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Hull Number: DD-469

Launch Date: 06/28/1942

Commissioned Date: 09/21/1942


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: EDWIN JESS DE HAVEN

EDWIN JESS DE HAVEN

Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships, July 2015

Edwin Jess De Haven, born in 1819 in Pennsylvania was appointed Acting Midshipman at the age of 10 and Passed Midshipman 5 years later. He served in Vincennes, flagship of the Wilkes Exploring Expedition in its historic cruise of 1838 to 1842 to the Antarctic and among the Pacific Islands. De Haven served in the Mexican War, assisting in the capture of the Mexican schooner Creole. In command of the Grinnell Rescue Expedition in 1850, he led the search for Sir John Franklin lost in the Arctic. Only traces of the party were found, but De Haven discovered and named Grinnell Land, and was commended for the valuable scientific data he collected concerning the winds and currents of the ocean. He served in the Coast Survey Service until placed on the retired list in February 1862. He died at Philadelphia, Pa., 1 May 1865.


Disposition:

Sunk 02/01/1943, by dive bombers, 2 miles east of Savo Island.


A Tin Can Sailors Destroyer History

USS DE HAVEN DD-469

The Tin Can Sailor, October 2005

The USS DE HAVEN (DD‑469) was launched on 28 June 1942 by the Bath Iron Works in Bath, Maine, and was commissioned on 21 September 1942 with Commander C. E. Tolman at the helm. She was in the Pacific by November 1942 escorting a troop convoy to relieve the marines who had been embattled since August on Guadalcanal. The island was as hard to hold as its code name, “Cactus.” The DEHAVEN remained off Guadalcanal, screening the transportsand patrolling to intercept the Tokyo Express’s nightly runs to resupply the Japanese troops still fighting on the islands.

As part of the Cactus striking force, which included the DDs NICHOLAS, O’BANNON, and RADFORD and the cruisers NASHVILLE and HELENA, she participated in bombarding the enemy airfield at Kolombangara on 24 January 1943. A week later the DEHAVEN, FLETCHER,RADFORD, and NICHOLAS escorted six LCTs and a seaplane tender to Marovo. The landing early on 1 February was a success, and the destroyers headed back to Tulagi with the unloaded LCTs. They split into two groups; the DEHAVEN and NICHOLAS with two of the landing craft steamed southeast of Savo Island; the FLETCHER and RADFORD, the rest of the LCTs, and the available air cover were en route northwest of Cape Esperance.

Early in the afternoon of the first, the destroyers were warned that a flight of enemy planeswere looking for targets. The destroyers’ gunners and those on the LCTs stood ready, The Japanese failed to see the FLETCHER group, but more than a dozen bombers found the DEHAVEN, NICHOLAS, and their charges. The destroyers’ radar picked up the approaching planes and, when they were in range, opened fire. At 1457 nine dive bombers managed to break through the American vessels’ antiaircraft fire, and six of them zeroed in on the DEHAVEN. Her guns brought down three of the attackers, but not before all six had dropped their bombs. The destroyer was rocked by three direct hits, one of which demolished her superstructure, killing Commander Tolman and those who were with him on the bridge. A near miss crushed the destroyer’s bow speeding her demise.She was dead in the water and nosing downward as her crew struggled to escape. Only four officers and 146 men survived and 39 of those were injured. One hundred sixty‑seven were lost.The DEHAVEN became the fifteenth destroyer lost in the Guadalcanal campaign she sank in “Iron Bottom Bay.”

As the LCTs rescued survivors, the NICHOLAS fought off eight more bombers, and in the battle lost two of her crew and suffered some damage from a near miss. The DEHAVEN received one battle star for her World War II service.

USS DE HAVEN DD-469 Ship History

Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships, July 2015

De Haven (DD-469) was launched 28 June 1942 by Bath Iron Works Corp., Bath, Maine; sponsored by Miss H. N. De Haven, granddaughter of Lieutenant De Haven; and commissioned 21 September 1942, Commander C. E. Tolman in command.

De Haven 
sailed from Norfolk and reached Tongatabu, Tonga Islands, 28 November 1942 to escort a convoy of troopships to Guadalcanal to relieve the Marines who had been there since the invasion landings in August. De Haven screened the transports off Guadalcanal from 7 to 14 December, then sailed out of Espiritu Santo and Noumea in the continuing Solomon Islands operations. She patrolled in the waters of the Southern Solomons to stop the “Tokyo Express,” the nightly effort to supply the beleaguered Japanese troops still fighting on the invaded islands, and took part in two bombardments of Kolombangara Island during January 1943.

On 1 February 1943 De Haven screened six LCT’s and a seaplane tender establishing a beachhead at Marovo on Guadalcanal. While escorting two of the landing craft back to their base in the afternoon, De Haven was warned of an impending air attack. She sighted nine unidentified planes and opened fire as six swung sharply toward her. She splashed three of these planes, but not before all six had dropped their bombs. De Haven was hit by three bombs and further damaged by a near miss. One bomb hit the superstructure squarely, killing the commanding officer at once. All way was lost after the first hit and the ship began to settle rapidly, sinking about 2 miles east of Savo Island. One of the LCT’s she had escorted rescued the survivors. She lost 167 killed and 38 wounded.

De Haven received one battle star for World War II.