 USSGwin underway in 1941 | |
| History | |
|---|---|
 United States | |
| Name | Gwin |
| Namesake | William Gwin |
| Builder | Boston Navy Yard |
| Laid down | 1 June 1939 |
| Launched | 25 May 1940 |
| Commissioned | 15 January 1941 |
| Honours & awards |  5 ×battle stars |
| Fate | Sunk atBattle of Kolombangara, 13 July 1943 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class & type | Gleaves-classdestroyer |
| Displacement | 1,630 tons |
| Length | 348 ft 3 in (106.15 m) |
| Beam | 36 ft 1 in (11.00 m) |
| Draft | 11 ft 10 in (3.61 m) |
| Propulsion |
|
| Speed | 37.4 knots (69 km/h) |
| Range | 6,500 nmi (12,000 km; 7,500 mi) at 12 kn (22 km/h; 14 mph) |
| Complement | 16 officers, 260 enlisted |
| Armament |
|
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USSGwin (DD-433), aGleaves-classdestroyer, was the third ship of theUnited States Navy to be named forLieutenant CommanderWilliam Gwin, anAmerican Civil War officer who commanded river boats againstConfederate forces inAlabama.
Gwin waslaunched on 25 May 1940 by theBoston Navy Yard; sponsored by Mrs. Jesse T. Lippincott, second cousin of Lt.Comdr. Gwin. The destroyer wascommissioned at Boston on 15 January 1941.Gwin was sunk by a torpedo launched by a Japanese destroyer during theBattle of Kolombangara in theSolomon Islands Campaign in July 1943.
Gwin completedshakedown training on 20 April 1941 and underwent final alterations in the Boston Navy Yard before conducting a neutrality patrol throughout theCaribbean Sea. On 28 September 1941 she assumed identical service in the North Atlantic from her base atHvalfjörður,Iceland. At the beginning of February 1942, she returned to the Eastern Seaboard through thePanama Canal toSan Francisco, California.
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On 3 April 1942Gwin stood out ofSan Francisco Bay as a unit of the escort for theaircraft carrierHornet, which carried 16ArmyB-25 bombers to be launched in abombing raid on Tokyo.AdmiralWilliam F. Halsey in carrierEnterprise rendezvoused with the task force offMidway, andGeneralJimmy Doolittle's famed raiders launched the morning of 18 April when some 600 miles east ofTokyo. The task force made a rapid retirement toPearl Harbor, then sped south 30 April 1942, hoping to assist carriersYorktown andLexington in theBattle of the Coral Sea. That battle concluded before the task force arrived, andGwin returned to Pearl Harbor on 21 May for day and night preparations to meet the Japanese in the crucialbattle for Midway Atoll.
Gwin departed Pearl Harbor 23 May 1942 withMarine reinforcements for Midway and returned to port 1 June. Two days later she raced to join theFast Carrier Task Force searching for the approaching Japanese fleet off Midway. The battle was all but concluded by the time she arrived on the scene on 5 June 1942. Four large Japanese aircraft carriers and acruiser rested on the bottom of the sea along with some 250 enemy planes and their crews.Gwin sent a salvage party to assist in attempts to save carrierYorktown, heavily damaged by two bomb and twotorpedo hits in the Battle of Midway. As attempts continued 6 June 1942, a Japanese submarine rockedYorktown with torpedo hits and sank the destroyerHammann which was secured alongside the carrier. The salvage party had to abandonYorktown and surviving men were rescued from the sea, The carrier capsized and sank the morning of 7 June 1942.Gwin carried 102 survivors of the two ships to Pearl Harbor, arriving 10 June 1942.
Gwin departed Pearl Harbor 15 July 1942 to operate in the screen of fast carriers who pounded Japanese installations, troop concentrations and supply dumps asMarinesinvaded Guadalcanal in theSolomons on 7 August 1942. In the following monthsGwin convoyed supply and troop reinforcements toGuadalcanal. Joining a cruiser–destroyertask force, she patrolled "the Slot" of water between the chain of Solomon Islands to intercept the "Tokyo Express" runs of supply, troop and warships supporting Japanese bases in the Solomons.
On 13 November 1942,Gwin and three other destroyers formed withbattleshipsSouth Dakota andWashington to intercept an enemy bombardment–transport force approaching the Solomons. The following night the task group found the enemy offSavo Island: the battleshipKirishima, four cruisers, 11 destroyers, and four transports, TheNaval Battle of Guadalcanal was intensely fought.Gwin found herself in a gun duel between thelight cruiserNagara and two Japanese destroyers (Ayanami andUranami), versus the four American destroyers. She took a shell hit in her engine room. Another shell struck her fantail and enemy torpedoes began to boil around the destroyers.
Though shaken by explodingdepth charges,Gwin continued to fire at the enemy as long as any remained within range. In a short time the other three American destroyers were out of action; two sinking andBenham surviving with her bow partially destroyed.Gwin attempted to escort the nose-lessBenham toEspiritu Santo,New Hebrides Islands. But when all hope was lost, survivors transferred toGwin who sankBenham's abandoned hulk with gunfire. The survivors were landed 20 November atNouméa,New Caledonia, andGwin was routed onward to Hawaii, thence to theMare Island Navy Yard, arriving 19 December 1942.
Having been overhauled,Gwin returned to the Southwest Pacific on 7 April 1943 to escort troop reinforcements and supplies throughout the Solomons. On 30 June she served with the massive amphibious assault force converging onNew Georgia under the leadership ofRear AdmiralRichmond K. Turner. She supported the landings of 30 June on the north coast ofRendova Island, 5 miles (8.0 km) acrossBlanche Channel fromMunda. Immediately after the first wave of troops hit Rendova Beach, Munda Island shore batteries opened fire on the four destroyers patrolling Blanche Channel.Gwin was straddled by the first salvo. A moment later a shell exploded on her main deck aft, killing three men, wounding seven and stopping her after engine. The half-dozen enemy shore batteries were soon silenced asGwin laid down an effective heavysmoke screen to protect the unloading transports. When aerial raiders appeared, her gunners shot down three. Rendova Island was soon in American possession. It served as an importantmotor torpedo boat base to harass Japanese barge lines and a base for air support in the Solomons.
Gwin escorted a reinforcement echelon from Guadalcanal to Rendova, then raced to the "Slot" 7 July to rescue 87 survivors of cruiserHelena, lost in theBattle of Kula Gulf. She then joined a cruiser–destroyer task force under Rear AdmiralWalden L. Ainsworth to head off a formidable "Tokyo Express" force headed through the Solomon Islands to land troops atVila. TheBattle of Kolombangara was joined in the early hours of 13 July and Japanese light cruiserJintsu quickly slid to the bottom, the victim of smothering gunfire and torpedo hits. However, four Japanese destroyers, waiting for a calculated moment when Ainsworth's formation would turn, launched 31 torpedoes at the American formation. Hisflagship,Honolulu, cruiserSt. Louis andGwin, maneuvering to bring their main batteries to bear on the enemy, turned right into the path of the"long lance" torpedoes.[1] Both cruisers received damaging hits but survived.Gwin received a torpedo hit amidships in her engine room and exploded. The destroyerRalph Talbot took offGwin's crew after their damage control efforts failed and she had to bescuttled. Two officers and 59 men perished with the destroyer.
Gwin received fivebattle stars for service inWorld War II.
This article incorporates text from thepublic domainDictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be foundhere.
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