_en_route_to_the_Mediterranean_Sea_on_8_February_1947.jpg) USSCompton | |
| History | |
|---|---|
 United States | |
| Name | Compton |
| Namesake | Lewis Compton |
| Builder | Federal Shipbuilding and Drydock Company |
| Laid down | 28 March 1944 |
| Launched | 17 September 1944 |
| Commissioned | 4 November 1944 |
| Decommissioned | 17 September 1972 |
| Stricken | 17 September 1972 |
| Fate | ToBrazil 27 September 1972 |
 Brazil | |
| Name | Mato Grosso |
| Namesake | Mato Grosso |
| Acquired | 27 September 1972 |
| Stricken | Stricken July 1990 |
| Fate | Stricken July 1990 and broken up for scrap. |
| General characteristics | |
| Class & type | Allen M. Sumner-classdestroyer |
| Displacement | 2,200 tons |
| Length | 376 ft 6 in (114.76 m) |
| Beam | 40 ft (12 m) |
| Draft | 15 ft 8 in (4.78 m) |
| Propulsion |
|
| Speed | 34 kn (63 km/h; 39 mph) |
| Range | 6,500 nmi (12,000 km; 7,500 mi) at 15 kn (28 km/h; 17 mph) |
| Complement | 336 |
| Armament |
|
USSCompton (DD-705), anAllen M. Sumner-classdestroyer, was named forLewis Compton, who served in active duty in the Navy duringWorld War I and Assistant Secretary of the Navy from 9 February 1940 to 13 February 1941.
Compton waslaunched on 17 September 1944 byFederal Shipbuilding and Drydock Co.,Kearny, New Jersey; sponsored by Mrs. L. Compton; andcommissioned on 4 November 1944.[1]
Compton cleared Norfolk 17 February 1945 for training at Pearl Harbor between 16 March and 5 April, when she sailed to escort ships toKwajalein andEniwetok. Sailing on toUlithi, she cleared forOkinawa on 20 April. As the operations there continued,Compton offered gunfire support to forces ashore and served in the antisubmarine and antiaircraft screens protecting shipping off the island. On 12 May she covered the occupation of nearby Tori Shima, and while returning to her station off Okinawa was attacked by a lone Japanese plane which she splashed.[1]
After repairs atLeyte from 17 May to 16 June 1945,Compton returned to Okinawa for continued operations until 4 July, when she sailed to escort a convoy toGuam, returning toLeyte Gulf on 10 July. For the remainder of the month, she screened ships training in the Gulf, then returned to Okinawa, where she lay at anchor in Buckner Bay until 25 August.[1]
Sent then to carry mail to the3rd Fleet at sea,Compton enteredSagami Wan on 28 August 1945.[1]
On 25 August 1945Compton got underway to deliver operational orders and intelligence material to ships of the 3rd Fleet operating off the entrance toTokyo Bay. Two days later while passing mail to thebattleshipIdaho, she collided with the starboard side ofIdaho, damaging several of her frames and plates and suffering small punctures to her side. She entered Sagami Wan to await thedestroyer tenderPiedmont. The tender arrived but before repairs could be begin both ships were ordered into Tokyo Bay. On 29 August 1945Compton entered Tokyo Bay and became the only fifth fleet ship to enter Tokyo Bay prior to the formal surrender.[citation needed]
For the next six months, she served on patrol in the western Pacific, and acted as planeguard while air organizations were redistributed throughout theFar East. She clearedYokosuka on 21 February 1946 forSan Pedro, California, arriving on 15 March. Two weeks later she sailed to join theAtlantic Fleet, raisingPortland, Maine on 16 April. After overhaul, she operated along the northeast coast and in the Caribbean until 3 February 1947, when she sailed for her first tour of duty in the Mediterranean.Compton returned to her home port,Newport, Rhode Island on 14 August 1947.[1]
Along with east coast operations,Compton cruised the Caribbean on intensive training and midshipmen cruises in the years that followed, as well as serving asschoolship and training members of theNavy Reserve. During her 1948-49 deployment to the Mediterranean, she had duty with theUnited Nations Palestine Patrol. She returned to the Mediterranean in 1951, and in the late summer of 1952 cruised in European waters inNATO "Operation Mainbrace." Assignment to duty with the6th Fleet in the Mediterranean came once more in 1953 and 1955, and in the spring of 1956,Compton exercised off Bermuda with ships of the BritishHome Fleet in NATO operation "New Broom V."[1]
During the summer of 1953, Compton was the flagship of Destroyer Squadron 8, and along with two cruisers, spent six weeks touring the Caribbean on amidshipman cruise carrying contract (reserve) midshipmen from universities around the country. The fleet of ten ships sailed from Norfolk and called at Coca Sola, Panama,Port of Spain, Trinidad, andGuantanamo Bay, Cuba and back to Norfolk.[citation needed]
Compton was serving atBahrain in thePersian Gulf in the fall of 1956 when theSuez Crisis erupted, and stood by to evacuate American civilians in the Persian Gulf and Red Sea areas should that become necessary. With theSuez Canal closed,Compton made her homeward passage by way ofMombasa,Durban, theCape of Good Hope,Simonstown,Recife, and Trinidad, returning to Newport on 8 January 1957. That fall, she again cruised off the British Isles in a series of NATO operations. From November 1957 to April 1958, she again served in the Mediterranean, the Persian Gulf and the Red Sea, and that summer cruised toRotterdam andBergen with midshipmen on board for training. From that time into 1960, her operations were coastwise and in the Caribbean, as she aided research and development projects, including major meteorological research and gave service to theFleet Sonar School atKey West. In August 1960Compton again sailed to the Mediterranean for duty in the 6th Fleet.[1]
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During 1968–9,Compton served in the1st Naval District (headquartered atBoston, Massachusetts) as a Naval Reserve training ship. She provided Naval Reserve enlistees in their first year of service at the ranks ofseaman,seaman apprentice, andseaman recruit with a two-week training cruise. The reserve cruises supplemented the "boot camp" training which was conducted atGreat Lakes,Great Lakes, Illinois. The ship's routine for the cruises was to leave Boston, rendezvous with another destroyer and a submarine off theNew England coast, performanti-submarine warfare exercises, and proceed toHalifax,Nova Scotia, Canada, for a brief "liberty", where theCanadian Navy would host sailors fromCompton in itsenlisted club. During these cruises, enlistees were given the opportunity to experience shipboard life, including firing the weapon systems such asHedgehog,depth charges, and 5-inch (127 mm) guns.
Compton wasdecommissioned on 17 September 1972. She was stricken from theNavy List on 27 September 1972.
Compton was transferred to Brazil on 27 September 1972. She served in theBrazilian Navy under the nameMato Grosso.
Mato Grosso was stricken in July 1990 and scrapped.
Compton received onebattle star for World War II service.[1]
This article incorporates text from thepublic domainDictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be foundhere.
