Destroyers: Gleaves Class

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Brian James
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Destroyers: Gleaves Class

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Gleaves Class Destroyer USS Duncan pictured c 1942,She was launched on February 20th 1942 by Federal Shipbuilding & Dry Dock Co., Kearny and commissioned on April 16th1942.
Duncan sailed from New York on June 20th 1942 for the South Pacific, arrived at Espiritu Santo on September 14th to join TFs 17 and 18, and with them departed the same day to cover transports carrying the 7th Marine Regiment to reinforce Guadalcanal. Duncan was in the screen of the Aircraft Carrier Wasp next day when the task force was attacked by two Japanese Submarines. Wasp was torpedoed, and so severely damaged that she had to be sunk by USN ships. Duncan picked up survivors from the carrier, transferring 701 officers and men to other ships, and 18 wounded and 2 bodies to the base hospital at Espiritu Santo upon her arrival 16 September.
Duncan continued to operate from Espiritu Santo to the Solomons, screening transports and ships of the covering forces. On October 11th 1942, she was in the screen of Task Force 64 which was assigned to protect a vital transport convoy carrying reinforcements to Guadalcanal. Contact was made with a large enemy surface force just as the American ships were executing a course change as part of their battle plan. Duncan, having a clear radar contact and seeing her flagship apparently steady upon a course which would close the target, believed the Destroyers were closing to attack, and found herself charging alone toward the enemy force.
In the resulting Battle of Cape Esperance, Duncan pumped several salvos into a Cruiser, then shifted fire to a Destroyer, at the same time maneuvering radically to avoid enemy fire and that from her own forces, who were now joining in the attack. She got off two torpedoes toward her first target, Furutaka, and kept firing until hits she had received put her out of action. The commanding officer ordered the bridge, isolated by fire, abandoned, and the wounded lowered into life rafts. The men on board attempted to beach the ship on Savo Island, but then, believing she might yet be saved, continued to fight the fires until power failed, when they abandoned ship. Destroyer McCall rescued 195 men from the shark-infested waters and made an attempt to salvage Duncan, but she sank on October 12th 1942, about 6 miles north of Savo Island.
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Brian James
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Re: Destroyers: Gleaves Class

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Gleaves Class Destroyer USS Forest pictured refueling from Casablanca Class Escort Carrier USS Guadalcanal on February 20th 1944.
She patrolled the Atlantic with the hunter-killer group headed by USS Guadalcanal. Forrest sailed from Norfolk April 20th for Northern Ireland, and took up escort duties around the British Isles as men and ships were concentrated for the Normandy invasion. When bad weather postponed the landings, originally intended for June 5th, Forrest was sent out on June 4th to recall convoys which had already sailed, bound for Utah Beach. During the actual invasion of June 6th, she screened transports lying in the Baie de la Seine, and on 12, 16, and 17 June, she bombarded shore targets to aid the troops advancing ashore. After escorting Battleships to Plymouth, June 18th, Forrest returned to the assault area on June 21st to cover sweeping operations off the Cotentin Peninsula. She engaged shore batteries on 22 and 24 June, returning to the Isle of Portland, the next day.
Four days later Forrest got underway for Belfast, Oran, and Taranto, from which she sailed August 11th 1944 for the invasion of southern France, arriving in the inner fire support area off St. Tropez on August 15th. For the next two months, she escorted convoys from Palermo, Naples, Ajaccio, and Oran to the southern coast of France, guarding the men and supplies which made the push northward possible. She returned to Norfolk November 8th for conversion to a high speed Minesweeper. She was sold on November 20th 1946 and broken up for scrap.
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Brian James
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Re: Destroyers: Gleaves Class

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Gleaves Class Destroyer USS Nelson pictured under tow heading towards Boston, on August 26th 1944, following temporary repairs in the UK. Nelson's stern had been blown off by a torpedo from a German Motor Torpedo Boat during a night attack off Normandy on June 13th 1944.
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Brian James
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Re: Destroyers: Gleaves Class

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Gleaves Class Destroyer USS Nelson pictured under repair at Boston Navy Yard in 1944.During the invasion of Normandy she was in position No. 13 on the 'Dixie Line' as part of the Anti-Submarine and E-Boat screen around the Omaha beachhead. E-boats were the German version of PT boats – speedy, agile, hard-hitting, and hard to hit. Armed with 40 mm guns and torpedoes, they specialized in night attacks. On the night of 8/9 June several destroyers on the 'Dixie Line' had taken under fire and chased several of these E-boats, sinking two.
Nelson was anchored in position 13 the night of June 12th. Thus far her only contact with the enemy had been in the form of a glide bomb which had exploded harmlessly off the starboard quarter during her first night in the area. At 01:05 on June 13th she made a radar contact, challenged the contact by flashing light, and opened fire. The target slowed, turned away, and split into three distinct blips. The Destroyer had loosed ten salvos when a torpedo struck her just aft of the No. 4 gun mount blowing off the stern and No. 4 mount. USS Maloy stood by to transfer personnel, and Nelson was taken in tow. Twenty-four of her crew were killed or missing and nine wounded. After emergency repairs at Derry, Northern Ireland, where her #2 turret and torpedo tubes were removed as a weight saving/stability measure, the Destroyer was towed to Boston where she received a new stern.
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Brian James
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Re: Destroyers: Gleaves Class

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Gleaves Class Destroyer USS Butler pictured off Philadelphia Navy Yard on October 6th 1942.
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Brian James
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Re: Destroyers: Gleaves Class

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Gleaves Class Destroyer USS Frankford pictured as she approaches Bogue Class Escort Carrier USS Card....Atlantic Ocean,May 1945.
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Brian James
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Re: Destroyers: Gleaves Class

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Gleaves Class Destroyer USS Thompson pictured undergoing a RAS procedure with Wyoming Class Dreadnought Battleship USS Arkansas,April 21st 1944.
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Brian James
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Re: Destroyers: Gleaves Class

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Gleaves Class Destroyer USS Swanson pictured off Charlestown Navy Yard on August 13th 1941.
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Brian James
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Re: Destroyers: Gleaves Class

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Former Gleaves Class Destroyer USS Thompson pictured post her Ellyson Class Destroyer Minesweeper conversion at Charleston,South Carolina in late 1945.
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Brian James
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Re: Destroyers: Gleaves Class

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Gleaves Class Destroyer USS Quick pictured post her Destroyer Minesweeper conversion as DMS-32, off Charleston Navy Yard in June 1945.
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