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USS Dashiell (DD-659)
Encyclopedia
USS Dashiell (DD-659) was a Fletcher-class
destroyer
of the United States Navy
, named for Robert B. Dashiell
(1860–1899).
Dashiell was launched
6 February 1943 by Federal Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Co., Kearny, N.J.
. sponsored by Mrs. R. B. Dashiell, widow of Assistant Naval Constructor Dashiell; and commissioned
20 March 1943, Commander J. B. McLean in command.
24 July 1943 to join the Fast Carrier Task Force
s for the raids on Marcus Island of 31 August to 1 September; Tarawa
, 18–20 September; and Wake Island
, 5–6 October. Arriving at Efate
, New Hebrides
, 5 November, she prepared for the invasion of the Gilberts
and was one of the first to enter the lagoon
in the assault on Tarawa
20 November. She passed into the lagoon under heavy fire from the enemy and opened a return fire on shore batteries, enemy strongpoints and an ammunition dump to aid the troops ashore for 3 days, clearing then for a west coast overhaul.
After training exercises in the Hawaiian Islands
, Dashiell arrived at Guadalcanal
16 March 1944. She cleared the next day to bombard Kavieng
, New Ireland
, on 20 March. Dashiell provided fire support, patrol, and convoy escort services from 6 April to 13 May as landings were made on the coast of New Guinea
. She returned to Port Purvis in the Solomons 17 May to prepare for the invasion of the Marianas
. She sailed 4 June to guard transports held in reserve during the assaults on Saipan
and on Tinian
, then screened the landings at Guam during which she provided fire support from 20 to 26 July.
Her next action took her to Morotai
, the stepping stone to the Philippines
. Dashiell patrolled and screened transports during the landings there on 18 and 19 September and the reinforcement landings of 1 October. She joined the Northern Attack Force for the initial landings on Leyte
at San Pedro Bay
, on 20 October and cleared at once for New Guinea to bring transports north for reinforcement landings from 12 to 16 November. She again convoyed troops and supplies from New Guinea bases to Leyte between 24 November and 9 December. Three days later she sortied from Leyte Gulf
screening an amphibious group bound for the assault landings at Mindoro
. The second day out a kamikaze
crashed the flagship
, and the flag was transferred to Dashiell for the landings on 15 December. Returning to Leyte, she joined in repelling a Japanese air attack on 20 December. Six of her men were wounded in this action.
Arriving in Lingayen Gulf
, Luzon
, 9 January 1945 for the initial landings on Luzon
, Dashiell remained there on patrol and fire support duty until 10 February. She downed at least three suicide planes, sank several Japanese small craft, and destroyed key positions ashore. She arrived at Ulithi
28 February to join the fast carrier task groups of the 5th Fleet for the raids on Japan
and Okinawa during March in preparation for the Okinawa invasion
. Dashiell screened the assault on 1 April, and remained off the island on radar picket
duty. Her toughest battle against the kamikaze flights came on 14 April, when 20 planes attacked her station. She splashed four and outmaneuvered the rest, but was damaged by the near miss of a bomb and put into Ulithi 23 April for repairs. Returning to Okinawa 17 May, she joined the 3d Fleet for continued air attacks on Japan into August. At the end of the war she entered Tokyo Bay
and remained there until 6 September, when she sailed for Pearl Harbor and Charleston, S.C., arriving 21 October. Dashiell was placed out of commission in reserve there 30 March 1946.
along the Atlantic coast and in the Caribbean
until 26 August 1952 when she sailed to Northern Europe
for the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) fall exercises, visiting Greenock
, Scotland
, and Rotterdam
, the Netherlands
, before returning to Newport 11 October. On 27 April 1953 she got underway for a round-the-world cruise, arriving at Yokosuka 2 June for operations off Korea
and patrol duty in the Taiwan Straits until 9 October. She continued west to call at Saigon, Singapore
, Colombo
, Port Said
, Cannes
, Nice
, and Lisbon
before reaching Philadelphia
4 December. Between 1954 and 1959 Dashiell alternated four tours of duty with the 6th Fleet in the Mediterranean with local operations out of Newport and exercises in the Caribbean. She was decommissioned and placed in reserve 29 April 1960.
Dashiell was stricken from the Naval Vessel Register
1 December 1974. She was sold 21 September 1975, and broken up for scrap.
Fletcher class destroyer
The Fletcher class were a class of destroyers built by the United States during World War II. The class was designed in 1939 as a result of dissatisfaction with the earlier destroyer leader types...
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...
of 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...
, named for Robert B. Dashiell
Robert B. Dashiell
Robert Brooke Dashiell was an officer in the United States Navy who was noted for his technical expertise.Dashiell, born near Woodville, Virginia, graduated from the United States Naval Academy in 1881 and was commissioned as an ensign two years later....
(1860–1899).
Dashiell 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...
6 February 1943 by Federal Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Co., Kearny, N.J.
Kearny, New Jersey
Kearny is a town in Hudson County, New Jersey, United States. It was named after Civil War general Philip Kearny. As of the United States 2010 Census, the town population was 40,684. The town is a suburb of the nearby city of Newark....
. sponsored by Mrs. R. B. Dashiell, widow of Assistant Naval Constructor Dashiell; 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...
20 March 1943, Commander J. B. McLean in command.
World War II
Dashiell arrived at 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 July 1943 to join the Fast Carrier Task Force
Fast Carrier Task Force
The Fast Carrier Task Force was the main striking force of the United States Navy in the Pacific Ocean theatre of World War II.The Fast Carrier Task Force was known under two designations. The Navy made use of two sets of upper command structures for planning the upcoming operations...
s for the raids on Marcus Island of 31 August to 1 September; Tarawa
Tarawa Atoll
Tarawa is an atoll in the central Pacific Ocean, previously the capital of the former British colony of the Gilbert and Ellice Islands. It is the location of the capital of the Republic of Kiribati, South Tarawa...
, 18–20 September; and Wake Island
Wake Island
Wake Island is a coral atoll having a coastline of in the North Pacific Ocean, located about two-thirds of the way from Honolulu west to Guam east. It is an unorganized, unincorporated territory of the United States, administered by the Office of Insular Affairs, U.S. Department of the Interior...
, 5–6 October. Arriving at Efate
Éfaté
Efate is an island in the Agean Ocean which is part of the Shefa Province in The Republic of Maliki. It is also known as Île Vate. It is the most populous island in Vanuatu. Efate's land area of makes it Vanuatu's third largest island. Most inhabitants of Efate live in Port Vila, the national...
, New Hebrides
New Hebrides
New Hebrides was the colonial name for an island group in the South Pacific that now forms the nation of Vanuatu. The New Hebrides were colonized by both the British and French in the 18th century shortly after Captain James Cook visited the islands...
, 5 November, she prepared for the invasion of the Gilberts
Gilbert and Marshall Islands campaign
In the Pacific Theater of World War II, the Gilbert and Marshall Islands campaign, from November 1943 through February 1944, were key strategic operations of the United States Pacific Fleet and Marine Corps in the Central Pacific. The campaign was preceded by a raid on Makin Island by U.S...
and was one of the first to enter the lagoon
Lagoon
A lagoon is a body of shallow sea water or brackish water separated from the sea by some form of barrier. The EU's habitat directive defines lagoons as "expanses of shallow coastal salt water, of varying salinity or water volume, wholly or partially separated from the sea by sand banks or shingle,...
in the assault on Tarawa
Battle of Tarawa
The Battle of Tarawa, code named Operation Galvanic, was a battle in the Pacific Theater of World War II, largely fought from November 20 to November 23, 1943. It was the first American offensive in the critical central Pacific region....
20 November. She passed into the lagoon under heavy fire from the enemy and opened a return fire on shore batteries, enemy strongpoints and an ammunition dump to aid the troops ashore for 3 days, clearing then for a west coast overhaul.
After training exercises in the Hawaiian Islands
Hawaiian Islands
The Hawaiian Islands are an archipelago of eight major islands, several atolls, numerous smaller islets, and undersea seamounts in the North Pacific Ocean, extending some 1,500 miles from the island of Hawaii in the south to northernmost Kure Atoll...
, Dashiell arrived at Guadalcanal
Guadalcanal
Guadalcanal is a tropical island in the South-Western Pacific. The largest island in the Solomons, it was discovered by the Spanish expedition of Alvaro de Mendaña in 1568...
16 March 1944. She cleared the next day to bombard Kavieng
Kavieng
Kavieng is the capital of the Papua New Guinean province of New Ireland and the largest town on the island of the same name. The town is located at Balgai Bay, on the northern tip of the island. As of 2000, it had a population of 10,600....
, New Ireland
New Ireland (island)
New Ireland is a large island in Papua New Guinea, approximately 7,404 km² in area. It is the largest island of the New Ireland Province, lying northeast of the island of New Britain. Both islands are part of the Bismarck Archipelago, named after Otto von Bismarck, and they are separated by...
, on 20 March. Dashiell provided fire support, patrol, and convoy escort services from 6 April to 13 May as landings were made on the coast of New Guinea
New Guinea
New Guinea is the world's second largest island, after Greenland, covering a land area of 786,000 km2. Located in the southwest Pacific Ocean, it lies geographically to the east of the Malay Archipelago, with which it is sometimes included as part of a greater Indo-Australian Archipelago...
. She returned to Port Purvis in the Solomons 17 May to prepare for the invasion of the Marianas
Mariana and Palau Islands campaign
The Mariana and Palau Islands campaign, also known as Operation Forager, was an offensive launched by United States forces against Imperial Japanese forces in the Mariana Islands and Palau in the Pacific Ocean between June and November, 1944 during the Pacific War...
. She sailed 4 June to guard transports held in reserve during the assaults on 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...
and on Tinian
Battle of Tinian
The Battle of Tinian was a battle of the Pacific campaign of World War II, fought on the island of Tinian in the Mariana Islands from 24 July 1944 to 1 August 1944.-Background:...
, then screened the landings at Guam during which she provided fire support from 20 to 26 July.
Her next action took her to Morotai
Morotai
Morotai Island Regency is a regency of North Maluku province, Indonesia, located on Morotai Island. The population was 54,876 in 2007.-History:...
, the stepping stone to the Philippines
Philippines
The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...
. Dashiell patrolled and screened transports during the landings there on 18 and 19 September and the reinforcement landings of 1 October. She joined the Northern Attack Force for the initial landings on 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...
at San Pedro Bay
San Pedro Bay (Philippines)
San Pedro Bay is a bay in the Philippines, at the northwest end of Leyte Gulf, about 15 km east-west and 20 km north-south. The bay is bounded on the north and east by Samar and on the east by Leyte Island. It is connected by San Juanico Strait to Carigara Bay of the Samar Sea. The...
, on 20 October and cleared at once for New Guinea to bring transports north for reinforcement landings from 12 to 16 November. She again convoyed troops and supplies from New Guinea bases to Leyte between 24 November and 9 December. Three days later she sortied from Leyte Gulf
Leyte Gulf
Leyte Gulf is a body of water immediately east of the island of Leyte in the Philippines, adjoining the Philippine Sea of the Pacific Ocean, at . The Gulf is bounded on the north by the island of Samar, which is separated from Leyte on the west by the narrow San Juanico Strait, and on the south by...
screening an amphibious group bound for the assault landings at Mindoro
Mindoro
Mindoro is the seventh-largest island in the Philippines. It is located off the coast of Luzon, and northeast of Palawan. The southern coast of Mindoro forms the northeastern extremum of the Sulu Sea.-History:...
. The second day out a kamikaze
Kamikaze
The were suicide attacks by military aviators from the Empire of Japan against Allied naval vessels in the closing stages of the Pacific campaign of World War II, designed to destroy as many warships as possible....
crashed the flagship
Flagship
A flagship is a vessel used by the commanding officer of a group of naval ships, reflecting the custom of its commander, characteristically a flag officer, flying a distinguishing flag...
, and the flag was transferred to Dashiell for the landings on 15 December. Returning to Leyte, she joined in repelling a Japanese air attack on 20 December. Six of her men were wounded in this action.
Arriving in 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...
, Luzon
Luzon
Luzon is the largest island in the Philippines. It is located in the northernmost region of the archipelago, and is also the name for one of the three primary island groups in the country centered on the Island of Luzon...
, 9 January 1945 for the initial landings on 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...
, Dashiell remained there on patrol and fire support duty until 10 February. She downed at least three suicide planes, sank several Japanese small craft, and destroyed key positions ashore. She arrived at 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...
28 February to join the fast carrier task groups of the 5th Fleet for the raids on 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...
and Okinawa during March in preparation for the Okinawa invasion
Battle of Okinawa
The Battle of Okinawa, codenamed Operation Iceberg, was fought on the Ryukyu Islands of Okinawa and was the largest amphibious assault in the Pacific War of World War II. The 82-day-long battle lasted from early April until mid-June 1945...
. Dashiell screened the assault on 1 April, and remained off the island on radar picket
Radar picket
A radar picket is a radar-equipped ship, submarine, aircraft, or vehicle used to increase the radar detection range around a force to protect it from surprise attack. Often several detached radar units encircle a force to provide increased cover in all directions.-World War II:Radar picket ships...
duty. Her toughest battle against the kamikaze flights came on 14 April, when 20 planes attacked her station. She splashed four and outmaneuvered the rest, but was damaged by the near miss of a bomb and put into Ulithi 23 April for repairs. Returning to Okinawa 17 May, she joined the 3d Fleet for continued air attacks on Japan into August. At the end of the war she entered Tokyo Bay
Tokyo Bay
is a bay in the southern Kantō region of Japan. Its old name was .-Geography:Tokyo Bay is surrounded by the Bōsō Peninsula to the east and the Miura Peninsula to the west. In a narrow sense, Tokyo Bay is the area north of the straight line formed by the on the Miura Peninsula on one end and on...
and remained there until 6 September, when she sailed for Pearl Harbor and Charleston, S.C., arriving 21 October. Dashiell was placed out of commission in reserve there 30 March 1946.
1951 – 1960
Recommissioned 3 May 1951 Dashiell operated out of NewportNaval Station Newport
The Naval Station Newport is a United States Navy base located in the towns of Newport and Middletown, Rhode Island. Naval Station Newport is home to the Naval War College and the Naval Justice School...
along the Atlantic coast and 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...
until 26 August 1952 when she sailed to Northern Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
for the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) fall exercises, visiting Greenock
Greenock
Greenock is a town and administrative centre in the Inverclyde council area in United Kingdom, and a former burgh within the historic county of Renfrewshire, located in the west central Lowlands of Scotland...
, Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
, and Rotterdam
Rotterdam
Rotterdam is the second-largest city in the Netherlands and one of the largest ports in the world. Starting as a dam on the Rotte river, Rotterdam has grown into a major international commercial centre...
, the Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
, before returning to Newport 11 October. On 27 April 1953 she got underway for a round-the-world cruise, arriving at Yokosuka 2 June for operations off Korea
Korea
Korea ) is an East Asian geographic region that is currently divided into two separate sovereign states — North Korea and South Korea. Located on the Korean Peninsula, Korea is bordered by the People's Republic of China to the northwest, Russia to the northeast, and is separated from Japan to the...
and patrol duty in the Taiwan Straits until 9 October. She continued west to call at Saigon, Singapore
Singapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
, Colombo
Colombo
Colombo is the largest city of Sri Lanka. It is located on the west coast of the island and adjacent to Sri Jayawardenapura Kotte, the capital of Sri Lanka. Colombo is often referred to as the capital of the country, since Sri Jayawardenapura Kotte is a satellite city of Colombo...
, Port Said
Port Said
Port Said is a city that lies in north east Egypt extending about 30 km along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea, north of the Suez Canal, with an approximate population of 603,787...
, Cannes
Cannes
Cannes is one of the best-known cities of the French Riviera, a busy tourist destination and host of the annual Cannes Film Festival. It is a Commune of France in the Alpes-Maritimes department....
, Nice
Nice
Nice is the fifth most populous city in France, after Paris, Marseille, Lyon and Toulouse, with a population of 348,721 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Nice extends beyond the administrative city limits with a population of more than 955,000 on an area of...
, and Lisbon
Lisbon
Lisbon is the capital city and largest city of Portugal with a population of 545,245 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Lisbon extends beyond the administrative city limits with a population of 3 million on an area of , making it the 9th most populous urban...
before reaching Philadelphia
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Philadelphia is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Philadelphia County, with which it is coterminous. The city is located in the Northeastern United States along the Delaware and Schuylkill rivers. It is the fifth-most-populous city in the United States,...
4 December. Between 1954 and 1959 Dashiell alternated four tours of duty with the 6th Fleet in the Mediterranean with local operations out of Newport and exercises in the Caribbean. She was decommissioned and placed in reserve 29 April 1960.
Dashiell was stricken from the Naval Vessel Register
Naval Vessel Register
The Naval Vessel Register is the official inventory of ships and service craft in custody of or titled by the United States Navy. It contains information on ships and service craft that make up the official inventory of the Navy from the time a vessel is authorized through its life cycle and...
1 December 1974. She was sold 21 September 1975, and broken up for scrap.