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The Light Destroyers: DD503-506
As the US began mobilization planning in 1939, interest was expressed in “an intermediate or second-line torpedo craft or patrol craft falling somewhere between the subchaser and the large modern destroyer.” From this proposal grew a number of small destroyer designs. One was a 1200-ton ship of about 25 knots that greatly resembled the destroyer escorts that would eventually be built, but there was comparatively little interest in this design at the time - the Navy felt that, on the whole, it was better to continue building their standard Benson-class fleet destroyers.
But the small destroyer concept did not disappear. In August 1940 the marine engineering firm Gibbs & Cox, responsible for much of the design and construction of much of the propulsion machinery used in American destroyers, proposed “conventional fast lightweight destroyers” of two types. At the instigation of President Roosevelt, who retained a great interest in naval affairs dating to his days as Assistant Secretary of the Navy, four ships - two of each type - were ordered from Federal Shipbuilding of Kearny, New Jersey. They were assigned the hull numbers DD 503-506.
The larger of the two was a 1050-ton ship armed with two 5-inch guns and eight torpedo tubes; the smaller vessel was a 750-tonner armed with two 3-inch or 4-inch guns and six torpedo tubes. Both would have been capable of 35 knots. However, as the Navy examined the designs it became evident that they were unrealistic. Such vessels were likely to be unseaworthy, uninhabitable, and in general not very useful.
The Gibbs & Cox designs did, however, serve as a starting point for Navy efforts to design a small destroyer. They succeeded in coming up with two designs of their own. One was an 1175-ton vessel armed with four 5-inch guns, but no torpedo tubes, and powered by steam turbines generating 12,000 SHP and a speed of 24.5 knots. The other was an 875-tonner armed with two 5-inch guns and powered by diesels generating 6,000 BHP and a speed of 21.5 knots. The 875-ton design was abandoned “on grounds of inadequate antiaircraft fire,” but construction of DD 503-506 to the 1175-ton design was approved by the Secretary of the Navy on 15 November 1940. However, their construction was cancelled on 10 February 1941. They were as complex as a full-size destroyer and nearly as expensive, but not nearly as capable. Producing them simply did not make sense.
Yet the work put into the design of these ships did not go to waste. Development of the 1175-ton version continued with an eye toward using such ships for convoy escort, and when in the spring of 1941 the need for such ships made itself felt, the US Navy was ready with the design of the destroyer escort, a much simpler design able to be produced rapidly in new mass-production shipyards. Several hundred DEs were eventually completed and proved very useful little ships in every theater of war.
But suppose the Navy had decided - perhaps with another Presidential nudge - that it was worthwhile to build both of the small destroyer types it came up with in the fall of 1940? Contracts had been let and names had been assigned. What then?
From the Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships That Never Were
STEVENSON
DD-503
Displacement: 1175 tons
Length: 300 feet
Beam: 34.5 feet
Draft: 9.75 feet
Speed: 24.5 knots
Complement: 245
Armament: four 5in/38, two 1.1in (quadruple), four 20mm, two depth charge tracks, six depth charge projectors
Class: STEVENSON
STEVENSON (DD-503), first of a new class of light destroyers, was laid down on 15 September 1941 by the Federal Shipbuilding and Drydock Co., Kearny, N.J., launched on 20 March 1942, sponsored by Miss Mary Stevenson, daughter of Pay Inspector John H. Stevenson, veteran of the Civil War, and commissioned on 13 May 1942, Lieutenant Commander W.M. Sweeter in command.
Following post-shakedown repairs at the New York Navy Yard, STEVENSON departed New York on 6 August 1942 as part of Task Force 38, the escort for Convoy AT-18. Sailing via Halifax, the valuable troop convoy reached Great Britain without incident on 18 August. After a week there, on 27 August STEVENSON departed the Clyde escorting the returning troopships in Convoy TA-18. Unfortunately, the return passage was more eventful: on 3 September, still in mid-Atlantic, the troopship WAKEFIELD (AP-21) caught fire and had to be abandoned. STEVENSON assisted in the rescue operations and escorted the stricken transport into Halifax, which she reached on 8 September. STEVENSON then proceeded to New York.
After escorting a coastal convoy to Norfolk, where she underwent a brief refit, on 23 October STEVENSON sailed from Norfolk as part of Rear Admiral H. Kent Hewitt’s Western Naval Task Force, bound for French Morocco. Assigned with her sister ship STOCKTON (DD-504) to the Northern Attack Group, STEVENSON screened the auxiliary carriers SANGAMON (ACV-26) and CHENANGO (ACV-28) as they crossed the Atlantic, then continued to screen the two carriers as they conducted air operations in support of the landings at Mehedia, which took place on 8 November.
Following the end of French resistance on 11 November, STEVENSON was detached to escort troopships to Fedhala, where it was believed they could unload safely. Arriving that evening, STEVENSON anchored near the fleet oiler WINOOSKI (AO-38) and awaited a chance to refuel.
While waiting, at 1948 STEVENSON’s bluejackets were surprised by the sound of an explosion on the far side of the anchorage. Unbeknownst to them, the German submarine U-173 had slipped through the American screen and torpedoed the transport JOSEPH HEWES (AP-50), which later sank. As a precaution, STEVENSON’s crew was called to General Quarters.
Seven minutes after the hit on JOSEPH HEWES, the crew of STEVENSON observed a hit on WINOOSKI. Perhaps half a minute later, their own ship was torpedoed on the port side amidships. Fatally holed, STEVENSON immediately lost all power and took on a heavy list; Abandon Ship was ordered five minutes after being torpedoed, and within fifteen minutes the destroyer broke in two, capsized, and sank. Twenty men were lost.
U-173 outlived her victims by only a few days. On 16 November she was caught and sunk with all hands by American destroyers off Casablanca.
STEVENSON (DD-503) earned one battle star for her service in World War II.
STOCKTON
DD-504
Displacement: 1175 tons
Length: 300 feet
Beam: 34.5 feet
Draft: 9.75 feet
Speed: 24.5 knots
Complement: 245
Armament: four 5in/38, two 1.1in (quadruple), four 20mm, two depth charge tracks, six depth charge projectors
Class: STEVENSON
The third STOCKTON (DD-504) was laid down on 15 September 1941 by the Federal Shipbuilding and Drydock Co., Kearny, N.J., launched on 20 March 1942, sponsored by Mrs. Arthur MacArthur, and commissioned on 27 May 1942, Lieutenant Commander W.G. Cooper in command.
After conducting her shakedown cruise off the East Coast, STOCKTON entered the New York Navy Yard for repairs and alterations that were not completed until the beginning of August. She then sailed to Norfolk to take up duty escorting coastal convoys, an assignment that occupied her into October.
Assigned to the Western Naval Task Force, STOCKTON departed Norfolk on 23 October 1942 as part of the Northern Attack Group, destined for Mehedia, French Morocco. Operating in company with her sister ship STEVENSON (DD-503), STOCKTON screened the auxiliary carriers SANGAMON (ACV-26) and CHENANGO (ACV-28) as they provided air support to American troops throughout the landings and subsquent combat operations ashore, 8-11 November. After Morocco was secured, STOCKTON escorted CHENANGO back to the United States, reaching Norfolk on 30 November.
Having encountered a hurricane on the way home, STOCKTON was in dockyard hands through the end of 1942. After a brief period of refresher training and coastal escort duty, she began several months of convoy operations on the North African run. Her first sailing was from Norfolk on 14 January 1943 as part of the escort for Convoy UGF-4, a fast 21-ship convoy bound for Oran, French Algeria. After delivering the convoy safely to Oran on 27 January, she returned with Convoy GUF-4, which sailed 29 ships from Oran on 31 January and reached Norfolk on 13 February.
STOCKTON again departed Norfolk on 4 March with Convoy UGS-6, consisting of 45 merchant ships escorted by seven destroyers. Eight days out of Norfolk, a German wolfpack intercepted the convoy; over the next several days they sank four ships out of the convoy, but STOCKTON and the other destroyers thwarted many attacks by the seventeen U-boats chasing the convoy, which reached Oran on 22 March. The return voyage, GUS-6, departed Oran with 45 ships on 10 April and reached Norfolk without incident on 28 April.
STOCKTON next sailed from Norfolk on 14 May in the escort of Convoy UGS-8A, a massive convoy of 80 ships bound for Tripoli. This heavily-escorted convoy of ships, men, and material destined for the invasion of Sicily reached Tripoli unharmed on 8 June, and on 20 June STOCKTON sailed from Oran with 42 empty merchant ships in Convoy GUS-8A.
After a brief refit, STOCKTON left Norfolk on 27 July 1943 with Convoy UGS-13. Although some of this convoy’s 82 ships were bound for destinations as far away as Port Said, STOCKTON was assigned to cover the Casablanca section of the convoy, which arrived on 13 August. Departing Casablanca on the 21st, STOCKTON joined Convoy GUS-12, forty ships from Alexandria to Norfolk, and reached the United States on 6 September.
Outbound from Norfolk once again on 25 September, STOCKTON guarded the 56 ships of Convoy UGS-19 as far as Casablanca, which she reached on 12 October. On the 16th she sailed for Gibraltar, which she reached the next day. Two days after that she joined the 52 ships of Convoy GUS-18 on their homeward voyage, which terminated at Norfolk on 6 November. After another brief refit, STOCKTON spent the rest of 1943 and the first part of 1944 escorting coastal convoys, occasionally ranging as far as Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
Relieved of this duty, on 16 February 1944 STOCKTON departed Norfolk as part of Task Group 21.16, an antisubmarine hunter-killer group built around the escort carrier BLOCK ISLAND (CVE-21). The first two weeks of the cruise were uneventful, but while operating north of the Azores late on the evening of 29 February the group encountered two U-boats, U-709 and U-603, and sank both in the space of a few hours.
Putting into Casablanca on 8 March, the group sailed again on the 11th. Five days later, while west of the Cape Verdes, BLOCK ISLAND aircraft discovered and damaged the submarine U-801. Vectored in by aircraft that continued to stalk the damaged U-boat, STOCKTON and destroyer escort THOMAS (DE-102) gained sonar contact early on the morning of 17 March and pounded the submarine with depth charges and Hedgehogs for three hours. Driven to the surface by these attacks, U-801 was blasted by gunfire from the two American warships and sank. STOCKTON and THOMAS captured 47 survivors.
Two days later STOCKTON again had occasion to capture German survivors - and also to rescue an American airman. Caught on the surface by BLOCK ISLAND aircraft, the submarine U-1059 had been sunk, but not before shooting down an Avenger. Directed to the scene, STOCKTON rescued the Avenger’s surviving crewman as well as eight Germans. The hunter-killer group’s patrol ended at Norfolk on 31 March.
Reassigned to North Atlantic convoy duty, STOCKTON escorted a coastal convoy to New York before sailing with Convoy HX-289, a massive (130-ship) convoy bound for the British Isles, on 27 April. Not one of its ships, all laden with vital war material for the invasion of France, was lost or damaged on the passage, which lasted until 13 May. Six days later she sailed for the United States in the escort of Convoy ON-238, whose 66 ships all reached their destinations safely. While at sea STOCKTON received word of the Normandy invasion. She reached New York on 9 June. From 19 June to 3 July she escorted Convoy HX-296 (91 ships) from New York to Liverpool; the return voyage, with Convoy ON-244 (56 ships), lasted from 10-23 July. Her next assignment was Convoy CU-34, a group of 33 tankers that left New York on 3 August and arrived in the United Kingdom on the 13th, after which she left Liverpool on 18 August with the 153-ship Convoy ON-249, reaching New York on 2 September.
Overhauled at New York, on 30 October 1944 STOCKTON left for Casco Bay, Maine in company with battleship TEXAS (BB-35) for training in preparation for Pacific duty. Leaving Casco Bay on 10 November, she escorted TEXAS through the Panama Canal and reached San Pedro, California on 27 November. After escorting the battleship to Pearl Harbor, 9-12 December, STOCKTON carried out further training exercises before departing for the Western Pacific on 3 January 1945.
Reaching Ulithi two weeks later, STOCKTON operated on escort duty out of Ulithi until the middle of March, when she was designated for the invasion of Okinawa. Assigned to Task Group 52.11, the Underwater Demolition Flotilla, she departed Leyte Gulf on 21 March. Arriving off Kerama Retto on 25 March, she spent the next several days providing gunfire support for the UDTs as they carried out their vital reconnaissance and demolition work on the beaches of Okinawa Gunto. On 3 April, two days after the main landings began, STOCKTON was detached to support minesweeping operations on the eastern side of Okinawa, a task which lasted until the 9th. She provided fire support for the capture of Tsugen Jima, in the approaches to Nakagusuku Wan, on the 10th and 11th, after which she took up screening duty on radar and antisubmarine picket stations, hazardous and difficult duty which STOCKTON performed virtually nonstop for the next two months.
On the morning of 10 June 1945, STOCKTON was called to go the assistance of destroyer WILLIAM D. PORTER (DD-579), which had been hit by a kamikaze while operating on picket station No.15. Together with four landing craft, STOCKTON helped rescue the destroyer’s entire crew before she sank. STOCKTON then replaced the lost destroyer on that station.
At about 1900 the following evening, STOCKTON herself came under direct attack for the first time when three Vals chose her as their target. Her guns destroyed the first and the guns of the nearby landing craft LCS(L)-122 destroyed the second, but the third struck STOCKTON at the base of her bridge, its bomb plunging deep into the ship before exploding. Heavy fires broke out and 22 men were killed, but with the aid of LCS(L)-122 and other landing craft, the fires were extinguished and she reached Kerama Retto under her own power.
After emergency repairs at Kerama Retto, STOCKTON left Okinawa for Leyte Gulf on 15 June. After further repairs at that forward base, she sailed via Ulithi and Pearl Harbor for the West Coast, reaching San Francisco on 21 July. Repair work was halted upon the surrender of Japan; the veteran destroyer was decommissioned on 28 September 1945, struck from the Navy list on 15 October, and sold for scrapping on 28 September 1947.
STOCKTON (DD-504) earned four battle stars for her World War II service.
THORN
DD-505
Displacement: 875 tons
Length: 260 feet
Beam: 32 feet
Draft: 8.8 feet
Speed: 21.5 knots
Complement: 180
Armament: two 5in/38, two 1.1in (quadruple), four 20mm, two depth charge tracks, six depth charge projectors
Class: THORN
THORN (DD-505) was laid down on 3 November 1941 by the Federal Shipbuilding and Drydock Co., Kearny, N.J., launched on 3 May 1942, sponsored by Mrs. Beatrice Fox Palmer, and commissioned on 17 June 1942, Lieutenant Commander S.D. Willingham in command.
After a shakedown cruise that included coastal convoy operations which took her as far south as Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, THORN underwent post-shakedown repairs at New York. Completing these, early in September 1942 she sailed to Argentia, Newfoundland, where she joined Escort Group A-3, which included her sister ship TURNER (DD-506) and two large Coast Guard cutters, CAMPBELL (WPG-32) and SPENCER (WPG-36), for duty on the North Atlantic run.
In company with these ships as well as several corvettes, THORN sailed from Argentia on 15 September 1942 to join Convoy SC-100, which consisted of 24 merchant ships bound from Nova Scotia to Ireland. The crossing was made in weather that was terrible even by North Atlantic standards, and THORN suffered much storm damage. Worse was the damage inflicted by U-boats, which sank five ships before the convoy reached port on 28 September.
Departing Liverpool on 3 October, Escort Group A-3 joined Convoy ON-135 at sea. Two days later, extremely foul weather scattered the 30-ship convoy, forcing THORN and the other escorts to locate and straggling merchant ships and herd them back into formation. Despite the hazards and the sea and the U-boats, the convoy reached Canadian waters safely, and after refueling at Argentia, THORN proceeded to New York for repairs, arriving on 18 October.
Deemed unsuitable for Atlantic convoy operations, THORN was reassigned to the Eastern Sea Frontier for coastal convoy escort duty. Ranging from Newfoundland to Aruba, THORN spent the rest of the war on this duty. Decommissioned at Philadelphia 1 November 1945, she was stricken 28 November and sold for scrapping 2 December 1946.
TURNER
DD-506
Displacement: 875 tons
Length: 260 feet
Beam: 32 feet
Draft: 8.8 feet
Speed: 21.5 knots
Complement: 180
Armament: two 5in/38, two 1.1in (quadruple), four 20mm, two depth charge tracks, six depth charge projectors
Class: THORN
The second TURNER (DD-506) was laid down on 3 November 1941 by the Federal Shipbuilding and Drydock Co., Kearny, N.J., launched on 3 May 1942, sponsored by Mrs. Louis E. Denfeld, and commissioned on 3 July 1942, Lieutenant Commander R.B. Nickerson in command.
After completing post-shakedown repairs at New York, on 12 September 1942 TURNER joined her sister ship THORN (DD-505) and several other US Navy and Coast Guard warships as part of Escort Group A-3 at Argentia, Newfoundland. Three days later she left Argentia to cover the 24 ships of Slow Convoy 100 from North America to Great Britain. However, the convoy ran into bad weather several days out of Argentia, and while battling hurricane-force winds and seas, TURNER was swept by a giant wave that sent water pouring into her machinery spaces, disabling two of her four engines and sparking a serious electrical fire. Unable to effect repairs in the storm, TURNER was ordered to return to Argentia, where the repair ship VULCAN (AR-5) made temporary repairs before the destroyer went on to New York for permanent repairs.
Sent to Key West, Florida upon the completion of her repairs in November 1942, TURNER spent the rest of the war as a school ship in South Florida, operating in support of such organizations as the Fleet Sonar School and Anti-Submarine Warfare Training Unit at Key West and the Destroyer Escort Training Unit and Naval Training Center at Miami. Decommissioned at New York 9 October 1945, she was stricken 24 October and sold for scrapping 12 June 1946.
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"If it's not the end of the world, I'm not coming!" - Kelsie at the SAC Museum
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