|
The BABBITT
(DD-128) was
launched on
30 September
1918 by the
New York
Shipbuilding
Corporation
of Camden,
New Jersey,
and was
commissioned
on 24
October
1919. She
reported to
the Pacific
Fleet where
she operated
until
going out of
commission
at San Diego
on 15 June
1922.
Recommissioned
on 4
April 1930,
the BABBITT
served along
the West
Coast until
February
1931 when
she
proceeded to
the
Atlantic.
Between
February
1931 and May
1932 she
operated
with the
Destroyer
Squadron,
Scouting
Force along
the eastern
seaboard, in
the West
Indies, the
Gulf of
Mexico, and
in the Canal
Zone. She,
then, moved
on to the
Naval
Torpedo
Station,
Newport, and
in 1933 made
a cruise to
Chile
conducting
exercises
with
experimental
torpedoes.
Duty with
Rotating
Reserve
Destroyer
Squadron 19
at Norfolk
took her
into January
1935. Over
the next
four years
her duties
included
reserve
training
with the
scouting
force,
midshipman
cruises, and
a two year
assignment
with the
Special
Service
Squadron in
Cuban and
Puerto Rican
waters. In
April 1939
she
participated
in the
opening
of the New
York World’s
Fair.
In early
January
1941, the
BABBITT
joined the
LEARY
(DD-158) and
SCHENCK
(DD-159) of
DesRon 27 on
neutrality
patrol
escorting
convoys in
the Yucatan
Channel.
Later, she
patrolled
between
Guantanamo
Bay, Cuba,
and San
Juan,
Puerto Rico.
In October
1941, she
and the
LEARY
steamed
north to
Argentia,
Nova Scotia.
There the
BABBITT
escorted
cargo ships
bound for
Britain. The
convoys
traveled the
northern
shipping
lanes
between
Argentia and
Rekjavik,
Iceland,
dubbed
“Hell's
Highway”
because of
the German
U-boat
threat and
notoriously
rough seas.
The BABBITT
had radar
equipment
installed in
November
1941 and
rejoined the
LEARY on
neutrality
patrol.
Following
the attack
on Pearl
Harbor, she
was
back on
Hell’s
Highway
battling the
seas and
German wolf
packs that
sank
1,161
merchantmen
in 1942. She
earned a
battle star
for
defending
Convoy
SC-121
during a
U-boat
attack
between 3
and 10 March
1943.
In May 1943,
she assumed
a new route,
escorting
tankers from
New York to
Curacao
where they
took on oil
and gasoline
and steamed
for North
Africa.
Her first
transatlantic
convoy was
to
Casablanca.
She made a
second to
Casablanca
in July
1943. Other
convoys took
her to Aruba
and Bizerta.
Late in
October
1943, the
BABBITT
joined a
hunter-killer
group of
carriers
and their
escorts, but
after a week
had to
return to
the New York
Navy Yard
for repairs.
She was
underway
again in
December,
escorting a
cargo ship
to
the Azores,
where she
had to be
relieved by
the BIDDLE
(DD-151) to
return to
New York for
engine
repair.
In February
1944, her
last wartime
convoy to
Africa took
her to
Casablanca
and, then,
back to New
York in
early April.
New escort
duties kept
her
busy,
shuttling
between New
York,
Norfolk, and
Galveston,
Texas, until
mid-summer.
On 10 July,
she left New
York as
submarine
lookout with
the
supply ship
SATURN,
bound for
Bermuda,
Guantanamo
Bay, and San
Juan, and
returned to
New York at
month’s end.
Following
another trip
to the
Caribbean,
she joined
stores ship
YUKON
(AF-9),
dodging
icebergs en
route to
Reykjavik,
Greenland.
At 1551 on
22
September,
the two
ships had
just entered
Reykjavik’s
channel when
the YUKON
reported
that she had
struck
something
under water.
The BABBITT
began a
search of
the area.
Following a
second jolt,
the stores
ship’s crew
went to
general
quarters and
two minutes
later,
lookouts saw
a torpedo
pass behind
the ship and
explode
about 1,500
yards to
port. As the
BABBITT
attempted to
locate what
they assumed
was a
submarine,
the YUKON
began
evasive
maneuvers.
At 1557, a
torpedo
struck her
bow, opening
her
starboard
side from
the stem
aft some 60
feet, and a
dangerous
crack
appeared
across the
vessel
amidships.
The U-boat
made its
escape, and
the BABBITT
escorted the
crippled
ship
into Reykjavik
for
temporary
repairs.
By 27
October, the
destroyer
was serving
as plane
guard for
carriers
conducting
pilot
training out
of Quonset,
Rhode
Island. She
ended the
year
in the
Boston Navy
Yard for
overhaul and
installation
of
experimental
sound
gear. On 2
February
1945, the
BABBITT
entered a
new phase of
her career
when
she reported
to the
Underwater
Sound
Laboratory
at New
London,
Connecticut,
for
experimental
sonar work.
On 10 June
1945 her
classification
was changed
to AG-102,
and she
remained on
experimental
duty until
December
1945 when
she entered
New York
Navy Yard
for
pre-inactivation
overhaul.
The BABBITT
was
decommissioned
on 25
January 1946
and sold 5
June 1946.
|
