 | This article has multiple issues. Please helpimprove it or discuss these issues on thetalk page.(Learn how and when to remove these messages) (Learn how and when to remove this message)
|
_anchored_off_New_York_City_(USA)%2c_in_1939_(NH_81173).jpg) USSBenham (DD-397) | |
| History | |
|---|---|
 United States | |
| Name | Benham |
| Namesake | Andrew Ellicot Kennedy Benham |
| Builder | Federal Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company |
| Laid down | 1 September 1936 |
| Launched | 16 April 1938 |
| Commissioned | 2 February 1939 |
| Honors and awards |  5 ×battle stars |
| Fate | Scuttled following a torpedo hit from theJapanese destroyer Uranami during theBattle of Guadalcanal,[1] 15 November 1942 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class & type | Benham-classdestroyer |
| Displacement | 2,250 tons (full) |
| Length | 340 ft 9 in (103.86 m) |
| Beam | 35 ft 6 in (10.82 m) |
| Draft | 12 ft 10 in (3.91 m) |
| Propulsion |
|
| Speed | 38.5knots (71.3 km/h; 44.3 mph) |
| Range | 6,500 nmi (12,000 km; 7,500 mi) at 12 knots (22 km/h; 14 mph) |
| Complement | 251 officers and enlisted |
| Armament |
|
USSBenham (DD-397) was thelead ship ofher class ofdestroyers and the second ship of theUnited States Navy to be named forAndrew Ellicot Kennedy Benham. She missed theAttack on Pearl Harbor, being an escort for theaircraft carrierUSS Enterprise on her way toMidway Atoll at the time. She also served offHawaii during theDoolittle raid, rescued survivors from several ships, and operated during theBattle of Midway and thelandings on Guadalcanal, among other missions. She wastorpedoed by theJapanese destroyer Uranami and rendered unusable, for which she was sunk at the end of 1942.
Benham waslaid down on 1 September 1936 byFederal Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company at their yard inKearny, New Jersey. The destroyer waslaunched on 16 April 1938 andsponsored by Mrs. A. I. Dorr, grandniece ofRear AdmiralBenham.Benham wascommissioned on 2 February 1939 withLieutenant CommanderT. F. Darden in command.
Assigned to theU.S. Atlantic Fleet,Benham patrolled offNewfoundland during most of 1939 and then shifted to theGulf of Mexico. Ordered to the Pacific, she arrived atPearl Harbor 14 April 1940. After alternating between Californian and Hawaiian waters, the destroyer served as an escort forEnterprise during the delivery ofMarine planes toMidway Atoll on 28 November to 8 December 1941, thus missing the Japaneseattack on Pearl Harbor.Benham served withEnterprise andSaratoga task forces off Hawaii and with Task Force 16 during theDoolittle raid on Tokyo, 8 to 25 April 1942. She continued operating with TF 16 through theBattle of Midway, 3 to 6 June, during which she rescued 720 survivors from the aircraft carrierYorktown and 188 from the destroyerHammann; landings onGuadalcanal andTulagi, 7 to 9 August, and theBattle of the Eastern Solomons, 23 to 25 August.
Benham joined Task Force 64 on 15 October as a part of the naval covering force off Guadalcanal. On 15 November, she took part in theNaval Battle of Guadalcanal, and alongside the US destroyersPreston,Walke, andGwin were attacked by the Japaneselight cruiser Nagara and the destroyersAyanami andUranami. Instantly,Walke was hit once by a six torpedo spread fired fromAyanami, blowing offWalke's bow as she sank stern last.Preston then exploded following gunfire damage fromNagara, before gunfire damage from bothAyanami andUranami disabledGwin (though she survived the battle and was later sunk by a mass torpedo spread at thebattle of Kolombangara, July 1943).[2]
Benham was then hit by a single torpedo, probably fromUranami, to her bow which severed everything forward of herbridge.Benham stayed afloat, making slow headway towards Guadalcanal during the 15th but, by 16:37, further progress was impossible and her crew abandoned ship.Gwin picked up the survivors, and scuttled the hulk at 19:38 by shell-fire.[2]
Benham received fivebattle stars for her service in World War II.
This article incorporates text from thepublic domainDictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be foundhere.
