|
USS ''Stanly'' (DD-478), a ''Fletcher''-class destroyer, was the only ship of the United States Navy to be named for Rear Admiral Fabius Stanly (1815–1882). Some live footage of her appears in 1949's "Sands of Iwo Jima" at 1hr 23min. ''Stanly'' was laid down on 15 September 1941 at the Charleston Navy Yard; launched on 2 May 1942; sponsored by Mrs. Elizabeth Stanley Boss; and commissioned on 15 October 1942, Lieutenant Commander James M. Robinson in command. ==1943== ''Stanly'' remained at the Charleston Navy Yard fitting-out and undergoing dock trials until 30 December. During that time, her seaplane catapult was removed to make room for additional 5 inch guns. On the 30th, she passed Fort Sumter on her way to shakedown training off the coast of Cuba. ''Stanly'' returned to Charleston on 7 January 1943 and operated on the east coast and in Guantanamo Bay until 28 February when she rounded Cape Charles and headed for Delaware Bay, where she joined ''Sante Fe'' (CL-60) and sailed with the light cruiser for Panama. The two warships transited the Panama Canal on 5 March, fueled at Balboa the next day, and steamed for Long Beach. They stayed at San Pedro Harbor from the 12th to the 16th, when they headed for Hawaii. After entering Pearl Harbor on 22 March, ''Stanly'' operated out of that naval base until May, hunting submarines, participating in drills, and screening convoys on the last leg of their voyages to Oahu. Finally, on 14 May, she departed Pearl Harbor in the screen of a westward-bound convoy. Twelve days later, ''Stanly'' and her convoy passed through the submarine nets into the harbor at Nouméa, New Caledonia. Over the next three months, ''Stanly'' was in and out of Nouméa, escorting convoys and screening battleships and aircraft carriers. She made trips as far west as the coast of Australia and as far north and east as the New Hebrides and Wallis islands. Upon her return to Nouméa from Wallis Island on 7 August, ''Stanly'' was ordered to Espiritu Santo with a convoy. Entering Segond Channel on the 11th, she underwent 13 days availability before exiting the channel for Fila Island, also in the New Hebrides. On this passage, she was accompanied by destroyers ''Charles Ausburne'' (DD-570), ''Claxton'' (DD-571), and ''Dyson'' (DD-572). The four destroyers arrived at Fila on the 24th and stood out again the next day, bound for the Solomons. By 27 August, ''Stanly'' and the other three destroyers were off Guadalcanal, patrolling the anchorage at Lengo Channel. The Solomons-Bismarcks area was to be her theater of operations until late February 1944. On 28 August, she stopped at Tulagi; then, steamed on to patrol the entrance to Kula Gulf, between Kolombangara and New Georgia, and returned the next day to Florida Island. During the first week in September, ''Stanly'' sailed between Port Purvis and Tulagi; then, on the 8th, escorted a convoy out of Purvis Bay. The destroyer parted company with the convoy on 10 September and headed on to New Caledonia. Arriving in Nouméa on the 13th, she underwent boiler repairs, exchanged ammunition and torpedoes, fueled, and departed on 29 September. She escorted another convoy from New Caledonia to Guadalcanal in October, leaving it off Lunga Point on the 5th. After stopping at Espiritu Santo on 8 October, ''Stanly'' returned to Post Purvis to fuel and pick up another convoy. For the rest of October, she continued to guard the convoys from Florida Island to various islands in the Solomons. On the last day of the month, she stood out of Purvis Bay and joined Task Force 39 (TF 39). During the following evening and night, ''Stanly'' fought off an attack by Japanese motor torpedo boats while the task force pounded Buka Island. The Japanese lost at least three boats during the action. Later that night, ''Stanly'' joined the rest of the task force in shelling the Shortlands, located just off the southern tip of Bougainville, in support of the landings farther north at Empress Augusta Bay. Late on 1 November, TF 39 sighted an enemy surface force, but was unable to engage it until early the next morning when it sallied forth to harass the landing area at Empress Augusta Bay. Radar contact was made at 02:30 on 2 November; and ''Stanly'', along with the other three destroyers in the van, opened the battle with a torpedo attack. Though the cruisers of Rear Admiral Aaron S. Merrill's TF 39 were the star of the ensuing battle, Capt. Arleigh Burke's "Little Beavers", ''Stanly'' included, contributed by finishing off the destroyer ''Hatsukaze'' and by showering a hail of 5 inch shells on the enemy. The Battle of Empress Augusta Bay claimed one enemy cruiser, ''Sendai'', and the destroyer already mentioned, but, more importantly. Admiral Sentaro Omori retired northward without accomplishing his mission, the landing of reinforcements at Cape Torokina. As dawn broke, the American warships steamed off toward a rendezvous with some transports. On the way, TF 39 beat off a 100-plane raid from Rabaul and, by the next day, was in port in Tulagi. Throughout November and December 1943, ''Stanly'' operated between the New Hebrides, the Solomons, and among the various islands of the latter group. On 16 November, she joined ''Converse'' (DD-509) in shelling a Japanese submarine and, in all probability, sank it. At various times during this period, she came under aerial attack; on Christmas Eve she bombarded Massungon Island. ''Stanly'' put in at Port Purvis on the day after Christmas for logistics and, eight days later, departed for Espiritu Santo and availability and exercises. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「USS Stanly (DD-478)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|