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USS ''Twining'' (DD-540), a ''Fletcher''-class destroyer, was a ship of the United States Navy named for Rear Admiral Nathan C. Twining (1869–1924). ''Twining'' was laid down on 20 November 1942 at San Francisco, California, by the Bethlehem Steel Co.; launched on 11 July 1943, sponsored by Mrs. S.B.D. Wood; and commissioned on 1 December 1943, Commander Ellis Kerr Wakefield in command. ''Twining'' departed San Francisco on 21 December for shakedown training and completed the cruise at San Diego on Christmas Day. Following exercises out of that port, she returned to San Francisco; loaded passengers and cargo; and got underway on 11 February 1944.〔 == 1944 == ''Twining'' arrived at Pearl Harbor on the 17th to begin three months of training exercises, maneuvers, and drills, as her crew honed its skills in bombardment, fire support, and amphibious landing operations in preparation for Operation Forager. On 31 May, the destroyer departed the Hawaiian Islands in company with Fire Support Group 1 of the Saipan invasion forces. She arrived at Kwajalein on 8 June, fueled, and commenced antisubmarine patrols off the harbor entrance. On the 10th, ''Twining'' screened the sortie of the task group from the lagoon; headed for the Marianas; and arrived off Saipan at dawn on the 14th. Steaming off the island's eastern shore, she screened cruiser ; joined briefly in the pre-assault bombardment and, late in the afternoon, engaged in a running battle with a coastal battery. Leading and ''Montpelier'', ''Twining'' closed the shore to 3,000 yards and joined in the fire which silenced the enemy guns. As darkness fell, she took up her station to screen vessels supplying night harassment fire at Garapan on Saipan's west coast.〔 The next day, D-Day, she continued screening duties and fired on selected shore targets while marines landed on the western side of the island. Japanese planes appeared at dusk, but none came within range of ''Twinings guns. She spent most of the 16th in the unproductive pursuit of a sound contact and, at dusk, joined in the bombardment of Magicienne Bay. During the night, her guns scored hits on a Japanese ammunition dump near Aslito airfield.〔 Early on the morning of 17 June, ''Twining'' joined Destroyer Division 106 and steamed to rendezvous with Vice Admiral Willis A. Lee's battleships in anticipation of fleet action. The American assault on the Marianas had drawn the Japanese Combined Fleet northward for an attempt to repulse the thrust.〔 The 18th passed uneventfully except for sightings of a few snoopers. Then, at dawn the next day, a lone, unidentified plane closed the formation; took fire from ''Twining'' and others; circled; and disappeared. The ensuing lull lasted until 10:08 when reported a large number of aircraft approaching from the west. Steaming on picket station 10 miles (18 km) west of the formation, ''Twining'' caught sight of the first wave of attackers at 10:49. Throughout the battle, combat air patrol (CAP) planes disrupted the enemy onslaught, shooting down many Japanese aircraft and thwarting the approach of the rest. In her first antiaircraft action, ''Twining'' splashed two of the planes which got through and also was credited with an assist. During the attacks, the destroyer was the target of two bomb drops but suffered no damages. For ''Twining'', the Battle of the Philippine Sea was over in 26 minutes. No further Japanese planes attacked nearby during the day, although pilots from the American aircraft carriers continued to pick off intruders.〔 On the 20th, ''Twining'' steamed west in search of the enemy fleet. Late in the day, the carriers launched an air strike; and, when darkness came, many planes had not returned. ''Twining'' turned on her searchlight as a marker for the aircraft and rescued survivors of planes which had gone down in the darkness. At dark on the 21st, the task force abandoned the pursuit of the elusive Japanese fleet and reversed course, steaming eastward to look again for survivors of the air strike force caught by darkness of the day before. On the 23d, ''Twining'' fueled at sea; then set course for the Marianas, screening oiler .〔 At Saipan again on the 25th, ''Twining'' conducted shore bombardment off Mutcho Point. Throughout the remainder of June, she continued to operate off Saipan, providing shore bombardment, night harassment and illumination fire, as well as screening transports and engaging enemy aircraft. In Magicienne Bay early on the evening of the 28th, ''Twining'', witnessed an impressive exchange of fire between marine units on the south side of the bay and Japanese on the north. Later in the evening, Japanese planes attacked, peppering seaward waters with bombs. Observers on board the destroyer watched as shore fire scored a hit on an enemy plane overhead; then saw the plane fall in flames some four miles away. Just before midnight on 30 June, as ''Twining'' patrolled off Nafutan Point, two enemy planes attempted to make runs on Aslito airfield but were turned back by heavy fire from the destroyer.〔 Into July, ''Twining'' continued her duties off Saipan, supplying screening, fighter direction, and fire support. She also made occasional voyages to Tinian for bombardment missions. Off the northern tip of Saipan on the night of 6 and 7 July, ''Twinings crew was kept busy firing on numerous Japanese airplanes which had apparently chosen the ship both as a reference point for their approach to the runway on Marpi Point and as a target for their bombs. Nine planes made approaches during this raid, although only one dropped a bomb. Flares from the planes often illuminated the scene as the destroyer's gunfire drove off all nine, none of which managed to land on the Japanese-held airstrip. In the days that followed, ''Twining'' remained on picket station, occasionally firing on enemy troop concentrations on the island.〔 On 24 July, she screened ''Montpelier'' and as they shelled Japanese positions on Tinian. The following day, the destroyer fired support missions to screen American troops advancing up the western shore of the island. ''Twining'' continued her support of the invasion of Tinian through the end of the month, steaming on station between Tinian and Saipan and occasionally firing at Japanese targets on the island.〔 On 1 August, ''Twining'' moved to a new fire support assignment off the southeast coast of Tinian. She made the first of three bombardment runs at 01:30 and later stood in to 1,500 yards from shore to pound enemy-held slopes and caves with gunfire. On the 7th, ''Twining'' departed Saipan, escorting slow-moving ''LST-130'' to Eniwetok. A week later, she entered the atoll where her worn strut bearings were replaced.〔 ''Twining'' departed Eniwetok on 15 September to rendezvous with Rear Admiral Gerald F. Bogan's Fast Carrier Task Group (TG 38.2) and thereafter devoted most of her effort for the rest of the war to protecting aircraft carriers. Arriving off Luzon on the 21st, ''Twining'' guarded the carriers as they launched strikes despite cloudy weather, squalls, and low visibility. Following the launching of further strikes from an attack position off San Bernardino Strait on the 24th, the task group headed eastward and arrived off Saipan on the 28th. From there, the destroyer conducted antisubmarine patrols until the 30th when the task group got underway for the western Carolines and entered Ulithi lagoon on 6 October.〔 At dusk on the l1th, the task force sortied to get into a position for a strike on Formosa, the first in a series of raids intended to destroy the usefulness of that highly fortified island as an air base and a staging area for Japanese forces during the impending landings on Leyte.〔 For three days, planes from the carriers hit targets on Formosa; and, each evening, Japanese raiders attacked the American ships. On the 12th, ''Twining'' rescued several downed fliers. That evening, enemy planes attacked her formation in an action which continued until midnight. A Japanese plane threatened the destroyer from an altitude of 300 feet. After ''Twining'' opened fire, the raider attempted to crash into her but rapidly lost altitude and splashed 300 yards off her port bow, spreading flaming gasoline over water near the ship.〔 In the days that followed, enemy air activity continued to be heavy. On the 14th, an enemy bomber dropped two bombs which narrowly missed the destroyer. On the 18th and 21st, the carriers of TG 38.2 launched strikes against targets in the Philippines to support American landings on Leyte. Before dawn on the 24th, reports of American plane sightings of the Japanese Fleet began to reach the destroyer. That day, as ''Twining'' continued her routine screening duties, planes from the carriers struck telling blows against Admiral Takeo Kurita's "Center Force" in the Sibuyan Sea.〔 That night, her task force turned north to attack a Japanese carrier force which had been sighted north of Luzon. Daylong strikes launched from the American flattops sank four enemy carriers of Admiral Jisaburo Ozawa's Northern Force in an action known as the Battle off Cape Engaño. On the 26th, planes from TG 38.2 attacked crippled Japanese ships in the Visayan Sea. On the 29th, ''Twining'' rescued a downed flier from .〔 But for occasional runs to Ulithi for ammunition, ''Twining'' remained with the carriers throughout November as they hammered Japanese fortifications in the Philippines. On 10 December, the destroyer got underway with Rear Admiral Montgomery's Fast Carrier Task Group to act as picket during strikes on Luzon in support of the landings on Mindoro. On the 14th, she rescued a pilot from and had him on board four and one-half minutes after his plane hit the water.〔 On the 17th, in rapidly worsening weather conditions, the formation rendezvoused with fueling units; and ''Twining'' filled her oil tanks. During a typhoon which battered the task force the next day, the weight of her full load of fuel gave ''Twining'' the added stability she needed to weather 65-foot seas and 50-degree rolls. Ordered to stand by the disabled as the light carrier burned, dead in the water, ''Twining'' maintained a position near the stricken vessel throughout the storm. ''Twining'' came through the tempest with no major damage but lost one man overboard.〔 As dawn broke in moderating weather on 19 December, the destroyer accompanied the task force as it steamed on for a strike on Luzon; but, when bad weather aborted the strike, she returned to the scene of the typhoon to search for survivors from the three destroyers which had sunk during the storm, before returning to Ulithi on Christmas Eve to repair storm damage.〔 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 Twining (DD-540)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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