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The class leader for the most numerous group of
destroyers to be built during World War II, USS FLETCHER, was named for
Admiral Frank Friday Fletcher, the leader who directed the landings at Vera
Cruz in 1914. He was subsequently named Commander-in-Chief of the
Atlantic fleet and served with distinction throughout World War I. The
results of his committee's investigations after the war led to the
effective use of American air power in national defense. Admiral Fletcher
passed away in 1928.
USS FLETCHER was launched at the Federal Shipbuilding
and Dry Dock Company in Kearny (NJ) on May 3, 1942 and was commissioned
on June 30, 1942. The short time between launching and commissioning was
a tribute to her commissioning crew, the diligence of the builders, and
the urgent need for escorts, especially in the Pacific.
The new destroyer moved into action almost
immediately. The U.S. Navy was outnumbered in the South Pacific in the
fall of 1942, so it was natural for the newest destroyers to be
transferred to the cauldron around the island of Guadalcanal. In
October, FLETCHER began to throw her weight into the fray. Starting on
the day before Halloween, she provided nightmares for the Japanese
attempting to prevent the landing of Marines at Lunga Point. As a part
of Capt. R.P. Briscoe's "Cactus Striking Force" -- officially
DesRon 5 -- the destroyer saw almost daily action. She followed her
shore bombardment tasks with escort duties, carefully shepherding
reinforcements to Guadalcanal, driving off an air attack and splashing a
number of attackers at the same time. DD-445 was also called upon to
fight in the pivotal naval battle of Guadalcanal.
For the next several weeks, FLETCHER would be involved
in some of the most violent and confused night actions in American naval
history. In the first naval battle of Guadalcanal, a well-placed spread
of torpedoes from DD-445 helped to convince a nearly victorious Japanese
admiral to retreat rather than accomplish his aim of destroying a vital
Marine airfield on the island. Within days, FLETCHER was in action
again, this time blunting a Japanese effort to reinforce her troops on
Guadalcanal. The effort was not without loss; the cruiser NORTHAMPTON's
(CA-26) survivors were plucked from the waters of Iron Bottom Sound by
the ingenious crew of FLETCHER, using cargo nets hold afloat with cork.
FLETCHER's service in the Pacific typified the
versatility of the American destroyer. Dozens of islands would be
'softened up' by her accurate gunfire in preparation for landing. While
covering new landings on the north coast of Guadalcanal, the destroyer
was directed to a spot marked by USS HELENA's (CL-50) floatplane.
FLETCHER made quick work of a Japanese fleet submarine, I-18. Another
job well done by the versatile tin can.
For the remainder of the war, FLETCHER would serve
with forces approaching the Philippines from the south. One island after
another fell to troops supported by DD-445. The duty was hazardous. In
the maelstrom around the Philippines, FLETCHER was in action almost
constantly, protecting escorted transports from air attack. On February
14, 1945, the destroyer's luck nearly ran out.
Allied forces were ready to expand the attack on
Japanese forces in the Philippines. North and west of the fortress
island of Corregidor lay the beaches of Mariveles. Landings had to be
preceded by a thorough sweep of the extensive mine fields in the area.
FLETCHER and HOPEWELL (DD-681) were assigned to screen the minesweepers.
Suddenly, a Japanese shore battery opened up. In the firefight that
developed, cruisers and destroyers of the shore bombardment group in the
area were drawn into the action. Before the battery could be silenced,
however, the minesweeper YMS-48 took several hits and sank. Hits would
also be registered on the screening destroyers; eight were killed and
three wounded aboard FLETCHER.
DD-445 would continue operations off the Philippines
until May 1945, when the veteran destroyer returned to the west coast
for a long-overdue overhaul. Following exercises off San Diego and in
the Hawaiian Islands, FLETCHER was once again ready to enter battle. The
war, however, was over.
DD-445 was decommissioned in January 1947 and would
remain in reserve for two years, until the Cold War threat of soviet
submarines called for specialized anti-submarine escorts. FLETCHER
became DDE-445; with a Weapon Able (MK 108 Anti-Submarine Rocket
launcher), hedge hogs, and new 3-inch/50-caliber anti-aircraft weapons.
The veteran destroyer was now a classic submarine hunter.
The onset of the Korean War saw FLETCHER take on the
role of carrier escort and shore bombardment specialist, alternating
between cruises off the Korean peninsula and patrols of the Taiwan
Straits, blunting the threat of a Chinese Communist invasion of Formosa.
The Inchon landing zones on Korea's west coast felt the sting of
FLETCHER's accurate gunfire and the destroyer supported carrier raids on
North Korean targets until the end of the Korean "police
action."
The War in Vietnam became FLETCHER's action in the
1960's. During several tours off Southeast Asia, DD-445 was called upon
to escort carriers in Tonkin Gulf and Yankee Station and to provide
accurate support fire for troops battling the Vietcong ashore. Not all
of her career was offensive, however.
In April 1963, USS FLETCHER participated in a
significant historical event of another form. The destroyer became a
capsule recovery vessel for a Project Mercury "space" flight.
Mercury provided data for later space activities and proved to be the
"grandfather" of the Apollo Program and the space shuttle of
today.
For much of her remaining career, FLETCHER served in
the Pacific, deploying with the U.S. Seventh fleet and serving as an
anti-submarine training platform.
USS FLETCHER would be stricken from the Navy List on
August 1, 1969 and as scrapped in 1972. DD-445 earned fifteen battle
stars for her service in World War II and an additional five for her
service in Korea.
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