USS Gambier Bay (CVE-73) was a Casablanca-class escort carrier of the United States Navy. During the Battle off Samar, part of the overall Battle of Leyte Gulf, during a successful effort to turn back a much larger attacking Japanese surface force, Gambier Bay was sunk by naval gunfire, primarily from the battleship Yamato, taking at least 15 hits between 8:10 and 8:40. She was the only American aircraft carrier sunk by enemy surface gunfire during World War II.
The Fletcher class was a class of destroyers built by the United States during World War II. The class was designed in 1939, as a result of dissatisfaction with the earlier destroyer leader types of the Porter and Somers classes. Some went on to serve during the Korean War and into the Vietnam War.
The first USS Abbot (DD-184) was a Wickes-class destroyer in the service of the United States Navy until traded to Britain at the beginning of World War II. She served in the Royal Navy as HMS Charlestown (I21), a Town-class destroyer.
USS Johnston (DD-557) was a Fletcher-class destroyer built for the United States Navy during World War II. She was named after Lieutenant John V. Johnston, an officer of the US Navy during the American Civil War. Johnston was laid down in May 1942 and was launched on 25 March 1943. She entered active duty on 27 October 1943 under the command of Lieutenant Commander Ernest E. Evans and was assigned to the US Pacific Fleet. Johnston provided naval gunfire support for American ground forces during the Gilbert and Marshall Islands campaign in January and February 1944 and again, after three months of patrol and escort duty in the Solomon Islands, during the recapture of Guam in July. Thereafter, Johnston was tasked with escorting escort carriers during the Mariana and Palau Islands campaign and the liberation of the Philippines.
USS Maddox (DD–168) was a Wickes-class destroyer in the United States Navy during World War I. She was later transferred to the Royal Navy as HMS Georgetown (I40), to the Royal Canadian Navy as HMCS Georgetown, and then to the Soviet Navy as Doblestny . She was the last "four piper" destroyer to be scrapped.
Three ships of the United States Navy have borne the name USS Hoel in honor of William R. Hoel, a naval officer in the American Civil War:
USS Hayler (DD-997) was a Spruance-class destroyer that served in the United States Navy from 1983 to 2003. Named for Vice Admiral Robert W. Hayler (1891–1980), she was the last ship of her class.
The O'Brien class of destroyers was a class of six ships designed by and built for the United States Navy shortly before the United States entered World War I. The O'Brien class was the third of five classes of destroyers that were known as the "thousand tonners", because they were the first U.S. destroyers over 1,000 long tons (1,016 t) displacement.
The Tucker class of destroyers was a ship class of six ships designed by and built for the United States Navy shortly before the United States entered World War I. The Tucker class was the fourth of five classes of destroyers that were known as the "thousand tonners", because they were the first U.S. destroyers over 1,000 long tons (1,016 t) displacement.
The Benson class was a class of destroyers of the U.S. Navy built 1939–1943. The thirty 1,620-ton Benson-class destroyers were built in two groups. The first six were authorized in fiscal year 1938 (FY38) and laid down at Bethlehem Steel, Quincy, Massachusetts, and three naval shipyards. The remaining 24 "repeat Bensons" were authorized in 1940–42 and built at four Bethlehem Steel yards. They were laid down after the first group was commissioned. These plus the "repeat Livermores" were also known at the time as the Bristol class. During World War II the Bensons were usually combined with the Livermores as the Benson-Livermore class; this persisted in references until at least the 1960s. In some references both classes are combined and called the Benson class. The Benson- and Gleaves-class destroyers were the backbone of the pre-war Neutrality Patrols and brought the action to the enemy by participating in every major campaign of the war.
Charleston Naval Shipyard was a U.S. Navy ship building and repair facility located along the west bank of the Cooper River, in North Charleston, South Carolina and part of Naval Base Charleston.
The Gridley-class destroyers, named for Charles Vernon Gridley, were a class of four 1500-ton destroyers in the United States Navy. They were part of a series of USN destroyers limited to 1,500 tons standard displacement by the London Naval Treaty and built in the 1930s. The first two ships were laid down on 3 June 1935 and commissioned in 1937. The second two were laid down in March 1936 and commissioned in 1938. Based on the preceding Mahan-class destroyers with somewhat different machinery, they had the same hull but had only a single stack and mounted sixteen 21 inch (533 mm) torpedo tubes, an increase of four. To compensate for the increased torpedo armament weight, the gun armament was slightly reduced from five 5"/38 caliber guns (127 mm) to four. USS Maury (DD-401) made the highest trial speed ever recorded for a United States Navy destroyer, 42.8 knots. All four ships served extensively in World War II, notably in the Solomon Islands and the Battle of the Philippine Sea, with Maury receiving a Presidential Unit Citation.
USS Richard P. Leary (DD-664) was a Fletcher-class destroyer of the United States Navy. In 1959, the ship was transferred to the Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force and renamed Yūgure. The destroyer remained in service with the Japanese until 1974, when she was returned to the US, who then sold the ship for scrap in 1976.
USS Laffey (DD-459) was a Benson-class destroyer of the United States Navy during World War II. She was the first destroyer named for Seaman Bartlett Laffey. She was lost in action on 13 November 1942.
USS Seymour D. Owens (DD-767) was scheduled to be a Gearing-class destroyer in the United States Navy. She was named for Seymour D. Owens, a United States Navy officer killed during World War II.
The nonfiction book The Last Stand of the Tin Can Sailors: The Extraordinary World War II Story of the U.S. Navy's Finest Hour is the first full narrative account of the Battle off Samar, which the book's author, James D. Hornfischer, calls the greatest upset in the history of naval warfare. Published by Bantam Books in February 2004, the book won the Samuel Eliot Morison Award for Naval Literature in 2004 from the Naval Order of the United States.
USS Castle (DD-720) was a planned United States Navy Gearing-class destroyer laid down during World War II but never completed. It was to be named for Guy W. S. Castle (1879–1919), a United States Navy officer and Medal of Honor recipient.
USS Abner Read (DD-769) was a planned United States Navy Gearing-class destroyer laid down during World War II but never completed. The ship was to be the second ship named for Abner Read (1821–1863), a United States Navy officer killed during the American Civil War. She was assigned the name during construction when the first Abner Read (DD-526), a Fletcher-class destroyer, was sunk by a kamikaze during the Battle of Leyte, 1 November 1944.
USS Harold J. Ellison (DE-545) was a proposed World War II United States Navy John C. Butler-class destroyer escort that was never completed.
United States
