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The USS
THOMPSON
(DD-627) was
launched 15
July 1942 at
Seattle,
Washington,
by the
Seattle-Tacoma
Shipbuilding
Corporation
and was
commissioned
on 10 July
1943. In
mid-October,
she joined
Convoy
UGS-21 from
Norfolk to
North Africa
and
continued
her
transatlantic
escort
duties until
mid-April
when she
sailed for
England with
DesRon 18.
In Portland,
England, she
participated
in landing,
shore
bombardment,
antiaircraft,
and anti-Schnellboote,
or E-Boat
exercises,
which were
briefly
interrupted
on 28 April
when German
Heinkel-111s
bombed and
mined the
harbor. On 5
June, she
got underway
for Omaha
beach,
arriving off
Point du Hoc
as army
rangers were
struggling
to gain a
foothold on
the rocky
promontory.
She opened
fire,
efficiently
eliminating
her targets.
Later, she
cruised
close
inshore
where her
5-inch guns
destroyed
three German
“Wurzburg”
radar
antennae and
a fortified
house.
Meanwhile,
working with
spotters
ashore, her
40-mm guns
blasted
shore
batteries
and sniper
nests.
On the
evening of 9
June, she
helped fight
off an
E-boat
attack and
on the 10th,
she splashed
a low-flying
German
plane. The
next night
it was back
to chasing
E-boats. On
12 June, the
THOMPSON
carried
Admiral
Ernest J.
King,
General
Dwight D
Eisenhower,
General
George C.
Marshall,
and General
Henry H.
Arnold
across the
channel to
Omaha Beach
and back.
She
continued
off Normandy
through June
1944, with
frequent
trips to
England,
including
another to
transport
General
Eisenhower.
On 24 July
1944, she
steamed for
North Africa
and, then,
Italy. On 6
August, she
joined the
Allied
expeditionary
forces for
Operation
Anvil, the
invasion of
southern
France. The
THOMPSON
served in
the screen
and
patrolled
offshore
throughout
the
operation
from 15 to
18 September
when she was
homeward
bound. On 3
January
1945, she
began a
regular
schedule of
East Coast
operations
and
transatlantic
convoy
escort duty
through
April 1945.
On 30 May,
she was
reclassified
as a fast
minesweeper
and
redesignated
DMS-38. She
was en route
to the
Pacific when
Japan
surrendered.
She
proceeded to
Okinawa
where she
spent
September
and October
dodging
typhoons. In
October,
with MineDiv
61, she
engaged in
sweeping the
Yellow Sea,
an inlet of
the East
China Sea.
By 17
November the
area was
clear of
Japanese
mines, 64 of
which were
located and
destroyed by
the
THOMPSON.
Her next
sweep was
off Nagoya.
A brief trip
to Bikini
Atoll before
the atomic
bomb tests,
an overhaul,
and
operations
out of San
Francisco
took her up
to February
1947, when
she sailed
for Tsingtao,
China, and
six months
duty with
American
occupation
forces. In
February
1949, the
THOMPSON and
three of her
sister
fast-minesweepers
became Mine
Squadron (MineRon)
One and were
assigned to
the General
Line School
at Monterey.
In June
1950, she
was
undergoing
an overhaul
at Pearl
Harbor, when
war broke
out in
Korea. She
was rushed
through
overhaul and
training
and, on 4
October
1950, she
and the
CARMICK (DMS-
33) left San
Diego for
the Far
East.
The THOMPSON
and CARMICK
joined the
hastily
assembled
minesweeping
task group
consisting
of the
FORREST
ROYAL
(DD-872),
CATAMOUNT
(LSD-17),
HORACE A.
BASS
(APD-124),
PELICAN
(AMS-32),
SWALLOW
(AMS-36),
and GULL
(AMS-16),
LST Q- 007,
four
Republic of
Korea
minesweepers,
and a
helicopter
from the
ROCHESTER
(CA-124).
Their
mission was
to open up
the mined
port of
Chinnampo,
which they
did in
slightly
over two
weeks. By
early
November,
Chinese
Communist
forces had
driven
United
Nations
troops back
to the
coast. One
of the
evacuation
ports was
Chinnampo.
There, the
THOMPSON
escorted the
troopships
loaded with
evacuees out
of the
harbor.
Following
duty as a
harbor
control
vessel at
Inchon, she
was ordered
to Sasebo,
where
MineRon 1
was
regrouping.
On 30
December
1950, with
the DOYLE (DMS-
34) and
ENDICOTT
(DMS-36) she
left for the
east coast
of Korea to
clear the
way for fire
support
ships. By
mid-February
1951, she
was
operating
from Wonsan
north almost
to the
Manchurian
border.
Later, she
screened the
MISSOURI
(BB-63) and
MANCHESTER
(CL-83),
during their
bombardment
of Songjin.
At Chunron
Jang, the
THOMPSON’s
guns
destroyed
two railroad
bridges. She
also took
part in
“junk-busting”
operations,
patrolling
for
suspicious
junks used
by communist
forces for
infiltration
and
minelaying,
and on one
occasion,
eliminating
six North
Korean
junks.
From 1 April
to 3
November
1951, the
THOMPSON
shelled
communist
positions,
supply
lines, and
troop
concentrations.
On 14 June
1951, her
gunners had
just
destroyed a
railroad
bridge near
Songjin when
shore
batteries
opened fire.
One shell
struck her
bridge,
knocking out
her fire
control,
killing
three of her
crew, and
wounding
three
others.
Before she
retired,
however, she
had
destroyed
one enemy
battery and
damaged
another. She
remained in
Korean
waters until
3 November
when she
headed for
home.
In June
1952, she
was again
bound for
Korea. Based
in Songjin,
she
patrolled
the coast
and provided
gunfire
support. On
20 August
1952, off
Songjin, a
shell from a
Chinese
battery hit
her flying
bridge,
killing four
and wounding
nine.
Retiring
from the
scene, she
transferred
her
casualties
to the IOWA
(BB-64).
Following
repairs at
Sasebo, she
headed back
to Songjin
to patrol as
part of the
United
Nations
blockade. On
20 November,
while
serving as
gunfire
support ship
for the KITE
(AMS-22) in
Wonsan
Harbor, she
was hit by
enemy fire
amidships on
the
starboard
side.
Following
repairs at
Yokosuka,
she returned
to Songjin
for the
first of
three tours
that took
her into
February of
1953 when
she and the
CARMICK
headed for
the states.
She operated
on the West
Coast with
MineDiv 11
through the
summer of
1953, when
she served
as the CAINE
during the
filming of
The Caine
Mutiny.
On 18 May
1954, the
THOMPSON was
decommissioned
and placed
in reserve.
She was
struck from
the navy
list on 1
July 1971
and sold to
the American
Ship
Dismantlers
of Portland,
Oregon, on 7
August 1972
for
scrapping.
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