_underway_on_6_December_1950_(24746297).jpg) USSConway (DDE-507) on 6 December 1950 | |
| History | |
|---|---|
 United States | |
| Namesake | William Conway |
| Builder | Bath Iron Works |
| Laid down | 5 November 1941 |
| Launched | 16 August 1942 |
| Commissioned | 9 October 1942 |
| Decommissioned | 15 November 1969 |
| Fate | Sunk as a target 26 June 1970 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class & type | Fletcher-classdestroyer |
| Displacement | 2,050 tons |
| Length | 376 ft 6 in (114.7 m) |
| Beam | 39 ft 8 in (12.1 m) |
| Draft | 17 ft 9 in (5.4 m) |
| Propulsion | 60,000 shp (45 MW); 2 propellers |
| Speed | 35knots (65 km/h; 40 mph) |
| Range | 6500nm at 15 kn (12,000 km at 28 km/h) |
| Complement | 336 |
| Armament |
|
USSConway (DD/DDE-507), aFletcher-classdestroyer, was the second ship of theUnited States Navy to be named forWilliam Conway, who distinguished himself during theCivil War.[1]
Conway was laid down 5 November 1941, launched 16 August 1942 byBath Iron Works,Bath, Maine, sponsored by the wife of Captain Frank E. Beatty, U.S.N., Naval aide to the Secretary of Navy in part of the largest mass launch to that point in the war shipbuilding program and the largest in Maine's history in which five BritishOcean type freighters, the LibertySS Ethan Allen,USS Cony andConway were launched.[2][3] The ship wascommissioned 9 October 1942.[1]
Conway clearedNorfolk 5 December 1942 forNouméa, andEfate and arrived 13 January. She put to sea 27 January as her force sailed to meetJapanese ships evacuating troops fromGuadalcanal. On 29 and 30 January, her force came under heavy enemy air attack in theBattle of Rennell Island.Conway splashed several enemy planes, and rescued survivors ofChicago. Throughout February, she patrolled betweenEspiritu Santo and Guadalcanal, and between 4 and 6 March, participated in the bombardment ofVila Stanmore and a shipping sweep ofKula Gulf.[1]
_underway_in_the_South_Pacific%2c_in_August_1943_(80-G-56813).jpg)
From 10 March 1943Conway had patrol duty and conducted training from Efate. She sailed from Efate 15 June in support of theRendova landings, escorting supply ships, then had the same duty for theNew Georgia operations, and conducted bombardments ofKolombangara andMunda. Between 26 July and 12 August, she operated out ofPurvis Bay, escorting fueling units and making night raids on Japanese shipping "upthe Slot". She sailed from Purvis Bay 13 August to take part in theVella Lavella operation, escorted LSTs and supply ships in to the beach, and then took up patrol north and west of the island. She returned to Guadalcanal 30 August escorting transports carrying the FirstMarine Raiders, and until 12 September conducted night raids on enemy barges off Guadalcanal.[1]
After overhaul in theFiji Islands and at Sydney, Australia,Conway returned to Southwest Pacific operations in October 1943. On 27 October she participated in the initial landings in theTreasury Islands, and then in landings onChoiseul. She supported the landings atBougainville on 29 October, and until 10 February 1944, she continued operations in support of troops ashore on Bougainville, escorting reinforcementconvoys and firing on shore targets. Between 11 and 17 February, she participated in the landings onGreen Island, then returned to her Bougainville operations.[1]
Between 28 February 1944 and 17 March,Conway bombarded targets inNew Britain andNew Ireland by day, and conducted searches for enemy shipping by night in the waters off these islands, and until 4 May, continued operations in theSolomons on escort duty, patrol, and in exercises withcruisers.[1]
On 8 May, atMajuro,Conway joined the5th Fleet. She sailed from Majuro 14 May forPearl Harbor andKwajalein, where she loaded troops for theSaipan operation, landed them 15 June under heavy gunfire, and served as close fire support and screening vessel off the island. After replenishing atEniwetok,Conway joined in the preassault bombardment ofGuam andTinian, remaining to cover thelandings at Tinian. She continued to operate in theMariana Islands campaign until 12 August, when she cleared for San Francisco and overhaul.[1]
Conway returned toUlithi 21 November 1944 to join the7th Fleet. She put to sea at once to patrol inLeyte Gulf, join in an antishipping sweep inCamotes Sea, and fire in the bombardment ofPlompon andOrmoc Bay. After replenishing atKossol Roads,Conway covered theMindoro landings, then patrolled west of Mindoro in theSulu Sea until 23 December, when she put into Manus.[1]
Conway sailed again 31 December for the initial landings onLingayen,Corregidor, andParang, and continued operating inPhilippine waters until June 1945. On 7 June,Conway sailed fromSubic Bay in the distant covering group for theBrunei Bay operation. She coveredminesweeping and fired in preassault bombardment atBalikpapan, guarded anunderwater demolition team as it prepared the beach, and conducted bombardment during the actual landings. She rested briefly atLeyte. and then took part in the landings atSaragani Bay,Mindanao.[1]
With the close of the war,Conway began patrolling east of Leyte Gulf, and supported minesweeping operations in theYellow Sea, visitingOkinawa andQingdao. She put intoJinsen,Korea, from 20 to 24 September 1945, and then sailed in theSouth andEast China Seas asflagship of the forces lifting Chinese troops fromIndo-China toFormosa andManchuria until 29 December, when she sailed from Shanghai forSan Diego, New York City, andCharleston, arriving 13 March.Conway was placed out of commission in reserve 25 June 1946, berthed at Charleston.[1]
Conway was recommissioned atBoston 8 November 1950, following her conversion to an escort destroyer (DDE-507). After training, she departed Norfolk 14 May 1951 forSasebo, arriving 15 June. She escorted a convoy fromShandong to Manchuria, participated in hunter-killer exercises off Okinawa, and screenedTask Force 77 (TF 77) off the coast of Korea. Between 14 and 28 October,Conway fired in bombardments atKolgochi-Ri,Hodo Pando,Hungnam, andWonsan, and patrolled in these areas. She departed Sasebo 31 October for theSuez Canal, crossed theMediterranean and the Atlantic, and returned to Norfolk 20 December.[1]
Conway operated from her home port at Norfolk on coastwise andCaribbean training operations and on 16 September 1953 sailed for her firstNorth Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) exercise, in the North Atlantic, continuing to a tour of duty in the Mediterranean with the6th Fleet, returning to Norfolk 8 February 1954. Her training concentrated onantisubmarine warfare, and in 1955 and 1957 she returned to the Mediterranean, in 1957 patrolling the eastern Mediterranean and theDardanelles during the crisis inJordan. In the early fall of 1957, she visited ports of northern Europe while joining in NATO exercises, and from January to March 1958, tested new antisubmarine weapons offKey West.[1]
In April 1958,Conway put to sea with TF Alfa, a group experimenting with antisubmarine tactics, and through the remainder of 1958, 1959, and 1960 spent most of her time at sea with this force. In June 1960, she visitedQuebec City, Canada, and in December of that year participated in the rescue of survivors of a merchant tanker which had broken in two offCape Hatteras.
Conway reverted toDD-507 30 June 1962.[1]
TheConway was deployed in Wes Pac Vietam from July 1966 through December 1966.
Conway was stricken from theNaval Vessel Register 15 November 1969. She was sunk as a target 26 June 1970.[1]
Conway was awarded 13battle stars for herWorld War II service and two forKorean War service.[1]
Shipwrecks and maritime incidents in 1970 | |
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