USS O'Bannon (DD-450)

USS O'Bannon (DD/DDE-450), a , was the second ship of the United States Navy to be named after Lieutenant Presley O'Bannon (1784–1850), the Marine Corps's "hero of Derna".

O'Bannon was the US Navy's most decorated destroyer during World War II, earning 17 battle stars and a Presidential Unit Citation. First serving in the naval battle of Guadalcanal, where she helped to sink the Japanese destroyer Akatsuki and shelled the battleship Hiei. With the start of 1943, O'Bannon helped to sink the submarines I-18 and Ro-34, scoring fame for throwing potatoes at the latter, before moving on to the Solomon Islands campaign, fighting in the battles of Kula Gulf, Kolombangara, and Horaniu, sinking several small Japanese vessels. During the battle of Vella Lavella, O'Bannon helped to sink the destroyer Yūgumo, but collided with the sinking destroyer USS Chevalier and was badly damaged herself, taking her out of action for several months. However, she was ready for action by March 1944, and led the rest of her WW2 service conducting shore bombardment and escorting duties, with a pump of excitement in January 1945 when she helped to sink the Japanese submarine Ro-115.

After the war, O'Bannon was converted into a destroyer escort, and took on patrol and shore bombardment duties during the Korean War and Vietnam War.

Construction and commissioning

O'Bannon was laid down by Bath Iron Works Corp. in Bath, Maine on 3 March 1941, and launched 14 March 1942, sponsored by Mrs. E. F. Kennedy, descendant of Lieutenant O'Bannon. O'Bannon and her sister ship were the first two Fletchers to be launched. O'Bannon was commissioned at Boston on 26 June 1942.

1942

O'Bannon briefly trained for war in the Caribbean and sailed from Boston on 29 August 1942 for the Southwest Pacific, where the long and arduous Guadalcanal campaign had just begun. For over a year, the Navy—stretched thin to cover its worldwide commitments at a period when new ships were just beginning to join the fleet in any number—was to fight and fight again in the Solomon Islands in one of the most bitterly contested campaigns of history, wresting air and sea control from the Japanese and providing the Marine Corps and the Army with every possible support as they gained ground inch by inch on the myriad islands. Assigned the Destroyer Squadron 21 (DesRon 21), O'Bannon played a valiant part in these endeavors, winning a Presidential Unit Citation.

After claiming her first kill on an enemy vessel, O'Bannon with the destroyers USS Cushing', Laffey, and Sterett closed to point blank range from the Japanese battleship Hiei, closing so near, the battleship could not depress her main battery far enough to fire on them. However, Cushing as the lead American destroyer took the brunt of the counter fire; the light cruiser Nagara and the destroyers Yukikaze and Harusame blasted Cushing into a pulp, but left the others untargeted as O'Bannon began to blast Hiei with gunfire, scoring multiple hits which set the battlecruiser on fire. Laffey found herself as close as 20 feet from Hiei and scored hits which wounded admiral Abe and killed his chief of staff, before O'Bannon and Sterett further pumped Hiei full of lead and fired their torpedoes, although none managed to arm.

Suddenly, Nagara and Yukikaze pounced on Laffey; Yukikaze hit Laffey with a torpedo which blew off her fantail and propellers, broke her keel, destroyed all electrical power, and started a massive fire which spread to and detonated Laffey's turret 4 magazines, sinking the destroyer in two minutes. O'Bannon swerved pass the sinking Laffey, and dropped some 50 lifeboats overboard to assist the survivors in the water - that was when Yukikaze took O'Bannon under fire - and after a brief exchange she was forced to swerve away, taking no direct Japanese shell hits but near misses exploded underneath her keel and disrupted her lighting and power.

This first engagement of the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal was short but furious; two American light cruisers (Atlanta and Juneau), in one of which Rear Admiral Norman Scott lost his life, and four destroyers (Cushing, Laffey, Barton, Monssen) were lost, while two Japanese destroyers (Akatsuki ,Yūdachi) were sunk, and Hiei prepared for her doom. Above all, the Japanese were turned back, and Henderson Field was saved from destruction. The importance of this success is illustrated by the fact that the next day, Henderson aviators sank seven enemy troop transports attempting to reinforce the island and turned back four more transports that were destroyed soon after.

thumb|Japanese submarine [[Japanese submarine Ro-34|Ro-34, the victim of O'Bannon's potato armament]]

On 5 April O'Bannon sighted the Japanese submarine Ro-34 on the surface and opened fire. The submarine pulled alongside the destroyer close enough that the destroyer's guns could not hit it. A Navy legend holds that the sailors on the destroyer pelted the submarine crew with potatoes. Commander Donald MacDonald only said that the submarine was so close, the destroyer's cook believed that he could throw a potato at it. Although MacDonald has repeatedly claimed that no potatoes were actually thrown, the story of an American destroyer sinking a Japanese submarine with potatoes was picked up by the media and was so quickly spread throughout navy lore that many still believe it to this day. Indeed, several of O'Bannon's crew members, such as seamen first class Ambrose Hardin, gunner Bud Moreau, or George Starkey aboard the amidships searchlight platform firsthand recall crewmen throwing potatoes at Ro-34, lending significant credit to the story's authenticity. A plaque commemorating the incident was on display at the Maine Maritime Museum until the 1970s but then went missing.

Battle of Kula Gulf

War duty was tense and demanded the best of men and their ships. In-port time was minimal; a few hours to fuel and reprovision, and the ships were off again. O'Bannon fought in many surface actions. On 5 July, destroyers O'Bannon, USS Chevalier, and USS Strong were scouting ahead of a US cruiser force preparing for shore bombardment on Bairoko Harbor, when suddenly a Japanese torpedo hit and crippled Strong. Chevalier intentionally rammed Strong to remove her crew while O'Bannon engaged the 5.5-inch (14 cm) Japanese shore batteries which had opened fire on the now discovered destroyers. While firing her guns, O'Bannon failed to fully distract the shore guns as shells rained around Chevalier and Strong, resulting in both intact destroyers leaving the scene with 241 survivors while leaving Strong to break apart and sink. The torpedo was recorded as coming from an enemy submarine; it was in fact fired from the Japanese destroyer Niizuki at some 19,000-22,000 yards. As it turned out, a group of Japanese destroyers were on a troop transport run and, using Niizuki's search radar, located the American ships and fired torpedoes at extreme range. The presence of enemy forces resulted in both sides retreating without obtaining their objective.

In the early morning of 6 July, O'Bannon departed with the same cruiser force to continue the mission, but instead endured round two as three targets appeared on the American radar. This was Niizuki, leading the destroyers Suzukaze and Tanikaze, serving as a cover force for a larger troop transport mission ferrying 2,600 soldiers. The three American light cruisers - USS Honolulu', Saint Louis, and Helena - all blasted Niizuki, sinking her with almost all hands, but Suzukaze and Tanikaze fired 16 torpedoes as they retreated, 3 of which hit Helena which broke apart and sank. O'Bannon followed Honolulu and Saint Louis in hunting down the remaining Japanese destroyers, and fired a full spread of 10 torpedoes, none of which hit. The only other sinking was scored when Honolulu damaged the Nagatsuki and forced her to run aground, otherwise the Hatsuyuki was hit six times, Suzukaze twice, and Tanikaze once, but dud shell hits allowed them to escape with only moderate to light damage. This also failed to detract from the Japanese sinking far more tonnage than they lost, successfully transporting their ground troops, and further suspending the American bombardment.

Battle of Kolombangara

A week later, allied coast watchers spotted another Japanese troop transport force under the protection of the light cruiser Jintsū, the modern destroyers Yukikaze, Hamakaze, Kiyonami, and Yūgure, and the older destroyer Minazuki. O'Bannon was assigned as part of a task force consisting of 10 destroyers and 3 light cruisers - including many veterans of the battle of Kula Gulf - sent to stop the enemy. In the night of the 12th, the opposing forces made contact with each other, and when Jintsū lit her searchlights, the allied cruisers opened fire. A flurry of 6-inch (152 mm) gunfire mostly from Honolulu and Saint Louis blasted Jintsū, destroying her guns and setting her on fire, before three destroyers were tasked with assisting in the kill. O'Bannon, Nicholas, and USS Taylor closed to point blank range and unleashed a spread of 15 torpedoes, one of which gouged into Jintsū below her first funnel and helped to disable her alongside the cruiser gunfire. Upon failing to track any other targets, O'Bannon, Nicholas, and Taylor dumped to rest of their torpedoes at the crippled Jintsū, at least one of which hit and delivering the finishing blow, sending the cruiser to the ocean floor.

However, the victory was only temporary. The four modern Japanese destroyers unloaded their torpedoes and dashed off. A type 93 torpedo fired from the ever-pesky Yukikaze hit the light cruiser HMZNS Leander, damaging her so badly she could not be repaired in time to take further part in WW2, and was permanently decommissioned from the New Zealand navy, making up for Jintsū's loss. Yukikaze, Hamakaze, Kiyonami, and Yūgure retreated and reloaded their torpedoes, and a half hour later closed the range for another strike. O'Bannon entered a rematch with Yukikaze as every available gun targeted the lead Japanese destroyer, and while Yukikaze was straddled and near missed many times, not a single shell directly hit, much to the amazement of Hamakaze's crew, as the four destroyers fired the rest of their torpedoes and dashed off. O'Bannon was not damaged, but one torpedo hit each crippled Honolulu and Saint Louis, and sank the destroyer USS Gwin.

The battle of Kolombangara was a costly victory with the loss of Jintsū, but a victory nonetheless. Alongside destroying more tonnage than they lost, the Japanese successfully landed their troops.

Battle of Horaniu

thumb|upright|O'Bannon (right) and after the [[Naval Battle of Vella Lavella|Battle of Vella Lavella, 1943]]

thumb|O'Bannon anchored off Mare Island on 8 January 1944

For the next two months, O'Bannon spent most of her time in Vella Gulf, guarding landings, intercepting Japanese troop convoys and their covering escorts, and fighting off air attacks. With the aid of sister destroyers, she sank a number of barges, two submarine chasers (Cha-5 and Cha-12), an armed boat, and a gunboat on various patrols.

Battle of Vella Lavella

Main Article: Battle of Vella Lavella

The climax of operations in the area was the Battle of Vella Lavella on 6 October, brought on by Japanese attempts to evacuate their troops from that island. With the destroyers and , O'Bannon made the first attack on the evacuation force, a group of nine or ten destroyers and smaller armed craft. The three American ships contacted six enemy destroyers, shrugged at the odds, and raced at 33 knots (61 km/h) to launch torpedoes and open gunfire. The was turned into a blazing hulk, but both Selfridge and Chevalier took torpedo hits. O'Bannon was close on Chevaliers stern when the latter was struck, and the most radical maneuvers could not keep her from swinging into her sister's side. The enemy retired with three newly arrived American destroyers in pursuit, while O'Bannon guarded her stricken sisters, rescuing the survivors of Chevalier.

O'Bannon received the Presidential Unit Citation and 17 battle stars for World War II service, placing her among the most decorated US Naval vessels of World War II. She also received three more battle stars for service during the Korean War.

Awards

{| style="margin:1em auto; text-align:center;"

{| class="wikitable" style="margin:1em auto; text-align:center;"

|Combat Action Ribbon with 2 star

|Presidential Unit Citation

|American Campaign Medal

|Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal with 17 battle stars

|World War II Victory Medal

|Navy Occupation Service Medal

|National Defense Service Medal with 1 star

|Korean Service Medal with 3 battle stars

|Vietnam Service Medal with 2 stars

|Philippine Presidential Unit Citation

|Korean Presidential Unit Citation

|Vietnam Cross of Gallantry

|Philippine Liberation Medal with 2 stars

|United Nations Korea Medal

|Vietnam Campaign Medal

References

Hornfischer, James D. (2011). Neptune's Inferno: The U.S. Navy at Guadalcanal; New York: Bantam Books.
Domagalski, John J. (2012). Sunk in Kula Gulf: The Final Voyage of the USS Helena and the Incredible Story of Her Survivors in World War II. Potomac Books Inc.

External links

USS O'Bannon website at Destroyer History Foundation
"The Maine Potato Episode"
history.navy.mil: USS O'Bannon
NavSource: USS O'Bannon
hazegray.org: USS O'Bannon