storage at thePhiladelphiaNaval Inactive Ship Maintenance Facility 29 April 1960.[5]
_arriving_in_Boston_1978.jpg)
Cassin Young was struck from theNaval Vessel Register on 1 December 1974. The US Navy has permanently loanedCassin Young to theNational Park Service, to be preserved as a floating memorial ship berthed at the Boston Navy Yard, part of theBoston National Historical Park (BNHP) in Boston, Massachusetts, across fromConstitution. She arrived on 15 June 1978 and was opened to the public in 1981. The ship is maintained and operated by the National Park Service[5] and Cassin Young Volunteers.[6] She was listed on theNational Register of Historic Places and designated aNational Historic Landmark in 1986, as a well-preserved example of theFletcher-class destroyer, the most numerous class of destroyer produced by the United States during World War II.[1][7]
In late July 2010,Cassin Young closed to the public in preparation for dry-docking. On 9 August 2010, she was moved into Historic Dry Dock #1 in BNHP for the first time in 30 years for some much needed repairs to her hull. On 4 September 2012, the ship was closed to the public to allow contractors to make final repairs to the hull. She returned to her position at Pier 1 on 14 May 2013. On 4 June 2013, she was moved to the Boston Harbor Shipyard and Marina in East Boston while repairs were made to her berth in Charlestown.[citation needed] By September 2013, she had returned to her museum berth.
Three otherFletcher-class ships are preserved as memorials:
This article incorporates text from thepublic domainDictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be foundhere. This article incorporatespublic domain material fromCassin Young (DD-793) at theNaval Vessel Register.
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