Fletcher-class destroyer
USS
Pringle
(DD-477) December 1942, with unique catapult and aircraft, and 5 inch (127 mm) guns trained to port.
|
History
|
United States
|
Namesake
| Joel R. P. Pringle
|
Builder
| Charleston Navy Yard
|
Laid down
| 31 July 1941
|
Launched
| 2 May 1942
|
Commissioned
| 15 September 1942
|
Fate
| Sunk by
Kamikaze
off
Okinawa
,
[1]
16 April 1945
|
General characteristics
|
Class and type
| Fletcher
-class
destroyer
|
Displacement
| 2,050 tons
|
Length
| 376 ft 6 in (114.7 m)
|
Beam
| 39 ft 8 in (12.1 m)
|
Draft
| 17 ft 9 in (5.4 m)
|
Propulsion
|
- 60,000 shp (45 MW)
- 2 propellers
|
Speed
| 35
knots
(65 km/h; 40 mph)
|
Range
| 6500
nm
at 15 kn (12,000 km at 28 km/h)
|
Complement
| 336
|
Armament
| |
Aircraft carried
| 1, one catapult (removed 1943)
|
USS
Pringle
(DD-477)
, a
Fletcher
-class
destroyer
, was a ship of the
United States Navy
named for
Vice Admiral
Joel R. P. Pringle
(1873?1932).
Pringle
was laid down by the
Charleston Navy Yard
, on 31 July 1941; launched on 2 May 1942, sponsored by Mrs. John D. H. Kane; and
commissioned
on 15 September 1942.
Service history
[
edit
]
Pringle
was one of the three
Fletcher
-class destroyers to be built (out of 6 planned) with a
catapult
for a
float plane
. The catapult and an aircraft
crane
were located just aft of the number 2
smokestack
, in place of the after
torpedo tube
mount, 5-inch mount number 3, and the 2nd deck of the after deck house which normally carried a twin 40 mm anti-aircraft gun on most ships of the class. (The twin 40 mm mount was moved to the
fantail
, just forward of the
depth charge
racks, where most ships of the class carried 20 mm mounts.) It was intended that the float plane be used for scouting for the destroyer flotilla to which the ship was attached. It would be launched by the catapult, land on the water next to the ship, and be recovered by the aircraft crane.
Pringle
was the first of five ships that eventually received the catapult to use it operationally. Due to design problems with the derrick,
Pringle
could not recover the
Kingfisher
airplane. Two ships constructed in 1943,
USS
Stevens
and
USS
Halford
, had redesigned derricks.
[2]
Stevens
became the first of the five ships to successfully launch and recover the plane. All were ultimately converted to the standard Fletcher-class configuration.
Following shakedown,
Pringle
joined
convoy
ON 154 in mid-
Atlantic
1 January 1943 to escort the
Halifax
-bound contingent. While on this duty she was the first U.S. destroyer to use an aircraft with catapult. The float plane was catapulted off to search for enemy submarines. Recovery of the plane in the prevailing weather for a ship the size of
Pringle
was difficult. After reaching Halifax,
Pringle
proceeded to
Charleston Naval Shipyard
for a brief overhaul, during which her catapult was removed, returning her to standard Fletcher configuration.
[3]
On 6 February, she got underway for the
Pacific Theater
, escorting the British aircraft carrier
HMS
Victorious
from
Norfolk Navy Yard
to the Pacific. Arriving off
Guadalcanal
on 30 May, she took up patrol duties off the
Solomons
, and, on the night of 17/18 July, joined
Waller
and
Saufley
in attacking three
Japanese
destroyers off
Vanga Point
,
Kolombangara
. Scoring several
torpedo
hits, she also shot down one Japanese plane.
As the
Solomon Islands campaign
continued into August,
Pringle
screened advance units of the
Vella Lavella
assault force, escorted
LSTs
through
Gizo strait
, and on the 24th covered
minelaying
operations off Kolombangara under Japanese guns. On the night of 3/4 September,
Pringle
with
Dyson
made a sweep of Japanese
barges
between
Gambi Head
,
Choiseul
, and Kolombangara, sinking three.
While escorting Task Group 31.7 into
Empress Augusta Bay
,
Bougainville
, on 11 November 10 days after the initial landing there,
Pringle
shot down one Japanese plane and damaged another. With the exception of a run to Sydney in late January 1944, she continued to operate in the Solomons for the next few months. She swept the southwest coast of Bougainville during daylight in early March, bombarding enemy installations and beached barges.
The
Marianas operation
produced another long period of bombardment, screening and
anti-submarine
missions for
Pringle
. During the assaults
on Saipan
and
Tinian
, she conducted fire support operations. She then returned to San Francisco, California, for refit and to rest her crew.
After overhaul at
Mare Island Naval Shipyard
,
Pringle
sailed for
Pearl Harbor
on 19 October. She departed Pearl Harbor on 10 November for the
Philippines
to take part in the upcoming invasion. From 27 to 28 November, she bombarded enemy shore positions near
Ormoc Bay
,
Leyte
, shooting down a Japanese plane on the same day. On 27 November, she and
Saufley
,
Waller
, and
Renshaw
combined to sink IJA transport submarine
MaruYu
-No.2. On 28 November, these destroyers sink
I-46
.
[4]
Pringle
came under her most intense air attack while escorting a re-supply echelon to
Mindoro
from 27 to 30 December. Several ships in the convoy were sunk, while
Pringle
shot down two planes. On the 30th, a
kamikaze
crashed into her after deckhouse, killing 11 men and injuring 20, totally destroying one 40 mm mount and damaging two 5-inch mounts.
Back in service in February,
Pringle
screened transports to
Iwo Jima
for the
assault there
on the 17th, then provided fire support for the
Marines
ashore. Returning to
Ulithi
on 4 March, she prepared for the
assault on Okinawa
.
Fate
[
edit
]
Operating with
Destroyer Division 90
, she screened transport areas, covered
minesweepers
, and provided support fire. Assigned to
radar picket
duty on 15 April, she shot down two
kamikazes
on 16 April 1945 before a third crashed into her bridge, and plowed through the
superstructure
deck, abaft the base of number one stack. A single 1,000-pound
bomb
, or two 500-pounders, penetrated the main and superstructure decks and exploded with a violent eruption, buckling the
keel
and splitting the vessel in two at the forward fire room. Six minutes later, 258 survivors watched
Pringle
slide beneath the surface. 69 were killed.
[5]
Honors
[
edit
]
Pringle
earned 10
battle stars
for
World War II
service.
References
[
edit
]
3. McIntosh, Gary L.
War Diary: USS Stevens 1941?1946.
External links
[
edit
]
Shipwrecks and maritime incidents in April 1945
|
---|
Shipwrecks
|
- 1 Apr:
Awa Maru
- 2 Apr:
CD-186
,
USS
Dickerson
,
U-321
- 3 Apr:
Brummer
,
USS
S-16
,
U-1221
,
U-2542
,
U-3505
,
T111
- 4 Apr:
USS
Dickerson
,
U-237
,
U-749
,
U-3003
- 5 Apr:
U-242
,
USS
S-17
- 6 Apr:
Amatsukaze
,
USS
Bush
,
USS
Colhoun
,
USS
Leutze
,
USS
Morris
,
USS
Newcomb
,
USS
Witter
,
SS Hobbs Victory
,
SS Logan Victory
- 7 Apr:
Asashimo
,
Hamakaze
,
Isokaze
,
Isuzu
,
Kasumi
,
USS
LST-447
,
Oldenburg
,
USS
PGM-18
,
U-1195
,
Yahagi
,
Yamato
- 8 Apr:
U-774
,
U-1001
- 9 Apr:
Admiral Scheer
,
Ro-56
,
U-677
,
U-747
,
U-804
,
U-843
,
U-982
,
U-1065
,
U-2509
,
U-2514
,
U-3512
,
U-2516
- 10 Apr:
U-878
,
Weser
- 12 Apr:
USS
Mannert L. Abele
,
Ro-64
,
U-486
- 13 Apr:
Karlsruhe
,
U-1024
- 14 Apr:
Belgian Airman
,
U-235
,
U-1206
- 15 Apr:
U-103
,
U-285
,
U-1063
,
U-1235
- 16 Apr:
HMCS
Esquimalt
,
Lutzow
,
USS
Pringle
,
U-78
,
U-880
,
U-1274
- 17 Apr:
Goya
- 19 Apr:
Aquila
,
U-251
,
U-548
,
U-879
- 21 Apr:
U-636
- 22 Apr:
USS
Swallow
,
U-518
- 23 Apr:
USS
Eagle Boat 56
,
U-183
- 24 Apr:
USS
Frederick C. Davis
,
U-108
,
U-546
- 25 Apr:
Graf Zeppelin
,
Ro-109
,
TA 32
,
U-326
- 27 Apr:
Canada Victory
,
TA 34
- 28 Apr:
CH-17
,
U-56
- 29 Apr:
I-44
,
U-56
,
U-286
,
U-307
,
U-1017
- 30 Apr:
HMS
Goodall
,
TA 43
,
U-879
,
U-1107
- Unknown date:
I-56
,
Ro-46
,
Ro-49
,
USS
Snook
,
U-246
,
U-325
,
U-396
,
U-398
,
U-548
,
U-857
,
U-1055
|
---|
Other incidents
|
- 2 Apr:
USS
Dickerson
- 5 Apr:
USS
Thornton
- 6 Apr:
USS
Defense
,
USS
Emmons
,
USS
Mullany
,
USS
Rodman
- 8 Apr:
USS
Bullhead
- 9 Apr:
USS
Sea Devil
- 11 Apr:
I-401
- 12 Apr:
USS
Lindsey
,
U-1024
.
USS
Zellars
- 14 Apr:
USS
Sigsbee
- 15 Apr:
HMS
Ekins
,
USS
Laffey
- 16 Apr:
USS
Bryant
,
Goya
,
USS
Harding
- 19 Apr:
USS
Bullhead
,
USS
Pogy
,
USS
Tolman
- 27 Apr:
HMS
Redmill
- 28 Apr:
Argo
,
USS
Huron
- 29 Apr:
USS
Baya
- 30 Apr:
U-3525
|
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|