A well known destination in Charleston is Patriots Point that’s home to the aircraft carrier USS Yorktown (but I thought it sank at the Battle of Midway?); the naval destroyer USS Laffey that was hit over and over by bombs and kamikaze pilots; and a re-creation of a Marine base from the Vietnam war era, along with a full history of Indochina and our part in this war. The breathtaking bridge in the next picture took us to the entrance to Patriots Point.
But first, what is a destroyer? Over the years we’ve toured the battleship USS Alabama in Mobile Bay, the battleship USS North Carolina in Wilmington, the aircraft carrier USS Lexington in Corpus Christi, the submarine USS Drum in Mobile, and the submarine USS Cavallain in Galveston, but we thought that a destroyer was new for us. When I read through the Galveston submarine post, I realized that we had seen the destroyer escort the USS Stewart. Barney knew their role in the naval fleet but never served on one since they never held helicopters.
According to Wikipedia, a destroyer is a fast, maneuverable, long-endurance warship for escorting larger vessels in a fleet, convoy, or carrier battle group and defend them against a wide range of general threats. They were originally conceived in 1885 for the Spanish Navy as a defense against torpedo boats.
These days a carrier strike group (CSG) usually consists of an aircraft carrier, a guided missile cruiser (for air defense), 2 LAMPS-capable warships (focusing on anti-submarine and surface warfare), and 1 or 2 anti-submarine destroyers or frigates.
Now let’s start exploring.
The following sign on the bridge explained the history of the Yorktown. Yes, I was right. The carrier Yorktown was lost at the Battle of Midway (June 4-7, 1942). The Yorktown in front of us took its name while still under construction and was known as the “Fighting Lady” of WWII (commissioned on April 15, 1943). This new ship was the flagship of a Task Force that helped sink the Yamato (a lead ship of Japan’s battleships) and recovered the Apollo 8 lunar spacecraft on December 27, 1968.
During WWII, 2 twin mounts of 5-inch guns were located on each side of the “island” superstructure as shown in the top silhouette. What we see now are single-mounted 5-inch guns
USS Laffey – the most decorated destroyer in WWII
On April 16, 1945, when on picket duty off Okinawa, the Laffey was attacked by 22 Japanese aircraft (bombers and kamikazes). (Much more about this battle at the end of this post.)
USS Laffey for you history buffs
As we saw the history of the Yorktown, more than one ship can have the same name. Let’s learn about why this ship was called the Laffey.
Online we saw that two potential Laffey movies are available: Destroyer: Hell from the Heavens and Typhoon of Steel. We’ll have to look them up.
On that night, the USS Marmora, a sternwheel steamer that served the Union from 1862 to 1865, engaged enemy forces that saw 3 of its crewmen earn Medals of Honor. Here’s the rest of the story.
Disembarking from the ship with a 12-pound howitzer mounted on a field carriage, Seaman Laffey landed with the gun and his crew in the midst of heated battle. Bravely standing by his gun despite enemy rifle fire that damaged the gun carriage and rammer, his actions contributed to the enemy’s retreat during the fierce fighting.
1941 – USS Laffey DD-459
Before we get into this information on this destroyer, I want to mention that this is the first time I’ve read about and written about what happened during naval battles. My takeaway is that I’ve gained more appreciation for what these men did than I’ve ever had before. Now to the Laffey.
The 1st US Navy ship named for Seaman Laffey was a Benson-class destroyer that was “laid down” on January 13, 1941 and commissioned on March 31, 1942, less than 4 months after the attack on Pearl Harbor. (According to Wikipedia, laid down refers to “laying the keel or laying down is the formal recognition of the start of a ship’s construction. It is often marked with a ceremony attended by dignitaries.”) The ship was 347 feet long, had a beam of 36 feet, and displaced 1600 tons.
The next year on September 6, 1942, Laffey joined Task Force 18 in the Pacific Theater during the early part of the Guadalcanal Campaign. During the night of November 12-13, the Laffey and 12 other Navy ships (2 heavy cruisers, 3 light cruisers, and 7 destroyers) tangled with a Japanese task force (2 battleships, 1 light cruiser, and 11 destroyers) at close range.
The Laffey was credited for damaging the battleship Hiei and several other enemy ships before it was sunk by enemy gunfire and torpedoes. As the order to abandon ship was passed, a violent explosion ripped the destroyer apart, and she sank immediately with heavy loss of life: 59 men were lost, including the commanding officer, and 116 were wounded.
1944 – USS Laffey DD-724
The 2nd USS Laffey was laid down on June 28, 1943 and commissioned on February 8, 1944. While the 1st Laffey was 347 feet long, had a beam of 36 feet, and displaced 1600 tons, the 2nd Laffey was 377 feet long, had a beam of 40 feet, and displaced 2200 tons.
1944 – kamikaze pilots
Before we get to the actual battles, let’s look at the kamikaze pilots that attacked the destroyers and other ships. Translated as “divine wind” or “god wind,” these intentional suicide attacks first started in October 1944 during the Battle of Leyte Gulf. While we don’t know the actual number of ships sunk by these attacks, thousands of American and British sailors were killed and scores more injured. The types of Japanese aircraft involved in the attack on the Laffey had the code names Val, Judy, and Oscar.
1944 – Normandy and D-Day
May 27 – After a brief shakedown to make sure everything on the ship worked Laffey joined a convoy from New York to Plymouth, England. Arriving the end of May, they all prepared for the upcoming invasion of France.
June 6 – An enormous fleet (that included Laffey) converged on the coast of Normandy. For the first 2 days, the Laffey patrolled the ocean side of the invasion fleet.
June 8 – Her 5-inch guns pounded various enemy positions starting in the morning.
June 10 – Low on fuel and ammunition, Laffey sailed back to England for resupply.
Going right back to the battle, Laffey and several other ships chased off German patrol boats (E-boats) that damaged one of the US destroyers (Nelson DD-623). And then it went back to England for more fuel and ammunition.
Laffey joined 17 other ships to engage enemy fortifications off Cherbourg, France. Several Allied ships took hits from German shore batteries, including Laffey. A near miss actually was a 3-foot long 400lb shell that had skipped off the water into the ship’s bow section just above the water. Fortunately it failed to explode and was soon unceremoniously tossed over the side. The seamen hoisted the yard-long, 400-pound projectile through hatches to the main deck and rolled it overboard. Fortunately, the Channel was calm — no swells to flood the bow or trigger a blast.
Laffey was credited for destroying 2 German “pill boxes” (bunkers) during the Normandy Invasion.
September 1944 – Pacific Theater
The Laffey arrived at Pearl Harbor on September 18. Commander Becton wasn’t new to this area of naval battle since he had been the executive officer on one of the destroyers (USS Aaron Ward) at the Battle of Guadalcanal where the first Laffey was sunk. When he became commanding officer of the Aaron Ward just 4 months later, it was sunk by Japanese aircraft on April 7, 1943. Becton didn’t want the same thing to happen to his new command.
Destroyers in the Pacific Theater had the job of screening carrier task groups, anti-aircraft support, anti-submarine patrol, shore bombardment, and picket duty (per Wikipedia, “being placed on a defensive line forward of a friendly position to provide timely warning and screening against an enemy advance”). The Laffey would have all these roles in the next few months.
The crew spent hours doing gunnery practice that would pay huge dividends soon. By the time Laffey joined the Pacific Offensive in November, kamikazes were already the deadliest weapon that the US Navy faced. Laffey first joined an aircraft carrier strike group before becoming part of an invasion task group for the upcoming Ormoc Bay and Mindoro landings in the Philippines.
October 1944 – Battle of Ormoc Bay (Leyte Island)
I’ve seen the movie about the Battle of Midway, but the following battles are new to me. How about you?
On October 20, the Sixth Army landed on the east side of Leyte Island. The following Battle of Leyte Gulf was the largest naval battle during WWII and saw the virtual end of the Imperial Japanese Navy as a major power.
Despite their naval losses, Japanese defenders on the island were being re-supplied at Ormoc City on the west side of the island, slowing the Sixth Army’s advance. While US aircraft attacked and damaged several of these convoys across the island during November, the supplies and troops still trickled in.
On December 5, US Marines landed 27 miles south of Ormoc City while coming under heavy kamikaze attack that sank several landing craft and damaged 2 destroyers.
On December 7, Laffey came to support the landings of the 77th Infantry 3.5 miles south of Ormoc City. Again, kamikazes attached the supporting ships; 2 were sunk and others damaged. Laffey got a close up view of this new menace. Eventually the US forces prevailed to prevent the Japanese from future re-enforcement of Leyte.
December 1944 – Mindoro
While fewer Japanese troops were on Mindoro than were on Leyte, capturing Mindoro was still a necessary step in the Philippines Campaign. (Mindoro is north of Leyte and south of Luzon.) Japanese aircraft attacked the task group 2 days before the scheduled landings.
December 13 – The light cruiser Nashville, flagship of the task group, was hit by a kamikaze. Over 130 men were killed and 190 more were wounded. Laffey was just 500 yards away from the Nashville when she was hit.
Within 2 weeks of the successful landings, US Army engineers completed 2 airfields to support the invasion of Luzon, the largest island in the Philippines.
January 1945 – Lingayen Gulf
Laffey and 163 other ships next took off for the beaches of Lingayen Gulf on the western side of Luzon. During this operation (January 6-9), Laffey witnessed more kamikaze attacks. Numerous Allied ships were damaged or sunk.
January 1945 – Ulithi Atoll, Micronesia
Late in January, Laffey arrived at the US Navy anchorage east of the Philippines. It entered a floating dry-dock for needed maintenance and a new 2-tone paint scheme.
February 1945 – Laffey and 16 other destroyers were assigned to a fast carrier task force that included the new Yorktown that’s now at Patriots Point. That group was part of Task Force 58 that conducted the first air strikes on February 16-17 on the Japanese homeland since the April 18, 1942, Doolittle Raid.
After the strikes on Japan, the task group headed 750 miles south to support the landings at Iwo Jima. As expected, kamikazes attacked the supporting fleet, sinking the escort carrier Bismark Sea and damaging the large carrier Saratoga.
Late in February, Laffey left the task group to run an errand to Guam, returning to the Ulithi Atoll in early March. The anchorage at Ulithi was not immune to attacks either.
March 11 – Around dusk at Ulithi, the aircraft carrier Randolph was hit by a kamikaze on the aft section of her flight deck, a reminder to the crew of Laffey of what was waiting for them at Okinawa.
April 1945 – Okinawa where the Laffey got the brunt of the attack
April 15 – the USS Laffey was on radar picket duty 30 miles north of Okinawa and participated in stopping an air attack that downed 13 planes that day.
Radar picket duty was really dangerous since the ships were far form combat air patrol cover and were the first to be attacked by any approaching wave of Japanese. This duty was given to ships equipped with radar and were stationed far in advance of the carrier task force.
April 16 – Japanese forces sent a larger wave with about 50 aircraft. Within minutes, Laffey downed 2 Vals using the 20mm guns with 2 other attacking aircraft crashing into the sea. Seconds later, Laffey’s main guns hit a Judy on a bombing approach, but the bomb exploded nearby, wounding several men on board.
A Val approached from the port side and crashed into a 40mm gun mount, killing 3 and destroying both a 20mm gun and a 40mm gun, while also setting the magazine on fire.
A 2nd Val made an approach impacting the 5-inch 38 caliber gun, causing a major fire as it destroyed the gun turret and the powder magazine. Moments later, a 3rd Val impacted the same area. A 4th Val dropped its bomb, jamming Laffey’s rudder and killing several men. Two more kamikaze aircraft hit the ship.
The US military struck back. Four Wildcats from the USS Shamrock Bay scrambled and tried to intercept Laffey’s attackers. The Wildcats provided protection by destroying several aircraft until they ran out of ammunition. They then interfered with diving runs until their fuel ran low, and they were forced back to Shamrock Bay.
Despite 4 bomb hits and 6 kamikaze impacts, Laffey stayed afloat! When asked if the ship should be abandoned, Captain Becton’s response was “No, I’ll never abandon ship as long as a gun will fire.”
The Battle of Okinawa (April 1 – June 22) was one of the hardest-fought in the history of the US military.
On April 1, 1945, more than 60,000 soldiers and US Marines of the US Tenth Army stormed ashore at Okinawa, in the final island battle before an anticipated invasion of mainland Japan. This was the largest amphibious invasion of the Pacific Campaign and the last military campaign of the Pacific War.
More ships were used, more troops put ashore, more supplies transported, more bombs dropped, and more naval guns fired against shore targets than any other operation in the Pacific.
Thirty-four Allied ships and craft of all types were sunk, mostly by kamikazes, and 369 more ships and craft were damaged. One of these damaged ships was the USS Laffey. It was the most important point in this ship’s history and the most memorable event in the lives of the men aboard her.
honors for the USS Laffey:
- top row – Okinawa in 1945, Jordanian Crisis in 1970
- 2nd row – D-Day Invasion and Cherbourg, Ormoc Bay, Mindoro, Leyte Gulf, Luzon, Okinawa
- 3rd row – WWII Victory Medal, National Defense Service Medal with Star, Korean Service Medal with 2 Stars
- 4th row – Naval Reserve Sea Service, Philippine Republic Presidential Unit Citation, Korean Presidential Unit Citation
- 5th row – Philippine Liberation Medal, Philippine Independence, United Nations Service Medal
- bottom row – Korean War Service, Jubilee of Liberty (France), Chinese War Memorial (China-Taiwan)
After repairs, the USS Laffey continued to be used during the Korean War and during much of the Cold War. More about that in the next post when we get to see the helicopter drone.
