Destroyers: Gleaves Class

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Brian James
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Re: Destroyers: Gleaves Class

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Gleaves Class Destroyer USS Hobson pictured wearing Measure 15 which was a rare experimental pattern, based on RN Admiralty camouflage but using US blue-grey colors. Only three ships are known to have worn it, and USS Hobson is the only one to use white. Hobson wore this pattern in late 1942....In 1952, Hobson collided with Aircraft Carrier USS Wasp and sank with the loss of 176 crew. The ships had been undertaking amphibious exercises in the Atlantic, with Wasp practicing night flying, when Hobson attempted to turn in front of the carrier and collided with Wasp. Hobson was broken in two and quickly sunk, causing the greatest loss of life on a US Navy ship since World War II.
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Brian James
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Re: Destroyers: Gleaves Class

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Gleaves Class Destroyer USS Meredith pictured off Boston Navy Yard on April 29th 1941....Departing Espiritu Santo on October 12th 1942, Meredith, now commanded by Commander Harry E. Hubbard, was underway as part of a convoy with Alchiba, Bellatrix, Jamestown, Nicholas, and Vireo, each pulling a barge carrying barrels of aviation gasoline and 500-pound bombs to the United States forces on Guadalcanal. Two days later it was learned that a Japanese Carrier Task Force was in the vicinity and all ships except Meredith and Vireo turned back. Despite the fact that Meredith was equipped only with surface-search and not air-search radar, Commander Hubbard decided to press on to deliver the critically needed aviation gas.
Meredith was sighted by a Japanese patrol plane on the morning of October 15th, and shortly after midday took aboard the 68-man crew of Vireo to depart the area at high speed. However, while preparing to torpedo Vireo to keep her out of Japanese hands, Meredith was attacked by a force of 38 bombers, torpedo planes, and escort fighters from Shōkaku-Class Aircraft Carrier Zuikaku. In the first three minutes of the attack, Meredith was struck by a bomb that exploded beneath her bridge, destroying all communications, steering control, and gun direction. A second bomb struck the forward port side, and a torpedo exploded below the ready ammunition locker, igniting the ship's pyrotechnics and setting fire to fuel oil leaking from her bunkers.
Meredith fought fiercely, and brought down three of her attackers, but she was struck by an estimated 14 bombs and seven torpedoes. Meredith rolled over and sank in 10 minutes, Of the crew of 273 on board that day, only eight officers and 73 enlisted men survived the attack and the three ensuing days of exposure to the open sea and sharks until they were rescued by Grayson, Seminole and Gwin. Six members of Meredith's crew managed to swim to Vireo, and were rescued by a naval PBY Catalina flying boat on October 19th.
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Brian James
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Re: Destroyers: Gleaves Class

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Dusk at Brooklyn Navy Yard, in the foreground is Gleaves Class Destroyer USS Gherardi (DD-637), prior to her conversion into a highspeed Minesweeper (redesignated DM-30)...under the hammerhead crane in the background is Leander Class Light Cruiser HMS Ajax, with much of her upperworks removed - she departed Brooklyn NY after repairs in September 1943.
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Brian James
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Re: Destroyers: Gleaves Class

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Gleaves Class Destroyer USS Forrest pictured off Norfolk Navy Yard on March 25th 1943.
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Brian James
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Re: Destroyers: Gleaves Class

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Gleaves Class Destroyer USS Macomb pictured during Operation Torch in November 1942....In July 1954, Macomb was placed in reserve. On October 19th she decommissioned and transferred to the Japanese Government, becoming Hatakaze (DD-182) in the Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force. The former Macomb was returned to U.S. custody in 1969. She was then sold to the Republic of China (Taiwan) on August 6th 1970, to replace the former Gleaves Class Destroyer Rodman (which had been damaged after running aground) as ROCS Hsien Yang (DD-16). The former Macomb was decommissioned in 1972, struck in 1974, and was serving as a dockside training ship through 1978.
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