Remembering Pearl Harbor 83 Years Later

Hull Number: DD-350

Launch Date: 01/31/1934

Commissioned Date: 01/11/1935

Call Sign: NIZN


Class: FARRAGUT (1934)

FARRAGUT (1934) Class

Data for USS Farragut (DD-348) as of 1945


Length Overall: 341' 3"

Beam: 34' 3"

Draft: 12' 4"

Standard Displacement: 1,365 tons

Full Load Displacement: 2,255 tons

Fuel capacity: 4,061 barrels

Armament:

Four 5″/38 caliber guns
Two 40mm twin anti-aircraft mounts
Two 21″ quadruple torpedo tubes

Complement:

16 Officers
235 Enlisted

Propulsion:

4 Boilers
2 Curtis Turbines: 42,800 horsepower

Highest speed on trials: 37.0 knots

Namesake: ISAAC HULL

ISAAC HULL

Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships, July 2015

Isaac Hull was born in Derby, Conn., 9 March 1773 and was appointed Lieutenant in the U.S. Navy 9 March 1798. During the Quasi-War with France he served as Executive Officer of frigate Constitution under Silas Talbot, and distinguished himself by leading a successful expedition to capture the fort at Porto Plata, Santo Domingo. The intrepid Hull spiked the fort’s guns, cut out a prize, and escaped from the harbor with it. In the war with Tripoli 1802-05 he added to his reputation while in command of brig Argus. In the War of 1812 Hull was given command of Constitution. In July 1812, while off the coast of New Jersey, he encountered a squadron of four British frigates and one ship of the line under Admiral Blake. As the wind was light or non-existent, Hull alternately towed Constitution with boats and hauled her ahead on her anchor. After three days of this skillful and strenuous work, she escaped. Later, on August 19th, Hull engaged HMS Guerriere in one of the classic battles of naval history, compelling the British ship to strike her colors and earning for his vessel the name “Old Ironsides”. Promoted to Commodore, Hull commanded the Boston and Washington Navy Yards, the Pacific Squadron, and finally the Mediterranean Squadron in his later career. Commodore Hull died 13 February 1843 at Philadelphia.


Disposition:

Sunk on 12/18/1944, by typhoon, East of Philippine Islands when she capsized in heavy seas.


A Tin Can Sailors Destroyer History

USS HULL DD-350

The Tin Can Sailor, July 1996

USS HULL, the third of the FARRAGUTs, was the first to be built by a government shipyard; the new destroyer was assigned to the New York Navy Yard for construction. USS HULL was named for Capt. Isaac Hull, skipper of USS CONSTITUTION in her epic battle with the British frigate GUERRIERE during the War of 1812. She was the third destroyer to bear the name.

DD-350 was launched in January 1934 but not commissioned until a year later. Like her two sisters, she was assigned to the Pacific Fleet after a shakedown in Atlantic and Caribbean waters. The new destroyer maneuvered with the Pacific Fleet for more than five years, ultimately calling Pearl Harbor her homeport when the fleet transferred from the mainland to the advanced anchorage.

When the Japanese attacked the Hawaiian naval facilities, HULL was tied up to USS DOBBIN (AD-3), undergoing repairs. The destroyer’s antiaircraft battery chased off several attackers and assisted in splashing some. With the end of the attack came extraordinary efforts to raise steam; scant hours later, she was able to sortie from Pearl to escort USS ENTERPRISE (CV-6) back to the still-smoking port.

During the next several months, HULL operated with Task Force 11, protecting USS LEXINGTON (CV-2) in her strikes into the Solomons. Her return to Pearl meant weeks of convoy duty in the submarine-threatened waters between Hawaii, and the West Coast of the United States.

On the first anniversary of the Pearl Harbor attack, HULL found herself involved in the first Allied invasion effort in the Pacific, Guadalcanal. In company with her sisters, she fought off enemy air attacks and was assigned the sad duty of sinking USS GEORGE F. ELLIOT (AP-13) after the transport’s wounds proved too severe for damage control forces.

For the next two years, Imperial Japanese forces felt the presence of the far-ranging destroyer from the Aleutians to the Southern Pacific. DD-350 supported swift strikes against enemy-held islands in the Central Pacific, sometimes as a diversion to the true invasion targets, sometimes as a prelude to full-scale landings. HULL joined RADM Willis A. Lee’s battleships for a thrust into the Marianas and the invasion of Saipan.

DD-350 was detached for service with RADM Marc A. Mitscher’s fast carriers for the momentous clash of air power to be named the “Great Marianas Turkey Shoot.” HULL’s accurate antiaircraft fire, now considerably more formidable than the .50 cal. machine guns she used at Pearl Harbor just thirty months before, contributed to the “ring of steel” protecting the carriers from the wrath of the Japanese. Mitscher’s forces destroyed two enemy carriers and so decimated the ranks of the Imperial Japanese Navy’s aircrews that her carriers were never to effectively threaten the Allies again.

Following a yard refit after the Marianas operations, HULL was assigned to screen the replenishment oilers which kept the fast carriers in the Central Pacific operational. Suddenly, HULL’s luck had changed.

Operations with replenishment oilers meant maintaining a fine balance. Carriers would thrust into enemy waters, launching strike after strike, then fall back to the oilers to refuel. Destroyers were in an even more difficult plight. Awaiting refueling with bunkers unballasted with seawater courted trouble, but who would chance the problems caused if water polluted the oil supply. In mid-December, the destroyers of the oiler screen faced heavy weather. Most were “light,” having been unable to successfully refuel for the past several days in the mounting seas.

The “Great Typhoon of 1944” caught the replenishment group in poor condition. HULL was pummeled with winds in excess of 90 knots as tons of green water broke over her forecastle. Lookouts reported staring up at wave crests mounting over the bridge level. Tragically, HULL was trapped in the troughs of a raging sea, her steering lost, she was unable to bring her bow into the threatening ocean. Crewmen reported rolls in excess of eighty degrees as DD-350 struggled to right herself. Finally, one last monstrous wall of water proved too much for the valiant tin can. Within minutes, she was gone. Only seven officers and fifty-five enlisted men survived.

DD-350 earned ten battle stars for her service in World War II.

USS HULL DD-350 Ship History

Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships, July 2015

The third Hull (DD-350) was launched by New York Navy Yard 31 January 1934; sposored by Miss Patricia Louise Platt; and commissioned 11 January 1935, Commander R. S. Wentworth in command.

Following a shakedown cruise which took her to the Azores, Portugal, and the British Isles, Hull arrived San Diego via the Panama Canal 19 October 1935. She began her operations with the Pacific Fleet off San Diego, engaging in tactical exercises and training. During the summer of 1936 she cruised to Alaska and in April 1937 took part in fleet exercises in Hawaiian waters. During this increasingly tense pre-war period, Hull often acted as plane guard to the Navy’s Pacific carriers during the perfection of tactics which would be a central factor in America’s victory in World War II. She continued these operations until the outbreak of the war, moving to her new home port, Pearl Harbor, 12 October 1939.

The pattern of fleet problems, plane guard duty, and patrolling was rudely interrupted 7 December 1941 when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor. Hull was alongside tender Dobbin undergoing repairs, but quickly put her anti-aircraft batteries into operation and assisted in downing several planes. As the main object of the raid was battleships, the destroyer suffered no hits and departed next day to join carrier Enterprise and escort her into Pearl Harbor. During the next critical months of the war, Hull operated with Admiral Wilson Brown’s Task Force 11, screening Lexington in important strikes on Japanese bases in the Solomons. She returned to Pearl Harbor 26 March, and for 3 months sailed on convoy duty between San Francisco and Pearl Harbor. Hull was soon back in the thick of combat, however, as she sailed 7 December for Suyu, Fiji Islands, to prepare for America’s first offensive land thrust, the amphibious assault on Guadalcanal. She departed 26 July for the Solomons, and on the day of the landings, 7 August 1942, screened cruisers during shore bombardment and then took up station as antisubmarine protection for the transports. Next day she helped repel strong enemy bombing attacks, shooting down several of the attackers, and that evening performed the sad duty of sinking transport George F. Elliott, burning beyond control. On 9 August the destroyer sank a small schooner off Guadalcanal, departing that evening for Espiritu Santo. During the next difficult weeks on Guadalcanal, Hull made three voyages with transports and warships in support of the troops, undergoing air attacks 9 and 14 September.

The ship returned to Pearl Harbor 20 October, and spent the remainder of the year with battleship Colorado in the New Hebrides. She sailed 29 January from Pearl Harbor bound for repairs at San Francisco, arriving 7 February 1943. Upon completion she moved to the Weak Aleutians, arriving Adak 16 April, and began a series of training maneuvers with battleships and cruisers in the northern waters. As the Navy moved in to retake Attu in May, Hull continued her patrol duties, and during July and early August she took part in numerous bombardments of Kiska Island. The ship also took part in the landings on Kiska 15 August, only to find that the Japanese had evacuated their last foothold in the Aleutian chain.

Hull returned to the Central Pacific after the Kiska operation, arriving Pearl Harbor 26 September 1943. She departed with the fleet 3 days later for strikes on Wake Island, and operated with escort carriers during diversionary strikes designed to mask the Navy’s real objective, the Gilberts. Hull bombarded Makin during this assault 20 November, and with the invasion well underway arrived in convoy at Pearl Harbor 7 December 1943. From there she returned to Oakland 21 December for amphibious exercises.

Next on the island road to Japan was the Marshall Islands, and Hull sailed with Task Force 53 from San Diego 13 January 1944. She arrived 31 January off Kwajalein, screening transports in the reserve area, and through February carried out screening and patrol duties off Eniwetok and Majuro. Joining a battleship and carrier group, the ship moved to Mille Atoll 18 March, and took part in a devastating bombardment. Hull also took part in the bombardment of Wotje 22 March.

The veteran ship next participated in the devastating raid on the great Japanese base at Truk 29-30 April, after which she arrived Majuro 4 May 1944. There she joined Admiral Lee’s battleships for the next major invasion, the assault on the Marianas. Hull bombarded Saipan 13 June, covered minesweeping operations with gunfire, and patrolled during the initial landing 15 June. Two days later Hull and other ships steamed out to join Admiral Mitscher’s carrier task force as the Japanese made preparations to close the Marianas for a decisive naval battle. The great fleets approached each other 19 June for the biggest carrier engagement of the war, and as four large air raids hit the American dispositions fighter cover from the carriers of Hull’s Task Group 58.2 and surface fire decimated the Japanese planes. With an able assist from American submarines, Mitscher succeeded in sinking two Japanese carriers in addition to inflicting fatal losses on the Japanese naval air arm during “The Great Marianas Turkey Shoot” 19 June, Hull assisting in several of these brilliant antiaircraft engagements.

During July the destroyer operated with carrier groups off Guam, and after the assault 21 July patrolled off the island. In August she returned to Seattle, arriving the 25th, and underwent repairs which kept her in the States until 23 October, when she anchored at Pearl Harbor. Hull joined a 3d Fleet refueling group, departing 20 November 1944 to rendezvous with fast carrier striking forces in the Philippine Sea. Fueling began 17 December, but increasingly heavy seas forced cancellation later that day. The fueling group became engulfed in an approaching typhoon next day, with barometers falling to very low levels and winds increasing above 90 knots. At about 1100 18 December Hull became locked “in irons”, in the trough of the mountainous sea and unable to steer. All hands worked feverishly to maintain integrity and keep the ship afloat during the heavy rolls, but finally, in the words of her commander: “The ship remained over on her side at an angle of 80 degrees or more as the water flooded into her upper structures. I remained on the port wing of the bridge until the water flooded up to me, then I stepped off into the water as the ship rolled over on her way down”.

The typhoon swallowed many of the survivors, but valiant rescue work by Tabberer and other ships of the fleet in the days that followed saved the lives of 7 officers and 55 enlisted men.

Hull received 10 battle stars for World War II service.