USS MAHAN DD-364

USS MAHAN DD-364 Ship History

Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (Published 1981)

The second Mahan (DD-364) was laid down by United Dry Docks, Inc., Staten Island, N.Y., 12 June 1934; launched 15 October 1935; sponsored by Miss Kathleen H. Mahan, great-granddaughter of Rear Adm. A. T. Mahan; and commissioned 18 September 1936, Comdr. J. B. Waller in command.

Combining initial training operations with a good will tour, Mahan departed New York 16 November 1936 for a 2-month cruise to Caribbean and South American ports. She returned in January 1937 and operated along the east coast until July, when she sailed for the Pacific. Arriving on the west coast in mid August, she participated in fleet training operations off the southern California coast before proceeding to her new station at Pearl Harbor. Until December 1941, periodic visits to the west coast and a cruise to the Caribbean for fleet problems in February 1939 varied a busy schedule of training exercises and patrols in Hawaiian waters.

On patrol 7 December 1941, Mahan, with TF 12, was ordered to set course for the Japanese forces, thought to be headed for Jaluit from a position 200 miles south of Pearl Harbor, and “intercept and destroy.” Unable to locate the enemy, Mahan returned to Pearl Harbor on the 12th.

In late December she carried reinforcements to the marine detachment at Johnston Island and evacuated the civilians to Hawaii. Mahan then conducted screening activities for inter-island and transoceanic convoys until 24 February, when she was assigned to a patrol station off Canton Island. Departing Canton Island 24 March, she returned to Hawaii thence proceeded to the west coast for overhaul. She next conducted patrols in Hawaiian and west coast waters until departing for the South Pacific 16 October 1942. En route on the 22d, with Lamson, she conducted a raid on Japanese patrol boats south of the Gilbert Islands, sinking two. Steaming with TF 61 north of the Santa Cruz Islands by the 27th, she was attacked by Japanese aircraft and splashed four. That same day, following her fine performance in the Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands, Mahan collided with South Dakota. Damage to both ships was severe. Following temporary repairs at Noumea, New Caledonia, Mahan proceeded to Pearl Harbor where has was quickly given a new bow.

Mahan returned to the South Pacific 9 January 1943 and escorted convoys between the New Hebrides, New Caledonia, and the Fiji Islands before establishing a patrol off New Caledonia in March. Resuming escort duties in April, she made one trip to Guadalcanal and back and then commenced operations in Australian waters. Moving to New Guinea, she began basing at Milne Bay 2 July. Continuously in action for the next 3 months, she participated in the landings at Nassau Bay 9 August the bombardment of Finschhafen on the 22d and 23d, the preparations and covering force actions for the landings at Lae, 4 to 8 September; and the landing of Australian troops at Finschhafen on the 22d, when her well-served guns splashed three enemy planes.

Through October and November she operated out of Buna, patrolling around New Gunea. In December, Mahan bombarded Japanese installations in New Britain and on the 26th provided effective fire support for the landings at Cape Gloucester on that island. Shore bombardment of Gali, New Guinea, a short stay in Sydney Australia, and escort duties between New Guinea and New Britain followed. On 28 February 1944, before commencing convoy activities in the Admiralties, she turned her guns on Los Negros Island.

After more than 2 busy years in the war zone, in the spring of 1944 the veteran destroyer proceeded to San Francisco for overhaul. Early in July she returned to Pearl Harbor and participated in exercises there until 15 August. Steaming via Eniwetok, Jaluit, Guam, Saipan and Ulithi, Mahan returned to New Guinea 20 October. She then escorted convoys between Hollandia and Leyte until taking up antisubmarine patrol duties off Leyte at the end of November.

On 7 December, while patrolling between Leyte and Ponson Island, the destroyer was attacked by a swarm of Japanese aircraft. In the ensuing engagement, she shot down three of the attacking planes but three of the remainder crashed into her. The resultant fires soon spread out of control to the ship’s magazines. The ship was abandoned and the survivors picked up by nearby vessels. An hour later Walke sank Mahan by gunfire and torpedoes.

Mahan received five battle stars tor World War II service.

A Tin Can Sailors Destroyer History

USS MAHAN DD-364

The Tin Can Sailor, October 1997

The “Mighty MAHAN”, first vessel of a sixteen-ship class, was laid down at the United Dry Docks shipyard on Staten Island, New York, in the summer of 1934 and launched on October 15, 1935. She would be commissioned almost a year later.

The new destroyer was the second vessel to be named for Rear Admiral Alfred Thayer Mahan, whose original analysis of the effects of sea power on world events in the seminal book, The Influence of Seapower on History earned him the title, “father of modern naval strategic thought.”

In an age when cruises were intended both as training exercises and a demonstration of might, toward friends and foes alike, MAHAN spent the first several months of her commission visiting ports in the Caribbean and South America interspersed with port calls along the East Coast of the United States. The pleasant duty was to soon end.

Naval planners became alarmed with the growing potency of the imperial Japanese Navy, so many newer destroyers were transferred to the Pacific Battle Force. DD-364 would arrive in San Diego by mid-August, 1937 and, with the exception of another Caribbean cruise, MAHAN would serve in the Pacific for the remainder of her career.

When the Japanese struck Pearl Harbor on Sunday, December 7, 1941, MAHAN, with several of her sisters, was patrolling with Task Force 12. Initially, the Japanese were expected to withdraw to the south. TF-12, heavily outnumbered, steamed for a confrontation, but they found empty ocean. Fortunately, the Imperial Japanese Navy was elsewhere.

The sea lanes between Hawaii and the West Coast were particularly vulnerable to concerted attack, so MAHAN spent the next two months protecting convoys, both to the critical Pacific base and to Canton Island, an important outpost that secured convoy routes to the South Pacific. Weeks of endless steaming had taken their toll, however, and DD-364 would need a yard visit before resuming her duties.

By the fall of 1942, the United States was involved in the first major offensive action of the Pacific War; the battles to protect Australia and New Zealand would mark the turning point for Imperial Japan. MAHAN was shifted to operations in the South Pacific. In company with USS LAMSON (DD-367), she fought off a major air attack and ripped apart a concentration of Japanese patrol boats, sinking two during the action.

Destroyer operations around Guadalcanal were as frantic as any in the war, and MAHAN found herself in the midst of them. She would effectively screen the USS ENTERPRISE (CV- 6) battle group in the battle of Santa Cruz, destroying four enemy aircraft foolish enough to approach the destroyer. While violently maneuvering to evade a submarine contact after a day under intensive air attack, the MAHAN collided with USS SOUTH DAKOTA (B-57). With her bow smashed back and a fire in her forward hold, DD-364 was in mortal danger. Effective damage control by both ships, as well as the support of USS VESTAL (AR-4) at Noumea, allowed the battleship to remain in the war zone. MAHAN was fitted with a temporary bow. A return to the Pearl Harbor facilities would prove necessary for a complete repair.

For the next two years, MAHAN seemed to be everywhere. Few enemy islands in the South Pacific were not the subject of her attention, either in support of landings, as a part of harassing raids, or in her role protecting convoys. Yet another yard visit, this time to San Francisco, was intended to prepare the veteran destroyer for the next major operation, landings in the Philippines.

Enemy air actions around the Philippines would be among the most violent encountered. For the first time, American forces battled concentrated kamikaze attacks supported by dozens of “traditional” assailants.

On December 7, 1944, MAHAN and USS SMITH (DD-378) were patrolling the critical channel between Leyte and Ponson Island to provide security for the landings at Ormoc Bay. Scores of enemy aircraft swept in from the north; a flight of heavy bombers, escorted by four fighters. U.S. Army fighters were able to help the embattled tin cans fight off most of the attackers, but eight aircraft were able to slip through. In spite of heavy and accurate anti-aircraft fire from MAHAN, the valiant destroyer was hit by three kamikazes. Burning aviation fuel and exploding bombs proved a mortal blow for DD-364. Heroic damage control efforts proved fruitless as fire ignited the forward magazine. A veritable pillar of flame and recurring explosions, the destroyer was abandoned shortly after 1000. One officer and five men had been killed and thirteen were seriously wounded or burned. LAMSON and USS WALKE (DD-723) were able to rescue the survivors before sending the hopelessly damaged destroyer to the bottom with “friendly” gunfire and a torpedo.