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USS CUMMINGS was the second MAHAN-class destroyer to be
laid down at the United Shipyard facilities on Staten Island. She would
be launched on December 11, 1935 and commissioned almost a year later.
DD-365 was the second ship named for Andrew Boyd
Cummings, a Union commander whose conspicuous gallantry allowed
Commodore David Glasgow Farragut's squadron to successfully battle past
the Confederate batteries at Fort Hudson, Louisiana, during the Civil
War.
After a lengthy shakedown typical of operations during
the pre-World War 11 years, CUMMINGS was assigned to Battle Force,
Pacific and would, with a brief respite in the Canal Zone and the
Caribbean, remain in the "Big Ocean" for the remainder of her
career.
The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor found the
experienced tin can tied up at Pier 19 in the very heart of the Naval
Base. Though bracketed by bombs and suffering wounds from the numerous
fragments that peppered the vessel, CUMMINGS’ crew were able to raise
steam. The destroyer was one of the first to sortie in search of the
Japanese attackers, rolling depth charges on a submarine contact just
hours after the attack. Evidence suggests that the KD6a-class submarine
I-70 may have been destroyed by CUMMINGS’ accurate assault; one of the
first Japanese fleet-class submarines to succumb to an American
destroyer.
Throughout the war in the Pacific, CUMMINGS served in
a variety of roles. She steamed to such extremes of the Pacific rim as
Guadalcanal and Australia in the south and Adak, Alaska in the north.
Japanese troops felt the accuracy of her shore bombardment skills during
most critical actions of the "Island-Hopping" campaign. She
would even screen British carriers as a part of Force 66 and 70,
striking targets in Java.
By July 1944, CUMMINGS found herself in more unusual
company. She would screen the cruiser USS BALTIMORE (CA-68) while the
warship carried President Franklin Delano Roosevelt to Pearl Harbor,
Adak, and Juneau. Finally, when the voyage was completed, DD-365 was
assigned the task of delivering the President to Seattle, where
Roosevelt delivered a nation-wide radio address from the destroyer's
forecastle.
DD-365 returned to less glamorous but perhaps more
effective action almost immediately. Within a month, she was bombarding
shore targets in the central Pacific. Her attack on Marcus Island even
had elements of the theatrical. Although there was no plan to invade
Marcus Island, American planners needed to convince the Japanese that a
major force was off the island, preparing to land. Along with three
cruisers and five other destroyers, CUMMINGS was assigned the task.
Miles off the coast, just out of easy observation from the shore,
CUMMINGS generated clouds of smoke, simulating dozens of transports,
then laid a highly effective smokescreen. She even launched balloons,
carrying radar reflectors to convince the Japanese that a huge fleet lay
just over the horizon. Admiral William Halsey was satisfied with the
performance, terming it, "... brilliantly executed..."
As she traveled west to support the Philippine
landings, CUMMINGS, along with Task Group 57.9, found herself off the
huge American base at Ulithi. Unknown to the Americans, a suicide attack
was planned on the anchorage, to be carried out by eight KAITEN midget
submarines launched by two I-class subs. CUMMINGS sealed off the harbor,
while other forces hunted down the tiny attackers. An American tanker
fell to the torpedoes of the subs already in the anchorage, but none of
the attackers survived.
CUMMINGS would spend the remainder of the war in
convoy and plane guard duty.
DD-365 would return to Norfolk, VA by way of San
Diego, CA and Tampa, FL. She was decommissioned on December 14, 1945 and
sold for scrap during the following summer. CUMMINGS received seven
battle stars for her World War II service.
Twenty-two Tin Can Sailors members list service aboard
USS CUMMINGS.
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