USS Warrington (DD-383): Difference between revisions

{{OthershipsOther ships|USS Warrington}}

{{Infobox Shipship Careercareer

|Ship country={{nowrap|United States}}

|Ship namesake=[[Lewis Warrington (United States Navy officer)|Lewis Warrington]]

{{Infobox Shipship Characteristicscharacteristics

|Ship class={{sclass-|Somers|destroyer}}

|Ship displacement=*{{convert|1850|LT|t|abbr=on}} (standard) <br/>
*{{convert|2905|LT|t|abbr=on}} (full)

|Ship propulsion=*2 × geared turbines <br/>
*2 × shafts

*8 × [[5"1.1-inch/38 75-caliber gun|{{convert|51.1|in|mm|abbr=on}}/38 cal]] [[dualAnti-aircraft purposewarfare|anti-aircraft gun]]s

*82 × [[1.1"/75 caliberM2 gunBrowning|{{convert|1.150|in|mm|abbr=on}}]] [[Anti-aircraft warfare|anti-aircraftmachine gun]]s

'''USS ''Warrington'' (DD-383)''' —was a {{sclass-|Somers|destroyer}}, —laid wasdown theon second10 shipOctober of1935 theat [[UnitedKearny, StatesNew NavyJersey]], toby be named forthe [[LewisFederal Shipbuilding Warringtonand Drydock Company]],; wholaunched wason an15 officerMay in1937; thesponsored Navyby duringMiss theKatherine [[FirstTaft BarbaryChubb; War|Barbaryand Wars]]commissioned andat the [[WarNew ofYork Navy 1812Yard]]. Heon also9 temporarilyFebruary served1938. as the [[Secretary of the Navy]].

Following''Warrington'' adid her shakedown cruise to the [[West Indies]] in April–May, the destroyerand returned to New York City on 24 May,. She then underwent post-shakedown availability, and then conducted tactical training off [[Cape Cod]] and the [[Virginia Capes]]. She also participated in maneuvers with the boats of [[SubDiv|Submarine Division]] 4 (SubDiv 4) in waters near [[New London, Connecticut|New London]]. In October, she headed south for refresher training in Cuban waters.

In mid-February 1939, she reported to [[Key West, Florida|Key West]] to serve as an escort for {{USS|Houston|CA-30|2}}, the [[cruiser]] in which president [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]] and [[Chief of Naval Operations]] [[Admiral (United States)|Admiral]] [[William D. Leahy]] embarked to observe the concluding phase of the 1939 annual Fleet exercise. The destroyer concluded that assignment upon her arrival at [[Charleston, South Carolina]], on 3 March where Roosevelt and Leahy left ''Houston'' to return to Washington. After three months of operations along the coast between [[New York City|New York]] and [[Norfolk, Virginia]], the destroyer moored at [[Fort Hancock, New Jersey]], on the morning of 9 June to embark [[George VI of the United Kingdom|King George VI]] and [[MaryElizabeth of Teck|Queen Mary]] of Great Britain for passage to [[Manhattan]].

StillShe was moored at Charleston on 7 December when wordthe news arrived that the Japanese [[attackhad onattacked Pearl Harbor]] had catapulted the U.S. into World War II, ''Warrington'' put to sea the following day to conduct war patrols along the Atlantic coast from Norfolk to Newport. Late in December, she rendezvoused with {{HMS|Duke of York|17|6}} and escorted the British [[battleship]] into Norfolk on the 21st. For another three weeks, the destroyer patrolled the eastern seaboard as far north as the [[Massachusetts]] coast and then headed south on her way to a new area of operations. On 17 January 1942, the warship arrived in [[Balboa, Panama|Balboa]] at the [[Pacific Ocean|Pacific]] terminus of the Panama Canal where she reported for duty with the [[Southeast Pacific Area|Southeast Pacific Force]].

She began her first mission early on 26 May. Dense foliage precluded the identification of specific targets, so ''Warrington'' contented herself with an [[area bombardment]], firing more or less uniformly throughout the designated sector. On 27 May, she and ''BachBalch'' returned for a repeat performance, at the conclusion of which they received a message from the general commanding ashore lauding their ". . . superb cooperation . . ." and indicating that their gunfire had been ". . . of great assistance . . ." to the troops ashore. That same day, the two destroyers headed back to Humboldt Bay.

She completed her yard period at New York early in August, conducted maneuvers at [[Casco Bay]], [[Maine]], and then entered the [[Norfolk Navy Yard]] for additional alterations. On 10 September, she departed Norfolk in company with the stores ship {{USS|Hyades|AF-28|2}} and set her course for [[Trinidad]].

Two days out of Norfolk, along the Florida coast, the two ships encountered heavy weather. In the afternoon, ''Warrington'' received word that she was steaming directly into a hurricane. Later that evening, the storm forced the destroyer to [[heave to]] while ''Hyades'' continued on her way alone. Keeping wind and sea on her port bow, ''Warrington'' rode relatively well through most of the night. Wind and seas, however, continued to build during the early morning hours of 13 September. ''Warrington'' began to lose headway and, as a result, started to ship water through the vents to her engineering spaces.

The water rushing into her vents caused a loss of electrical power which set off a chain reaction. Her main engines lost power, and her steering engine and mechanism went out. She wallowed there in the trough of the swells, continuing to ship water. She regained headway briefly and turned upwind, while her radiomen desperately, but fruitlessly, tried to raise ''Hyades''. Finally, she resorted to a plain-language distress call to any ship or shore station. By noon on 13 September, it was apparent that ''Warrington''{{'}}s crewmen could not win the struggle to save their ship, and the order went out to prepare to abandon ship. By 12:50, her crew had left ''Warrington''; and she went down almost immediately. A prolonged search by ''Hyades'', {{USS|Frost|DE-144|2}}, {{USS|Huse|DE-145|2}}, {{USS|Inch|DE-146|2}}, {{USS|Snowden|DE-246|2}}, {{USS|Swasey|DE-248|2}}, {{USS|Woodson|DE-359|2}}, {{USS|Johnnie Hutchins|DE-360|2}}, ''ATR-9'', and ''ATR-62'' rescued only five5 officers and 68 men of the destroyer's 20 officers and 301 men. ''Warrington''{{'}}s name was struck from the [[Naval Vessel Register]] on 23 September 1944.

*Dawes, CDR Robert A., Jr.,1996, ''The Dragon's Breath – Hurricane Atat Sea'': Naval Institute Press, Annapolis, MD, 222p.

==External links==

[[Category:Ships built in Kearny, New Jersey]]

[[Category:Maritime incidents in September 1944]]