Fletcher-class destroyer
|
History
|
United States
|
Name
| Mertz
|
Laid down
| 10 May 1943
|
Launched
| 11 September 1943
|
Commissioned
| 19 November 1943
|
Decommissioned
| 23 April 1946
|
Stricken
| 1 October 1970
|
Honours and
awards
| 10 Battle Stars
|
Fate
| Sold 16 December 1971, scrapped
|
General characteristics
|
Class and type
| Fletcher
-class
destroyer
|
Displacement
| 2,050 tons
|
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
| 35 knots (65 km/h; 40 mph)
|
Range
| 6,500 nmi (12,000 km) at 15 kn (28 km/h)
|
Complement
| 336
|
Armament
| |
USS
Mertz
(DD-691)
was a
Fletcher
-class
destroyer
in the service of the
United States Navy
from 1943 to 1946. She was scrapped in 1972.
Namesake
[
edit
]
Albert Mertz was born on 26 March 1851 in
Richmond, Wisconsin
. He graduated from the
United States Naval Academy
in June 1872. Commissioned
Ensign
on 15 July 1873, he was assigned to the Coast Survey on 26 November 1877 until he returned to regular duty in the Navy on 6 July 1878, serving on the
USS
Wyoming
and
USS
Alliance
, among other ships. Following promotion to
Commander
on 11 April 1902, he took command of his first ship,
USS
Newport
on 20 July 1903. On 20 December 1909 he reported for duty as commandant,
Naval Station Cavite
and
Olongapo
,
Philippines
. Appointed
Rear Admiral
20 October 1910, he departed the Philippines on 3 February 1912 to become Governor of the
Naval Home
,
Philadelphia
,
Pennsylvania
on 25 March. He retired on 26 March 1913 and died at
San Diego
,
California
on 21 July 1936.
Construction and commissioning
[
edit
]
Mertz
was
laid down
by
Bath Iron Works
Corp.,
Bath, Maine
on 10 May 1943 and
launched
on 11 September 1943; sponsored by Mrs. Selma M. Allen, daughter of Rear Admiral Mertz The ship was
commissioned
at
Charlestown, Massachusetts
on 19 November 1943.
Service history
[
edit
]
Arrival in the Pacific
[
edit
]
After shakedown off
Bermuda
,
Mertz
departed
Norfolk, Virginia
, 26 January 1944 for the central Pacific, via the
Panama Canal
and
San Diego, California
, arriving at
Pearl Harbor
5 March. On 9 March, the destroyer got underway for the
Marshall Islands
as convoy escort, arriving
Majuro Atoll
6 days later.
Mertz
sailed on 22 March to join TG 58.2 and on 26 March and act as escort back to Majuro. En route on 31 March, she caught a Japanese maru at 0600 in the glare of her searchlights. The enemy merchant ship maneuvered to get away, only to go down under the hail of 5-inch (127 mm) projectiles from
Mertz
. The task group reached Majuro 6 April. Five days later
Mertz
steamed for the
New Hebrides
as a screen for the
escort carrier
Barnes
, arriving at
Espiritu Santo
on 15 April.
In mid-May, the destroyer returned to Pearl Harbor to prepare for the
Marianas
campaign. She took fire support and patrol station close ashore to
Saipan
on 14 June, pounding gun emplacements in the daytime and at night maintaining illumination over the enemy lines until 22 June, when she began screening convoys.
Peleliu and Angaur
[
edit
]
Mertz
participated in the
occupations of Peleliu
and
of Angaur
in the
Palau Islands
, arriving 10 September. She retired to Manus,
Admiralty Islands
, on 23 September to prepare for the invasion of
Leyte
,
Philippines
.
Philippines campaign
[
edit
]
On 20 October, D-Day for the Leyte landing forces,
Mertz
escorted
landing craft
through air attacks to the beach and later in the day patrolled off
Dinagat Island
at the entrance to
Leyte Gulf
. Early in the morning of 25 October as the Japanese Southern Force approached Leyte Gulf through the
Mindanao Sea
,
Mertz
and
McNair
patrolled between Desolation Point and
Homonhon Island
, lest the enemy fleet choose to steam north along the east coast of Dinagat Island to attack the
Allied
beachhead. When the Japanese entered
Surigao Strait
, Rear Admiral
Jesse B. Oldendorf
’s force met and destroyed the enemy armada in the classic “crossing-of-the-T” maneuver known as the
Battle of Surigao Strait
, part of the overall
Battle of Leyte Gulf
. Later that same day
Mertz
splashed a
Zero
at several hundred yards with heavy machinegun fire.
With the Leyte beachhead established, the destroyer got underway 26 October for
Hollandia
,
New Guinea
, anchoring in Humboldt Bay on the 30th to replenish. She got underway for Leyte again 9 November escorting a reinforcement convoy arriving 5 days later.
Mertz
then continued on to
Seeadler Harbor
, Manus, to join a task unit staging for the daring expedition through the
Sulu Sea
, controlled by the enemy since early 1942, to capture
Mindoro
. The American ships had to contend with both a
typhoon
and heavy air attacks.
Mertz
splashed a
Ki-43
("Oscar") 15 December and assisted in the destruction of several others. Departing
San Pedro Bay
4 January 1945, she made another voyage through the Sulu Sea, to support the invasion of
Luzon
at
Lingayen Gulf
on 9 January before returning to San Pedro Bay on 16 January.
Attacks on Japan
[
edit
]
On 10 February,
Mertz
steamed from
Ulithi
for three months at sea with the Fast Carrier Task Force. During this time, she played a role in the airstrikes on the
Tokyo
area 16 February, the landings on
Iwo Jima
19 February, and the raids on
Okinawa
1 March. While screening the flattops off
Ky?sh?
, Japan, in March, she downed two more enemy planes. While operating off Okinawa
Mertz
helped sink the
I-56
on 18 April.
[1]
The destroyer retired to Ulithi 14 May, before returning to Okinawa on 24 May. She next steamed to
Okino Daito Jima
which she bombarded on 9 June. The next day, she got underway for Leyte Gulf, anchoring at San Pedro Bay 13 June.
As part of
Adm.
Willam F. Halsey
’s
3rd Fleet
she cleared San Pedro on 1 July, and nine days later arrived at the launching area off the southeast coast of Tokyo for strike on the Japanese home islands. Beginning with the attacks on Tokyo 10 July,
Mertz
ranged up and down the coasts of Japan until she joined an antishipping sweep in the
Kuriles
while en route to the
Aleutians
. The destroyer arrived at
Adak
14 August, the day of Japan's capitulation.
End of World War II and fate
[
edit
]
Mertz
'
s first and only peacetime duty came 31 August, when she departed Adak for Japan, arriving
Ominato
, northern
Honsh?
, on 8 September, to operate with the 3rd Fleet during the occupation of the northern Honsh?-
Hokkaid?
area. On 15 September the destroyer departed Ominato Harbor for the west coast, arriving San Francisco on 30 September.
On 1 December,
Mertz
steamed to San Diego, where she decommissioned 23 April 1946 and entered the
Pacific Reserve Fleet
. She was reassigned to the
Long Beach, California
, group 1 July 1951 and the
Stockton, California
, group 1 January 1959.
Mertz
was finally sold for scrap on 16 December 1971.
Awards
[
edit
]
Mertz
received 10
battle stars
for World War II service.
References
[
edit
]
- ^
Fitzsimons, Bernard, general editor.
Illustrated Encyclopedia of 20th Century Weapons & Warfare
(Phoebus, 1978), Vol 13, p.1409, "
I54
". He mistakenly identifies
I-56
as
I-58
, however.
This article incorporates text from the
public domain
Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships
. The entry can be found
here
.
External links
[
edit
]