_underway_in_1969.jpg) USSPrichett (DD-561) underway in 1969 | |
| History | |
|---|---|
 United States | |
| Name | Prichett |
| Namesake | James M. Prichett |
| Builder | Seattle-Tacoma Shipbuilding Corporation |
| Laid down | 20 July 1942 |
| Launched | 31 July 1943 |
| Commissioned | 15 January 1944 |
| Decommissioned | 10 January 1970 |
| Stricken | 10 January 1970 |
| Identification | Hull number: DD-561 |
| Fate | Transferred to Italy, 17 January 1970 |
 Italy | |
| Name | Geniere |
| Acquired | 17 January 1970 |
| Stricken | 1975 |
| Identification | Pennant number: D 555 |
| Fate | Scrapped in 1975 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type | Fletcher-classdestroyer |
| Displacement | 2,050 long tons (2,080 t) |
| Length | 376 ft 6 in (114.76 m) |
| Beam | 39 ft 8 in (12.09 m) |
| Draft | 17 ft 9 in (5.41 m) |
| Propulsion | 60,000 shp (45,000 kW); 2 propellers |
| Speed | 35knots (65 km/h; 40 mph) |
| Range | 6,500 nmi (12,000 km; 7,500 mi) at 15 knots (28 km/h; 17 mph) |
| Complement | 319 |
| Armament |
|
USSPrichett (DD-561), was aFletcher-classdestroyer of theUnited States Navy.
James M. Prichett was born inCenterville, Indiana in 1836. He graduated from theUnited States Naval Academy in 1857. Prior to theCivil War he served aboard theUSS Mississippi on theChina Station, and inUSS Richmond on theMediterranean Station.
Assigned to theWashington Navy Yard in 1861, Prichett joined the Naval forces on theMississippi River in 1862. On 4 July 1863, while commanding thegunboatTyler, he participated in, and won praise for, effective action in repulsing a superiorConfederate force during thebattle of Helena,Arkansas. He also commandedmonitorUSS Mahopac during the war. After the war he sailed with AdmiralDavid Farragut's expedition toRussia and, in 1869, returned to the Pacific Squadron.Lieutenant Commander Prichett died in 1871 while attached to receiving shipUSS Vermont at theBrooklyn Navy Yard.
Prichett was laid down 20 July 1942 by theSeattle-Tacoma Shipbuilding Co.,Seattle, Washington;launched 31 July 1943, sponsored by Mrs. Orville A. Tucker; andcommissioned 15 January 1944.
Following shakedownPrichett sailed, 1 April 1944, forMajuro, thence toManus where she joined thebattleships ofTask Force 58 (TF 58). On the 28th, Task Group 58.3 (TG 58.3) sortied and, rendezvousing with the fastcarriers, steamed northeast. On the 29th and 30th, they blastedTruk and, on 1 May, poundedPonape. Then, the force retired to Majuro, whencePrichett returned toPearl Harbor. There, fighter director equipment was installed and on 30 May she sailed west again, with TF 52 for theinvasion of Saipan. Having screened the transports to the objective, she shifted her protective duties to the battleships as they bombarded the shore, then provided gunfire support to the troops landed on 15 June. During theBattle of the Philippine Sea she remained with the transports, then turned her guns on the neighboring Japanese-held island ofTinian. Remaining in theMarianas until mid-August, she alternated gunfire support duties, screening duties andradar picket duties offSaipan with bombardment of Tinian until thatisland was invaded 24 July, then provided support services for the troops fighting there. In August, she shifted toGuam to support mopping up operations and on the 17th got underway forEniwetok to rejoin the fast carrier force, now designated TF 38.
Arriving on the 20th, she sortied with TG 38.3 on the 29th and for the next 28 days screened the carriers, and after 11 September, the battleships, as Japanese targets in thePalaus and thePhilippines were pounded. Striking first at the Palaus to prepare for the mid-month invasion, the force then turned onMindanao and the Central Philippines. Between the 15th and the 19th, they supported thePalau invasion, then struck atLuzon and theVisayas before retiring toUlithi.
On 6 October, the force sortied again. TheNansei Shoto, Luzon andFormosa were the targets blasted in preparation for the return to the Philippines. Fired on, by mistake, by a unit of TG 38.4, while off Formosa, 12th–15th,Prichett retired to Manus for repairs and replenishment. From theAdmiralties, she steamed to Ulithi and rejoined TG 38.3 for further strikes against Luzon and the Visayas. The force returned again to the same area at the end of November, to supportfighting on Leyte, and in December, to support theMindoro landings.
_underway_in_February_1944.jpg)
On 30 December, the Ulithi logistics base was left behind again as the force steamed west to welcome the new year, 1945, with strikes against Luzon and Formosa. The ships then thrust into theSouth China Sea and hit enemy shipping and shore installations fromSaigon to Formosa, and then struck at Okinawa. They then retired to Ulithi, replenished, rearmed, and, on 10 February, departed to raid the industrial complexes ofHonshū. After striking Tokyo andYokohama, the force turned back to cover thelandings on Iwo Jima, 19 February. TherePrichett was reassigned to Task Unit 52.2.5 (TU 52.2.5), with which she remained in theIwo Jima–Chichi Jima area until 9 March.
By 12 March, the destroyer was back at Ulithi to prepare for the invasion of the last stepping stone to the enemy's home islands:Okinawa. Attached toTask Force 54 (TF 54),Prichett arrived off the objective 25 March to coverminesweeping andunderwater demolition team operations. Preinvasion bombardment, harassment fire and fire support missions offKerama Retto followed. On 1 April, she participated in the demonstration "feint" on southern Okinawa, then swung around to screen the transports off theHagushi assault area.
Just after 01:00, 3 April, the Japanese commenced a long day of aerial resistance. At 01:42,Prichett, having beaten off several attacks, was closed by two bogies. The first veered off, but the second pressed on and dropped a 500-pound bomb on the fantail. Exploding close under the counter, it holed the destroyer below the waterline, causing flooding aft and a fire in the20 mm. clipping room. The crippled destroyer, maintaining a speed in excess of 28 knots to minimize flooding and bringing the fire under control, remained in the area and continued to ward off enemy planes until relieved shortly before noon. She then retired to Kerama Retto for emergency repairs. On the 7th, she got underway for Guam where repairs were completed, and on 7 May she returned to Okinawa and radar picket duties. For almost 3 months she escaped further serious damage. However, on 29 July, while standing byCallaghan—akamikaze victim—she became the target of a second suicide-minded Japanese pilot.Prichett took him under fire at 5,000 yards, but he bore on. Splashed into the sea approximately 6 feet off the destroyer's port side, his mission was partially accomplished as his lethal cargo exploded on impact, bowing in the ship's hull and causing extensive damage to her superstructure, portdepth charge racks, and radio and power leads.Prichett, despite her damage, remained in the area and for another two hours continued to pick up survivors fromCallaghan.
Awarded aNavy Unit Commendation for her actions off Okinawa,Prichett sailed for home 13 August. Arriving after the cessation of hostilities, she underwent deactivation overhaul atPuget Sound and on 14 March 1946 was decommissioned and berthed with the San Diego Group,Pacific Reserve Fleet.
Reactivated after the invasion of theRepublic of Korea by theNorth Korean People's Army,Prichett recommissioned 17 August 1951. Post activation shakedown offCalifornia followed and on 13 January 1952 she got underway for the Atlantic. Arriving atNorfolk, 2 February, she operated off the Mid-Atlantic seaboard until April, then underwent modernization atBoston. Emerging in November with the latest in anti-aircraft weaponry, fire control radar, sonar and communications gear, she became theflagship of Destroyer Division 282 (DesDiv 282). She completed further training in the Caribbean and departed Norfolk, 7 January 1953, for a tour in the Korean combat zone. Steaming via thePanama Canal, she arrived atSasebo 11 February and on the 15th rendezvoused with TF 77. Between then and 23 June she performed plane guard and screening duties for the carriers of TF 77, screened battleships andcruisers during bombardment missions, and provided gunfire support, plane control, interdiction and harassment fire, and hospital ship services for United Nations Forces fighting in coastal areas, primarily nearWonsan,North Korea.
ThePrichett returned to Norfolk via theSuez Canal, completing her round-the-world cruise 22 August. From 7 January to 11 March 1954 she deployed to the Mediterranean, then, after exercises in the Caribbean and shipyard availability, got underway, 5 January 1955, to return to the Pacific.
Assigned to DesDiv 192, she reported toCinCPac 17 January 1955 and by May she was en route to Japan for her first West Pacific deployment since theKorean War. Homeported atLong Beach for the next nine years, she alternated7th Fleet tours,ASW-HUK and carrier exercises andTaiwan Strait patrols, with training operations, including sonar and gunnery school ship assignments, off the west coast. In August 1964, however, her 7th Fleet deployment was extended and, for the third time, she joined in combat operations in the western Pacific.
On 30 August 1964 she joined TF 77 in theTonkin Gulf and until 31 October operated in the South China Sea in support of South Vietnamese and American operations against North Vietnamese andViet Cong forces.
Homeported atSan Diego on her return,Prichett's tours in the West Pacific since that time were lengthened; most of her deployed time was spent offVietnam. In the combat zone, she served as plane guard for carriers in the South China Sea and provided support fire for R.V.N., U.S., andR.O.K. forces operating along the 1000-mile coastline from theGulf of Siam to the north ofHuế. Illustrative of such support were her actions, 20 February–10 March 1968, offPhan Thiết. There her guns silenced an enemy mortar battery, damaged the enemy's command post, and delivered accurate call fire to break up enemy emplacements, and personnel and supply concentrations to contribute to the enemy's withdrawal. Prichett made the final westpac cruise 5 June 1969 through 18 November 1969 serving on the gunline in Vietnam for "call to fire" support for 17 days, subsequently returning to the Tonkin Gulf for plane guard duty with theUSSHancock until returning to San Diego to be decommissioned and was struck from theNavy List 10 January 1970.
Prichett was transferred to Italy on 17 January 1970, and renamedGeniere (D 555). She was stricken and scrapped in 1975.
Prichett earned eightbattle stars during World War II, two during theKorean War, and six during theVietnam War.
This article incorporates text from thepublic domainDictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be foundhere.
