|
USS
Stoddard DD-566 History
March 10,
1943 thru July 22, 1997
The
Stoddard Name
The
USS Stoddard was named for James Stoddard who was born
at Port Robinson, C.W. (Canada West), around 1838. On
21 September 1863, he enlisted in the United States Navy at
Detroit, Michigan. While serving on the Marmora
near Yazoo City, Mississippi, he was sent ashore, in
the crew of a rifled howitzer mounted on a field carriage,
to help repulse a confederate attack on the town. He
and his comrades defended their gun against superior forces,
often engaging in hand-to-hand combat. Stoddard was
wounded in the neck during the action, but recovered to
receive the award of a medal and
a promotion to acting master�s mate, on 14 April 1864, for
his courageous stand.
|
LOGO: A
patched up steaming coffeepot surrounded by a ring
life preserver (referred to as The Donut). She was
called the Steamin Demon.
The name was
appropriate as she was the fastest Tin Can in our
group, recording 36 knots during speed runs.
|
 |
Specifications:
-
Displacement:
2,050 Tons
-
Length OA:
376" 5":
-
Breadth:
39' 7"
-
Draft:
17" 9"
-
Speed:
35.2 Knots
-
Complement:
329
History Summary:
-
Keel Laid - 10
March 1943
-
Launched - 19
November 1943
-
Commissioned - 15
April 1944
-
Decommissioned
(Mothballed), Charleston SC - 9 January 1947
-
Recommissioned
(De-Mothballed), Charleston SC - 9 March 1951
-
Decommissioned
Mare Island, CA -26 September 1969
-
Struck From Navel
Vessel Registry - 1 June 1975
-
Target Ship And
Tomahawk Project - 30 June 1976 - 1983
-
Phalanx
Development Project - November 1983 - March
1991
-
Disposed of by
Sinking off of Hawaii - 22 July 1997
|
World War II
Stoddard
(DD-566) was laid down at Seattle, Wash., by the
Seattle-Tacoma Shipbuilding Corp. on 10 March 1944, Launched
on 19 November 1944, sponsored by Mrs. Mildred Gould
Holcomb; and commissioned on 15 April 1945, Comdr. Horace
Meyers in command.
Following shakedown training
out of San Diego and availability at Seattle, Stoddard
screened a convoy to Pearl Harbor, departing the West Coast
on 16 July and reaching Hawaii on the 29th. She entered
another brief availability period at Pearl Harbor, then
headed north. On 8 August, she arrived in Adak, Alaska, and
joined Task Force (TF) 94, made up of Trenton (C-11),
Concord. (C-10), Richmond (CL-9), and the
destroyers of Destroyer Division (DesDiv) 57.
The mission of TF 94 was to
harass Japanese outposts in the Kuril Islands, located to
the northeast of Japan proper and west of the Aleutian
Islands. On 14 August, Stoddard sailed with the task
force to make her first offensive sweep of those forward
enemy positions. Poor weather conditions forced the ships to
abandon the mission. Task Force 94 was re-designated TF 92
between that first abortive mission and the second one,
begun on 26 August. Foul weather again foiled the American
attack, and the task force put into Attu. The storms were so
bad and came so often that TF 92 did not pull off a raid
until late November. During the evening hours of
21 November, the cruisers and destroyers pounded the
Japanese installations at Matsuwa, damaging the airfields
and other installations heavily. Heavy winds and seas slowed
TF 92's retirement to nine knots, but at the same time
stopped enemy air pursuit. The warships returned safely to
Attu on the 25th.
From Adak, DesDiv 113,
including Stoddard, was routed to the submarine base
at Dutch Harbor. After spending the first two weeks in
December at Dutch Harbor, the destroyers put to sea on the
13th and rejoined TF 92. On 3 January 1945, the task force
embarked upon another sweep of Japan's Kuril defenses. Two
days later, under the cover of snow squalls but with calm
seas, the task force bombarded the Surabachi Wan area of
Paramushiro, severely damaging canning installations and
airfields. TF 92 retired to Attu at high speed and returned
to Dutch Harbor on the 13th for a ten-day recreation period.
On 16 January, Stoddard and Rowe
(DD-564) headed south for operational training in the
Hawaiian Islands. They arrived at Pearl Harbor on the 22d
and departed on 7 February to return to Attu. They reached
Massacre Bay on 13 February, just in time to join the group
headed for the bombardment of Kuabu Zaki. The ships put to
sea on 16 February and arrived off Paramushiro just after
sunset on the 18th. They bombarded the island until midnight
and then retired to Attu, where they arrived on the 20th.
Three days later, they shifted to Adak for supplies and
repairs. They returned to Attu on 8 March. On 15 March, they
hit Matsuwa again. From 1 to 17 April, Stoddard
joined the task force in exercises in the vicinity of Adak.
On the 18th, she and the rest of DesDiv 13 bade farewell to
the cold winds and waters of the Aleutians chain.
Stoddard entered
Pearl Harbor for the third time on 24 April. For almost a
month, her crew enjoyed recreation in the islands and
conducted operational training in preparation for assignment
to Okinawa and the Fast Carrier Task Force. Stoddard
sailed from Pearl Harbor on 11 May, in the screen of
Ticonderoga (CV 14), bound for Ulithi. Along the way,
Ticonderoga's air group got in a little live ammunition
practice on 17 May, when they struck the Japanese forces
isolated on Taroa and the other islets of Maloelap Atoll.
The task group reached the lagoon at Ulithi on 22 May. A
week later, Stoddard departed the atoll to take up
station off Okinawa.
On 2 June, she arrived off Okinawa and
took up radar picket station. Though the Okinawa campaign
was rapidly nearing its conclusion, the proximity of
airfields in Japan and on Formosa allowed enemy air power to
continue to make life unpleasant for the ships around the
island. True, the deluge of kamikazes had abated, but the
skies continued to shower significant numbers of suicide
planes. Stoddard covered the withdrawal of several cargo
ships on 4 June during a typhoon-evasion maneuver; then
returned to her station. At sunset on 7 June, two planes
attacked, but both were sent hurtling into the sea before
they could reach the ships. During her tour of duty on the
picket line, Stoddard claimed two Japanese planes for
herself, two assists, and one probable kill.
She cleared Okinawa on 17 June in the screen
of Mississippi (BB-41). Three days later, she passed
through Surigao Strait into Leyte Gulf. For the remainder of
the month, she underwent repairs and took on provisions at
San Pedro Bay. She put to sea again on 1 July, this time in
the screen of TF 38, the Fast Carrier Task Force. For the
next 45 days, she guarded the carriers as their planes made
repeated strikes on the Japanese home islands. Stoddard
was detached once during that period of time, on 23 July
to join DesDiv 113 in a bombardment of Chi Chi Jima in the
Bonins. After the cessation of hostilities on 15 August, she
continued to cruise the waters near Japan with TF 38 to
cover the occupation forces she cleared Japanese waters from
21 September until 7 October while she underwent
availability at Eniwetok, then returned for training
exercises until November.
On 18 November, she departed Japan for the
United States. She transited the Panama Canal a month later
and arrived at Philadelphia two days before Christmas,
Stoddard went through a yard overhaul until late March,
then ferried personnel to Charleston, S.C., in April. She
began inactivation overhaul at Charleston on 8 July and was
placed out of commission in January of 1947.
Korean War
Stoddard
remained inactive berthed with the Charleston Group of the
Atlantic Reserve Fleet, until November 1950 when she was
reactivated. She fitted out at Charleston and Newport, RI,
and then conducted shakedown cruises at Newport and
Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. The Navy then sent Stoddard
along with several other ships to Boston, during the fall of
1951 and winter of 1952 for overhaul and modernization to
outfit the ship for battle in the jet age. One of its 5 inch
mounts (No. 3) and all of the 20 and 40 mm mounts were
removed along with the forward torpedo rack. Most of the
steel structure in the 01 level amidships and aft was
removed and replaced with aluminum to decrease top weight.
The removed guns were replaced with radar controlled 3 inch
50's. Hedge Hogs were installed behind #2, 5 inch gun mount.
The Stoddard then steamed back to Guantanamo for
shakedown and more training. Initial training was on the
newly installed weapons.
By the end of March, the Stoddard returned to
its home port at Newport, RJ where it released the
reservists and took on provisions for a six month cruise to
the Mediterranean Sea with the Sixth Fleet. The Stoddard
operated in the Mediterranean Sea on two occasions in 1952
and 1953 between the months of April and September. This
alternating semi-annual duty with another Task Force
maintained a strong naval presence in the area and was a
factor in limiting the expansion of communism by the Soviet
Union, stifling the aggressiveness of the Red Brigade in
Italy and supporting the non-alignment of Marshall Tito's
communistic Yugoslavia with the Soviets. As a gesture of the
established friendly relationship between the USA and
Yugoslavia at that time, the Stoddard steaming with the
Coral Sea and a small flotilla of ships docked at the
port of Split after demonstrating air and surface power to
this nation's leader. Marshall Tito and his advisors
observed the History of the USS Stoddard DD-566 grand
showing from an observation point on board the carrier. He
was so impressed that the crew was entertained by hosts in
the city.
Although the Stoddard
did not see battle with the enemy during the Korean War, it
was in the presence of peril. On the night of April 26,
1952, the Stoddard and Braine or Mullany
were relieved by the Rodman and Hobson in the
mid-Atlantic on plane guard detail for the aircraft carrier
Wasp conducting night flight operations under
blackout conditions. A shift in the wind caused the Wasp
to make a necessary change of course, turning into the
wind to bring her planes aboard. Somehow, without any
apparent awareness of the turn, the Hobson, with 236
crew members aboard, steamed straight ahead. At 10:38 pm
with both ships making speed of 25 knots, the Wasp
cut the Hobson in half as it followed a course
crossing the Wasp's bow. One hundred and seventy-five
(175) crew members perished as the two halves of the
Hobson sank within four (4) minutes of the collision.
Stoddard
alternated deployments with the 6th Fleet in the
Mediterranean Sea with overhauls at Philadelphia and
operations along the Atlantic seaboard of the United States
until December of 1954. Destroyer Squadron 21
transferred its home port from Newport, Rhode Island to San
Diego, California so Stoddard transited the Panama
Canal and joined the Pacific Fleet.
January 1955, she
embarked upon her first deployment to the western
Pacific since World War II. Soon after her
arrival, she participated in the evacuation of Chinese
Nationalists from the Tachen Islands. Following that
operation, she served on the Taiwan Strait patrol.
The 1956 cruise took
Stoddard to Pearl Harbor, Okinawa, Kaohsiung,
Formosa (now Taiwan), Subic Bay, Hong Kong, Robert
Island (Parcel Islands) which was reported as being
invaded by the Chinese. The report from the French
Legion located on an adjacent island.
The report caused a lot of excitement but
nothing was found. Sasebo and Yokosuka, Japan were
also stops during the cruise.
In 1957, the Stoddard steamed to
Westpac stopping at Pearl Harbor then on to Pago Pago.
The Stoddard then crossed the equator heading for
Australia with stops in Sidney, Perth and Darwin, then
on to Subic Bay for much needed repairs. There
were stops in Kaohsiung, Hong Kong and Okinawa; then on
to sea patrol where the Stoddard spent many long
days at sea near Quemoy and Matsu, islands off the coast
of China. The Stoddard steamed to Yokosuka,
Sasebo, Midway and Pearl Harbor on its way back to San
Diego.
In 1958, the Stoddard Westpac
Cruise included a stop in Australia. During the
cruise Stoddard participated in the evacuation of
Quemoy and Matsu, islands off the Chinese claimed by
both Communist China and Nationalist China. The
Stoddard earned the National Defense Ribbon for this
action.
Cold War Years
In 1959, the Stoddard was part of
task force designated as an Anti-Submarine (ASW) group.
This cruise included stops in Okinawa, Yokosuka, Japan
Subic Bay, Hong Kong, and Kaohsiung. The US had an
agreement with Nationalist China to defend against an
invasion from Communist China and as part of the
agreement the US navy maintained ships on patrol off the
Chinese coast.
In 1960, the Stoddard left Pearl
Harbor enroute to West Pac and had to stop to rescue
several young men adrift in a small outboard motor boat.
One of the young men rescued was the son of the mayor of
Honolulu. One more interesting event occurred as a
freighter loaded with manganese ore was sinking off the
northern tip of Luzon, Philippines, and the crew was
taken aboard and taken to Manila Bay.
In 1961, the Stoddard went to Long
Beach Shipyard for overhaul and modifications.
The 1961 Westpac Cruise brought her to
the Southeast Asia area during the Laotian crisis, where
she would soon concentrate all her efforts.
In 1962, the Stoddard headed back
for West Pac no longer designed as Anti-Submarine (ASW)
group. The situation in Southeast Asia had changed
as Vietnam was now becoming a hot spot. During the
cruise Stoddard and carrier Lexington
steamed from coast of Vietnam to Gulf of Siam. The
purpose was to evacuate embassy employees and civilians
from the US Embassy in Laos. The evacuees were
delivered to Manila on board the Lexington.
Stoddard was awarded the National Defense Ribbon for the
action off a Laos. The Stoddard also escorted a convoy
of Marines from Camp Pendleton to the Panama Canal for
the Cuban Missile Crisis.
In 1963-1964, the Stoddard
departed San Diego and performed extensive exercises in
conjunction with the units of Flotilla Nine for its
various missions in Wes Pac. Stoddard made stops
in Hawaii, Sasabo, Kaohsiung, before patrolling the
Straits of Taiwan. Stoddard steamed to Hong Kong
then on to Yokosuka.
Vietnam War
On 4 June 1965, Stoddard departed
from San Diego to begin her annual tour of duty in Asian
waters; but this deployment was different. By mid-June,
she was operating along the coast of Vietnam,
principally in the Danang area, giving gunfire support
to American and South Vietnamese troops operating ashore
against the forces of the Viet Cong insurgents and their
allies the North Vietnamese regulars. After upkeep in
Japan and a rest and relaxation period in Hong Kong, the
destroyer joined Independence (CVA-61) on Yankee
Station to serve as plane guard for the pilots flying
missions inland and as screening unit for the carrier
herself. By early November, she was back in Japan,
preparing to return to America. She departed Sasebo on
the 5th and reached San Diego on the 24th.
Stoddard spent the next twelve months operating with
the 1st Fleet in the waters off the western coast of the
United States. Her primary mission was to maintain
operational readiness through training, which ran the
gamut from antisubmarine warfare exercises to
bombardment drills.
On 5 November 1966, the destroyer stood
out of San Diego for Pearl Harbor and the western
Pacific. She spent two days, 10 and 11 November, in port
at Pearl Harbor before continuing on to Japan. She
reached Yokosuka on 20 November and remained there until
the 26th, when she got underway for Subic Bay in the
Philippines. Like the previous one, this deployment was
given over entirely to naval support for the American
and South Vietnamese forces struggling against Viet Cong
and North Vietnamese communists. Stoddard did
three tours of duty off Vietnam during this deployment.
The first lasted from 2 December 1966 to 4 January 1967
and consisted entirely of plane guard duty with Kitty
Hawk (CVA-63) in the Gulf of Tonkin. After repairs
and upkeep at Subic Bay, Stoddard returned to
Yankee Station on 17 January. For almost a month, she
cruised on Tet Holiday patrol and participated in
Operation "Sea Dragon," the interdiction of enemy
waterborne and coastal logistics operations. During that
month, she sank 26 small waterborne logistics craft and
dueled with shore batteries a number of times. On
16 February, she returned to Subic Bay for upkeep and,
after four days, got underway for a rest and relaxation
period at Hong Kong. The destroyer returned to Yankee
Station on 3 March for her third and final line period
of this deployment. Following five days of plane-guard
duty for Kitty Hawk, Stoddard resumed "Sea
Dragon" operations. This line period brought about a
change in the focus of Operation "Sea Dragon." Not only
did it become more important to the war effort, but also
a subtle shift in target emphasis required an
ever-increasing amount of shore bombardment and
counterbattery fire. Stoddard destroyed radar
installations and ammunition dumps, pounded staging
areas, and silenced shore batteries. The latter however,
scored some minor success on 17 March, when Stoddard
assisted in the rescue of a downed American near the
mouth of the Song Giap River. She came under intense
fire from a battery ashore and sustained one direct hit.
She spent the last five days of this line period
plane-guarding for Hancock (CVA-19).
After stopping at Sasebo and Yokosuka,
Stoddard got underway on 20 April to return to the
United States. Heading via Midway Island and Pearl
Harbor she arrived at San Diego on 5 May. She spent the
remainder of May and the month of June training Naval
Academy midshipmen; then resumed local operations until
22 September, when she entered Long Beach Naval Shipyard
for overhaul. She completed overhaul on 19 December and
returned to local operations out of San Diego on the
following day.
On 10 June 1968 Stoddard joined USS
Richmond K. Turner (DLG 20) and USS Ingersoll
(DD-652) for her last Westpac Cruise. She arrived
at Hawaii on 16 June. After fuel stops at Midway
and Guam Islands she arrived at Subic Bay in the
Philippines on 3 July.
Stoddard
plane guarded for the carrier USS America (CVA66)
in the Gulf of Tonkin and provided gunfire support for
troops ashore in the vicinity of Hue, RVN. After
stops in Kaosiung, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Sasebo, Japan,
Stoddard returned home on 7 December 1968.
Stoddard
served the Navy actively until September 1969. She
operated with the 1st Fleet along the West Coast during
the remainder. In September 1969, she was decommissioned
and placed in the Pacific Reserve Fleet at Mare Island,
California. Stoddard was struck from the
Navel Vessel Registry on 1 June 1975. Stoddard
was the last Fletcher class destroyer to be struck from
the Navel Vessel Register.
Stoddard
earned three battle stars for World War II and three
battle stars for the Vietnam War.
Weapons Test
On 30 June 1976, Ex USS
Stoddard was transferred from the inactive ship facility,
Mare Island, California to the Pacific Missile Test Center
at Point Mugu. The required equipment removals were
accomplished, and the ship was modified to perform a new
service. During the next few years she served as a
target in various weapons test programs, including the
Tomahawk Project. Having survived this first group of
test assignments, Stoddard was given a new challenge.
Even though her flag may have
been lowered for the last time and her boilers are silent,
the Ex-Stoddard has continued to serve in the tradition of
her proud heritage.
A new crew of test engineers,
technicians, cameramen, and weapons experts has replaced the
many Navy crews, which served the Stoddard. At
watch on the helm is a remote control system and outboard
motors propel the ship at less than exhilarating speed, but
the Ex Stoddard has continued to go in harms way,
facing threats that were not even conceived of when she
slipped down the waves for the first time. She has
weathered the onslaught of tactical missiles in a manner
that surely makes the ghosts of her past crews proud.
No longer able to maneuver or speed to safe haven, she has
stood and waited as a small white domed object has stood
watch on her rear deck. That object that General
Dynamics lovingly calls R2D2, and the Navy calls Phalanx,
has made many cruises on board the Ex Stoddard.
In November of 1983, a block
O Phalanx went aboard the Ex Stoddard for the first
time to prove that it would in fact negate the threat of
real tactical missile targets and not just lab-contrived
test targets. In November 1984, after a summer of
facing a vast array of tactical targets, the Ex Stoddard
proudly returned to Port Hueneme, intact to await her next
trial.
In June of 1985, the Ex
Stoddard again set sail, this time with a block I
baseline O Phalanx to protect her. After facing
supersonic diving targets, she again returned to Port
Hueneme, unscathed, in September of 1985.
Still ready to answer the
call, Ex Stoddard again headed for the open sea in
October of 1987, this time sporting a block I baseline
Phalanx on her fantail. Again the Stoddard
Phalanx Team faced skimming and diving tactical targets and
the supersonic vandal diving and sea-skimming target.
After six months of this war-like punishment, the team
proudly returned to port with barely a scratch.
Never willing to surrender,
the Ex Stoddard again braved the elements and man in the
winter of 1989-1990 to prove herself once more. With a
block I baseline 1 Phalanx on board, she again headed for
the test range and unknown threats. With a new special
software program and a new kitchen and quarters aboard, this
proud ship was again positioned in harms way. After
the smoke cleared and the last missile was expended, the
Stoddard Phalanx Team again returned to port after a job
well done.
During the testing outlined
above, the Ex USS Stoddard was subjected to attack by no
less than forty-three targets, from subsonic BQM drones to
supersonic vandals. She also faced the best and newest
tactical targets in today�s missile arsenal. The
knowledge and experience gained from these tests would not
have been possible without the help of this fine ship.
Final Fate
The Ex USS Stoddard was towed
by the USS Salvor to an assigned position near the island of
Kauai, Hawaii. Seal Team One installed the charges,
which sank her. The general location is 64NM NNW of
the island of Kauai, Hawaii in the Barking Sands Missile
Range.
-
Location of Sinking: 22� 47' 39.2"N,
160� 36" 41.0"W
-
Time and Date of Sinking: 17:17
Hawaii-Aleutian time =zone 22 July 97
-
Depth: 2.550 Fathoms
|
