USSAaron Ward(DD-483)was aGleaves-classdestroyerin the service of theUnited States Navy.She was the second Navy ship named in honor ofRear AdmiralAaron Ward.She sank on 7 April 1943 in a shoal near Tinete Point ofNggela Sule,Solomon Islands duringOperation I-Go.Her wreck was discovered on 4 September 1994.
 USSAaron WardapproachingUSSWaspon 17 August 1942, during operations in the Solomon Islands area.
| |
| History | |
|---|---|
 United States | |
| Name | USSAaron Ward |
| Namesake | Aaron Ward |
| Builder | Federal Shipbuilding and Drydock Company |
| Laid down | 11 February 1941 |
| Launched | 22 November 1941 |
| Commissioned | 4 March 1942 |
| Fate | Sunk by Japanese aircraft offGuadalcanal7 April 1943 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type | Gleaves-classdestroyer |
| Displacement | 2,060 tons (2,090 t) |
| Length | 348 ft 4 in (106.17 m) |
| Beam | 36 ft 1 in (11.00 m) |
| Draft | 13 ft 6 in (4.11 m) |
| Propulsion |
|
| Speed | 35 knots (65 km/h) |
| Range | 6,500 nmi (12,000 km; 7,500 mi) at 12 kn (22 km/h; 14 mph) |
| Complement | 208 |
| Armament |
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Construction
editAaron Wardwaslaid downon 11 February 1941 atKearny, New Jerseyby theFederal Shipbuilding and Drydock Companyandlaunchedon 22 November 1941, sponsored by Miss Hilda Ward, the daughter of the late Admiral Ward. The ship wascommissionedon 4 March 1942.[1]
Service history
editFollowing hershakedown cruiseout ofCasco Bay,Maineand post-shakedown availability at theNew York Navy Yard,Aaron Wardsailed for thePacificon 20 May 1942 and proceeded via thePanama Canalto San Diego. A short time later, as theBattle of Midwaywas developing off to the westward, the destroyer operated in the screen ofVice AdmiralWilliam S. Pye'sTask Force 1(TF 1), built around fourbattleshipsand anescort carrier,Long Island,as it steamed out into the Pacific Ocean – eventually reaching a point some 1,200 miles (2,200 km) west ofSan Francisco, Californiaand equally northeast of Hawaii – to "support the current operations against the enemy." With the detachment ofLong Islandfrom the task force on 17 June,Aaron Wardscreened her on her voyage back to San Diego.[1]
World War II
editAfter local operations off the west coast,Aaron Wardsailed for Hawaii on 30 June 1942 and then to theTonga Islandswith TF 18. Assigned to escort duties soon afterwards, she convoyed the oilerUSSCimarron(AO-22)toNouméa.During the course of the voyage she made two sound contacts, one on 5 August and the other the following day, which she developed and attacked withdepth charges.Although she claimed a probable sinking in each case, neither kill was borne out in postwar accounting. Subsequently assigned to screening duties with forces seeking to cover and resupplyGuadalcanal,Aaron Wardsaw the fleet carrierUSSWasp(CV-7)torpedoed byI-19on 15 September 1942.[1]
Within a month's time,Aaron Wardwas earmarked for a shore bombardment mission on 17 October. She stood intoLunga Roadsto lie to and await the arrival of aMarineliaison officer who would designate targets for the ship. Before she could embark passengers, though, she spotted five enemy bombers approaching from the west. These attackedAaron Wardbut ran into a heavy antiaircraft barrage from both the ship and marine guns on shore. The destroyer went ahead atflank speedwhen she spotted the attackers, to carry out evasive maneuvers and avoid the falling bombs, radically swinging to the right or left as the occasion demanded. Three bombs splashed 100 to 300 yards (91 to 274 m) astern of the ship. The Marines claimed two of the five attackers destroyed, while the ship and the Marines shared a third kill.[1]
The action over, the destroyer embarkedMartin Clemens,the former British consular representative on Guadalcanal,MajorC. M. Nees, USMC, andCorporalR. M. Howard, USMC, a photographer, and got underway soon afterwards, reaching her target area within 40 minutes. For three hours,Aaron Wardshelled Japanese shore positions, her targets ranging from a gun emplacement to ammunition dumps; fires, smoke, and explosions marked her visit as she quit the area. Reaching Lunga Roads, she disembarked her passengers and after going on alert for a Japanese air raid that failed to materialize, clearedLengo Channeland rejoined her task force.[1]
Three days later, while again performing screening operations,Aaron Wardsaw thecruiserChestertake a torpedo hit on 20 October fromI-176.The destroyer went to the aid of the stricken cruiser and dropped a full depth charge pattern onChester's assailant, but did not record a kill. She then escorted the damaged cruiser toEspiritu Santo.[1]
Ten days after this,Aaron Wardcarried out another bombardment of Japanese positions on Guadalcanal, this time in company with thelight cruiserAtlanta,flagshipof Rear AdmiralNorman Scott,and destroyersBenham,Fletcher,andLardner.Arriving off Lunga Point at 0520 on 30 October, the task group stood in, andAtlantaembarked a liaison officer fromMajor GeneralAlexander A. Vandegrift,Commander of the1st Marine Division,20 minutes later.[1]
Steaming to its designated area, the task group reached its destination within an hour's time, andAtlantaopened fire.Aaron Wardfollowed suit soon afterwards; eventually, she expended 711 rounds of 5-inch ammunition. Pausing briefly to investigate a reported submarine in the vicinity,Aaron Wardthen cleared the area.[1]
Naval Battle of Guadalcanal, 13 November 1942
editAaron Wardscreenedtransportsunloading men and material off Guadalcanal on 11 and 12 November, shooting down one enemy plane and damaging two others on the former day and two more planes off Lunga Point on the latter.[1]The Allies learned that the Japanese were sending a large force to disrupt air operations based atHenderson Fieldand land reinforcements for the Japanese forces on the island. The resultingNaval Battle of Guadalcanalproved to be the climactic engagement of theGuadalcanal campaign.
On the evening of 12 November,Aaron Wardretired with her task force – five cruisers and eight destroyers under Rear AdmiralDaniel J. Callaghan– in an eastward direction, escorting the transports out of what would become known after the battle as "Ironbottom Sound".Later, the force reversed course and stood back through Lengo Channel. At about 0125 on 13 November, the American ships which possessedradarpicked up numerous contacts on their screens – the "Volunteer Attack Force" under Rear AdmiralHiroaki Abe,which consisted ofbattleshipsHieiandKirishima,the light cruiserNagara,and 14 destroyers.[1]
Aaron Ward,leading the four destroyers bringing up the rear of Callaghan's column, ranged in on the Japanese ships, opening fire soon afterwards on a target she took to be a battleship. A short time later, after the ship had fired approximately ten salvos, she saw that the cruisers ahead of her had apparently changed course;Aaron Wardobserved two torpedoes pass beneath her.[1]
An instant later,Bartonblew up, torpedoed byAmatsukaze.Aaron Ward,with the waters clear ahead of her, surged ahead once more. She prepared to fire torpedoes at a target to port, but did not because she sighted a ship which she took to beSan Francisco1,500 yards (1,400 m) away. Observing what she took to beSterettheading directly toward her port side,Aaron Wardput her rudder over hard to port to avoid a collision.[1]
A short time later, the destroyer commenced firing on an enemy ship, and hurled some 25 salvos in her direction; her target may have beenAkatsuki,which did blow up and sink, with very heavy loss of life.[2]Changing course to bear on a new target in the melee,Aaron Wardmanaged to get off four salvos on director control until a Japanese shell put the director out of action and forced the destroyer's gunners to rely on local control.[1]
In the minutes that followed,Aaron Wardreceived eight more direct hits; unable to identify friend from foe and certain that the enemy had surely established her American character, the destroyer then stood out to clear the area. She lost steering control at 0225, and, steering with her engines, attempted to come to the right. Seeing no more firing after 0230, when the battle apparently ended,Aaron Wardwent dead in the water at 0235, her forward engine room flooded with salt water and her feed water gone.[1]
Using a gasoline pump, the destroyer's crew managed to pump salt water into the tanks and light the boilers off. At 0500,Aaron Wardmoved slowly ahead, bound forSealark Channel;ten minutes later, Americanmotor torpedo boatsclosed, and the destroyer signaled them to askTulagifor a tug. She kept up her crawling pace for only a half-hour before going dead in the water again.[1]
Thirty minutes after she had slowed to a stop,Aaron Wardspotted the Japanese battleshipHieisteaming slowly in circles betweenSavoandFlorida Islands.Also nearby, nearer to Guadalcanal, layAtlanta,Portland,CushingandMonssen,all damaged, and the destroyers both burning. The destroyerYūdachi's presence in the vicinity proved to be her own undoing:Portlandsummarily sank her.[1]
Aaron Ward,perhaps prompted to do so with more urgency due toHiei's proximity, got underway at 0618, and two minutes later greetedtugBobolink,which had arrived to take the destroyer in tow. Before the towline could be rigged,HieispottedAaron Wardand opened fire with her heavy guns. Four two-gun salvos were laid, the third of which straddled the crippled destroyer. However, planes sent fromHenderson Fieldbegan attackingHiei,distracting her from further fire.[1]
Losing power again at 0635,Aaron Wardwas taken in tow byBobolink,and the ships began moving toward safety. The tug turned the tow over to a localpatrol boatat 0650, and the destroyer anchored in Tulagi harbor nearMakambo Islandat 0830. The nine direct hits she had received resulted in 15 men dead and 57 wounded. After receiving temporary repairs locally,Aaron Wardsailed for Hawaii soon afterwards, reachingPearl Harboron 20 December 1942 for permanent repairs.[1]
The Aaron Ward gave another fine example of the fighting spirit of the men of our destroyer force. Though hit nine times by both major and medium caliber shells which caused extensive damage she nevertheless avoided total destruction by the apparently superhuman efforts of all hands. The superb performance of the engineers' force in effecting temporary repairs so that the ship could move away from under the guns of the enemy battle ship largely contributed to saving the ship.
— AdmiralWilliam F. Halsey,Commander, South Pacific Forces[3]
The destroyer rejoined the fleet on 6 February 1943 and soon resumed escort work. During one stint with a small convoy on 20 March, she aided in driving off attacking Japanese planes. On 7 April, she had escortedUSSWard(APD-16)and threetank landing craftfrom theRussell Islandsto Savo. Not expecting to arrive until 1400, the destroyer went ahead at 25 knots (46 km/h) to provide USSWardand the three LCTs with air cover until they reached Tulagi. At about noon, the destroyer received notification of an impending air raid at Guadalcanal.[1]
Sinking
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As the ships neared their destination,Aaron Wardreceived orders at about 1330 to leave her convoy to cover thetank landing shipLST-449offTogoma Point,Guadalcanal. (One of the passengers onLST-449was thenLieutenant (junior grade)John F. Kennedy,later to become President of the United States, on his way to take command ofPT-109.[4]) JoiningLST-449at 1419, the destroyer directed her to follow her movements and zigzag at the approach of enemy aircraft. While the LST maneuvered to conform toAaron Ward's movements,Lieutenant CommanderFrederick J. Becton,commanding officerofAaron Ward,planned to retire to the eastward through Lengo Channel, as other cargo ships and escorting ships were doing upon receipt of the air raid warning from Guadalcanal.[1]
Sighting a dogfight over Savo Island,Aaron Wardtracked a closer group of Japanese planes heading south over Tulagi; while swinging to starboard, the ship suddenly sighted three enemy planes coming out of the sun. Surging ahead to flank speed and putting her rudder over hard to port,Aaron Wardopened fire with her20 mmand40 mmguns, followed shortly afterwards by her5-inchbattery. Bombs from the first three planes struck on or near the ship, and the mining effect of the near-misses proved devastating; the first bomb was a near miss, which tore holes in the side of the ship, allowing the forward fire room to take water rapidly; the second struck home in the engine room, causing a loss of all electrical power on the 5 inch and 40 mm mounts. Shifting to local control, however, the gunners kept up the fire. A third bomb splashed close aboard, holing her port side, near the after engine room. Having lost power to her rudder, the ship continued to swing to port as another trio of dive bombers loosed their loads on the now-helpless destroyer. While none of these bombs hit the ship, two landed very near her port side. Twenty men died, 59 were wounded, and seven went missing.[1]
Despite the best efforts of her determined crew, and the assistance ofOrtolanandVireo,the destroyer settled lower in the water. When it became evident that the battle to saveAaron Wardwas being lost,OrtolanandVireoattempted to beach her on a shoal near Tinete Point ofNggela Sule.At 21:35, however,Aaron Wardsank, stern-first, in 40fathoms(70 m) of water, only 600 yards (550 m) from shoal water.[1]
Discovery
edit9°10′30″S160°12′0″E/ 9.17500°S 160.20000°E On 4 September 1994, divers located the wreck ofAaron Ward.The firstdiveto the wreck was made on 25 September 1994. Because of the depth, divers were limited to about 15 minutes at the wreck before beginning their return to the surface.[3]
Awards
editAaron Wardwas awarded fourbattle starsfor herWorld War IIservice.[1]
Notes
edit- ^abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvw"Aaron Ward II (DD-483)".Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships.Navy Department,Naval History and Heritage Command.
- ^"Long Lancers".
- ^ab"USS Aaron Ward – DD483".Michael McFadyen's Scuba Diving Web Site.Retrieved17 February2008.
- ^"Recollections of Captain Junius T. Jarman, USC&GS of the Wartime Experiences of the U.S.S. Pathfinder".National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.Retrieved4 November2014.
On April 7, 1943, then Lt. (j.g.) Kennedy was a passenger on LST 449 on the last leg of a trip that was destined to end with his taking command of a PT boat at Guadalcanal.
References
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This article incorporates text from thepublic domainDictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships.The entry can be foundhere.
External links
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