|
Named for Civil War
veteran, Admiral Charles H. Davis, the DD-395 was the third to bear the
admiral’s name. On 30 July 1938, more than 8,000 spectators gathered to
see the launch of the DAVIS, the second 1,850-ton first line destroyer
built by the Bath Iron Works. She was commissioned on 9 November 1938.
The DAVIS was one of
the first ships to join the Neutrality Patrol in the cold, storm-swept
North Atlantic after war broke out in Europe on 1 September 1939. On 13
November, stormy weather followed her when the DAVIS sailed from Boston
for Galveston, Texas, with the JOUETT (DD-396), BENHAM (DD-397), ELLET
(DD-398), and LANG (DD-399). Patrols and training exercises in the Gulf
of Mexico were followed by duty in West Coast and Hawaiian waters from
11 March 1940 to 26 April 1941. She returned to the Caribbean for patrol
and escort duty, operating mainly with the MEMPHIS (CL-13), OMAHA
(CL-4), JOUETT, and WARRINGTON (DD-383).
Following the Pearl
Harbor attack, the DAVIS sailed on patrol and convoy duty off Recife,
Brazil, sailing at various times with the OMAHA, SOMERS (DD-381), JUNEAU
(CL-52), EBERLE (DD-430), MARBLHEAD (CL-12), MILWAUKEE (CL-5), MEMPHIS,
and CINCINNATI (CL-6). On 26 May 1942, the DAVIS was in San Juan, Puerto
Rico, when she was ordered to sea to assist the BLAKELEY (DD-150), which
had been torpedoed by an enemy submarine. She got underway so fast that
nine of her crew were left behind. The next day, she escorted the
damaged ship to safety.
On the afternoon of 19
July 1942, her crew sighted the sails of two life rafts and took aboard
ten survivors of the British sailing ship GLACIER, sunk by gunfire from
an unidentified submarine. Direct contact with a submarine came on 16
September off Trinidad. That morning, in company with the EBERLE, she
sighted the sub, which immediately dove. Later, as the DAVIS’s 20-mm
gunners fired on a small piece of wreckage, shells from the number two
gun hit the spray shield, causing minor injuries to the commanding
officer, communications officer, and four crew members. Finally, at
1305, the destroyer made contact with a submarine and five minutes later
attacked with depth charges. An hour later, she and the EBERLE dropped
more depth charges. Planes joined in the depth-charge attack, and at
1431, the DAVIS dropped a third array. Although both ships and planes
reported a large air bubble breaking the surface, they saw no other
evidence of damage. The DAVIS and EBERLE went on their way to rendezvous
with the MERVINE (DD-489), BEATTY (DD-640), and QUICK (DD-490), but at
1809, spotted a submarine silhouetted by moonlight dead ahead. The two
destroyers fired two 5-inch rounds, causing the submarine to dive
between them. Abandoning the rendezvous, the DAVIS and EBERLE conducted
a futile search for the mysterious sub and then went on to Trinidad,
arriving on 17 September.
Continuing patrols for
submarines and blockade runners took the DAVIS into 1943, and after a
summer overhaul at the Charleston Navy Yard, she returned to Recife,
Brazil, in August. Following an Atlantic crossing to Freetown, West
Africa, in December, the destroyer was headed back to Recife on 7
January 1944, when she intercepted a life boat with thirty-one survivors
from the German blockade runner BURGENLAND sunk earlier by the OMAHA and
JOUETT. After taking the men aboard, she sank the boat with gunfire and
delivered the prisoners to authorities at Recife on the 9th.
The DAVIS left the
Caribbean for New York in April 1944 and sailed for England on 14 May as
a convoy escort with the SOMERS and JOUETT. They arrived at Plymouth 25
May. On 5 June, she was underway from Milford Haven, Wales, to join a
convoy en route to Baie de la Seine for the invasion of Normandy. The
DAVIS arrived 7 June with the Reserve Fire Support Group, and five days
later, while on patrol, at 0116, fired on an enemy torpedo boat. During
her patrols, her gunners also fired on two enemy planes. Following a
brief return to England, she was headed back to the French coast on 21
June with British war correspondents aboard, when she struck what was
probably an acoustic mine. Although no one aboard was hurt, the ship was
heavily damaged by the explosion close off her port quarter. After
emergency repairs, the DAVIS left two days later for England. Powered by
a single engine, she began a slow journey to Charleston, South Carolina,
arriving 11 August for permanent repairs.
On
26 December 1944, the DAVIS returned to escort duty with a thirty-ship
convoy bound for the United Kingdom. Tragedy struck on 16 February 1945
when heavy seas swept three of her crew overboard. Though their
shipmates scoured the seas for seven hours, their search failed to
recover the lost sailors. Through 21 June 1945, DD-395 made four voyages
between New York and English and French ports. By mid July, she was in
the Norfolk Naval Yard to begin an upgrade of her armament before her
transfer to the Pacific theater. Work ceased with news of Japan’s
surrender. She remained at Norfolk until she was decommissioned on 19
October 1945. The DAVIS was sold for scrap on 24 November 1947. |
