| Launched on 24 October 1942, the DALY (DD-519) was commissioned on 10 March 1943. Following duty screening the RANGER (CV-4) off Argentia, Newfoundland, she was transferred to the West Coast and on 5 August 1943, left San Diego for escort duty between Kiska and Attu, Alaska. By 18 December, she was in New Guinea, and four days later began escorting landing craft during the assault on Cape Gloucester, New Britain. She splashed two attacking enemy bombers, then rescued 168 survivors from the BROWNSON (DD-518) despite exploding depth charges from the sinking ship that caused the DALY to experience a temporary loss of power. She went on to cover the withdrawal of LSTs to Cape Sudest and then escorted a convoy to Saidor for the invasion landings on 2 January 1944. She remained in the New Guinea area covering resupply operations for the troops on Saidor and Cape Gloucester until 4 February when she sailed for Sydney, Australia.
Returning to New Guinea on 22 February 1944, the DALY sailed with Task Group 74.2 for the invasion of the Admiralty Islands. She participated in the bombardments of Los Negros Island on 29 February and Manus Island on 7 March and patrolled in support of the landing forces. In April she took part in the Hollandia operation. The destroyer provided fire support for the invading troops on 21 and 22 April, bombarded Sawar and Wakde on 29 and 30 April, and patrolled the waters between Aitape and Tanamerah.
From 15 May to 5 August 1944, the DALY operated in Western New Guinea providing fire support and bombardment in the Toem-Wakde-Sarmi area, patrolling off Biak, Moemfoor, and Mios Woendi Islands, and serving as picket and linking ship between the landing and covering forces at Cape Sansapor. After a brief overhaul in Sydney, Australia, she helped cover the mid-September invasion of Morotai. Her guns were called on next for the October landings on Leyte and the Battle of Surigao Strait. In November, she sailed for the West Coast and overhaul.
Back in the war zone, the DALY joined the carrier screen off Iwo Jima on 16 February 1945. Five days later, she rescued eleven survivors from the BISMARCK SEA (CVE-95), which was sunk by a suicide plane. She next joined in preparations for the invasion of Okinawa and on 27 March, provided fire support during the assault and occupation of Okinawa. On 28 April, she became the target of a suicide attack. Taking the plane under fire, she splashed it a scant 25 yards off her port beam and the plane’s bomb exploded killing three of her crew and injuring sixteen. After repair to the ship at Kerama Retto, the DALY resumed her hazardous patrols. On 25 May, following sinking of the BATES (APD-47) by a kamikaze, she rescued a badly burned survivor. She went on to screen carriers of the Third Fleet as they launched their planes for strikes against the Japanese mainland.
After replenishing at Leyte Gulf, the DALY returned to Okinawa on 16 July 1945. She joined Task Force 95 to sweep the East China Sea for enemy shipping, searching off the mouth of the Yangtze River and approaches to Shanghai before the end of the war. As part of the occupation force, she arrived at Nagasaki on 14 September and served in Japanese waters until 17 November when she left Sasebo for the United States. She arrived at Charleston, S.C., on 23 December and was placed out of commission in reserve 18 April 1946.
Recommissioned on 6 July 1951, the DALY joined the Atlantic Fleet and operated out of Newport, RI., for antisubmarine and convoy escort exercises and on patrol. Between 18 March 1953 and 15 January 1954, she made a round-the-world cruise, sailing west to join Task Force 77 off Korea where she patrolled the waters off Cheju-Do Island, site of UN prisoner-of-war camps. Continuing her homeward voyage, she passed through the Indian Ocean and the Mediterranean, calling at various ports en route.
The DALY’s next extended cruise took her to Northern Europe and the Mediterranean between 28 July and 28 November 1955, after which she operated with Hunter-Killer Group 3 in the Caribbean until 10 April 1956. On 4 January 1957, she sailed from Newport for a cruise with the Middle East Force, implementing American foreign policy with visits to Freetown, Sierra Leone; Simonstown and Capetown, South Africa; Mombasa, Kenya; Karachi, Pakistan; Aden, Aden; Massawa, Eritrea; and the Canary Islands before returning to Narragansett Bay on 7 June 1957.
Between 3 September and 27 November 1957, the DALY cruised to Northern Europe and the Mediterranean on NATO exercises and service with the Sixth Fleet. Between 17 March and 11 October 1959, she returned to the Mediterranean, the Red Sea, and Persian Gulf. Her final voyage took her to Norfolk where, on 2 May 1960, she was decommissioned and placed in reserve. The DALY was struck from the navy’s lists on 1 December 1974 and sold 22 April 1976. |
