John C. Butler-class destroyer escort of the United States Navy
For other ships with the same name, see
USS Lewis
.
|
History
|
United States
|
Name
| Lewis
|
Namesake
| Victor Alan Lewis
|
Builder
| Boston Navy Yard
|
Laid down
| 3 November 1943
|
Launched
| 7 December 1943
|
Commissioned
| 5 September 1944
|
Decommissioned
| 1 May 1946
|
In service
| 28 March 1952
|
Out of service
| 27 May 1960
|
Stricken
| 1 January 1966
|
Fate
| Sunk as target in 1966
|
General characteristics
|
Class and type
| John C. Butler
-class
destroyer escort
|
Displacement
| 1,350
long tons
(1,372
t
)
|
Length
| 306 ft (93 m) (oa)
|
Beam
| 36 ft 10 in (11.23 m)
|
Draft
| 13 ft 4 in (4.06 m) (max)
|
Propulsion
| 2 boilers, 2 geared
steam turbines
, 12,000 shp (8,900 kW), 2
screws
|
Speed
| 24 knots (44 km/h; 28 mph)
|
Range
| 6,000 nmi (11,000 km; 6,900 mi) at 12 kn (22 km/h; 14 mph)
|
Complement
| 14 officers, 201 enlisted
|
Armament
| |
USS
Lewis
(DE-535)
was a
John C. Butler
-class
destroyer escort
in service with the
United States Navy
from 1944 to 1946 and from 1952 to 1960. She was finally sunk as a target in 1966.
Namesake
[
edit
]
Victor Alan Lewis was born on 2 August 1919 in
Somerville, Massachusetts
. He graduated from Stetson High School in
Randolph, Massachusetts
, and attended Springfield College. Before graduating he enlisted in the
United States Naval Reserve
as a Seaman 2d class and reported for duty to the
Squantum Naval Reserve Aviation Base
, Boston, for flight training on 17 February 1941. Following appointment as an Aviation Cadet on 29 May, and further training at
Naval Air Station Jacksonville
and
Naval Air Station Miami
, he was commissioned
Ensign
as a designated Naval Aviator on 27 December 1941. After additional flight training at the
Naval Air Station, Norfolk
, Virginia he reported to
Torpedo Squadron 8
(VT-8) in the Advanced carrier Training Group on 3 February 1942. Although half the squadron deployed with
USS
Hornet
on the
Doolittle Raid
, he stayed behind in an 80-man detachment to take delivery of new
Grumman TBF Avenger
torpedo bombers
. After a short training period out of
Naval Air Station Quonset Point
,
Rhode Island
, the detachment flew to
California
and then took the
USS
Kitty Hawk
to
Hawaii
. Shortly after their arrival at
Ford Island
, the detachment split again and six bombers under the command of Lt.
Langdon K. Fieberling
flew 1,300 miles (2,100 km) to
Midway Island
on 1 June.
Assigned to Commander, Base Air Defense, the VT-8 detachment at Midway joined the Marine and Army Air Force aircraft preparing for combat operations against the expected
Imperial Japanese Navy
attack. Following sighting reports of IJN ships and aircraft northwest of the island, Midway's defending fighters scrambled followed by all operational attack aircraft, including the six VT-8 bombers. Once airborne, the VT-8 pilots joined up and stepped down into two three-plane sections, with Lewis flying the middle aircraft of the rear section. Just after the bombers climbed to 2,000 feet (610 m) and headed northwest, the formation was passed by two or three Japanese aircraft inbound to Midway. By ducking into the clouds and climbing to 4,000 feet (1,200 m), the detachment avoided any Japanese fighters and continued on toward their targets. Shortly after 07:00, the six TBF's spotted the IJN fleet from a range of about 15 miles (24 km) and closed to attack. Japanese fighters spotted them in turn, however, and the unescorted bombers were quickly engaged by
Mitsubishi A6M Zero
fighters. Mauled by fighters and anti-aircraft fire, five of the bombers were shot down, with the sixth limping home after sustaining some 70-bullet holes. Lewis, his radioman AM3c Nelson L. Carr and turret gunner EM3c John W. Mehltretter all perished in the attack. He was posthumously awarded the
Navy Cross
.
History
[
edit
]
Lewis
was
laid down
by the
Boston Navy Yard
on 3 November 1943,
launched
7 December 1943; and
commissioned
5 September 1944.
After a shakedown cruise to Bermuda 28 September to 31 October 1944,
Lewis
received a week of upkeep at Boston before sailing to
Casco Bay, Maine
, for a few days training in early November. In company with
Henry A. Wiley
,
Lewis
escorted the
battleships
Texas
and
Arkansas
south on 10 November. Joined two days later by the battleship
Missouri
,
aircraft carriers
Wake Island
and
Shamrock Bay
, the task unit proceeded through the
Panama Canal
and on to
Hawaii
via
San Diego
and
San Francisco
, arriving at
Pearl Harbor
on 5 December. The destroyer escort got underway on 26 December to escort merchant convoy PD220-T, shepherding her charges to
Eniwetok
without incident on 4 January 1945.
Lewis
sailed to
Ulithi
that same day, arriving at that atoll on 10 January. With large-scale operations in the Philippines requiring significant logistical support,
Lewis
spent the rest of the month conducted anti-submarine sweeps along the shipping routes and near
Yap Island
.
On 1 February,
Lewis
, along with
Silverstein
,
Howard F. Clark
and
Raymond
, formed Task Unit 50.7.2, an anti-submarine reserve unit assigned to the Logistics Support Force for the
invasion of Iwo Jima
. The destroyer escorts also provided screening services for Task Force 58 during air strikes against Japan in mid-February. The same task unit left Ulithi on 21 March for the
Okinawa
operation, screening Task Group 50.8 at sea in between escort and replenishment trips to Ulithi and
Guam
. During these operations
Lewis
was caught in the heavy
typhoon
of 2 June, at one point heeling over to 67 degrees.
Lewis
continued screening operations until 2 July when she was assigned to the Ulithi Surface Patrol and Escort Group, which was responsible for radar and anti-submarine services at Ulithi and providing escort services to periodic Okinawa-bound convoys.
Lewis
departed the Far East on 15 September and sailed for Hawaii, arriving at Pearl Harbor later that month. She remained there until 18 November when she sailed for
California
, arriving at
San Pedro
on 23 November. Transferred to the
9th Fleet
,
Lewis
decommissioned
on 31 May 1946 and entered the Reserve Fleet at San Diego on 30 July 1946.
Korean War
[
edit
]
Following the outbreak of the
Korean War
in June 1950,
Lewis
was refitted at the
Mare Island Navy Yard
,
Vallejo, California
, and recommissioned there 28 March 1952.
Following shakedown training out of San Diego in May and June,
Lewis
got underway for
Korea
on 19 July 1952, making stops at
Midway
as well as
Yokosuka
and
Sasebo
, Japan, before reporting to the Commander, United Nations Blockade and Escort Force on 11 August. Assigned to the East Coast Blockade and Escort Group,
Lewis
operated with
Republic of Korea
(RoK)
patrol boats
and
minesweepers
with Commander, Task Element 95.21 embarked. Starting on 26 August, the destroyer began two months of almost nightly shore bombardment missions against time sensitive targets, firing illumination and high explosive rounds against enemy truck and oxcart convoys, troop concentrations and railroad repair gangs. Highlights included shooting up two
sampans
in
Wonsan
harbor on 3 September, 5 September destruction of a 40 boxcar train with almost 90 rounds of high capacity and white phosphorus shells and 16 September bombardment of a 60-man railroad repair team.
Assigned to TE 95.20 on 11 October,
Lewis
and RoK
PC 706
carried out anti-shipping patrols between Wonsan and
Hungnam
and warned neutral shipping such as Japanese fishing boats out of the coastal defense zone. Two nights later,
Lewis
took fire from a radar-controlled enemy gun battery, observing 28 air bursts and 56 water splashes during the duel, some of which exploded as close as 20 yards (18 m) while others bracketed the evading destroyer escort out to 12,000 yards (11,000 m). In return, the destroyer escort fired 178 high explosive and 36 white phosphorus rounds, observing one direct hit on a gun emplacement followed by a secondary explosion and fire. The following day, 14 October,
Lewis
spotted five sampans off
Cha Ho
and drove them ashore with radar-directed long range gunnery. A week later, on 21 October 1952,
Lewis
came to the aid of two RoK minesweepers under fire in Wonsan harbor. As she approached, at least four enemy batteries opened up on the destroyer escort.
Lewis
returned fire and laid down a smoke screen to cover the minesweepers retreat. Shortly thereafter the destroyer escort took two 75 mm (3.0 in) shell hits, the first plowed into the forward fire room and pierced the No. 1 boiler ? killing six fire and boilermen outright and mortally wounding a seventh; Fireman Milton S. Wheeler was awarded the
Silver Star
for carrying several of his injured shipmates to safety during this attack. The second hit exploded on the main deck, port side, lightly wounding one sailor. Following hull and machinery repairs at Yokosuka in mid-November, the destroyer escort sailed for home on 17 November, arriving in San Diego via Pearl Harbor on 2 December.
Post-Korean War
[
edit
]
Following an overhaul at
Long Beach Naval Shipyard
in early 1953,
Lewis
carried out refresher training and local operations out of San Diego through mid-June. The destroyer escort then made a short trip to
Mazatlan
, Mexico, 25?28 June, before preparing for another overseas deployment. Departing San Diego on 14 July, the warship arrived at Guam via Pearl Harbor and Midway on 31 July. With the Korean armistice signed just four days previously,
Lewis
did not conduct combat operations, instead patrolling the
Marianas Islands
, the
Ryukyus
and kept watch for communist violations of the truce in the
Yellow Sea
through the summer and into the fall. After a brief visit to Japan in late October, she turned for home before Christmas, returning to San Diego via Midway and Pearl Harbor on 18 December.
After another four-month overhaul at Long Beach, the destroyer escort carried out refresher training before deploying again on 10 August 1954. With duties similar to her last deployment,
Lewis
cruised off Okinawa and the east coast of Korea before returning home on 19 December. An almost identical deployment followed on 4 May 1955, with the destroyer escort conducting exercises in Japanese waters and patrolling off Korea before returning to San Diego on 19 November. A longer modernization overhaul followed, with
Lewis
remaining in San Francisco between 21 November and 14 March 1956.
For her fifth deployment, which began 20 August 1956, the destroyer escort sailed further south, stopping at
Kwajalein
in the
Marshall Islands
on 30 August, before proceeding across the equator to
Auckland
, New Zealand, arriving there for a three-day visit on 7 September. Skirting the northern coast of Australia,
Lewis
then stopped at
Townsville
14?15 September and
Darwin
19?21 September before heading on to Singapore, mooring there on 28 September. Following stops at
Subic Bay
and
Hong Kong
in October, the warship then received voyage repairs at Yokosuka 16?30 November before returning to the Philippines for a month of operations out of Subic Bay. She then sailed for home in late December, stopping at Guam and Kwajalein for exercises before arriving in San Diego on 18 February 1957.
On 30 September 1957
Lewis
deployed again via the South Pacific, visiting
Pago Pago
on 14 October;
Brisbane
, Australia, on 20 October; and
Manus Island
on 30 October before arriving in Guam on 2 November. Three months of island patrol operations in the Marianas followed before
Lewis
turned for home, arriving in San Diego on 2 March 1958.
23 January 1960:
Trieste
just before the record dive. USS
Lewis
is in the background.
Following an overhaul at San Francisco 1 May ? 26 July 1958, the warship's home port was changed to Guam and
Lewis
sailed to her new station on 14 October, arriving in Apra harbor on 1 November. She conducted island patrol and search-and-rescue operations there for most of the next year, interspersed with port visits to Subic Bay and Hong Kong in mid-April 1959. During the summer and fall
Lewis
conducted survey work, helping map the deep waters of the region. Starting in November 1959 she took part in
Project Nekton
, a series of deep dives in the
Mariana Trench
by
Trieste
, a deep-diving research
bathyscaphe
purchased by the Navy the previous year. On 23 January,
Lewis
helped track
Trieste
with her sonar gear as the bathyscaphe conducted the deepest crewed dive ever undertaken, to the bottom of trench Challenger Deep 35,798 feet (10,911 m) below the surface.
Lewis
departed Guam in February 1960 and sailed to
Mare Island, California
for inactivation. She decommissioned there on 27 May 1960 and entered the reserve fleet shortly thereafter. Recommended for disposal on 22 December 1965, the destroyer escort was struck from the Navy list on 1 January 1966.
The hulk was then towed out to sea by the
fleet tug
Tawasa
on 21 April 1966 and sunk as a target.
Honors
[
edit
]
Lewis
received three battle stars for World War II service and one battle star for Korean War service.
References
[
edit
]
External links
[
edit
]
Shipwrecks and maritime incidents in 1966
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Shipwrecks
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Other incidents
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