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USS CASE, the first of the MAHAN class to be started at a
Navy yard, was laid down at the Boston Navy Yard on September 19, 1934
and launched just short of a year later. Like many of her sisters, CASE
profited from the less hectic building pace of the years immediately
before World War II, requiring almost exactly two years from keel laying
to commissioning.
DD-370 was named for RADM Augustus Ludlow Case. In a
career that spanned forty-seven years, Case served with the Wilkes
Expedition in exploring the South Pacific, blocked the escape of Mexican
dictator Santa Ana during the Mexican War, served with distinction in
the Union blockade in the Civil War, and became a pivotal factor in
weapons development and experimentation in the post-war years. At the
height of his career, he served as the joint commander of the European,
North, and South Atlantic Squadrons in 1874. RADM Case retired the
following year, and passed away in Washington, D.C. on February 16, 1893
at the age of eighty-one. DD-370 was the second ship to bear RADM Case's
name.
In the years preceding World War II, new destroyers
were immediately transferred to fleet operations, usually with the
Pacific Battle Force. After participating in a number of fleet exercises
in Hawaiian waters, CASE was assigned as a school ship for midshipmen
cruises. For three years, her duties took her far from her homeport of
San Diego.
The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor found CASE moored
with a nest of destroyers in East Loch around the destroyer tender USS
WHITNEY (AD-4). The new destroyer contributed to the intense
anti-aircraft fire that downed several of the attackers.
For the first six months of the Pacific War, CASE
helped to keep the convoy routes between Hawaii and the West Coast safe
for Allied shipping. The scores of merchant vessels that DD-370
patiently shepherded between California and Pearl Harbor carried the
fabric of the American victory.
The summer and fall of 1942 found CASE in some of the
most treacherous waters in the World. The Japanese, as a part of their
thwarted strategy to bring the American fleet to decisive battle, had
invaded the western islands of the Aleutian archipelago, extending west
of Alaska. DD-370 was sent North to contest the move and, along with the
sparse forces available, helped to wrest Kiska from the Japanese grasp.
Off the contested island, CASE battled with shore batteries and fought
off the attacks of two Japanese fighters and a four-engine "flying
boat". Fortunately, the destroyer suffered no casualties, while the
bombardment force with which she served accounted for the destruction of
a number of shore installations, scores of landing barges, three large
aircraft, and the eight thousand ton freighter, KANO MARU.
After a much-needed stateside overhaul, CASE was
ordered to Pearl Harbor to join the fast carrier forces that would slash
away at the perimeter of the Japanese Empire in the central Pacific.
Through the summer of 1944, DD-370 helped to screen the task groups that
would pound the Marshals, the Bonins, and the Marianas. She protected
the flat tops that massacred the Imperial Japanese Naval Air Force in
what came to be called the "Mariana's Turkey Shoot."
Destroyers in World War II served in a variety of
roles, and CASE was no exception. In September, 1944, she put medical
personnel aboard two U.S. submarines to help care for Americans rescued
after the sinking of their prison ship. In November, CASE, serving once
again as part of a cruiser/destroyer screen bound for the invasion of
Saipan, rammed and sank a midget submarine attempting to penetrate the
fleet repair and supply base at Ulithi. With her minor damage repaired,
CASE was off to the war once again.
In December 1944, CASE found herself in the invasion
forces off Iwo Jima. On the day before Christmas, DD-370 and USS ROE
(DD- 418) were dispatched to stop an escaping Japanese transport. In a
two-hour chase, the destroyers slowly overtook the fleeing vessel. The
accurate fire of the two destroyers took effect and the transport
settled; her survivors refused rescue.
CASE spent the rest of the war supporting operations
around Saipan, Tinian, and Iwo Jima. As an honored member of the
"fleet that came to stay", DD-370 was called upon to accept
the formal surrender of Japanese forces in the Bonin Islands on
September 2, 1945. Seventeen days later, the veteran tin can set sail
for Norfolk, VA, and deactivation.
DD-370 was decommissioned on December 13, 1945 and
sold for scrapping two years later.
USS CASE earned seven battle stars for her services in
World War II.
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