USS Clemson (DD-186)
Encyclopedia
USS Clemson (DD-186/AVP-17/AVD-4/DD-186/APD-31) was the lead ship
of her class
of destroyer
s which served in the United States Navy
during World War II
. She was named for Midshipman Henry A. Clemson
(1820–1846), lost at sea when the brig capsized in a sudden squall off Vera Cruz on 8 December 1846 while chasing a blockade runner.
She is the only ship in the United States Navy to have received the name Clemson.
Clemson was launched
5 September 1918 by Newport News Shipbuilding & Dry Dock Company
, Newport News, Virginia
; sponsored by Miss M. C. Daniels; and commissioned
29 December 1919, Lieutenant Commander
G. C. Dichman in command.
n waters until placed in reserve with 50% complement at Norfolk Navy Yard 13 June 1920. She lay there and later at Charleston, South Carolina
and Boston Navy Yard
s until she sailed to Philadelphia Navy Yard, where she was decommissioned 30 June 1922.
at Norfolk, Virginia
. From 29 August 1940 to 28 November 1941 she tended patrol planes in the Caribbean
and at the Galapagos Islands
. Clemson then sailed south arriving at Recife
, Brazil
, 6 December. She remained on the coast of Brazil until 22 January 1942 when she returned to the Galapagos Islands. For the next year the tender shuttled between there and the Caribbean as her services was required. She returned to Norfolk, 2 March 1943 and then moved to Charleston, for reconversion to a destroyer (although not reclassified DD-186 until 1 December 1943).
On 30 May 1943, she joined the pioneer American hunter-killer group built around . Clemson made eight patrols with the group during which it sank eight German
submarine
s, a major contribution to victory in the Battle of the Atlantic. Clemson shared in the credit for the sinking of on 13 December in 26° 19' N., 29° 58' W. After an overhaul at New York early in 1944, she escorted a convoy to Casablanca
and back between 25 January and 9 March. Once more, Clemson underwent conversion, this time to a high speed transport at Charleston Navy Yard (reclassified APD-31, 7 March 1944).
Clemson shared in the Presidential Unit Citation awarded the Bogue hunter-killer group.
24 May and embarked Underwater Demolition Team 6. She then sailed westward to act as a mother ship for the UDT as it prepared beaches immediately before the invasions of Saipan
, Guam, Peleliu
, Leyte
and of Luzon
. While entering Lingayen Gulf
5 January 1945, she drove off a Japan
ese air attack. Clemson escorted convoys to Ulithi
, Saipan
, and Okinawa before returning to San Pedro, California, 6 July. Re-designated DD-186, 17 July, she was still undergoing reconversion when World War II ended. She was decommissioned 12 October 1945 and sold 21 November 1946. The ship's bell is privately owned in Clemson, South Carolina.
Lead ship
The lead ship or class leader is the first of a series or class of ships all constructed according to the same general design. The term is applicable military ships and larger civilian craft.-Overview:...
of her class
Clemson class destroyer
The Clemson class was a series of 156 destroyers which served with the United States Navy from after World War I through World War II.The Clemson-class ships were commissioned by the United States Navy from 1919 to 1922, built by Newport News Shipbuilding & Dry Dock Company, New York Shipbuilding...
of destroyer
Destroyer
In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast and maneuverable yet long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy or battle group and defend them against smaller, powerful, short-range attackers. Destroyers, originally called torpedo-boat destroyers in 1892, evolved from...
s which served in the United States Navy
United States Navy
The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...
during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. She was named for Midshipman Henry A. Clemson
Henry A. Clemson
Henry A. Clemson was an officer in the United States Navy in the early 19th century.Born in New Jersey, Clemson was appointed a midshipman in 1836. He served in St...
(1820–1846), lost at sea when the brig capsized in a sudden squall off Vera Cruz on 8 December 1846 while chasing a blockade runner.
She is the only ship in the United States Navy to have received the name Clemson.
Clemson was launched
Ship naming and launching
The ceremonies involved in naming and launching naval ships are based in traditions thousands of years old.-Methods of launch:There are three principal methods of conveying a new ship from building site to water, only two of which are called "launching." The oldest, most familiar, and most widely...
5 September 1918 by Newport News Shipbuilding & Dry Dock Company
Northrop Grumman Newport News
Newport News Shipbuilding , originally Newport News Shipbuilding and Drydock Company , was the largest privately-owned shipyard in the United States prior to being purchased by Northrop Grumman in 2001...
, Newport News, Virginia
Newport News, Virginia
Newport News is an independent city located in the Hampton Roads metropolitan area of Virginia. It is at the southeastern end of the Virginia Peninsula, on the north shore of the James River extending southeast from Skiffe's Creek along many miles of waterfront to the river's mouth at Newport News...
; sponsored by Miss M. C. Daniels; and commissioned
Ship commissioning
Ship commissioning is the act or ceremony of placing a ship in active service, and may be regarded as a particular application of the general concepts and practices of project commissioning. The term is most commonly applied to the placing of a warship in active duty with its country's military...
29 December 1919, Lieutenant Commander
Lieutenant Commander
Lieutenant Commander is a commissioned officer rank in many navies. The rank is superior to a lieutenant and subordinate to a commander...
G. C. Dichman in command.
Service history
Clemson cruised in east coast and CubaCuba
The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...
n waters until placed in reserve with 50% complement at Norfolk Navy Yard 13 June 1920. She lay there and later at Charleston, South Carolina
Charleston, South Carolina
Charleston is the second largest city in the U.S. state of South Carolina. It was made the county seat of Charleston County in 1901 when Charleston County was founded. The city's original name was Charles Towne in 1670, and it moved to its present location from a location on the west bank of the...
and Boston Navy Yard
Boston Navy Yard
The Boston Navy Yard, originally called the Charlestown Navy Yard and later Boston Naval Shipyard, was one of the oldest shipbuilding facilities in the United States Navy. Established in 1801, it was officially closed as an active naval installation on July 1, 1974, and the property was...
s until she sailed to Philadelphia Navy Yard, where she was decommissioned 30 June 1922.
In the Atlantic
Reclassified AVP-17, 15 November 1939, and converted into a small aircraft tender, Clemson was recommissioned 12 July 1940. On 6 August, she was again reclassified, becoming AVD-4, and on 18 August reported to Commander, Aircraft, Scouting Force, Atlantic FleetU.S. Atlantic Fleet
The United States Fleet Forces Command is an Atlantic Ocean theater-level component command of the United States Navy that provides naval resources that are under the operational control of the United States Northern Command...
at Norfolk, Virginia
Naval Station Norfolk
Naval Station Norfolk, in Norfolk, Virginia, is a base of the United States Navy, supporting naval forces in the United States Fleet Forces Command, those operating in the Atlantic Ocean, Mediterranean Sea, and Indian Ocean...
. From 29 August 1940 to 28 November 1941 she tended patrol planes in the Caribbean
Caribbean
The Caribbean is a crescent-shaped group of islands more than 2,000 miles long separating the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea, to the west and south, from the Atlantic Ocean, to the east and north...
and at the Galapagos Islands
Galápagos Islands
The Galápagos Islands are an archipelago of volcanic islands distributed around the equator in the Pacific Ocean, west of continental Ecuador, of which they are a part.The Galápagos Islands and its surrounding waters form an Ecuadorian province, a national park, and a...
. Clemson then sailed south arriving at Recife
Recife
Recife is the fifth-largest metropolitan area in Brazil with 4,136,506 inhabitants, the largest metropolitan area of the North/Northeast Regions, the 5th-largest metropolitan influence area in Brazil, and the capital and largest city of the state of Pernambuco. The population of the city proper...
, Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
, 6 December. She remained on the coast of Brazil until 22 January 1942 when she returned to the Galapagos Islands. For the next year the tender shuttled between there and the Caribbean as her services was required. She returned to Norfolk, 2 March 1943 and then moved to Charleston, for reconversion to a destroyer (although not reclassified DD-186 until 1 December 1943).
On 30 May 1943, she joined the pioneer American hunter-killer group built around . Clemson made eight patrols with the group during which it sank eight German
Kriegsmarine
The Kriegsmarine was the name of the German Navy during the Nazi regime . It superseded the Kaiserliche Marine of World War I and the post-war Reichsmarine. The Kriegsmarine was one of three official branches of the Wehrmacht, the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany.The Kriegsmarine grew rapidly...
submarine
Submarine
A submarine is a watercraft capable of independent operation below the surface of the water. It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability...
s, a major contribution to victory in the Battle of the Atlantic. Clemson shared in the credit for the sinking of on 13 December in 26° 19' N., 29° 58' W. After an overhaul at New York early in 1944, she escorted a convoy to Casablanca
Casablanca
Casablanca is a city in western Morocco, located on the Atlantic Ocean. It is the capital of the Grand Casablanca region.Casablanca is Morocco's largest city as well as its chief port. It is also the biggest city in the Maghreb. The 2004 census recorded a population of 2,949,805 in the prefecture...
and back between 25 January and 9 March. Once more, Clemson underwent conversion, this time to a high speed transport at Charleston Navy Yard (reclassified APD-31, 7 March 1944).
Clemson shared in the Presidential Unit Citation awarded the Bogue hunter-killer group.
In the Pacific
Clearing Charleston 1 May 1944, the transport reached Pearl HarborPearl Harbor
Pearl Harbor, known to Hawaiians as Puuloa, is a lagoon harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu. Much of the harbor and surrounding lands is a United States Navy deep-water naval base. It is also the headquarters of the U.S. Pacific Fleet...
24 May and embarked Underwater Demolition Team 6. She then sailed westward to act as a mother ship for the UDT as it prepared beaches immediately before the invasions of Saipan
Battle of Saipan
The Battle of Saipan was a battle of the Pacific campaign of World War II, fought on the island of Saipan in the Mariana Islands from 15 June-9 July 1944. The Allied invasion fleet embarking the expeditionary forces left Pearl Harbor on 5 June 1944, the day before Operation Overlord in Europe was...
, Guam, Peleliu
Battle of Peleliu
The Battle of Peleliu, codenamed Operation Stalemate II, was fought between the United States and the Empire of Japan in the Pacific Theater of World War II, from September–November 1944 on the island of Peleliu, present-day Palau. U.S...
, Leyte
Battle of Leyte
The Battle of Leyte in the Pacific campaign of World War II was the invasion and conquest of the island of Leyte in the Philippines by American and Filipino guerrilla forces under the command of General Douglas MacArthur, who fought against the Imperial Japanese Army in the Philippines led by...
and of Luzon
Battle of Luzon
The Battle of Luzon was a land battle fought as part of the Pacific Theater of Operations of World War II by the Allied forces of the U.S., its colony The Philippines, and Mexico against forces of the Empire of Japan. The battle resulted in a U.S. and Filipino victory...
. While entering Lingayen Gulf
Lingayen Gulf
The Lingayen Gulf is an extension of the South China Sea on Luzon in the Philippines stretching . It is framed by the provinces of Pangasinan and La Union and sits between the Zambales Mountains and the Cordillera Central...
5 January 1945, she drove off a Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
ese air attack. Clemson escorted convoys to Ulithi
Ulithi
Ulithi is an atoll in the Caroline Islands of the western Pacific Ocean, about 191 km east of Yap. It consists of 40 islets totalling , surrounding a lagoon about long and up to wide—at one of the largest in the world. It is administered by the state of Yap in the Federated States of...
, Saipan
Saipan
Saipan is the largest island of the United States Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands , a chain of 15 tropical islands belonging to the Marianas archipelago in the western Pacific Ocean with a total area of . The 2000 census population was 62,392...
, and Okinawa before returning to San Pedro, California, 6 July. Re-designated DD-186, 17 July, she was still undergoing reconversion when World War II ended. She was decommissioned 12 October 1945 and sold 21 November 1946. The ship's bell is privately owned in Clemson, South Carolina.