 | This articleneeds additional citations forverification. Please helpimprove this article byadding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "USS Stack" – news ·newspapers ·books ·scholar ·JSTOR(October 2021) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
_off_the_Mare_Island_Naval_Shipyard%2c_California_(USA)%2c_27_May_1944_(19-N-67025).jpg) Stack off of Mare Island Navy Yard, California, 27 May 1944. | |
| History | |
|---|---|
 United States | |
| Namesake | Edward Stack |
| Builder | Norfolk Navy Yard |
| Laid down | 25 June 1937 |
| Launched | 5 May 1938 |
| Commissioned | 20 November 1939 |
| Decommissioned | 29 August 1946 |
| Stricken | 28 May 1948 |
| Fate | Sunk 24 April 1948 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class & type | Benham-classdestroyer |
| Displacement | 1500 tons |
| Length | 341 ft 4 in |
| Beam | 35 ft 6 in |
| Draft | 14 ft 4 in |
| Propulsion |
|
| Speed | 36.5knots |
| Complement | 176 officers and enlisted |
| Armament |
|
USSStack (DD-406) was aBenham-classdestroyer in theUnited States Navy. She was named forEdward Stack.
Stack was laid down on 25 June 1937[1] by theNorfolk Navy Yard,Portsmouth, Virginia;[1] launched on 5 May 1938;[1] sponsored by Miss Mary Teresa Stack; and commissioned on 20 November 1939,Lieutenant CommanderIsaiah Olch in command.
Following shakedown which lasted until 4 April 1940, including a cruise to theWest Indies andRio de Janeiro,Stack proceeded to the west coast and thence to Pearl Harbor where she operated with thePacific Fleet until June 1941. She then returned to the east coast for an overhaul at thePhiladelphia Navy Yard.Stack began patrolling offBermuda late in November with theNeutrality Patrol. After the United States entered World War II,Stack continued to patrol in the Caribbean until 22 December when she was assigned to escortWasp from Bermuda toNorfolk, Virginia.
On the 28th, she sailed from Norfolk as screen forLong Island, She arrived atCasco Bay,Maine, two days later. She refueled and got underway forArgentina in the screen forLong Island andPhiladelphia.
Arriving inArgentia on New Year's Day 1942, she was assigned to patrol duty. On 15 January 1942, she picked up two survivors from SSDayrose which had been torpedoed the night before offCape Race.
From 17 to 24 January,Stack escorted a convoy which was transporting the first American Expeditionary Force troops to Ireland. En route fromHvalfjörður toReykjavík,Iceland, on 29 January, she was ordered on a submarine sweep after theUSCGC Alexander Hamilton, operating with Task Force (TF) 15, was torpedoed. Steaming at 25 knots on a night sweep,Stack sighted a submarine close aboard. She returned to the point where it had been seen and made two depth charge attacks on sound contact.Sterett came to assist and also made two attacks. The submarine, U-132, suffered damage to a diesel compressor and was forced to return to France for repairs.
Stack departed Iceland on 31 January and operated out of Casco Bay until 17 March. That morning, patrolling with zero visibility, she collided withWasp. Since her number one fireroom was completely flooded, she steamed to the Philadelphia Navy Yard and underwent repairs until May.
On 5 June,Stack joined TF 37 consisting ofWasp,Quincy,San Juan,Lang,Wilson,Buchanan, andFarenholt and headed forSan Diego, California. The force arrived there on 19 June, was redesignated TF 18, and ordered toNukuʻalofa,Tongatapu Island, on the 25th. Arriving on 18 July, the ships spent five days preparing for battle, and sailed for the invasion ofGuadalcanal,Solomon Islands.
Stack covered the Guadalcanal-Tulagi landings with Destroyer Squadron (DesRon) 12 and was then assigned independent escort and patrol duty in the Guadalcanal area. On 16 January 1943, she was ordered to return to the west coast, via Pearl Harbor, for yard availability.Stack entered theMare Island Navy Yard on 2 February. Following repair, overhaul and sea trials, she sailed on the 23d to escort SSMatsonia toPearl Harbor and continue on toEfate,New Hebrides Islands.
Stack operated out of Efate from 20 April until late May. During this time, she made several patrols off Guadalcanal. She then screenedMaryland covering the southern supply routes. Assigned to TF 31 in July and August, she had her first opportunity to "slug it out" with the enemy.Stack was under attack byJapanese aircraft on 17 and 18 July nearNew Georgia Island. On the night of 6 and 7 August, in what would be known as theBattle of Vella Gulf,Stack, with other units of Task Group (TG) 31.2, was searching for enemy traffic alongGizo andKolombangara island. At 2335,Dunlap reported that she had made radar contact at 19,000 yards. The group tracked the enemy and identified them as four ships in column. The American ships opened the battle with a successful torpedo attack, followed by gunfire and more torpedoes. This resulted in the sinking of three Japanese destroyers,Arashi,Hagikaze, andKawakaze, and damage to the fourth. The destroyers were loaded with troops who were to have been landed at Kolombangara as reinforcements for the Japanese garrison there. There were no American losses, and the task group retired toTulagi.
Stack joined TF 38 to participate in raids againstRabaul during November. On the 11th, two carrier attacks had already been launched when radar picked up a flight of incoming bogies. The actual attack began at 1355 whenStack commenced firing on a group of 20Vals coming in on her starboard bow. Thereafter, antiaircraft fire was continuous from the task force against all types of Japanese planes. The attacking force numbered about 90 planes.Stack downed one and had two more probable kills.
Stack then operated with TG 50.4 during the assault and landings onTarawa andMakin Island in theGilberts. She was a unit of the group screening the carriers which were providing fighter cover to the landing forces, when it was attacked by enemy bombers on 20 November, the day of the landings.
Stack then steamed west of the Gilberts to participate in the combined aerial and shore bombardment ofNauru Island on 8 December 1943.
In late January and early February 1944,Stack, as part of TF 58, participated in the bombardment and assault onKwajalein andMajuro Atolls in theMarshalls. She was one of five destroyers in the Bombardment Support Group, which included threebattleships, that shelledRoi-Namur and adjacent islands. On 17 and 18 February, the task force, now including nine carriers, carried out raids against the Japanese bastion atTruk and, on the 20th, againstJaluit Atoll.
Stack then departed the Central Pacific for Pearl Harbor and for the west coast of the United States. She was overhauled and held sea trials from 11 March to 22 June when she weighed anchor for Pearl Harbor andMilne Bay.
Stack arrived at Milne Bay on 15 July and began operations as a unit of TG 76.7. She laid a mine field offWewak,New Guinea, and, on the night of 31 August and 1 September, shelled Kairiru Island in the Wewak area.Stack was part of the assault force that landed troops onMorotai,North Moluccas, on 15 September.
Stack was attached to TG 78.4 which enteredLeyte Gulf on 17 October. She spent the next two days performing pin-point fire support in theDinagat Island landing area. On the 20th, she, in company with Lang and five YM's, performed mine sweeping operations and provided antiaircraft support for landings in thePhilippines onPinaon Island.
Stack, with TG 78.5, sortied fromSansapor, New Guinea, on 30 December 1944 bound forLingayen Gulf to support the assault and landing at "Blue Beach",Luzon. During the period from 5 to 12 January 1945, she provided antisubmarine and antiaircraft cover for various units and call fire on the beaches.Stack spent the next three weeks escorting convoys between Leyte and Lingayen Gulfs.
On 8 February 1945,Stack departed San Pedro for the Solomon Islands and a period of upkeep, training, logistics, and exercises which were to last until mid-March. She sailed fromPurvis Bay on the 15th; moored at Ulithi for a week; and, on 27 March, steamed for theRyūkyūs with TF 53.Stack arrived offOkinawa on 1 April, "L-Day", and began her assigned duties as an antisubmarine and antiaircraft patrol ship. There were numerous enemy planes the next two days, and she fired on several. On the 5th, she was ordered toSaipan and thence to Ulithi where she joined TU 94.18.12 on 13 April for the return voyage to Okinawa.
Arriving atHagushi on the 21st,Stack was assigned to patrol duty west ofZampa Misaki for the remainder of the month. She then patrolled southeast of Okinawa to cover the Sakashima Group during May and early June.
Stack reported toLouisville on 15 June 1945 and was directed to screen that vessel to Pearl Harbor.Stack had boiler trouble en route which forced her to undergo tender availability at Pearl Harbor until late July. She stood out of Pearl on the 27th underway for Eniwetok, Saipan, Okinawa, andGuam. On 28 August, she was en route from Guam to Truk Atoll with Brigadier GeneralLeo D. Hermle, USMC, and various other Navy and Marine Corps officers on board for a preliminary conference with Japanese military authorities regarding the surrender of their forces. The conference was held on 30 August, andStack returned to Guam. She remained in theMarianas until ordered toIwo Jima on 16 September.Stack relievedCummings on 19 September, atHaha Jima, as Commander, Naval Occupation Forces. She returned to the Marianas and remained in the area until 15 December when she weighed anchor for Pearl Harbor and the west coast.
Stack arrived at San Diego on 30 December 1945 for stripping and reduction of her personnel. She sailed two weeks later for Pearl Harbor and ultimate disposal. She was assigned to Joint Task Force 1 as a target forOperation Crossroads, theatomic bomb tests to be held in the Marshall Islands.Stack arrived atBikini Atoll on 29 May 1946. She survived the bomb tests of July and August and was decommissioned in the Marshalls on 29 August 1946.Stack was sunk by gunfire nearKwajalein on 24 April 1948 and struck from the Navy List on 28 May.[citation needed]
Stack received 12battle stars for World War II service.
This article incorporates text from thepublic domainDictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be foundhere.
