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Hull Number: DD-434

Launch Date: 04/24/1940

Commissioned Date: 03/01/1941


Class: GLEAVES

GLEAVES Class

Data for USS Gleaves (DD-423) as of 1945


Length Overall: 348’ 4"

Beam: 36’ 1"

Draft: 13’ 6"

Standard Displacement: 1,630 tons

Full Load Displacement: 2,525 tons

Fuel capacity: 2,928 barrels

Armament:

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

Complement:

16 Officers
260 Enlisted

Propulsion:

4 Boilers
2 Westinghouse Turbines: 50,000 horsepower

Highest speed on trials: 37.4 knots

Namesake: JONATHAN MEREDITH

JONATHAN MEREDITH

Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships, January 2016

Jonathan Meredith, born in Bucks County, Pa. about 1772, enlisted in the Marine Corps 6 June 1803 and was promoted to sergeant 1 August of the same year.

During an engagement in the harbor of Tripoli 3 August 1805, Sergeant Meredith saved the life of Lt. John Trippe of Vixen, who with a party of nine men had boarded a Tripolitan ship. Heavily outnumbered, the boarding party fought a fierce hand‑to‑hand combat, in which Trippe was severely wounded; Meredith protected him from what would have been the final blow. Four days later Meredith was killed in the explosion of Gunboat No. 3 during a similar attack against the Tripolitans.


Disposition:

Sunk by Japanese aircraft off San Cristobal, Solomon Islands 10/15/1942.


A Tin Can Sailors Destroyer History

USS MEREDITH DD-434

The Tin Can Sailor, July 1999

Jonathan Meredith was a sergeant in the Marine Corps who fought bravely, saved his lieutenant’s life, and was ultimately killed in the explosion of a gunboat off Tripoli in the early 1800s. The DD-434, the second ship to bear his name, was launched 24 April 1940 and was commissioned 1 March 1941.

Early in her career, the MEREDITH operated along the southern coast and then joined the neutrality patrol running between Iceland and the Denmark Straits. On 17 October 1941, she rescued survivors of torpedoed British steamer EMPIRE WAVE. Following the attack on Pearl Harbor, she continued her escort and antisubmarine patrol duties in the North Atlantic until late January 1942 when she headed for the West Coast. There she joined the escort for the HORNET (CV-8) which carried Colonel Jimmy Doolittle’s bombers for their famous 18 April raid, the first carrier-based attack on Japan. She then operated out of Pearl Harbor, escorting fleet oilers bound for New Caledonia, patrolling the Bulari Passage, and escorting the sea plane tender TANGIER (AV-8) on her return to Pearl. Following a stint at gunnery and tactical exercises, she steamed for Samoa, arriving at Pago Pago on 30 August.

The MEREDITH next escorted Transport Force 2 to the Solomons with reinforcements that landed on Guadalcanal on 20 September. After patrol duty in the New Hebrides, she left Espiritu Santo for Guadalcanal on 12 October 1942. Her mission was to escort an emergency convoy of freighters with badly needed fuel and ammunition for the beleaguered marines at Henderson Field. She and the destroyer NICHOLAS (DD-449) were the sole escorts for the two cargo ships, each towing a barge loaded with gasoline and bombs; the PT-boat tender JAMESTOWN (AGP-3); and the fleet tug VIREO (ATO-144). They were off San

Cristobal Island on the morning of 15 October, when a Japanese scout plane sighted the convoy. Aware that an attack was imminent the convoy split. The NICHOLAS with the two freighters and the JAMESTOWN abandoned the mission. Before leaving, however, they transferred one of the barges to the VIREO, which continued on toward Guadalcanal with the MEREDITH.

The two ships had only a short time to wait before two enemy planes appeared overhead. The MEREDITH’s gunners successfully fought off their assaults but their accomplishment was followed by news that enemy warships were headed their way. The destroyer’s captain, Commander Harry E. Hubbard, ordered the tug to leave, but she clearly was unable to maintain the speed necessary to reach a safe distance. Finally, at noon, Hubbard ordered the VIREO’s crew to abandon her. The tug’s crew was safely aboard by 1215, and the MEREDITH was moving into position to fire a torpedo and sink the VIREO when the skies overhead filled with more than thirty planes raining bombs, torpedoes, and machine-gun fire on the destroyer. In a valiant effort, the MEREDITH’s gunners downed three of her attackers, but the onslaught was overpowering. The ship was torn apart and within minutes had slipped beneath the sea.

A few of the crew were able to reach the abandoned VIREO, perhaps one hundred more clung to rafts and floating wreckage. The ablest survivors remained in the water, leaving the limited space on the rafts to the wounded and dying among whom was the destroyer’s captain, Commander Hubbard. As the wounded died, men climbed from the water to take their places on the rafts, but that was only one of the horrors of their ordeal. The men in the water and even those on the rafts had to fight off sharks drawn by the scent of blood to the tiny fleet of rafts.

For a hellish three days and three nights, they drifted until finally, on 18 October, they were rescued by the destroyers GRAYSON (DD-435) and GWIN (DD-433) and the fleet tug SEMINOLE (AT-65). Only seventy-five officers and men survived the attack and the three desperate days adrift on the open sea.

The destroyermen lost numbered 185. Fifty-one of the VIREO’s crew were lost. Although the gasoline never reached the marines on Guadalcanal, their deaths were not entirely in vain. While the raiding planes concentrated on the MEREDITH, the NICHOLAS and her charges were able make it back safely to Espiritu Santo and the SEMINOLE retrieved the VIREO’s barge. One of fifteen destroyers lost to buy an American victory at Guadalcanal, the MEREDITH received one battle star for her service in World War II.

USS MEREDITH DD-434 Ship History

Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships, January 2016

The second Meredith (DD‑434) was laid down on 1 June 1939 at Boston, Mass., by the Boston Navy Yard; launched  on 24 April 1940; sponsored by Miss Ethel Dixon Meredith; and commissioned on 1 March 1941, Lt. Codr. William F. Mendenhall, Jr., in command.

Following shakedown in Cuban waters, Meredith returned to Boston 8 June 1941 and was assigned to Destroyer Division 22. Departing Boston 6 July, she engaged in patrol duty, exercises, and flight operations along the southern coast until 20 September. From 28 September until 31 January 1942, Meredith was based at Halfjordur, Iceland, whence she patrolled between Iceland and the Denmark Straits. On 17 October 1941, she rescued survivors of torpedoed British steamer Empire Wave.

Following the attack on Pearl Harbor, Meredith engaged in escort and antisubmarine patrol between Iceland and the Denmark Straits, until she departed Halfjordur late in January escorting a convoy to Boston. She sailed from Boston for Norfolk 18 February 1942 screening Washington (BB‑56), and there joined Hornet (CV‑8) in TF 18.

The force left Norfolk 4 March on a mission as secret as it was important, passed through the Panama Canal, and reached San Diego 21 March. Departing San Francisco 2 April, the force rendezvoused with TF 16, 13 April and sailed for the famous “Shangri‑La” raid on Tokyo. On 18 April, the Army bombers were launched for this first carrier‑based attack on Japan, and Meredith made course for Hawaii, arriving 25 April.

Between 13 May and 21 June Meredith escorted fleet oilers bound for New Caledonia, patrolled off Bulari Passage, and escorted carrier Tangier (AV‑8), returning to Pearl Harbor. Following gunnery and tactical practice, Meredith departed Pearl Harbor Harbor 15 August 1942 for Samoa, arriving Pago Pago 30 August. Meredith next escorted Transport Force 2 to the Solmons with reinforcement landed on Guadalcanal 20 September, then sail for patrol duty in the New Hebrides.

Departing Espiritu Santo 12 October to escort a convoy of freighters to Guadalcanal, Meredith engaged Japanese aircraft on the morning of 15 October, then shortly after midday was attacked by a force of 35 bombers and torpedo planes from the carrier Zuikaku. Meredith fought fiercely against these terrible odds, and brought down three of her attackers before she sank. Only seven officers and 56 men survived the attack and the three ensuing days of exposure to the open sea and sharks until they were rescued by destroyer Grayson (DD‑435) and the fleet tug Seminole (AT‑65).

Meredith received one battle star for her World War II service.