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USS ''Wadsworth'' (DD-516), a , was the second ship of the United States Navy to be named for Commodore Alexander S. Wadsworth (1790–1851). ''Wadsworth'' was laid down on 18 August 1942 at Bath, Maine, by the Bath Iron Works; launched on 10 January 1943; sponsored by Mrs. Rebecca Wadsworth Peacher, the great-great-granddaughter of Commodore Alexander S. Wadsworth; and commissioned at the Boston Navy Yard, on 16 March 1943, Commander John F. Walsh in command. == 1943 == ''Wadsworth'' departed Boston on 5 April and conducted exercises in Casco Bay, Maine, until the 15th, when she sailed for Cuban waters. After shakedown training out of Guantanamo Bay, the new destroyer steamed north for post-shakedown availability and voyage repairs in the Boston Navy Yard. Putting to sea on 23 May, ''Wadsworth'' screened the aircraft carriers and out of Port of Spain, Trinidad, as they conducted training evolutions. Following that cruise, ''Wadsworth'' touched at Norfolk, Virginia, on 17 June and returned to Boston the following day. After escorting to Hampton Roads, Virginia, ''Wadsworth'' screened and planeguarded for that carrier as her air group trained off the Virginia Capes. Following a return to Boston, the destroyer got underway again on 20 July to rendezvous with a task group formed around , ''Princeton'', and . She met the carriers off the Delaware breakwater, and the warships then set a southerly course, bound for the Panama Canal. Reaching Pearl Harbor on 9 August, ''Wadsworth'' spent 10 days in the Hawaiian operating area before heading for Canton Island in the screen for . Subsequently touching Espiritu Santo, in the New Hebrides Islands, ''Wadsworth'' reported to Rear Admiral Aubrey W. Fitch, Commander, Aircraft, South Pacific (ComAirSoPac), for duty. On the last day of August 1943, ''Wadsworth'' cleared Espiritu Santo to hunt for the Japanese submarine—later identified as —that had torpedoed and damaged the tanker ''W. S. Rheem'' about 10 miles (20 km) north of Bougainville Strait. ''Wadsworth'' made no contact with any submarines in the first area searched but then teamed with amphibious patrol planes to scour the seas to the south of Espiritu Santo and west of Nalekula Island. Her diligence was soon rewarded. On 1 September, ''Wadsworth'' picked up an underwater sound contact and dropped seven patterns of depth charges and claimed unconfirmed damage to the submersible. ''I-20'' may have survived that onslaught but never returned home. Records list her as "missing" as of 10 October 1943. Putting into Havannah Harbor, Efate Island, on 6 September, ''Wadsworth'' then exercised with a task force formed around . The destroyer subsequently cleared that port on the 17th in company with and, over the ensuing days, escorted a convoy of supply ships to Kukum beach, Guadalcanal. Returning to Efate with empty cargo ships on 30 September, ''Wadsworth'' took a screening station near to escort that battlewagon to the west for a rendezvous with a cruiser-battleship striking force under the command of Rear Admiral Willis A. Lee. ''Wadsworth'' then patrolled off Meli Bay, Efate, to cover the entrance of convoys into Havannah Harbor. ''Wadsworth'' subsequently joined other units of Destroyer Division 45 (DesDiv 45) as part of the protective screen for a dozen troop transports, Task Group 31.5 (TG 31.5), bound for the Solomons and the initial landings of men in Empress Augusta Bay, Cape Torokina, Bougainville. The expeditionary force arrived off the beach at Cape Torokina in the early morning darkness on 1 November. Then ''Wadsworth'' led in the initial force, a group of minesweepers, into Empress Augusta Bay. At 05:47, ''Wadsworths 5 inch guns began to bark, and her shells destroyed enemy barges along the shoreline. For nearly two hours, the warship blasted targets behind the beaches, before she and sister ship took a patrol station to protect the transports which were landing troops. Suddenly, six enemy planes plunged out of the sun at the two destroyers, and the first of six bombs exploded only 25 yards to starboard of ''Wadsworth''. Two other bombs burst within 500 yards of her beam, one to starboard and one to port. Then, a near-miss 20 feet from her port side sprayed the after section of the ship with fragments that killed two ''Wadsworth'' sailors and wounded nine others. On the other hand, the two destroyers each bagged two of the attackers. Standing out of the unloading area on the night of 1 November, ''Wadsworth'' patrolled off Koli Point, Guadalcanal. Early in the morning a week later, the destroyer returned to Bougainville, escorting the second echelon of troop transports to Empress Augusta Bay. On this occasion, ''Wadsworth'' took a fighter-director station off the transport area and assisted in repelling a noon enemy air attack, her guns claiming one dive bomber and one torpedo plane. Clearing Cape Torokina shortly before midnight, ''Wadsworth'' patrolled off Guadalcanal until the 10th, when she moved to Purvis Bay, Florida Island. However, she soon returned to Bougainville's coastal waters, escorting a troop convoy. The destroyer arrived off Cape Torokina near midnight on the 12th and, before dawn, had repelled two torpedo attacks with her radar-controlled 5 inch gunnery. ''Wadsworth'' operated in support of the Bougainville occupation through the end of 1944, escorting troop-and supply-laden convoys from Kukum beach, Guadalcanal, to Empress Augusta Bay. From time to time, she also carried out shore bombardment missions. Three days after Christmas 1943, she blasted Japanese trenches and gun emplacements on both the south and north sides of the mouth of the Reini River, aided by air spot. 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 Wadsworth (DD-516)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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