USS Gleaves (DD-423)
_underway_on_18_June_1941_(513043).jpg) |
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| History | |
|---|---|
 United States
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| Name: | Gleaves |
| Namesake: | Albert Gleaves |
| Builder: | Bath Iron Works |
| Laid down: | 16 May 1938 |
| Launched: | 9 December 1939 |
| Commissioned: | 14 June 1940 |
| Decommissioned: | 8 May 1946 |
| Struck: | 1 November 1969 |
| Fate: | Sold 29 June 1972 and broken up for scrap |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type: | Gleaves-class destroyer |
| Displacement: | 1,630 tons |
| Length: | 348 ft 3 in (106.15 m) |
| Beam: | 36 ft 1 in (11.00 m) |
| Draft: | 13 ft 2 in (4.01 m) |
| Propulsion: |
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| Speed: | 37.4 knots (69 km/h) |
| Range: | 6,500 nmi (12,000 km; 7,500 mi) at 12 kn (22 km/h; 14 mph) |
| Complement: | 16 officers, 260 enlisted |
| Armament: |
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USS Gleaves (DD-423) was the lead ship of the Gleaves class of destroyers. She is the only ship of the United States Navy to be named for Admiral Albert Gleaves, who is credited with improving the accuracy and precision of torpedoes and other naval arms.
Gleaves was launched by the Bath Iron Works, Bath, Maine, 9 December 1939, sponsored jointly by Miss Evelina Gleaves Van Metre and Miss Clotilda Florence Cohen, granddaughters of Admiral Gleaves; and commissioned 14 June 1940, at Boston Navy Yard, Lieutenant Commander E. H. Pierce in command.
Departing for shakedown training soon after commissioning, Gleaves operated off the Atlantic coast and in Caribbean waters until returning to Boston 19 March 1941 to prepare for convoy duty. She departed Newport on her first voyage 23 June 1941. and saw her convoy arrive safely at Iceland. After patrolling in Icelandic waters for a time, she returned to Boston 23 July.
Subsequently, Gleaves made four other convoy voyages to Iceland, Ireland, and North Africa protecting the vital flow of supplies to the European Theater. As the pace of German submarine attacks increased, she made more and more attacks on U-boats, but recorded no confirmed kills. On 11–12 May 1942, despite the efforts of Gleaves and the other escort vessels, seven ships of the convoy ONS 92 were lost in two separate attacks by a large wolfpack.
After returning to Boston 31 March 1942, Gleaves departed 10 May for participation in the Allied landings in Sicily. After engaging in support and convoy operations in the battle zone, Gleaves and Plunkett accepted the surrender of the Italian garrison on the island of Ustica 5 August 1943, and later landed occupation troops on the island. She also drove off a group of five enemy E-boats attempting to attack shipping in the harbor of Palermo, Sicily.
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Wikipedia