USS Childs

Last updated
USS Childs (DD-241) underway on 4 June 1927 (NH 55159).jpg
USS Childs in 1927
History
US flag 48 stars.svgUnited States
NamesakeEarle W. F. Childs
Builder New York Shipbuilding
Laid down19 March 1919
Launched15 September 1920
Commissioned22 October 1920
Decommissioned10 December 1945
Stricken3 January 1946
FateSold for scrap, 23 May 1946
General characteristics
Class and type Clemson-class destroyer
Displacement1,215 tons
Length314 feet 4 inches (95.81 m)
Beam31 feet 8 inches (9.65 m)
Draft9 feet 10 inches (3.00 m)
Propulsion
  • 26,500 shp (20 MW);
  • geared turbines,
  • 2 screws
Speed35 knots (65 km/h)
Range
  • 4,900 nautical miles (9,100 kilometres)
  •  @ 15 kt
Complement137 officers and enlisted
Armament4 x 4 in (100 mm) guns, 1 x 3 in (76 mm) gun, 12 x 21 inch (533 mm) tt.

USS Childs (DD-241/AVP-14/AVD-1) was a Clemson-class destroyer in service with the United States Navy from 1920 to 1945. She was scrapped in 1946.

Contents

Namesake

Earle Wayne Freed Childs was born on 1 August 1893 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He was a member of the United States Naval Academy class of 1915. He married Miss Gertrude Boucher on June 27, 1917, attending his wedding with his head bandaged from a car accident in that morning while driving in a storm. He had been cut by flying glass from the windshield.

Graduating from the Naval Academy as an Ensign, he was assigned to the USS Culgoa, a refrigerated supply ship. His next assignment was to the USS Celtic another refrigerated supply ship. [1] In June 1916 he was assigned to the cruiser USS Montana.

Promoted to Lieutenant, he served in World War I on the submarine USS L-2. However, while serving as an observer on the British submarine HMS H5, Childs was killed on March 2, 1918, when the H5 was mistaken for a German U-boat by a British merchant ship off the coast of Wales. [2] The SS Rutherglen deliberately rammed the H 5, sending the submarine to the bottom with the loss of its entire crew.

History

Childs (DD-241) was launched 15 September 1920 by New York Shipbuilding Corporation; sponsored by Mrs. E. W. F. Childs; and commissioned 22 October 1920.

Arriving at Gibraltar 14 February 1921, Childs joined U.S. Naval Forces, Europe, to cruise in the Mediterranean, Adriatic, North, and Baltic Seas until 25 November, when she arrived at Constantinople. Here she joined the relief mission sent to Russia early in 1922, remaining in the Black Sea on diplomatic duties until 1 April. On 8 July, she departed from Cherbourg for Philadelphia, returning to the United States 29 July.

Childs conducted training operations, and joined other ships in fleet exercises along the Atlantic coast and in the Caribbean until 14 February 1925, when with the Scouting Fleet she stood out of Guantanamo Bay for large scale fleet exercises in the Hawaiian Islands and then returned to the U.S. East Coast. On 6 April 1929, she collided with the American four-masted schooner A. Ernest Mills in the Atlantic Ocean off North Carolina; the schooner sank. [3]

In 1932, 1933, and 1934, the annual concentration of the Fleet for battle practice was again held on the West Coast, and Childs took part. With her home port changed to San Diego, California 9 November Childs served as flagship of Destroyer Division 8 Rotating Reserve, Scouting Force, 5 January-15 June when she was in full commission again. She spent the summer of 1935 cruising off the Pacific Northwest and Alaska.

The next year Childs returned to the east coast for overhaul, then returned to duty at San Diego, cruising several times to the Hawaiian Islands before 14 May 1938, when she cleared for Philadelphia and conversion to a seaplane tender. Reclassified AVP-14, she saw her first service in her new role during the annual fleet problem of 1939, operating between the Florida coast and San Juan, Puerto Rico, and after final preparations at Philadelphia, sailed for her new base at Pearl Harbor, arriving 29 June. She tended seaplanes there and on the plane guard stations off Midway, Wake Island, and Guam until 1 October 1940, when she was reclassified AVD-1, and ordered to the Asiatic Station. The next day she left Hawaii for Cavite, Philippines, arriving 1 November to begin her service to air patrol squadrons.

World War II

USS Childs in 1944. USS Childs (AVD-1) underway, circa in late 1944 (19-N-74863).jpg
USS Childs in 1944.

When war with Japan broke out, Childs lay in Cavite Navy Yard for repair, and during the devastation of the yard by Japanese aircraft on 10 December 1941, escaped damage by evasive maneuvering in the confined harbor area. She tended her flying boats of Patrol Wing 10 from Manila [4] for 4 more days, then began a lengthy base-to-base withdrawal. On leaving Kendari harbour on 24 January 1942 she evaded the invading Japanese fleet in a rain squall and survived an air attack. [5] At Surabaya the tenders Childs, Heron, and Preston rotated as needed to service VP101 which was patrolling Makassar Strait. Finally she reached Seaplane Base Exmouth, at Exmouth Gulf, Australia, 28 February 1942. [4] From Fremantle and other Western Australia ports, Childs continued her tender duties until 12 August 1944. During this time, her planes scouted and bombed Japanese positions and shipping, mined the waters off Balikpapan, Borneo, and performed air-sea rescue missions.

Childs returned to the west coast 19 September 1944, and after overhaul, conducted training operations off the west coast until the close of the war. She was decommissioned 10 December 1945, and sold 3 January 1946.

Childs received one battle star for World War II service.

Notes

  1. ↑ "Ensign Earle W. Childs, of U. S. S. Celtic, Visited Friends Saturday". Harrisburg Daily Independent. Mifflintown. 1916-04-06. p. 10. Retrieved 2020-01-19– via Newspapers.com.
  2. ↑ "Lewistown Officer Lost Life on British Submarine". Harrisburg Telegraph. Lewistown, Pennsylvania. 1918-03-18. p. 10. Retrieved 2020-01-19– via Newspapers.com.
  3. ↑ "Casualty reports". The Times. No. 45171. London. 8 April 1929. col F, p. 19.
  4. 1 2 Alsleben, Allan (1999–2000). "US Patrol Wing 10 in the Dutch East Indies, 1942". Forgotten Campaign: The Dutch East Indies Campaign 1941-1942.
  5. ↑ L, Klemen (1999–2000). "The Fall of Kendari, January 1942". Forgotten Campaign: The Dutch East Indies Campaign 1941-1942.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">United States Asiatic Fleet</span> Military unit

The United States Asiatic Fleet was a fleet of the United States Navy during much of the first half of the 20th century. Before World War II, the fleet patrolled the Philippine Islands. Much of the fleet was destroyed by the Japanese by February 1942, after which it was dissolved, and the remnants incorporated into the naval component of the South West Pacific Area command, which eventually became the Seventh Fleet.

USS <i>Clemson</i> (DD-186) Clemson-class destroyer

USS Clemson (DD-186/AVP-17/AVD-4/APD-31) was the lead ship of her class of destroyers which served in the United States Navy during World War II. She was named for Midshipman Henry A. Clemson (1820–1846), who was lost at sea when the brig USS Somers capsized in a sudden squall off Vera Cruz on 8 December 1846 while chasing a blockade runner. Entering service in 1919, the ship had a brief active life before placed in reserve in 1922. Converted to an aircraft tender in 1939, the ship reactivated in 1940. In 1943, Clemson reconverted to a destroyer and served in the Battle of the Atlantic during World War II. In 1944, the ship was converted into a high speed transport and transferred to the Pacific taking part in several invasions. Following the end of the war, the ship was taken out of service again and sold for scrapping in 1946.

USS <i>Goldsborough</i> (DD-188) Clemson-class destroyer

USS Goldsborough (DD-188/AVP-18/AVD-5/APD-32) was a Clemson-class destroyer in the United States Navy during World War II. She was the second Navy ship named for Rear Admiral Louis M. Goldsborough (1805–1877). Entering service in 1920, the ship had a brief active life before being placed in reserve in 1922. Goldsborough was reactivated for World War II and was used as an aircraft tender, destroyer and high speed transport in both Atlantic and Pacific theaters. Following the war, the ship was sold for scrapping in 1946.

USS <i>Williamson</i> Tender of the United States Navy

USS Williamson (DD-244/AVP-15/AVD-2/APD-27) was a Clemson-class destroyer in the United States Navy during World War II. She was named for Commander William Price Williamson.

USS <i>Gillis</i> Tender of the United States Navy

USS Gillis (DD-260/AVD-12) was a Clemson-class destroyer in the United States Navy. She was named for Commodore John P. Gillis and Rear Admiral James Henry Gillis.

USS <i>Hulbert</i> Tender of the United States Navy

USS Hulbert (DD-342/AVD-6) was a Clemson-class destroyer in the United States Navy following World War I. She was named for Henry Hulbert.

USS <i>William B. Preston</i> Clemson-class destroyer

USS William B. Preston (DD-344/AVP-20/AVD-7) was a Clemson-class destroyer in the United States Navy following World War I. She was named for United States Secretary of the Navy and United States Senator William B. Preston.

Japanese aircraft carrier <i>Chitose</i> Aircraft carrier of the Imperial Japanese Navy

Chitose (千歳) was a warship of the Imperial Japanese Navy that served from 1938 to 1944, seeing service as a seaplane carrier and later as a light aircraft carrier during World War II. In her initial guise as a seaplane carrier, she first saw service during the Second Sino-Japanese War in 1938, and subsequently played a key role in the Imperial Japanese Navy's development of a network of seaplane bases on the islands of the Pacific Ocean. After the outbreak of World War II in the Pacific, she took part in the Philippines campaign, the Dutch East Indies campaign, the Battle of Midway, and the Guadalcanal campaign, during which she was damaged in the Battle of the Eastern Solomons and also saw service related to the Battle of Cape Esperance.

USS <i>Mackinac</i> (AVP-13) Tender of the United States Navy

The second USS Mackinac (AVP-13) was a United States Navy Barnegat-class small seaplane tender in commission from 1942 to 1947 that saw service during World War II. After the war, she was in commission in the United States Coast Guard from 1949 to 1967 as the cutter USCGC Mackinac (WAVP-371), later WHEC-371, the second ship of the Coast Guard or its predecessor, the United States Revenue Cutter Service, to bear the name.

USS <i>Isabel</i> Patrol vessel of the United States Navy

USS Isabel (SP-521), later PY-10, was a yacht in commission in the United States Navy as a destroyer from 1917 to 1920 and as a patrol yacht from 1921 to 1946.

USS <i>Lapwing</i> (AM-1) Minesweeper of the United States Navy

USS Lapwing (AM-1/AVP-1) was the lead ship of her class of minesweeper – the first minesweeper of the United States Navy. She was named after a bird, the lapwing, an abundant crested plover of Europe, Asia, and northern Africa, noted for its slow, irregular, flapping flight and its shrill wailing cry.

USS <i>Teal</i> Minesweeper of the United States Navy

USS Teal (AM-23/AVP-5) was a Lapwing-class minesweeper acquired by the United States Navy for the task of removing naval mines from minefields laid in the water to prevent ships from passing. The ship entered service in 1918, was converted into a seaplane tender in the 1920s and took part in World War II, serving primarily in Alaskan waters. Following the war, the ship was decommissioned and sold in 1948. Teal was named after the teal, any of several small, short-necked, river ducks common to Europe and the Americas.

USS <i>Sandpiper</i> (AM-51) Minesweeper of the United States Navy

USS Sandpiper (AM-51) was a Lapwing-class minesweeper. Laid down on 15 November 1918 at the Philadelphia Navy Yard, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and launched on 28 April 1919, USS Sandpiper was commissioned on 9 October 1919, redesignated AM-51 on 17 February 1920, and reclassified as a Small Seaplane Tender, AVP-9 on 22 January 1936.

USS <i>Chandeleur</i> Tender of the United States Navy

USS Chandeleur (AV-10), a seaplane tender, was launched on 29 November 1941 by Western Pipe and Steel Company, San Francisco, California, under a Maritime Commission contract; transferred to the U.S. Navy 19 November 1942; and commissioned the same day.

USS <i>Onslow</i> Tender of the United States Navy

USS Onslow (AVP-48) was a United States Navy Barnegat-class seaplane tender in commission from 1943 to 1947 and from 1951 to 1960.

USS <i>Casco</i> (AVP-12) Tender of the United States Navy

The third USS Casco (AVP-12) was a United States Navy Barnegat-class small seaplane tender in commission from 1941 to 1947. She saw service in World War II. After her decommissioning, the U.S. Navy loaned her to the United States Coast Guard, in which she served as the cutter USCGC Casco (WAVP-370), later WHEC-370, from 1949 to 1969.

USS <i>Humboldt</i> Tender of the United States Navy

USS Humboldt (AVP-21) was a United States Navy Barnegat-class small seaplane tender in commission from 1941 to 1947 that served in the Atlantic during World War II. She was briefly reclassified as a miscellaneous auxiliary and redesignated AG-121 during 1945. After the war, she was in commission in the United States Coast Guard as the cutter USCGC Humboldt (WAVP-372), later WHEC-372, from 1949 to 1969,

USS <i>Matagorda</i> (AVP-22) Tender of the United States Navy

USS Matagorda (AVP-22/AG-122) was a United States Navy Barnegat-class seaplane tender in commission from 1941 to 1946 that saw service in World War II. After the war, she was in commission in the United States Coast Guard as the cutter USCGC Matagorda (WAVP-373), later WHEC-373, from 1949 to 1967.

USS <i>Barnegat</i> (AVP-10) Tender of the United States Navy

The second USS Barnegat (AVP-10), in commission from 1941 to 1946, was the lead ship of her class of small seaplane tenders built for the United States Navy just before and during World War II. She was the second U.S. Navy ship to bear that name.

I-123, originally named Submarine No. 50 then renamed I-23 from before her construction began until June 1938, was an I-121-class submarine of the Imperial Japanese Navy that served during the Second Sino-Japanese War and World War II. During the latter conflict, she conducted operations in support of the Japanese invasion of the Philippines, the Battle of Midway, the Guadalcanal campaign, and the Battle of the Eastern Solomons. She was sunk in 1942.

References

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.