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Hull Number: DD-446

Launch Date: 05/03/1942

Commissioned Date: 07/22/1942

Decommissioned Date: 11/10/1969

Call Sign: NCFX (63-67)

Voice Call Sign: GYPSY PRINCE

Other Designations: DDE-446


Class: FLETCHER

FLETCHER Class

Data for USS Fletcher (DD-445) as of 1945


Length Overall: 376’ 5"

Beam: 39’ 7"

Draft: 13’ 9"

Standard Displacement: 2,050 tons

Full Load Displacement: 2,940 tons

Fuel capacity: 3,250 barrels

Armament:

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

Complement:

20 Officers
309 Enlisted

Propulsion:

4 Boilers
2 General Electric Turbines: 60,000 horsepower

Highest speed on trials: 35.2 knots

Namesake: WILLIAM RADFORD

WILLIAM RADFORD

Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships, July 2017

William Radford — born in Fincastle, Va., 1 March 1808 — entered the U.S. Navy during 1825. He commanded the landing party from Warren which captured the Mexican warship Malek Adhel at Mazatlan and took part in other Pacific coast operations of the Mexican War. During the Civil War, he commanded the ill-fated Cumberland but was on board the frigate Roanoke as a member of a Court of enquiry when his ship was attacked by the Confederate casemate ram Virginia. Capt. Radford subsequently commanded the armored ship New Ironsides during Union attacks on Fort Fisher in December 1864 and in January 1865. Promoted to rear admiral in 1866, he commanded the European squadron during 1869 and 1870. Rear Adm. Radford died at Washington, D.C., on 8 January 1890.


Disposition:

Stricken 11/10/1969. Sold 10/1970.


A Tin Can Sailors Destroyer History

USS RADFORD DD-446

The Tin Can Sailor, January 1998

The second FLETCHER-class destroyer to be authorized was laid down at the Federal Shipbuilding yard in Kearny (NJ) on October 2, 1941. Like FLETCHER, she would be constructed with remarkable speed; the slow construction and delays for modification previous allowed in prewar classes would not be tolerated in the new class. RADFORD would be launched on May 3, 1942 and commissioned the following July.DD-446 was the second destroyer to be named for RADM William Radford, who made his mark in the Navy both in operations during the Mexican War and as commander of the historic USS CUMBERLAND and USS NEW IRONSIDES during the Civil War. He would take command of the Navy’s European Squadron as a Rear Admiral during the years which followed. RADM Radford died in 1890.

USS RADFORD appeared destined for greatness from the start. On her shakedown cruise off the New England coast, she was called upon to assist the fiercely burning USS WAKEFIELD (AP-2 1). The 700-foot-long troop transport, the former S.S. MANHATTAN of the United States Lines, had been converted for military purposes and was carrying more than one thousand civilian construction personnel out of the war zone when a fire developed. The rapidly-moving conflagration threatened the ship, so all vessels in the area east of Halifax, Nova Scotia, USS MAYO (DD-422) and USS BROOKLYN (CL-40) were able to take off passengers and crew and help contain the fires. DD-446 would aid in towing the vessel to Halifax for repair. WAKEFIELD would survive and provide valuable service to the Allied cause. Anti-submarine patrol duties consumed much of the remainder of the year, before RADFORD was transferred to the Pacific.

Assigned to Task Group 67.5, operating out of Noumea in the South Pacific, RADFORD’s early tasks would involve shelling Japanese strong points and staging areas around Guadalcanal. In January 1943, DD-446 disrupted the enemy staging area at Kolombangara, delaying reinforcements to Guadalcanal. At the same time, she was credited with destroying three enemy planes. RADFORD’s gunnery was already legendary; five more aircraft fell to the destroyer in June, as she supported the Allied Rendova landings. American transports unloaded successfully and were on their way when RADFORD’s radar picked tip an unidentified vessel. RO-101, a Japanese fleet-class submarine, was trapped on the surface and annihilated by DD-446’s accurate salvos.

Like many of her sister ships, RADFORD seemed drawn to the Philippines. After months of effective convoy screening, interrupted with gun fire support duties and a stint at helping to derail the “Tokyo Express” the aptly-named Japanese effort to resupply Guadalcanal using heavily protected convoys in night operations down the deadly “Slot” through the Solomons, DD-446 was ordered to Pearl Harbor for repairs in preparation for service in the Philippine invasion. By January 1945, RADFORD was actively engaged in Leyte Gulf and in support of the Allied landings on Luzon. Like others of her class, she almost met her fate in the dangerous waters.

On February 14, 1945, RADFORD was assigned to enter the embattled Marveles harbor to take the badly damaged USS LA VALETTE (DD-448) in tow. Mines nearly ended RADFORD’s career as they had almost ended LA VALETTE’s when a mine seriously damaged DD-446 as well. The damage would put RADFORD out of the war. The end of the war found DD-446 at a San Francisco repair facility. She would be decommissioned in January 1946.

With the growth of Soviet submarine forces, escorts were needed, and RADFORD was recommissioned, this time as DDE-446. She was ready for service in her new role by October 1949. Following a brief shakedown, she screened carrier forces in the Pacific.

The outbreak of the Korean War found RADFORD screening carrier forces along the west coast of the Korean peninsula. Alternating between shore bombardment assignments and covering mine sweeping operations along both the east and west coasts, RADFORD participated in most of the naval actions off the peninsula. In one memorable episode, DD-446 fought her way into Wonsan harbor, slugging it out with Communist shore batteries.

The end of the Korean War marked the beginning of sixteen years of operations which alternated between training exercises around Hawaii and deployments in the Far East. In March 1960, RADFORD was chosen as one of the few FLETCHERs to undergo FRAM II overhaul. The Fleet Rehabilitation and Modernization Program would rebuild DD-446, equipping her with the latest in weaponry and a helicopter pad to operate the latest marvel, DASH. With coaxial rotors and electronic wizardry, DASH, a small remotely controlled helicopter was supposed to deliver one or two anti-submarine torpedoes to the suspected location of an enemy submarine. The program was somewhat less than successful, but RADFORD had a new lease on life.

DD-446 faced her third war when it was determined to support South Vietnamese forces against Communists in their Southeast Asian nation. RADFORD would serve three tours in Vietnam, providing cover for carrier forces off Yankee Station off the coast of North Vietnam and providing gunfire support for troops ashore.

RADFORD was decommissioned a second time on November 10, 1969. This time, the veteran tin can destroyer would be sold for scrap.

USS RADFORD earned twelve battle stars* for her service in World War II, five battle stars for Korean operations, and four battle stars for activities off Vietnam.

Addendum: According to OPNAV 1650, the Navy’s official listing of awards, USS RADFORD (DD/DDE-446) earned a total of twenty-six battle stars* and a Presidential Unit Citation. The additional stars were for Vietnam-era operations including action off North Korea in the wake of the North Koreans shooting down the unarmed EC-121 reconnaissance plane on 15 April 1969. The PUC was awarded for action on 5/6 July 1943 in the Solomon Islands.

USS RADFORD DD-446 Ship History

Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships, July 2017

The second Radford (DD-446) was laid down on 2 October 1941 at Kearny, N.J., by the Federal Shipbuilding & Dry Dock Co.; launched on 3 May 1942; sponsored by Mrs. Francis E. Matthes; and commissioned on 22 July 1942, Lt. Comdr. William K. Romoser in command.

After shakedown off the New England coast, Radford towed the burning transport Wakefield (AP-21) to Halifax where the fires were extinguished. Antisubmarine patrol off the east coast followed and on 5 December 1942 Radford got underway for the Pacific.

At Noumea, New Caledonia, Radford joined TG 67.5 with which she bombarded Japanese positions and installations on Guadalcanal on 19 January 1943. On the night of 23-24 January, she attacked the enemy staging area on Kolombangara and within the next week had splashed three enemy planes. Radford then retired to Tulagi, whence she sailed to cover the occupation of the Russell Islands by U.S. troops. Radford shelled Munda Airfield and installations on New Georgia Island on the night of 5-6 March and, on the nights of 15 and 16 March, bombarded Kolombangara.

On 29 June 1943, Radford steamed with the First Echelon of the Western Force for Rendova to provide shore bombardment and antisubmarine patrol to cover the landing of troops. During this action she shot down five planes. On 1 July she damaged a Japanese submarine with gunfire and depth charges. She was involved in the night surface engagement off Kula Gulf, 5-6 July, firing on three enemy ships and picking up survivors of Helena (CL-50). During the night of 12-13 July Radford acted as a screening unit for TG 36.1 while that force conducted an offensive sweep against the “Tokyo Express.”

On 17 July 1943, she left the Solomons for the New Hebrides; Auckland, New Zealand and Noumea, New Caledonia. Returning to Guadalcanal 14 September, she sank a number of enemy barges and on 25 November sent the Japanese submarine I-40 to the bottom off Makin. After the Gilbert Islands operations, Radford steamed for Pearl Harbor and San Francisco where she arrived 15 December for overhaul.

By 2 February 1944 Radford was back at Majuro Atoll. On the 18th, she screened tankers as they fueled the Truk Island striking force, then escorted the replenishment force to the New Hebrides. In March, she returned to the Solomons and shelled gun emplacements on Bougainville.

Proceeding to New Guinea in April 1944, Radford bombarded the beach at Humboldt Bay in support of landings there on the 22nd. She steamed back to the Solomons; stopped at Noumea; and returned to the New Guinea area in early June. Into September she continued support of the New Guinea campaign with escort runs and gunfire support missions.

On 12 September 1944 Radford sailed for Pearl Harbor for repairs. On 20 November she steamed for Eniwetok and Ulithi. On 4 December she got underway escorting a group of merchant vessels to Leyte Gulf. She operated there and off Mindoro until steaming for Lingayen Gulf on 4 January 1945. After supporting the landings on Luzon, she delivered fire support on the beaches of the Bataan Peninsula. While maneuvering into Mariveles Harbor to take the mine-damaged La Vallette (DD-448) in tow, Radford was herself damaged by a mine.

Sailing for Leyte Gulf on 20 February 1945, she continued on to Eniwetok Atoll, Pearl Harbor, and San Francisco. She remained there undergoing repairs until 30 September 1945. Radford  was decommissioned on 17 January 1946.

After conversion to an escort destroyer (DDE-446), on 26 March 1949, especially equipped for antisubmarine warfare, Radford was recommissioned at San Francisco on 17 October 1949. Following shakedown off the California coast, she sailed to her homeport of Pearl Harbor. In May 1950 she escorted Valley Forge (CVA-45) to Subic Bay and Hong Kong. With the outbreak of the Korean Conflict, she was dispatched to Korea where she operated until returning to Pearl Harbor 9 November.

Occupied with overhaul and type training at Pearl Harbor for the next year, Radford then sailed 19 November 1951 for operations with Task Force 77, a fast carrier striking group, off Korea. Other operations found her with British units off the west coast of the embattled peninsula and steaming close inshore for bombardment and to support minesweeping operations. She also rescued survivors from the grounded SS Easton off the coast of Japan, before returning to Pearl Harbor 21 June 1952.

Radford cleared Pearl Harbor 4 September 1952 for operations on patrol and in exercises in the western Pacific, based at Eniwetok. She returned to Pearl Harbor 25 November for type training until 3 May 1953, when she headed for the Far East. Once more Radford operated with TF 77, bombarding the east coast of Korea. From 12 to 22 July, in company with Manchester (CL-83), she steamed off Wonsan Harbor, firing on targets in the vicinity of Hode Pando, and later entered the harbor itself. Following duty on the southern patrol in the Taiwan Strait, she returned to Pearl Harbor 30 November.

During the next 16 years Radford alternated operations in the Hawaiian area with deployments to the Far East. During this period she made 11 WestPac cruises, serving on the Taiwan Patrol in 1954, 1955, and 1956 and operating in Japanese waters in 1957, 1958, and 1959. On 25 March 1960 she entered the U.S. Naval Shipyard at Pearl Harbor to begin her 7-month long FRAM (Fleet Rehabilitation and Modernization) II overhaul, which gave her a helicopter hanger and flight deck. During 1961 she operated continuously in the Hawaiian area, picking up the nose cone of Discoverer XXV on 19 June and rescuing 5 fishermen from the sea 16 November.

On 5 February 1962 Radford sailed for the western Pacific as a unit of Antisubmarine Warfare Task Group 70.4 composed of Bennington (CVS-20) and the eight destroyers of Destroyer Divisions 252 and 92. She participated in joint SEATO operations, was called to the South China Sea to help meet the Laotian crisis in May, and in June was called to the Taiwan Straits due to heavy Communist buildups in the area. She returned to Pearl Harbor 18 July and became DD-446 again 7 August 1962. On 3 October Radford was stationed a few hundred miles east of Midway Island in the 4th orbit recovery area for Project Mercury’s Sigma 7 flight.

In a 1963 overhaul Variable Depth Sonar and DASH equipment was installed. Radford steamed to WestPac again in 1963, 1965, and 1966. During 1967, 1968, and 1969, she operated on Yankee Station and bombarded Viet Cong targets in South Vietnam. Radford decommissioned at San Francisco and was strick from the Naval Vessel Regiser on 10 November 1969 to be sold for scrap.

Radford earned 12 battle stars for World War II service, five battle stars for Korean War service, and four for Vietnam service.