USS KANE DD-235 Ship History
Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (Published 1968)
The first Kane (DD-235) laid was down 3 July 1918 by the New York Shipbuilding Corp., Camden, N.J., launched 12 August 1919, sponsored by Miss Florence Kane, cousin of Elisha Kent Kane; and commissioned 11 June 1920, Comdr. William Wall in command.
Kane departed Newport 20 August 1920 for her shakedown cruise to Gibraltar, Brest, Copenhagen, Danzig, and the Gulf of Riga. She was just outside the Gulf in the Baltic Sea 1 October 1920 and supposedly well clear of the minefields laid in World War I when a mine exploded, bending her port engine shafts and port propeller struts. After repair at Landskrone, Sweden, and overhaul at Chatham, England, she sailed 21 May 1921 for the Mediterranean.
On 22 June 1921 Kane rescued an Italian torpedo boat drifting upon the rocks off Cape Spartivento. On 3 July she reached Constantinople for relief work in Turkish waters. She returned to Newport 23 August. She sailed 2 October with Destroyer Squadron 14 to evacuate refugees and perform other relief work in Asia Minor. She arrived in Constantinople 22 October, and was constantly used to carry supplies, medical aid, refugees and relief officials between ports of the Black Sea and the Eastern Mediterranean. She departed Constantinople 18 May 1923 and spent the next 5 years with the Scouting Fleet operating along the East Coast and in the Caribbean. She departed New York 13 February 1925 for a fleet training cruise to San Diego, thence she sailed to Pearl Harbor and returned 17 July. In the spring of 1927 the destroyer patrolled off bandit-plagued Nicaragua and the Honduras. She decommissioned in the Philadelphia Navy Yard 31 December 1930.
Kane recommissioned 1 April 1932 and departed Philadelphia 29 June for San Diego, her base for the next 4 years. She got underway from San Diego 27 April 1936 for feet exercises in the Caribbean before entering the New York Navy Yard to prepare for special service.
Kane departed New York 17 August 1936 for Spain to evacuate American citizens whose lives were endangered by the Civil War in Spain. On 30 August en route to Bilbao she had to open fire three times to drive off a trimotored monoplane dropping bombs within a hundred yards of the destroyer. A strong protest to both Spanish Civil War factions was then made and forestalled similar incidents. She called at Balbao and Gijon embarking refugees who were taken to St. Jean de Luz France.
Cruiser Raleigh (CL-7) arrived at Gibraltar 27 September 1936 as flagship of Squadron Forty-T commanded by Rear Admiral Arthur P. Fairfield. This special squadron, initially comprising Raleigh, destroyers Kane and Hatfield, and CGC Cayuga, saved hundreds of American and other nationals from the dangers of the war in Spain. Kane and Hatfield were relieved by destroyers Clayton and Stanlely 9 November 1937 and sailed for home. Kane entered the Charleston Navy Yard 22 November and decommissioned 28 April 1938.
Kane recommissioned 23 September 1939 to serve in the neutrality patrol in the North Atlantic. On 7 August she took up inshore defensive patrol along both coastlines of Panama. She then steamed to San Diego, arriving 4 November 1940, to patrol off the coast of California. She overhauled in the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard from 4 January to 3 March1941, she was based at Seattle for patrols north to Alaska, and along the western seaboard. After the Japanese struck Pearl Harbor, she departed Seattle for Kodiak, Alaska, and escorted troop transports back to Seattle 23 December. Following a similar escort voyage, she arrived at Seward 19 April 1942 for inter-island convoy and submarine patrols among Alaskan ports.
On 11 June Kane rescued 11 survivors of the torpedoed SS Arcata. The morning of 3 August 1942, she found her antiaircraft guns of little use against two attacks by high-altitude Japanese 4-engine bombers. Skillful maneuvering and speed saved the plucky destroyer from bombs which fell in her wake. She continued patrol and escort duty in Alaskan and Aleutian sectors until February 1942, then was converted to a high speed transport by Todd’s Dry Docks, Seattle Wash., and reclassified APD-18. Conversion was completed by 3 April 1943 when she departed for amphibious training with the Army’s 7th infantry in Monterey Bay, Calif.
