_in_the_Suez_Canal_on_9_February_1945_(80-G-367829).jpg) USSBaldwin in the Suez Canal, Egypt, on 9 February 1945 | |
| History | |
|---|---|
 United States | |
| Name | Baldwin |
| Namesake | Charles H. Baldwin |
| Builder | Seattle-Tacoma Shipbuilding Corporation |
| Laid down | 19 July 1941 |
| Launched | 14 June 1942 |
| Commissioned | 30 April 1943 |
| Decommissioned | 20 June 1946 |
| Stricken | 1 June 1961 |
| Fate | Scuttled, 5 June 1961 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type | Gleaves-classdestroyer |
| Displacement | 1,630 tons |
| Length | 348 ft 4 in (106.17 m) |
| Beam | 36 ft 0 in (10.97 m) |
| Draft | 17 ft 6 in (5.33 m) |
| Propulsion |
|
| Speed | 35 knots (65 km/h) |
| Range | 6,500 nautical miles (12,000 km; 7,500 mi) at 12 kn (22 km/h; 14 mph) |
| Complement | 16 officers, 260 enlisted |
| Armament |
|
USSBaldwin (DD-624), was aUnited States NavyGleaves-classdestroyer, in service from 1943 to 1946. She was the only ship of the U.S. Navy to be named forCharles H. Baldwin, an 1864Medal of Honor recipient.
Baldwin waslaid down on 19 July 1941 bySeattle-Tacoma Shipbuilding Co.,Seattle, Washington andlaunched on 14 June 1942, sponsored by Mrs. Ida E. Crawford, daughter of ActingMaster's Mate Baldwin. The ship wascommissioned on 30 April 1943 and reported to theUnited States Atlantic Fleet.
Aftershakedown training along the West Coast, the destroyer put to sea fromSan Francisco, California, on 1 July, bound for the East Coast. Theflagship of Destroyer Division 36 (DesDiv 36),Baldwin led her division intoNorfolk, Virginia, on 19 July and operated along the east coast until getting underway fromNew York on 13 August in the screen of aconvoy bound forCasablanca, Morocco. Similar arrangements occupied her time until late January 1944, when she resumed duty along the Atlantic seaboard of the United States.
Some three months later, on 17 April 1944,Baldwin headed for Europe in the screen forArkansas,Nevada, andTuscaloosa. The destroyer arrived atPlymouth, England, on 28 April and began a routine that combined patrols in British waters with preparations for theinvasion of Normandy.
_underway_at_sea_on_12_March_1944_(80-G-426227).jpg)
On 5 June, she departed theIsle of Portland in company with other units of the Western Naval Task Force. As a unit of the gunfire support group during the assault,Baldwin assisted the troops ashore with naval gunfire. In return, she suffered two hits from a light-calibershore battery onD-Day, but sustained only slight damage. On 9 June,Baldwin joinedFrankford in repulsing an attack byGermanE-boats and received credit for destroying one of them. She operated off the coast of France until 15 July when she returned to England.
Three days later, the destroyer departed Plymouth in the screen of a 50-ship convoy bound for North Africa and arrived inBizerte, Tunisia, on 28 July. She operated in the western Mediterranean mostly betweenOran, Algeria, andNaples, Italy before arriving offSaint-Tropez on 15 August, D-Day for theinvasion of southern France.Baldwin served there as an element of the Antisubmarine and Convoy Control Group, Task Group 80.6 (TG 80.6) which screened follow up convoys between Oran andsouthern France. On 23 September, she concluded her part in that operation and departed Oran in company with her division mates bound for the United States.
Upon her arrival at New York on 3 October, the destroyer resumed operations in American coastal waters. On 21 January 1945,Baldwin put to sea from Norfolk to rendezvous with thecruiserQuincy which carriedPresidentFranklin D. Roosevelt on the first leg of the trip to the"Big Three" conference atYalta. She returned to New York on 27 February and began four months of operations in American waters. During that time,Baldwin escortedBon Homme Richard to thePanama Canal Zone and operated off the east coast in the antisubmarine screens of theaircraft carriersBoxer andCard.
On 24 June, the destroyer sailed from New York on her way to the Pacific. Steaming in company withNelson, she visitedGuantánamo Bay inCuba;Balboa in the Canal Zone andSan Diego before arriving atPearl Harbor on 12 August. A month later, the warship joined Task Force 55 (TF 55) atOkinawa to prepare for the occupation ofSasebo, Japan, and participated in that operation between 20 September and 2 October. By 7 October,Baldwin was atPusan,Korea, supporting forces sweepingmines along theChinese and Korean coasts, a task at which she labored for the remainder of 1945.
_being_refloated_at_Montauk_Point%2c_New_York_(USA)%2c_on_28_April_1961_(NH_99108).jpg)
The ship returned to the United States in January 1946 and operated along the east coast through the spring of that year. She was placed out of commission atCharleston, South Carolina, on 20 June 1946 and remained in reserve there until January 1961 when she was transferred toAtlantic Reserve Fleet, Boston. Later ordered moved toPhiladelphia,Baldwin ran aground about 2 miles (3.2 km) southwest ofMontauk Point,Long Island, in the early afternoon of 16 April 1961 when the towline parted during the passage to Philadelphia.Windlass successfully pulled her free, though one ofWindlass' crew was killed in an accident.
Baldwin was considered not worth repairing. Her name was struck from theNavy List on 1 June 1961, and she was scuttled on 6 June 1961, not far from where she went aground.
Baldwin earned threebattle stars for her World War II service.
This article incorporates text from thepublic domainDictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be foundhere.
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Shipwrecks and maritime incidents in 1961 | |
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