Fletcher-class destroyer
![USS Renshaw (DDE-499), while operating in Korean waters, 27 July 1951.](//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/bc/USS_Renshaw_%28DDE-499%29_operating_off_Korea_on_27_July_1951_%2880-G-432955%29.jpg/300px-USS_Renshaw_%28DDE-499%29_operating_off_Korea_on_27_July_1951_%2880-G-432955%29.jpg) USS
Renshaw
(DDE-499), while operating in Korean waters, 27 July 1951.
|
History
|
United States
|
Namesake
| William B. Renshaw
|
Builder
| Federal Shipbuilding and Drydock Company
,
Kearny, New Jersey
|
Laid down
| 7 May 1942
|
Launched
| 13 October 1942
|
Commissioned
| 5 December 1942
|
Decommissioned
| 14 February 1970
|
Stricken
| 14 February 1970
|
Fate
| Sold for scrap, October 1970
|
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
| 6,500
nmi.
(12,000 km) at 15 kt
|
Complement
| 336
|
Armament
| |
USS
Renshaw
(DD/DDE-499)
, a
Fletcher
-class
destroyer
, was the third ship of the
United States Navy
of that name, in honor of Commander
William B. Renshaw
.
Renshaw
was laid down 7 May 1942 by the
Federal Shipbuilding & Drydock Company
in
Kearny, New Jersey
;
launched
on 13 October 1942, sponsored by Miss Dorothy Lillian Renshaw; and
commissioned
on 5 December 1942.
South Pacific, 1943–1944
[
edit
]
Following shakedown,
Renshaw
reported to the
Pacific Fleet
in the spring of 1943, and protected
transports
in the
Solomon Islands
area. On 2 July 1943, she participated in the bombardment of the
Vila Stanmore
and
Shortland Island
areas in
Kula Gulf
, coming under the fire of enemy shore batteries.
From 21 to 25 November, she pounded
East Island
in
Empress Augusta Bay
with 200 rounds of 5 inch ammunition.
Sorum
and
Makatawa
on northeast
Bougainville
next felt her blows, and she then proceeded north of
Buka Island
for an offensive sweep between Buka and
Green Islands
. On the morning of 20 January, she retired southward with her task unit to give fire support to the landings on Bougainville Island itself.
During landings in the
New Britain
-
New Ireland
area,
Renshaw
dealt considerable damage to enemy airfield installations while coming under the fire of shore batteries. On 13 March the ship was in the Empress Augusta Bay area where she bombarded enemy positions in the
jungles
east of the beachhead held by Allied forces.
After a short period of amphibious training at
Pearl Harbor
,
Renshaw
led a force of
LSTs
to the
Marianas Islands
. At first assigned to the outer destroyer screen, she later closed the
Tinian
beach to provide
star shell
illumination and fire support for troops ashore who were undergoing a heavy counterattack.
Philippines, 1944–1945
[
edit
]
In November 1944, while operating with a destroyer division bombarding enemy installations in the
Ormoc Bay
area and conducting anti-shipping sweeps in the waters westward of
Leyte
,
Renshaw
spotted
Japanese submarine
I-46
[1]
on the surface.
Renshaw
and accompanying destroyers
Saufley
,
Waller
, and
Pringle
[1]
immediately commenced fire and, after a brief one-sided duel during which the submarine returned fire with small caliber weapons, the enemy vessel was destroyed.
After a turnaround in
San Pedro Bay
,
Renshaw
and other units of her task group made a high-speed run to Ormoc Bay in an effort to intercept enemy transports reported unloading there. However, only a single Japanese vessel, a large wooden barge, was found, which
Renshaw
took under fire and destroyed while she came under air attack.
On 31 December 1944,
Renshaw
sortied with a task unit en route to screen a large transport formation assigned to land troops in the
Lingayen Gulf
area on 9 January 1945. Despite repeated air attacks during the voyage through the
Sulu
and
South China Seas
, the powerful invasion armada reached its objective without serious damage.
While in the
Mindanao Sea
, on 21 February 1945,
Renshaw
was struck by a
torpedo
from an enemy submarine, about 10 feet (3 m) below the waterline, flooding the
firerooms
. The ship lost all power, a large section of the hull was warped by the explosion, and bulkheads and decks were fractured. Even though 19 men were killed and 20 injured, within a matter of minutes, damage control parties had the flooding reduced by half. Through their efforts the main propulsion machinery suffered no damage. She managed to get under way again, and was escorted to San Pedro Bay by
Rudderow
.
President Harry S. Truman (waving his hat) with his party on board USS
Renshaw
during the Navy Day Fleet Review in New York Harbor, 27 October 1945.
Temporary repairs were made in April by the ship's crew and men from the
destroyer tender
Whitney
and the repair ship
Prometheus
.
Renshaw
then proceeded under her own power from the forward area to the
Todd Pacific Shipyard
in
Tacoma, Washington
, where permanent repairs were completed early in October 1945.
On
Navy Day
, 27 October 1945, in
New York Harbor
, President
Harry S. Truman
reviewed the greatest victory parade in naval history from
Renshaw
.
1949–1970
[
edit
]
Renshaw
decommissioned in February 1947 and was attached to the U.S.
Atlantic Reserve Fleet
. During 1949 and 1950, she was converted to a specialized antisubmarine vessel and recommissioned in June 1950 as
DDE-499
.
During the
Korean War
,
Renshaw
had two tours of duty in the Far East, May to November 1951 and November 1952 to June 1953, in which she served as an escort, patrol, search and rescue, and bombardment vessel. Subsequently,
Renshaw
served in the
Pacific Proving Grounds
, February to May 1954, during
Operation Castle
, rendering patrol and air control services for
Joint Task Force 7
.
This was followed by a short tour in the Far East from June to August 1954 where
Renshaw
rescued a
British
airman from the sea while acting as plane guard for the
Royal Navy
carrier
HMS
Warrior
, and also participated in a hunter-killer exercise with a force composed of United States and
Canadian
ships. On 8 August 1955,
Renshaw
sailed for her fourth tour in the Far East, spending most of her time in hunter-killer exercises and task force operations. She subsequently made additional Far Eastern deployments from Pearl Harbor, October 1956 to May 1957, December 1957 to May 1958, February 1959 to July 1959, and April 1960 to October 1960.
In 1960,
Renshaw
received
Weapon Alpha
, a new anti-submarine weapon, and on 17 December 1961, recovered the nosecone of
Discoverer 36
. She made a further WestPac deployment in 1962. On 7 August 1962 she was redesignated a destroyer and resumed the hull number,
DD-499
. On 3 October,
Renshaw
participated in the recovery of
Project Mercury
astronaut
Commander
Walter M. Schirra
. Spending most of 1963 operating out of Pearl Harbor,
Renshaw
deployed to WestPac again in November 1963, returning 6 months later.
In 1964
Renshaw
took part in the movie
In Harm's Way
.
On 3 March 1965,
Renshaw
, in company with other units of
Destroyer Division 252
, departed Pearl Harbor on short notice to augment destroyer forces for the rapidly expanding naval commitments in the South China Sea. During April and May, she served in surveillance roles and in support of carrier striking force operations. In June she was on
Taiwan
patrol, returning to
Vietnamese
waters in July, where she remained until September before steaming via
Japan
for Pearl Harbor.
In October and December
Renshaw
served as an alternate recovery ship in
Project Gemini
. Her 11th WestPac tour began 5 July 1966. She participated in anti-submarine operations, as an aircraft carrier rescue destroyer, in special operations with
Chicago
in the
Tonkin Gulf
, and in special operations and patrol duties in the
Taiwan Strait
.
DesDiv 252
returned to Pearl Harbor 16 December 1966.
Renshaw
remained in the
Hawaiian
area throughout 1967. She departed Pearl Harbor 8 April 1968 for WestPac where she provided escort services for the fast carrier attack forces on
Yankee Station
in the Tonkin Gulf. In September
Renshaw
returned to Pearl Harbor. In June 1969 she sailed for WestPac and Yankee Station where she rescued one pilot from the water. In December 1969, she returned from the Far East to Pearl Harbor.
Renshaw
decommissioned on 14 February 1970 and was struck from the
Navy List
the same day. She was sold for scrapping in October 1970 to
Zidell Explorations, Inc.
Renshaw
earned eight
battle stars
for
World War II
service; five battle stars for Korean War service; and six battle stars for
Vietnam War
service. Her Ship's Bell survives, and is at the
Portsmouth Naval Shipyard Museum
.
See also
[
edit
]
See
USS
Renshaw
for other ships of the same name.
References
[
edit
]
External links
[
edit
]