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The document
below can be downloaded or viewed as a .pdf
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USS Stoddard DD-566 History
March 10, 1943 thru
July 22, 1997
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USS Marmora 1862-1865
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.
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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. |
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Horace Meyers was first in command.
Following shakedown training out of San
Diego and availability at 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.
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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 |
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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.
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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.
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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
homeport 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 homeport 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, along with the usual Yokosuka,
Kaohsiung and Hong Kong ports of call
and Task Force 77 operations, the
Stoddard's 1958 Westpac Cruise
included Formosa Patrol duties in
September, when along with DesDiv 211
(DesRon 21) destroyers USS Braine, USS
Isherwood and USS Mullany, she escorted
ROC, LSTs and LSMs to Quemoy while it
was under fire by mainland shore
batteries. The division formed barrier
patrols off the landing beach to guard
against submarine and torpedo boat
interference with the landings made to
resupply and reinforce the island.
The Stoddard earned the Armed
Forces xpeditionary Medal for this
action.
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In July,
Stoddard and others of the division
provided convoy escort for APAs and
AKAs carrying a Marine landing force and
its equipment en-route to the Persian
Gulf in response to the Lebanon crisis.
The assignment took
Stoddard to Singapore and then
through the Straits of Malacca into the
Indian Ocean before the crisis came to a
conclusion, The Task Group
turned back before reaching the Andaman
Islands.
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.
The following took place in late
spring 1962. Stoddard had just left Hong
Kong after spending 60 days as �Station
Ship� for the US Embassy there.
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Normally
a US Ship only spends 30-days as station
ship however our relief ship couldn�t
make it and we were assigned an
additional 30-days station ship duty.
About noon the day we left from
Hong Kong, a freighter of Greek registry
sent a distress signal. They were
somewhere between Hong Kong and Manila,
Philippines. Stoddard responded and
arrived shortly afterwards. There were
several smaller vessels already in the
area. The Stoddard took charge of the
situation and rescued the crewmembers.
The
freighter�s holds were filled with
magnesium. The entire freighter�s crew
was transferred to the Stoddard.
With the crew off the freighter
it became floating derelict in the
shipping lanes. Commander J.R. Collier
requested permission to torpedo the
freighter to rid the shipping lane of
this hazard. Just after sunset and
before permission was granted the
freighter sank on its own. The Stoddard
transported the freighter�s crew to
Manila.
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. |
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).
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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.
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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. |
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Stoddard
earned three battle stars for World War
II and three battle stars for the
Vietnam War.
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.
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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.
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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.
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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 of the
USS Stoddard
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.
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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
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