USSCony

History
United States
Namesake	Joseph S. Cony
Builder	Bath Iron Works
Laid down	24 December 1941
Launched	16 August 1942
Commissioned	30 October 1942
Decommissioned	2 July 1969
Stricken	2 July 1969
Fate	Sunk as a target, 20 March 1970
General characteristics
Class and type	Fletcher-classdestroyer
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	35knots(65 km/h; 40 mph)
Range	6500nmi.(12,000 km) at 15 kt
Complement	336
Armament	5 × single5 in (127 mm)/38 guns 5 × twin40 mm (1.6 in)AA guns 7 × single20 mm (0.8 in)AA guns 2 × quintuple21 in (533 mm) torpedotubes 6 × singledepth chargethrowers 2 × depth charge racks

USSCony(DD/DDE-508),aFletcher-classdestroyer,was a ship of theUnited States Navynamed forJoseph S. Cony(1834–1867), a naval officer during theCivil War.

Conywaslaunched16 August 1942 byBath Iron WorksCorp.,Bath, Maine,sponsored by Mrs. William R. Sleight, a first cousin ofJoseph S. Conyin whose honor the destroyer is named, in part of the largest mass launch to that point in the war shipbuilding program and the largest in Maine's history in which five BritishOcean type freighters,the LibertySSEthan Allen,USSConwayandConywere launched.The ship wascommissioned30 October 1942 atBoston.

1943

Conyescorted a troopconvoyfromNorfolktoNouméa,New Caledonia,where she arrived 27 January 1943. She patrolled betweenEspiritu SantoandEfate,and on 6 March joined in the bombardment of theVila-Stanmorearea onKolombangara,continuing her patrol and escort duties until clearing for overhaul atSan Francisco28 April. She returned to action waters at Espiritu Santo 1 August, and after screening a group of transports toGuadalcanal,she brought fire support and was AdmiralTheodore S. Wilkinson'sflagshipfor the landings onVella Lavellaon 15 August. She continued patrols and escorted supplies to Vella Lavella until returning to Espiritu Santo 8 September.

From 20 September 1943,Conypatrolled through theSolomons,and from 1 to 3 October joined in a sweep againstJapanesebarges attempting to evacuate Kolombangara. On 27 October, she sailed to cover the landings on theTreasuries.Here complete surprise was achieved, but Japanese reaction came quickly, and later that day 10 enemy dive bombers, escorted by 39 enemy fighters, attackedConyandPhilip(DD-498). Aided by American fighter aircraft,Conyand her sister splashed 4 dive bombers and 1 fighter, butConyreceived two bomb hits on her main deck, and these with a near miss killed 8 of her men, wounded 10, and caused considerable damage. She was towed intoPort PurvisonFlorida Islandfor emergency repairs, and sailed on toMare Island Naval Shipyardfor a complete overhaul.

1944

Returning to Port Purvis 27 March 1944,Conypatrolled along the southwest coast ofBougainville,hunting Japanese barges and submarines, and giving fire support to troops ashore in theEmpress Augusta Bayarea. She sailed from Port Purvis 4 May forMajuroandPearl Harbor,where she joined the screen of a transport group bound forEniwetokand theSaipan landingson 15 June.Conyscreened the transports as they unloaded and carried out antisubmarine patrol until 14 July, when she sailed to replenish at Eniwetok. Six days later she sailed for preinvasion bombardment onTinian,remaining to patrol in the antisubmarine screen when thelandings on Tinianbegan on 24 July.

Conyreturned to Guadalcanal 24 August 1944 to prepare for the assault on thePalau Islands.She screenedcarriersas they launched air raids supporting thelandings on Peleliubetween 15 and 30 September, then put intoManusto replenish. The destroyer put to sea once more 12 October, screening and providing fire support forunderwater demolition teamsand bombardment groups inLeyte Gulfbetween 19 and 21 October as the landings began. As Japanese forces entered Leyte Gulf on 24 October to begin theBattle of Surigao Straitphase of the epicBattle for Leyte Gulf,Conytook her station with thebattleshipsandcruisersin the battleline, joining in the furious firing of the night action, and pursuing and constantly dueling withJapanesedestroyerAsagumo,finally sunk in the morning of 25 October with the aid of fire from another destroyer and two cruisers.

After voyaging to Manus for replenishment,Conyreturned to Leyte Gulf for patrol duties 16 November 1944. On the nights of 29–30 November and 1–2 December she joined insweeps of Ormoc Bay,hunting Japanese shipping. Targets were few, but her group sent a barge to the bottom on their second foray, and bombarded enemy positions on the shores of the bay in preparation for the landings inOrmoc Baya few days later.Conyput intoKossol Roadsfrom 4 to 10 December, then sailed to screen carriers providing air cover for attack groups passing fromLeytetoMindoro,returning to Kossol Roads 19 December.

1945

Conyarrived at Manus 23 December 1944 and sailed 8 days later to screen transports to theLingayen Gulflandings on 9 January 1945. She cleared the Gulf 11 January to screen empty transports and cargo ships toSan Pedro Bay,Leyte, and then took up patrol duty in Lingayen Gulf. The destroyer covered the reconnaissance and sweeping ofBaler Baybetween 26 February and 10 March bydestroyer escortFormoe(DE-509), minesweepersSentry(AM-299) andSalute(AM-294), and stood by to provide fire support during the landings onCaballo IslandinManila Bayon 27 March. She bombardedParangbetween 14 and 19 April, and patrolled inDavao Gulfearly in May. On 7 June she sailed fromSubic Bayto cover the landings atBrunei Bay,Borneo,on 9 June, and sailed on a fire-support mission aidingminesweepingoperations and underwater demolition teams nearBalikpapan,Borneo, from 13 June to 2 July.

Returning to San Pedro Bay,Conysailed on 11 July 1945 to escort transports to landings atSaragani Bay,Mindanao,providing fire support to the forces ashore until 13 July. Through August, she made an escort voyage between Leyte andUlithi,and on 8 September, arrived in the approaches of theYangtze Riverto act as navigational ship during minesweeping operations. Between 29 September and 6 October, she called atShanghai,then sailed to investigate the compliance with the surrender terms of Japanese troops onRaffles Islandin theChusan Archipelagojust off theChinacoast south of Shanghai. After making a mail run toOkinawa,she served as harbor entrance control ship at Shanghai until 19 November, when she sailed toTaiwanto serve as navigational ship for minesweeping operations in theTaiwan Straits.She sailed for home from Shanghai 20 December, and after calling atSan DiegoandNew York,arrived atCharleston, S.C.,13 March 1946. There she was decommissioned and placed in reserve 18 June 1946.

1949 – 1960

ReclassifiedDDE-508on 26 March 1949,Conywas converted to an escort destroyer, specially equipped forantisubmarine warfare,and recommissioned 17 November 1949. After training and operations along the east coast and in theCaribbean,she sailed from her home-port, Norfolk, 14 May 1951, on a cruise round the world, during which she operated in theKoreanwar zone from 18 June to 28 October, returning home by way of theSuez Canal,and arriving at Norfolk 20 December 1951. In September 1953, she again cleared on a distant deployment, taking part in North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) Operation "Mariner", then exercising with theRoyal Navyin antisubmarine operations offNorthern Irelandbefore continuing to a tour of duty with the6th Fleetin theMediterranean.In 1955 and 1957, she again served in the Mediterranean, and in September and October 1957, joined in NATO antisubmarine exercises in theEnglish Channel.Local operations and cruises to the Caribbean marked 1958, and in 1959 and 1960.ConyjoinedTask Force Alfa,an experimental tactical group concentrating on antisubmarine warfare, in its operations along the east coast. With this group, she visitedQuebec City,Canada, in June 1960.

1961 – 1969

Conytook part in theBay of Pigs invasionofCubain April 1961.

Conyreverted toDD-50830 June 1962. In October 1962, she took part in theblockadeof Cuba during theCuban Missile Crisis.On 27 October,Conyintercepted theSovietsubmarineB-59,an incident which nearly led to war between the United States and theSoviet Union.

Conywas decommissioned and stricken 2 July 1969. She was sunk as a target offPuerto Rico20 March 1970.

Honors

Conyreceived 11battle starsforWorld War IIservice, and two forKorean Warservice.

External links

• navsource.org: USSCony
• USSCony Shipmateswebsite