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The first of
the
Navy-designed
single
stackers,
USS BAGLEY,
was launched
on September
3, 1936 at
Norfolk Navy
Yard and
commissioned
ten months
later. Her
first
assignment
was with the
Atlantic
Squadron.
BAGLEY was
the third
vessel to
bear the
name of
Ensign Worth
Bagley, who
gave his
life during
an attack on
the shore
batteries of
Cardenas,
Cuba, during
the
Spanish-American
War in 1898.
The ensign
had been
serving
aboard USS
WINSLOW
(TB-5), a
vessel type
considered
the ancestor
of the
modern
destroyer.
Bagley was
the first
naval
officer to
die in
action
during the
war. The
ensign would
have been
very proud
of his
namesake.
USS BAGLEY,
like most
"new
construction",
initially
cruised the
warm waters
of the
Caribbean as
a member of
DESDIV 7,
Battle
Force. Fleet
maneuvers
took her to
the coast of
Florida, the
seas off
Panama, and,
ultimately,
to the West
Coast.
DD-386 was
moored in
East Loch,
Pearl
Harbor, when
Japanese
forces
attacked the
American
naval
anchorage on
December 7,
1941. The
valiant
destroyer
opened fire
immediately
and
contributed
to the
downing of
several
raiders.
Later in the
morning, she
broke free
of the
harbor and
supported
the meager
forces
available to
defend the
Hawaiian
Islands
against the
invasion
that
everyone
expected
immediately.
It didn't
happen.
For the next
six months,
BAGLEY
served in
various
patrol and
escort
roles,
interrupted
with raids
on
Bouganville
and
Salamaua-Lae.
She steamed
into the
maelstrom of
Guadalcanal
in August.
Her accurate
anti-aircraft
fire
splashed at
least one
Japanese
engaged
during the
battle of
Savo Island
and she was
credited
with saving
the lives of
several
hundred when
USS ASTORIA
(CA-34), USS
VINCENNES
(CA-44), and
USS QUINCY
(CA-39)
suffered
under the
enemy
attack.
As the fleet
moved up the
Solomon
chain,
forcing the
Japanese
back toward
the Home
Islands,
BAGLEY
screened
major fleet
units as
well as
reverting to
her original
role as
convoy
escort. With
her duties
around
Bouganville
at an end,
she was
assigned to
Mare Island
Navy Yard
for a major
refit.
DD-386
returned to
the Pacific
fleet in
time for the
major
actions in
the final
thrust
toward
Japan. Her
accurate
gunfire
contributed
to the
bombardments
of Tinian
and Saipan,
soon to
become major
bases in the
aerial
bombardment
of Japan.
Within
weeks, she
was
providing
the same
services at
Yap, in the
Bonin
Islands, and
during raids
in the
central
Philippines.
Her yeoman
services
during the
battle Leyte
Gulf, the
invasion of
Iwo Jima,
and the
Okinawa
campaign
earned her
mention in
campaign
reports.
On August
31, 1945,
USS BAGLEY
carried RADM
F.E.M.
Whiting to
Marcus
Island to
receive the
surrender of
the Japanese
forces on
the island.
Her final
assignment
was on
occupation
duty in the
Nagasaki
area.
DD-386
returned to
the United
States in
November
1945 and was
decommissioned
on June 14,
1946. She
was sold for
scrapping in
1947. |
