warship profile 9 - uss charles ausburne

8/2/2019 Warship Profile 9 - USS Charles Ausburne

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S C ha rle s A us b urn e/F le tG he r C la s s D es tro ye r 1 9 4 2 -1 9 67 b y Wil l iam H . Cracknel lC om ma nde r. U SN

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Destroyer Squadron 23 Insignia

This insignia was originally adopted by a torpedomanfor his mount. Captain Burke liked the idea and it wasmade the squadron insignia. Itdepicts 'Little Beaver'in Fred Harmon's 'Red Ryder' comic strip. DesRon 23became the 'Little Beavers' and official dispatches oftentimes referred to them by that name.Charles Awbume was flagship for DesRon 23 through

much of her war service. This famous Squadronparticipated in the surface battles of Empress AugustusBay and Cape St George. nder her renownedCommodore, Captain Arleigh Burke, who was destinedto become Chief of Naval Operations, DesRon 23 wasthe only destroyer squadron during World War IIto receive the Presidential Unit Citation. That citation-reads as follows:'For extraordinary heroism in action against enemy

Japanese forces during the olomon Islands Campaignfrom November I 1943 to February 23 1944. Boldlypenetrating submarine-infested waters during a periodwhen Japanese naval and air power was at its heightDestroyer Squad roll tmenty-three operated in daringdefiance of repeated attacks by hostile air groups,closing the enemy's strongly fortified shores to carry outsustained bombardments against Japanese coastaldefenses and render effective cover and Ere support forthe major invasion operations in this area. Commandedby forceful leaders and manned by aggressive, fearlesscrews, the ships of Squadron tuienty-three coordinated asa superb fighting ream; they countered the enemy'sfierce aerial bombing attacks and destroyed or routedhis planes; they intercepted his surface task forces,sank or damaged his warships hy torpedo fire andprevented interfer nee with our transports. The brilliantand heroic record achieved by Destroyer Squadrontwenty-three is a distinctive tribute to the valiant fightingspirit of the individual units in this indomitable combatgroup and of each skilled and courageous ship'scompany.'

Summary of USSCharles Ausburne's lifeThe USS Charles Ausburne (DD 570), one ofthe famous destroyers of the Fletcher Class, wasflagship for Commander Destroyer Squadron 23through much of the Pacific war. It was asComDesRon 23 that former Chief of NavalOperations, Admiral Arleigh Burke, earned hiscombat reputation. Ausburne was a participantin two of the famous surface battles of theSolomons Campaign: Empress Augusta Bay andCape St GeQrge-the latter considered to be aclassic destroyer-to-destroyer engagement.During 25 months of combat she earned11 battle stars for assignments involving surfacecombat, anti-aircraft anti-submarine, shorebombardment. convoy and radar picket actions;she weathered three typhoons and had gone toGeneral Quarters 780 times. Through all thisclose action Ausburne lost none of her crew incombat and received only light fragmentationdamage, After a stint in the Reserve Fleet sheserved seven years in the German Federal NavyasZerstorer 6.

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The 5in./38 caliber gun evolved in the 1920s and 1930s,during World War II it was installed in single or dualmounts on almost every class of ship from destroyerescorts to aircraft carriers. This gun is still extensivelyused in the .S. Navy. The 5io./38 gun is a semi-automatic, dual purpose, base-ring-mounted gun usingsemi-fixed ammunition. Its principal features are:vertical sliding-wedge breech mechanism, hydraulicrecoil and hydropneurnaric counter-recoil systems,power-operated rammer, power-operated elevating andtrairung gear, movable-prism telescopes, power-operated powder fuse-setting projectile hoist, power-operated powder hoist on most mounts (most of thepreceding features could also be manually operated).The semi-fixed ammunition consist of a projectile ofapproximately 541b and a 28lb powd r case including151b of powd r. Initial velocity is 2600f.p.s., maximumhorizontal range 18,000 yards; maximum verticalrange, 37,300ft.An experienced crew could fire 15 to 22 rounds perminute. The gun has a radially expanded two-ton steelmonobloc barrel. The rifling has a uniform twist ofI turn in 30 calibers. The bore is chromium plated andthe barrel connected to the housing by a bayonet typejoin to Fusing could be timed, contact or close proximity-projectile types include armor piercing, Iragrnen-ration or illumination.

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COVER PHOTO:Ausburne. 30 September 1944 in San Francisco BaVFive dsvs later she steamed west toward {he WesternPacific for her second war cruise (Photo: US. Navv)


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U.5.5. C h aries Aus b u rn e (00570) as she appeared in September 1944 (Photo: U.S. Navy)

U S S C HA RLE S AUSBURNE / ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~LASSby William H. Cracknell. Commander, USN

The First Charles Ausburn(e) (DD-294)The first ship in the nited Stales [avy named CharlesAusbuni was a flush-deck, four-pipe de trover, one of270mass-produced during World War I. (Fifty of thesewere furnished to Great Britain at the beginning ofWodd War II-see Profile 5: HMS Campblclown.)It has been th practice in the .S. Navy, since thebuilding of U Bainbridge (DD-I) in 1901, to namedestroyer-type ships after deceased persons who wereeither members of, or closely associated with, the NavalS rvice and who had gained recognition throughservice or heroic deeds.Charles Lawrence Ausburne was born 26 JuIy 1889in "ell' Orleans, Louisiana; he enlisted in the U.S.Navy 25 February 1908. While serving as an Elec-

trician s Mate First Class on the U.S. Army TransportAntilles, his ship received a mortal torpedo attack17 October 1917. Ausburne continued to man theship's cmcl'gency radio station as the ship sank beneathhim. He was posthumously awarded the Navy Cross,the U.S. Navy's second highest award for valorBecause other members of his family spelled theirname as Ausburn the first ship to bear his namefollowed that spelling. When it was later noted that he

himself spelled his name Ausburne, the second ship'sname (DD-570) was so spelled.

Charl es Au sbu rn (DD-294) was launched 18 December1919 by Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corporation, Squan-tum, Massachusetts, and commissioned 23 March1920, Lieutenant M, W. Hutchinson.Tr. commanding.Sh s rved with the Atlantic Fleet and, in the fall of1923 was equipped to carry a seaplane wh n sheconducted experiments in naval aviation (see photo).In the summer of 1924, she cruised off Greenland toprovide plane guard services for the famous .5. Army'Around-the-World" Flight of four Martin single-eng; nc hiplanes. From June J 925 to July 1926 CharlesAusburn served in European waters and the Mediter-ranean. She was decommissioned in Philadelphia1 May 1930 and sold for scrap 17 January 1931.

DESTROYER DEVElOPMENTBETWEEN THE WORLD WARSThere were no new destroyers launched for the .S.Navy between J 921 and 1934. As the unrest andtroubles of the thirties replaced the era of navaltreaties and prosperity of the twenties, the U.S.

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Government again gave thought to naval construction.There were several reasons for renewed interest innew ships.

First, other nations, particularly Japan were com-mencing construction programs that would makemuch of the U.S. Fleet obsolete. In the destroyer field,the U.S. Navy's 1150 ton 'four-pipers' would soon beoutclassed by the other major navies of the world.

Second, the Great Depression had ushered in an eraof public works promoted by the federal government toassist the nation i.npulling itsdf'up by the bootstraps'.A logical form of public works, in light of the trends ofworld events, was an extensive shipbuilding program.Lastly, the large number of ships completed during andimmediately after World War Iwere reaching the agewhere consideration had to be given toward replace-ments. Age combined with many advances in tech-nology dictated new hulls. A s a result, keels were laidfor 97 new destroyers betv ....een 1930 and 1939 as partof an expanding naval construction program.

Destroyer design during the thirties was of anevolutionary nature. The flexibility and capabilities ofthis type of general purpose combatant were expandedLO meet the challenges of increasing technology as wellas the broader scope of missions to be performed.

Main battery armament would have to be dual-purpose, anti-aircraft as well as surface capable. Theanti-air problem, combined with larger caliber longerrange guns, demanded more sophisticated fire control.equipment. The anti-submarine warfare (AS\)mission, forced on the destroyer in World War I,required space for depth charges and sonar to meet thegrowing capability of the submarine. These wereseveral of the considerations which, combined withsqueezing the necessary crew, engine plant, ammunitionand fuel into a compatible hull, capable of 30-plusknots, faced the oestroyer designer.The additional requirements and equipment laid ondestroyers during World War II, such as ext nsiveradar arrays, additional anti-aircraft armament, radarpicket duty, fighter control functions and shorebombardment go to prove how successful the destroyerdesigners were in producing these 'jack-of-all-trades'combatants for the U.S. Navy.THE PRE-WAR DESTROYER CLASSESIn 1931 Congress authorised the Navy again tobuild destroyers. The following classes of destroyerswere built pr ior to the United States' entry intoWorld War II:ClassFARRAGUTPORTERMAHANCRAVENSOMERSMcCALLSIMSBENSON

Ships in Class8818105121224

First Commissioned19341936193619371937193919391940

The design philosophy of these pre-war destroyerclasses followed the same general pattern. Hull designshad raised foredecks and standard displacement ranfrom 1500 tons for the Farraguts ; to 1850 tons for thedestroyer leaders of the Porter and Somers classes. Fourof the classes had high twin funnels, while the otherfour had large single trunked funnels. Single pole mastswere fined just aft of the bridge superstructure.194

Several of the classes had stub mainmasts but thesewere not prominent in silhouette.

Power plants for all these pre-war classes were highpressure water tube boilers connected to gearedturbines dri ving two propellers. Shaft horsepower variedfrom 42,800 to 50,000 with designed speeds 0"35 to 37knots. In 1936 the USS Lamson, of the Mahan . class,while on her official trials, set the official [avy speedrecord for destroyers. Her average speed on five runswas 41 07 knots. Fuel capacity for these eight classesranged from 443 tons to 636 tons.

The first destroyer named Charles Ausburn (00294) wasone of the numerous 'four-pipers' built during World WarI. This photo depicts her in 1923 with a TS-1 biplane ofObservarion Squadron One mounted experimentally justforward of her bridge (Photo: U.S. Navy)

The 5in/38 caliber gun (barrel diameter x caliber=barrel length) was the standard main battery on alldestroyer classes from 1934 through the end of WorldWar n. Thi highly successful and reliable weapon wasthe most extensively used gun in the S 1 avy inWorld War II and is still in use in today's fleet.Secondary armament consisted of only 30 cal. and50 cal. m.g. initially on the Farraguts and Po rt er s ;to the 20mm. and 40mm. m.g. that were installed andretrofitted on all classes in World War n in an effortto cope with the air threat. Torpedo tubes were placedin trainable center-line mounts (except for the Cravensand A1cCalis who had side mounts) in various com-binations of 10 to 16 tubes.

Through these pre-war designs the navy learned thelessons and gained the expertise that would enable it tomass-produc the successful destroyer types that werebuilt during World War II. It was these eigb t classes,with the surviving 'four-pipers' of World War Ivintage which had to furnish the required destroyerservices during the first hectic year after Pearl Harbor.THE FLETCHER CLASSAll of the US destroyers built during, as well asimmediately before and after "Vorld War 11, fell 1J1three general classes:I) B ensonjB ristoi C lass (also known as Gleaves/Livermon).

The 96 ships of this class were commission d in1940-43.2) Fletcher Class. The 175 ships of this class werecommissioned in 1942-44.


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3 ) S u.mner/G ea rin g C la ss. The 165 ships of this classwere commissioned in 194445.Charles Ambu .me (DD570) was a ship of the Fletchsclass. This class, with a standard displacement of

2050 tons was the fleet destroyer heavyweight until thelast year of the war. Then the 2150 ton SUr/mer class,followed closely. by their near sisters of the 2200 tonGearing class, entered the war.The first destroyers of the Fletcher class were au-thorised by the Vinson-Trammell Congressional Act of27 March 1934. The later ships in this class wereauthorised by the 70% Expansion Act of 19 July 1940-the "Tun-Ocean' Navy Act.

Ausburne off Orange, Texas, as she appeared in late 1942immeaistel after completion. Her initial gun fit includedfive Sin main mounts. two twin 40mm mounts and four20mm guns. The two twin 40mm are visible here-s-onebetween numbers three and four main mourns and oneOn the lamail. One 20mm gun can be seen ill its tub onthe main deck just below the after torpedo tube

(Ph%: u.s. Navy)

The Fletcher was designed by Gibbs and Cox of NewYork and reintroduced the flush-deck destroyer intothe US Navy. (All subsequent destroyer classes havebeen flush.decked.) A total of eight civilian shipyardsand three Navy yards built the Fletchers. The averagecost per ship was approximately $11,000,000: Nurner-ous variations in detail, equipment and armamentoccurred between ships built in different yards andbetween the earlier and later ships .. T he later Fletchsrshad lower main battery directors on top of theirbridge structures and flat-faced bridges vice the curvedbridge faces of their earlier sisters. The building recordfor a Fletcher was established when USS Dortch wascompleted in 158 days.The following data concerns the Fletcher class shipsas they appeared during World War II. The variousconversions to the Fletcher during the postwar era axediscuss ed !a te r i this Pro fiie.

HullThe hull, constructed of welded steel plate, was376ft Sin in overall length, 39ft 7in extreme beam, witha maximum navigational draft of 17ft 9in. Standarddisplacemen t was 2050 to 2100 tons, full load displace-ment was 2940 tons. Fuel capacity for most of theFletcher! was 492 tons but varied between 301 tons to525 tons in some ships of the class.

MachinerySince the Fletdiers represented a quantitative increaseover the size of previous destroyers, an appreciableincrease in power was required to propel these ships attheir design speed of 35-37 knots. Designed shafthorsepower was therefore increased to 60,000.To provide th is power the Fletchers had four express~

type water tube boilers installed in two fire rooms eachserved by its own funnel. The great majority of theseboilers were Babcock & Wilcox but a few ships wereequipped with Foster-Wheelers. At full power theseboilers produced 565 p.s.i. of superheated steam at850 degrees fahrenheit.Each pair of boilers powered a double reductiongeared turbine. Each engine was housed in its own

engine room abaft their respective fire rooms, theforward engine driving the port propeller, the afterengine turning the starboard propeller. Throughcross-connection, any combination of boilers could beset up to drive either turbine. The turbines were builtby either General Electric, Westinghouse or Allis-Chalmers.The distilling plant which converted sea water tofresh water was rated at 12,000 gallons pel' day.Main ArmamentThe main battery consisted of five 5in/3B caliberdual-purpose, semi-automatic, rapid-fire guns in fullyenclosed single-mounts-two each super-imposed foreand aft and the fifth located on the 0 I level (the firs!deck above the main deck) just forward of the afterdeck house. There were two MK30 Mod 18 mounts,and one each MK30 Mod 19,30 and 31 mounts. Thesewere an basically the same mount with only minordifferences based on their locations. The 5in guns firedsemi-fixed ammunition (powder case separate from the

Another view of Ausburne off Orange. Texas; JUS! ettercomotetioa. One of the 20mm gun tubs can be seen on(he 01 level just below the starboard wing of (he bridge.This view clearlv depicts the Iire-comrot radar mountedon top of the main director and the surface search radaron lOp of the mast. The false water line camouflagescheme was designed to confuse submarines in particularin computing the angle on the bo w' .

(Photo: U.S. Navy)

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The 'mothballed' Reserve Fleet at San Diego, California, in the late 7950s. Aoproxirnetelv two-thirds of the ships in thisphoto are Fletch ers (Photo: US Na vy)

projectile) with a projectile weight of 541bs, a horizon-tal range of 18,000 yards and a vertical range ofover 30 O O O f l . The gun could elevate almost to 90degrees. Armor-piercing, general purpos illuminationor fragmentation shells could be fired with ur V.T.(Variable Time) or contact fusing.The mount was hydraulically driven in training and

elevation and could be aimed, controlled and firedei ther remotely or locally. Each mount was located overan ammunition handling room with powered powderand projectile hoists to the mount. The hoist wasprovided with an automatic fuse-setting device.Each mount had a gun crew usually composed ofeight men: gun captain, trainer pointer, sight-setter,

fuse-setter, two loaders and a hot-case man. Projectileand powder case were hand loaded from the hoist intothe gun housing and mechanically rammed into thebreech. Empty cases were ejected out of the mounton to the deck. A firing rate of 15 rounds per minutewas average but rates of over 20 rounds per minute fora short period were not unusual.A single MK37 main battery optical director wasfitted above the bridge with an MK22 fire controlradar mounted on top. The director fed target infor-mation to the gun laying computer where all the othervariables, such as ship's motion, wind and temperaturewere fed in and the firing solution was transmitted tothe guns.Secondary ArmamentA variety of arrangements and numbers of 20mm196

Oerlikon and 40mm Bofors machine guns wereprovided for secondary armament. (Several earlyFletchers were quipped with Ilin quad. m.g.).- he main purpose of these guns was anti-aircraft so,after the experience of the first months of the war,efforts were made to add more of these lype guns to alllasses of ships.Th closest to what might be considered a 'standard'fit for secondary armament on the Fletchers was fivetwin 40mm mounts and seven 20mm mounts. More ofthe class were equipped in this configuration than anyother, but variations from two 40rnm singles up to fivetWiJ1Sand from six to eleven 20mm guns were built.Additional 20rnm and 40mm guns were often addedwhen a ship went through overhaul.Th usual placement of the 40mm guns in the'standard" configuration was: two twins forward of thebridge, one on each side and slightly abaft the numbertwo 5in mount; two twins amidships, one on each sideof the after funnel; and one twin atop the after- deckhouse between numbers three and four Sin mounts.The 20mm guns were distributed: two each on bothsides located on the main deck just below the aftertorpedo launchers, and three on the fantail.40mm Bofors Machine GunThe 40mm a fully automatic gun could fire up to 160rounds per minute to an effective range of over 3000yards. The single mounts were air-cooled-the twinand quad mounts were usually water-cooled. The usualmount on the Fletcher class was the MKI twin eon-


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Ausburne soon eiter commissioning. Note torpedo crane Ioceted beside after funnel: this was soon relocated to a similarposition beside (he forward funnel when a twtn 40mm mount was installed in its stead. The (WO forward 20mm gunscan be seen will) barrels verticet tust forward of [he bridge. The odd shape wbing around (he guns were physrcel restreintspreventing (he gun from being fired into any pare of the ship (Photo: U.S. Navy)figuration. Either remote Qt. local control could beselected. Drive was either powered or manual. Ammu-nition was fed into the gun loader by hand four roundsper clip. The gun crew of a twin consisted ofseven men:gun captain trainer, pointer and four loaders.

To fire the Bofors by remote control, a MK51 slewtype gun director was usually installed for each mount.These were normally sited in an area adjacent to andslightly above the mount it served. The two MK51sserving the amidships 40mm mounts were located onsponsons attached to the after funnel, a structuredesigned originally to house searchlights, The MK51director contained a gyroscope that compensated forship's motion and target relative movement wascomputed by the rate at which the director operatortracked the target.

20mm Oerlikon Machine GunUp to eleven 20ml11machine guns were carried on theFletcher class. An automatic, air-cooled gun, it wascapable of firing ball, explosive or tracer bullets at arate of 450 rounds per minute to a maximum range of4000 yards. The gun was pedestal mounted andmanually operated and fired. The gun crew consistedof five men; gunner, range setter, two loaders and atrunnion operator (who adjusted the trunnion up ordown to correspond with the gunner's position).

TorpedoesMost of the Fletchers were equipped with ten 21intorpedo tubes arranged in two quintuplet mounts

located one beh ind each funnel on the 0I level. Theforward mount was a l\!fK14 and the after mount aMKLS, [he basic difference being that the MKI5 hada cupola type weather housing on top to protect thecrew and aiming mechanism. Both mounts w reequipped with a lVfK27 torpedo director and bothcould be trained through 360 degrees. There was nounder-way reload capability.

The standard destroyer torpedo used during WorldWar II was the MK1S, 21in in diameter, weighing22151bs and costing approximatelySlO 000. Course,depth and speed were pre-set in the launcher.Maximum speed was 46 knots at a range of 4500 yards.Greater range could be obtained by running thetorpedo at slower speeds. The torpedo was propelledby a gas turbine powered by an air, alcohol and watercombustion system. The warhead varied from 500lbsof TNT in ear lier models to 1 1 OOlbsof torpex in latermodels.

The US Navy had problems in the first year of thewar with faulty torpedoes, the main difficullY beingfaulty depth-setting mechanisms and defectivemagnetic influence exploder mechanisms. Time andagain destroyer and submarine crews were frustratedwhen seemingly perfect shots ran under the target, butdid not explode or exploded before reaching thetarget. The problems were eventually solved-in thecase of the defective exploder mechanism by revertingto the conventional contact exploder.

At no time during the war did the US Navy developa torpedo comparable to the huge 24in, high speedlong range Japanese, 'Long Lance'.

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Anti-Submarine SystemDepth ChargesMost of the ships of the Fletcher class were equippedwith two depth charge launching tracks on the fantail.Each of these tracks had a capacity of six to elevendepth charges, depending on the size of depth chargeand if extender rails were installed. In addition oneach side of the main deck beside the after deck-house,were located three MKfi depth charg projectors(K-guns). Usually four re-loads were positioned onpedestals around each projector with a davit type hoistto facilitate reloading. Roller racks were installed foreach projector later in the war to make for easierhandling. The depth charge was chained to a lrayfrom which projected an arbor that was inserted in theK-gun barrel, An explosive cartridge provided thepropellent which could be lanyard or electrically fired.The standard "ashcari' was the 720lb MK7 but laterin the war the tear-drop shaped faster sinking 340lbMK9 was introduced. The depth charges were usuallyreleased in patterns of threes: one from each side andone rolled over the stern. The depth charge was set 10explode at a pre-determined depth just prior to itslaunch.

Sonar (Asdic)Sonar (Sound-Navigation-Ranging) could be usedboth passively and actively for detecting submergedobjects. In the former modc the operator would listenfor target generated noise; .i n the latter, the operatorwould send out a sound signal along a line of bearingand determine the distance an object was [rom him bythe time it took Ior the echo to return.Sonar was a great improvement over the \-YoddWar Ihydrophone. Shipboard experimental sets werein use in 1934 and by 1939 operational sets were beinginstalled on US destroyers. By the outbreak of the warall fleet destroyers were onar equipped. By the timethe Fleichers began sliding down the ways, the Navybad obtaine d from the British the S ou nd -R a ng e R e co rd e r.This device presented a graphic visual presentation ofthe sonar signals and greatly facili tated und erwater firecontrol.198

Ausburne off Boston, Massachusetts 6 March 1943.Note the false water line camouffage has been painted ourin favor of a solid dark grey color scheme. She fought inthe Solomons with this color scheme and armament fit

(Photo: U.S. Navy)

SuperstructureThe forward deck house was built on three levels andhoused the bridge, chart room, captain's sea cabin,Combat Information Center (C.LC. was pioneeredand developed in destroyers during the Solomon'sCampaign) and signal bridge. The single pole mast waslocated abaft the bridge and supported the radioaerials. signal halyards and a search radar at its peak.Radio communications equipment included low[requency and medium high frequency radio and very

high frequency radio-telephone called the T B.S. (talkbetween ships). The TBS with 'linc of sight range' wasa relatively secure tactical voice circuit that enabledinstant communications between ships, 1O the shore, orin directing aircraft.Two motor whaleboats were housed on davits abaftthe forward deck house. Two raked funnels of equalsize serviced the two boiler rooms and were oblong incross-section except for Bethlehem built ships whichwere flat-sided. The funnel caps were smaller indiameter than the funnels themselves with a pro-nounced rake aft.The after deck house usually supported a 40mmtwin and was located between the number three andnumber four main batteries. ix Fletchers were plannedto carry a scout plane each and the rotating catapultwas located on the 01 level amidships. The after tor-pcdo mount, number three main battery and afterdeck house were eliminated to make room for thecatapult. Only [OUI' ships were actually so equipped-Pringle, Stevens Stanley and Halford but the arrange-ment proved impractical and the catapults were soonremoved.ArmorAs with most destroyers the Fietchers were very lightlyarmored. Splinter shield protection was furnishedaround the bridge area, the main mounts and thesecondary battery gun tubs. The small amount ofarmor carried varied in thickness [rom 25 to 50in.

CHARLES AUSBURNE (DD 570)The BeginningThe contract for the second destroyer named CharlesAllsbume was let to the Consolidated Steel CompanyOrange, Texas 0119 cptcrnber 1940 at a contract price(hull and machinery) of $7,315,000. The ship wasauthorised on 4 September 1940 under the 70%


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A stern view of Ausburne taken in lace 1942 off Orange.Texas. where she was built by Consolidated ShipbuildingCompany. The protrudinq frameworks on each side of {hehull are propellorguards (Photo: UiS, Navy)

Expansion Act of EI July 1!)40 (Public Law No. 757).Charles Ausburne's keel was laid 14 May J941 and shewas launched 16 March 1942 by Mrs W. H. Cotten,foster sister of Charles Ausburne. TIle ship was placedin commission alongside the iry Dock at Orange24 November 1942 by Captain J . M. Schelling, U.S.N.,retired. and was under the command of LieutenantCommander Luther K. Reynolds, U.S.N .pon completion of fitting-out and dock trials,. 1 u s b u r n e sailed 29 December for New Orleans, thenceto Guantanamo Cuba, for her shakedown and work-up, where she arrived 6 January 1943. She headed

north fOI'Boston arriving 6 February and, after a periodof post-shakedown and final exercises in Casco BayAusburne departed 2-l March on her first combatassignment. For the first Lime, a majority of her crewand several of her officers would be at sea for anextended period. For, as was the case with most of thenew ships in the fast growing"S :-'avy in the early daysof the war. only five to ten per cen i-of the crew wereexperienced navy hands.

First CruiseOn 1 April 1943. Ausburne escorted a convoy out ofNew York bound for Casablanca. The convoy madeport 19 April and two days later she sailed againes orting a home-bound convoy. stopping in Gibraltaren route, and arriving back in New York 8 Maywithout incident.DesRon 23The next day Ausburne was back in Boston to makepreparation for deployment to the Pacific bani zone.On II May in a. dress ceremony on the foredeck ofAusburne, Captain Marlin.J. Gillan. Jr , U.S.N., read hisord rs as commodore of rhe newly formed DestroyerSquadron 23. Ch ar le s A us bu ru e would carry the broadcommand pennant of ComDesRon 23 through most ofthe war.DesRon 23 was composed of two De troyer Divisions,(DesDiv) 4.'5 and 46 with four destroyers each. Tbeusual U. Navy practice is to assign a captain incommand of a DesRon with the honorary tide ofcommodore and he also commands the senior DesDiv.A commander or, on occasion. the senior commandingofficer in the junior DesDiv was assigned as thatdivision's commander. In World War II destroyersquadrons usually had eight ships assigned but thisnumber could vary from four to twelve.Only two other ships, Foote and Spence, of Des Ron 23,were on hand in Boston harbor [hal May day. TJ)eother fiv de troyers of th squadron were elsewhere

but all were under orders LOrendezvous in the southwest Pacific. A ll the destroyers of DesRon 23 werebrand new Fletchers.Pacific BoundA I I S b u 7 7 1 e departed Boston J 7 May 1943 and headedsouth stopping at Norfolk and Galveston. With oiler

U.S.s. Halford (DD480). 14 July 7943. shown carrying a catapult and a OS2U Kingfisher t toetplene. Six Fletchers wereoriginally planned in this configuration but the idea proved impractical and all six became standard Fletchers.

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ( ; ; . . P _ h . . . ; . o / O : u.s. Navy)

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N E W IR E L A N D I "

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USS Schuykill under escort, she sailed for the PanamaCanal which she transited 1June.

Joining with her sister, USS Foote, and tanker WhilePlains, she crossed the Pacific arriving at Noumea,

ew Caledonia 28 June. The voyage was withoutsignificant incident, Ausburne's log indicating that foreconomical fuel consumption, normal cruising waswith one boiler on the line, cross-connected and thepropellers turning about 140 revolutions per minute.N ep tu nu s R ex made his ceremonial visit to initiate all thePollywogs (persons who hadn't crossed the equatorbefore) when Ausbume crossed the equator 6 June; it isalso noted she took on 82,500 gallons of oil fromWh ite P la in s on the 12th.

AUSBURNE GOES TO WARAfter two days of availability alongside destroyertender USS Wh it Tl e) , A u sb uT Il c sailed as part of thescreen which was escorting the ships of TransportationDivision 8 to Guadalcanal where they unloaded andreturned to Efate. During the better part of the nextfour months this was to be Ausburne's lot: escortingconvoys back and forth between Noumea, EspirituSanto, Efate and the battle area in the SolomonIsland chain, and seeing little combat in the process.

The bitter fighting around Guadalcanal was historyby mid-1943 and the action was leap-frogging north-westward along the Solomons toward the big J apanesebastion at Rabaul, New Britain Island. So these firstmonths proved dibilitating for Ausbume and hersisters in DesRon 23. Constant standing to generalquarters, the continuing effort to keep the ships pro-200

SOLOMON SEA

visioned and maintained for battle and a number ofmissed opportunities to come to grips with the enemyall contributed to the fatigue and low morale of thecrew.

From 27 August 1943, Ausbume was based at PurvisBay, Florida Island, where she became part of a strikeforce, under Commander Task Force (CTF) 31,designed to interdict the 'Tokyo Express'-the namegiven to the Japanese efforts to reinforce or evacuate,usually with destroyers at night, their garrisons alongthe Solomon cbain. She made her first patrol 'up theSlot' (that wide channel formed by the Solomons onthe north and -the New Georgia Group on the south)the night of 27 August.Radar: the decisive weaponWhile escorting an LST convoy to Vella LaVella on7 September, Ausburne made her first contact with theenemy when her group came under Japanese airattack. Itwas during this period that experimentationwith night fighter direction was undertaken with theaid of radar. Radar would prove to be a criticalelement in the US Navy's defeat of the Imperial avy.Although the Japanese had shown superior nightfighting tactics in the opening battles in the Solomons,they did not have operational radars in any numbersuntil late in the war; this defect was to prove decisive.Ausbume's first recorded 'kill' was the night of

27-28 September 1943, when she sank two barges inthe waters off Vella LaVella.


11/27

Commander Luther K. Reynolds, USN (now RearAdmiral Reynolds, Retired) was the first commandingofficer of Charles Ausburne serving from 24 November1942 10 1 June 7944. Nicknamed 'Brute' because of hissmall stature Reynolds graduated from the U.S. NavalAcademy i ll 1926. He commanded u.S.S. Barry (DD248).an old World War I ' four piper', before joining Ausburneand commanding her for a year and one-nett of herillustrious career (Photo: US. Navy)

U.S.S. Spence (DD512) a sistershio of Ausburne's andthe only one of DesRon 23s 'Little Beavers' lost duringthe war. She was sunk in a typhoon off the Philippines78 December 1944 (Photo: US. Navy)

BurkeArrivesAusbume returned to Espiritu Santo 3 October forreplenishment and availability alongside tenderUSS Dixie. It was here on 23 October 1943 thatCaptain Arleigh A. Burke, a future Chief of NavalOperations, broke his pennant as the new ComDesRon23 in USS Char le s A u sb u rn e. Under his command the'Little Beavers' as he was to nickname his squadron,were to win their place in naval history-and tobecome the only destroyer squadron in World War IIto win the Presidential Unit Citation.

When Commander Reynolds welcomed Burkeaboard he added that the new Commodore hadarrived a bit earlier than expected. One of the firstremarks in Burke's new command was an example ofthe pace he would se r for DesRon23.'You know, Brute', said Burke, '1 some imes thinkthe difference between a good officer and a poor one isabout ten seconds. It's a fine rule to get going soonerthan anticipated, travel faster than expected, andarrive before you're due. You'd be surprised bow manyfights )'01.1 can get into that way and, after all, ifyou're ready. you can expect to win your share.'Commodore Burke extended the thought of thepreceding remark into three guiding principles forDesRon 23:

'SPEED .' m ove qu ick!!, wh ile the other fellow is trying tomake u p his m ind . LOOK FOR F IGHTS: if y ou lo ok fo rthem you'l! probably find them . BE PREPARED : if)'01l'r6 ready/or a fig ht y ou sh ou ld win )'0111"share. 'Allsbllme, with the new commodore aboard, sailed fOI:Purvis th next day arriving 25 October. For the firsttime all eight ships of the squadron were assembled in

one place and for most of the next few months DesRon23 would fight as a unit.The destroyers in the squadron were: Division 45:Charles Ausbume (DDS70), Dyson (DD572), Claxton

Ausburne leads two of her sisters of Oesron 23 in 'S'turns at speed somewhere in the Solomons, The IirstFletchers were found to have little rudderettect belowfive knots. Subsequentlv. all ships of this class werefilled with a longer rudder which improved low speedhandling(Photo: Adm. A. A. Burke Collection. Naval HistoricalFoundstions

201


12/27

Ausburne receiving mail from the cruiser U.S.S. Columbia 27 September 1949. That night she sank two Japanese bargesoff Vella Lavella (PllOtO: u.s. Navy)(DDS7l) and StaTIley (DD478); Division 46: Foote(DDSlI), Conuerse (DDS09), Spence (DDSI2) andThatcher (00514). Of these eight destroyers all wouldsurvive the war except Spence-she sank with two otherdestroyers in a typhoon off the Phillipines 18December1944; only 23 of her crew survived.

Burke called a conference to discuss his doctrine withall his skippers as soon as he arrived at Purvis. In thisrespect Commodore Burke followed the same philo-sophy as Admiral Nelson and his 'Band of Brothers'concept, discussing thoroughly all phases of doctrineand lessons learned with his captains on every possibleoccasion.

Des.Ron 23 was combined with the four lightcruisers of CruDiv 12 to form Task Force 39 com-manded by Rear Admiral A. S. 'Tip' Merrill. On themorning of 26 October a portion of this force, TaskGroup 39.3, including Ausburne moved out to providea covering force for the diversionary landings againstthe Treasuries and Choiseul Islands-s-a prelude to theinvasion of Bougainville. Their mission was accom-plished with little interference from the enemy exceptfor several light air attacks; the force then returned toPurvis 10 make ready for the main event=-Bougainville.BOUGAINVILlE PREPARATIONSAt 0200, 31 October 1943, all twelve ships of TF39headed for Bougainville. Their mission was: first, inthe darkness of the morning of INovember, to bom-bard the enemy airfields along the Buka passage on thenorth coast of Bougainville; second, to do the samelater in the day against his base complex on theShortland Islands south of Bougainville; and lastly, toprovide distant cover for the invasion force scheduledto land in the Cape Torkina area of Bougainville themorning of the INovember.

Ausburne led the force in a single line. The destroyers'primary mission was counter-battery fire while thecruisers were to use their 6in and 5in batteries to blowup the airfields and base areas. At 002 I, I NovemberTF39 with the weather improving and temperature202

Csptsin Arleigh A. Burke while serving as CommanderDestroyer Squadron 23. Burke selected Ausburne as hisflagship and from 23 October 7943 10 26 March 1944directed DesRon23 through much of Ihe heavy fightingof the Solomons Campaign. A 1923 graduare of the u.s.Naval Academy Burke was a dediceted destroyer manthroughout his naval career. From DesRon 23 he joinedAdmiral Marc Mircher Commander Task Force 58. as hisChief of Staff. In 1955 as a Rear Admiral Burke wasselected cobecome the Chief of Naval Opemtions jumpingover 92 admirals above him on the lineal list. AdmiralBurke served an unprecedented six years asCNO

(Phow: U.S. Navy)

82 deg. F, rhe task force began its shore bombardment.'Black Cal' (PBY Catalina patrol planes) wereoverh ad spotting fire which appeared to achievesome degree of success. The Japanese reply was weakand erratic shore fire, harassment by several PT boats,and light air attacks.

Eight minutes after firing-commenced, Ausburnecompleted her run and turned to retirement course


13/27

The Sin./3S cetiber qun evolved in the 1920sand 1930s,' during World War 1 1 1 1 was installedin single or dual mounts on sltnost every classof ship from des/royer escorts 10 aircraftcerrters. ThISgun is stitt extensively used inthe U.S. Navy. The Sin. /38 gun is a semi-eutornettc, dual purpose. base-ring-mounted gun using semiitxedammunition, The semifixedemmunition consist of aoroiectite of approximarely541b and a 281bpowdercase including 151bofpowder, Iniuai velocuv :f Jis 2600 feel per second.maximum horizontalrange. 78.000yd:maximum verticetrange. 37.300fl.An experienced crewcould fire 75 to 22rounds per minute.Tile gun has a radiallyexpanded IWO ton steelmonobloc barrel. Therifl ing has a uniformtwist of Iturn in 30calibers. The bore ischromium plated and thebarrel connected cotne housingby a bevonet type joint, Fusingcould be tlmed, can teet or closeproximitv=orojectite typesinclude armor piercing,treqmemetion orittuminetion

Ausburne. 30 Sep tember 1944. Camouflage tPboto: U.S. Navy)

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Ausburne in solid gray paint scheme, whichshe carried from February 1943 to September1944. Secondary armament was increased tothree 40mm twin mounts and ten 20mmsingle mounts.

I

Ausbume's camouflage scheme from Septem-ber 1944 until the end of the war. Secondaryarmament carried during this period includedfive 40mm twin mounts and seven 20mmsingle mounts.


15/27

U.S.S. Ausburne (DD-570) as she appeared immediatelyafter commissi.oning. Her paint scheme included a black falsewaterline covering most of the lower hull. Secondary arma-ment included two 40mm twin mounts and four single 20mmsingle mounts.T.Hadler/D. Johnson Profile Publications Ltd

ID IC IB IAo 48Feet

Ausburne's sister ship U.S.S. Fletcher (DD.445) the class leader of some 175 destroyers.In the last two years of the war most U . S .destroyers were given some form of double ortriple color dazzle camouflage. Fletchercarried one of many variations of camouflagethat evolved in the U.S. Navy during the1942-45 period .. . . .

: . . . . . . M . . . , ~ ~'to 7"Ausburne as Z-6 (0-180)' during her careerin the German Federal Navy from April 1960to December 1967-her longest period ofactive duty .Number incorrectly shown on artwork.


16/27

~.WultD Oil ' J:'!I

followed in turn by the rest of the force. As the taskforce headed south at 30 knots towards the Shortlands,enemy air attacks continued to harass it. Ausbume wasraked by a low flyer which subsequently crashed-anapparent victim of ,Charlie' Ausbume's anti-aircraft.CTF39 passed the Bougainville invasion force

heading into Empress Augusta Bay as it made for theheavily fortified Shortlands. Just after sunrise onI overnber, Japanese shore batteries opened fire onAusbume as she led the force into its second mission ofthe day. For the next 43 minutes the US ships cameunder intense enemy fire as they zig-zagged on th irbombardment courses. Leaving several large firesbehind them, the US ships retired.

Ausbume was straddled several times with near missesand her fantail was sprayed with shell fragments.Dyson took a hit in the bow and numerous near misseswere experienced throughout the force but its fightingefficiency was unimpaired.Admiral Merrill now manoeuvred his force intoposition to intercept the inevitable surface challengethe Japanese would send down [rom Rabaul against theinvasion force. CTF 39 .had a two-fold mission: to

interdict any such move by the enemy and to cover thetransports of the landing force when they retired-hiswas the only sizeable US Naval surface force availableto protect the beachhead at Cape Torokina.The Battle of the FuelThe Admiral's destroyers were in need of rearming andrefuelling if they were to fight a major engagement.Over a day of steaming at high speeds, sometimes wellabove 30 knots, burned the Fletchers' fuel at a prodigiousrate and large amounts of ammunition had beenexpended in the bombardments. The closest oil was ina barge at the advanced facility in Hathorn Sound, offthe east tip of ew Georgia Island. Needing to keep206

some destroyers with his cruis rs, Merrill ordered onlyDesDiv 45 to make the run for oil in all haste. .Ausburne and the rest of the Division d parted at 0750for Hathorn in what Burke called 'the battle for fuel'.

Boiling along at 32 knots Ausbume and her 'mates' madeHa thorn by IllS. Ausbume and Dyson moored to thebarge first. Claxton and Stallley came in later mooringalongside the first two and prepared to take over theirsister ships' lines as they slipped them upon departingthe barge, thereby saving minutes. Commodore Burkewas living up to his doctrine of speed. At 1527 Ausbumeand Dyson got underway at IS knots: Stanley andClaxton were ordered to join up at 32 knots as soon asthey wer fuelled. They did so at 1800 and the divisionheaded at 32 knots for the rendezvous with the cruisersand the Battle of Empress Augusta Bay.BATTLE OF EMPRESS AUGUSTA BAY:PreliminariesThe Imperial favy was not going to allow the Ameri-can effort go unchallenged. From their intelligence,they had a fairly accurate picture of the compositionof the US Naval Forces in the Solomons area. Theyfelt after the extensive bombardment c ffo . .t ofTF39 onthe morning of INovember, that the fore would needto head south to replenish. The US Marine beachheadsOIt Bougainville might be relatively unprotected laterin the day.At 1800 INovember 194-3, a Japanese force underAdmiral Omori's command sortied from Rabaul. Its

task was two-fold: to escort five high speed transportdestroyers loaded with reinforcements to Bougainvilleand to sink ally US force encountered in the area.This force consisted of two heavy cruisers, Myoko andHagura, steaming in column, flanked on the right bylight cruiser Agal lQ followed by destroyers Naganami,Hatsukare and Wakatsuki; and on the left by lightcruiser Sendai followed by destroyers Shigure,Samidare and SlziratsuYII-fewer ships but more heavilygunned than TF39.Because of late departure and a top p ed of only

26 knots, the five A PDs (Transport Destroy rs) wereordered back to Rabaul and the reinforcement effortwas postponed. Omori proceeded toward Bougainvil1cat 32 knots.CTF 39 Prepares for BattleDuring the daylight hours of I November, whileBurke's DesDiv 45was off' on the dash for fuel and theJapanese were preparing to sortie, Rear Admirall\ Jerri II's cruisers and Commander B. L. 'Count'Austin s DesDiv 46 were patrolling near Vella La Vellaand resting from their efforts earlier in the day.Admiral Omori's force was sighted and tracked byU 'snooper' aircraft, so the decision was made [0retire all the US shipping still at Bougainville beach-head, even though all the ships had not finishedunloading. The four transports not fully unloadedwould retire south for half the night, then turn aroundand head back to Cape Torokina in order to arriveat dawn.At 2222 Ausburns made radar contact with a largeformation of ships which turned out to be the mainbody of TF39 escorting the four transports. DcsDiv 45joined and TF39 detached itself from the transportsand headed 355 degrees true at 20 knots to reduce the


17/27

2 NOV 1943

THE BATTLE OFEM P R E S SAUGUSTA BAY"U:!lBUIt~1 ........ ( 1 : . 1 : I!IM~AAt >D NJ ,-, CT w iTk 1 !. N t. IIV

>0'$ ."10&11' - AN(I$KIIIATSUtU eot.LIOI

0231 TO0300

possibility of the ships' wakes being detected. The planwas to put T 39 between til oncoming Japanese forceand the beachhead in the western waters of EmpressAugusta Bay.Merrill's force was disposed in line-of-bearing onunit guides. AIl.>burne was in the van and leading theother three destroyers of her division. on the starboardwing and 6000 yards ahead of the guide (cruiserMontpelier). The cruisers then followed in column-distance I000 yards between each. In the port colum nand to the rear were the four destroyers of DesDiv 46.Planof BattleAs th aircraft continued to track the more powerfulJapanese force, it became clear that the enemy washeading for the invasion beaches. Admiral Men-ill at0100,2 I overnber, ordered his ships to increase speedto 28 knots to ensure they did not miss the enemy.In pre-planning for this battle, Admiral Merrill baddecided that the destroyers would open the battle witha torpedo run and, once action was joined, he hoped toedge the enemy westward away from BougainviUe. Hethen planned to engage the enemy in a long range gunbattle in order to avoid the Japanese torpedoes whicheven their cru isers carried. He hoped that the Americanradar advantage would offset the Japanese superiorfire power.Because of Japanese 'snoopers' in the area, TF39slowed to 20 knots again. In fact, one of Omori's float

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A IJ ,I I! U Jf I! II '[ _ _1 , " 0 0' t ' 5ONCi!U.5l Sl ,l :f il l[Y AiNO

I;l..ilXTO,,"

010S

0300 TO0400: !! I1 U ~ A T !I ! ,P Y l. I " N I JoSA I I I ICM i f . A I !T I . ft !: 0"41'lu i i tJC! : t I l J IE_ I I I IU1AR"~;T""'1.1;5rm,j IH

:!IIPIENCE lIi[iI'l.l!S~''''A'I''s us

O~20 "ATSUI( .A,Z:, t

planes sighted the US force but grossly underestimatedit as one cruiser and three destroyers. It was a moonless,calm, overcast night, dark except for occasionalRashes of heat lightning.At 0227 apple gadgets' (surface pips) began to

appear on the flagship's radar at a range of 35,900yards. Al hough several of the Japanese ships wereequipped with rudimentary radar it would be acrucial eighteen minutes later before the Japanesediscovered the presence of the US ships.Destroyer Torpedo AttackA:; soon as the enemy was located, Ausbume led herdivision in for a torpedo attack on the Japanesenorthern flank, as the rest of the force counter-marchedto allow Desffiv 46 to make a torpedo run on Omori'ssouthern flank At 0245, Ausbume launched a half salvoof torpedoes and was followed closely by the other threedestroyers behind her; she- then led the column in acircling course to the north to clear any torpedoes theJapanese may have fired at the attacking destroyers.

At about the same time, the Japanese detected thepresence of the American force and altered course,manoeuvring themselves out of danger from the UStorpedoes. Seeing the alteration the Americancruisers opened fire and with immediate effect. In theensuing melee, confusion was experienced on bothsides.Four- Japanese ships were damaged in two separate

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US.S. Hazelwood (D0531) in 7960. This ship was badlymauled and almost sunk by Kamikazes off Okinawa in1945; she is shown here with an experimemal con version10 rest the Dash drone helicopter concept The hangarand landing pad predominate the area aft of the rear funnel.The oiote torpedo launcher can be seen 81 the deck edgeIUSIforward of the hangar tPnou U.S. Nevv';collisions. Spence and Thatcher both travelling at30 knots on reciprocal courses, side-swiped each otherin a shower of sparks and crumpled metal. Ausbumcand Dy.wJI! became separated for a period of time fromtheir two sisters and, at one time, DeaDiv 45 wasfiring on DesDiv 46. At 0349, Ausburne's division gotback in to the battle by firing the coup de grace intocruiser Sendai, already battered by the US cruisers.First LightAs dawn approached, the Japanese headed back forRabaul as fast as possible. TF39, with little ammunitionleft and four of .its destroyers running low on fuel,'licked its wounds' and prepared for the inevitable airattack.TF39 had accomplished its primary mission inprotecting the BougainviJl i nvasion elements: in sodoing it had exacted from the Imperial avy the lossof one cru iser, one destroyer, two cruisers damaged andone destroyer damaged. The US 1 .avy had twocruisers and one destroyer damaged. The only casual-ties sustained were on Foote when she had her sternblown open by a torpedo. The above docs not includethe damage experienced on both sides due to collisions.During this action, the eight US destroyers expended2596 rounds of 5in ammunition and 52 torpedoes ofwhich only two were hits.

Claxton took Foote in lOW, both being escorted byAlisbume and Thatcher. In the morning, th Japaneseattacked with approximately 100 planes from Rabaul.They ignored Ausbume's formation with its cripple, andconcentrated on the cruisers. The ships' guns and USfighters drove off the attack with little damage to theforce, while accounting lor 25 Japanese aircraft.TF39 returned to Purvis exhausted physically andmaterially after two and one half-days of concentratedaction.Bougainville Operations ContinueFor the next three weeks, Ausbume and TF39 wereengaged in escorting the re-supply echelons up toBougainville : the force was harassed by continuing air208

attacks but by little significant surface opposition. Thenight of 16 November, A u sb l im e took a near-miss bomboff her port side which showered her with shrapnel anddented her side,The morning of 17 November, after fighting off atorpedo plane attack, Ausburne led her brood on

another bombardment mission on the Buka instal-lations,THE BATTLE OF CAPE ST GEORGE'31 Knot Burke'DesRon 23 sortied from Hathorn Sound 1405 24November heading for the now familiar waters aroundBougainvillc. Only five destroyers of the squadronwere operational: Charles Ausburne, D yson, Claxton,Converse and S pe nc e. S pe nc e had a tube brush jammed inone of her boiler tubes so she could make only 31 knots.Admiral Halsey, who was then Commander SouthernPacific, queried Burke as to his ETA at his rendezvous,his composition, course and speed. The reply indicated'The Little Beavers' were steaming at 31 knots. Halsey'snext communication was addressed: 'For 31 knotBurke,' a title Admiral Burke carries with him to thisday, even ill retirement.

Commanding officers of the 'Liule Beavers' of DesRon 23enjoy '0 cool one' at the CLOOB DES-SLOT, Purvis Bay,Solomons Lefrto right: Cdr R A. Gene (US.S. Dyson),Cdr. L. K. Reynolds (US.S. Charles Ausburne). Capt,A. A. Burke (ComDesRon 23). Cdr, B. L. Austin(ComDesDiv 46). Cdr. D. C. Hamberger (US.S.Converse),unidemified officer. and Cdr. H. J. Armstrong(US.S. Spence). A/I the idemified officers in this photowere destined tomake sdmiret after World War /1.(Pharo: Adm. A. A. Burke Collection. Naval HistoricalFoundation)

Destroyer Against DestroyerIntelligence indicated that the Japanese were aboutto run a 'Tokyo Express' from Rabaul to the Buka-Bonis area. The enemy purpose was to bring 920troop reinforcements and to take out 700 badly neededaviation rates from the now inoperative airfields there,Thc Japanese wcre in the process or" doing th is thenight of 2425 November. A force under CaptainKagowa consisting of three destroyers Amagiri, Tugiri,and Uruki, and two destroyers, Ollarni and Makinamiacting as screen, had already accomplished the firstpart of its mission. It was now heading back to Rabaulas DesRon 23 raced north to intercept.


19/27

lllE SA,TTlE OFC A P E S T G E O R G E

\APPROACH AND !P OS ffI ON A T 0 /4 1

The night was overcast and moonless with inter-mittent rainsqualls, 'An ideal night for a nice quiettorpedo attack,' Burke noted. As DesRon 23approached the line between Cape St George at thesouthern end of New Irelan d Island and Buka passage,it slowed to 23 knots. Ausbrll"lIe lead the squadron in atwo column echelon formation. The japanese, steaming280 degrees true at 25 knots, were similarly disposedbut with the two screening destroyers 13,000 yards infront. It was the American holiday of Thanksgivingand, at this early morning hour, several of the cooksin the squadron were already busy preparing thetraditional turkey and pumpkin pie.At 0141 DysOl I picked up the japanese screen at22,000 yards. Again radar was to prove decisive: the

Japanese would not know of the American presenceuntil 30 seconds before the first torpedo struck. Burkeclosed his formation to within 5500 yards, 50 degreeson the port bow of the two enemy destroyers, and letfly 15 torpedoes from Ausbume, Dyson and Claxton.'While manoeuvring to avoid any counter-torpedoattack, radar picked up the second enemy column.Burke ordered Converse and Spence to take on the firsttwo enemy ships while he LOokAusbume, Claxton andDyson after this new enemy force .. No sooner had thisorder been given, when the American torpedoesended their 210 second run in three large explosions.Onami sank almost instantly, while Makauami lay dead,afire in the water.General ChaseAlarmed by the torpedo explosions, the three destroyersin the second japanese column immediately turnednorth at top speed. Ausburne and her two mates followedat 33 knots in hot pursuit. At 0215 Burke on a hunchordered a radical course change and, as his shipssteadied on their original chase course, three enemy

torpedoes exploded in their wakes in the water they hadjust vacated. At a range of B O D O yards, the pursuingdestroyers opened fire and the three fleeing destroyerstook three divergent courses in an 'every man forhimself+move.rugiri,. the northernmost destroyer, was finallySlopped and sunk by Ausbllrrle and her sisters at 0300.Makinam! finally sank at 0254 and Conoerse and Spenceraced north to joi n the other three 'Li t lie Beavers'.The scene of the battle was now close to Cape SL George,Rabaul's front yard, and dawn was not far off. With theremaining ["\\10 enemy destroyers damaged bu t now outof range, DesRon 23 reluctantly headed home. Forsome unknown reason, .Japanese air did not molestAusburue and her four sisters as they headed home rhatday.The only damage received by the 'Little Beavers' wasfrom the concussion of their own guns. A usbu rue 'number one mount had to have its crew relievedseveral rimes because the muzzle blast of number twomount firing straight ahead, had torn the doors andother odd pieces off number one, thereby exposing itscrew to a tremendous beating The concussion Irornthe guns had also disturbed the boiler mounts and theThanksgiving turkeys,As rhe gallant ships of DesRon 23 steamed into

Purvis that night, the cruisers, in an unprecedenteddisplay of welcome and th.e flagsignal, 'Bravo Zulu'(well done) hoisted, illuminated and manned the rails.The Japanese reported they had been attacked by a'cruiser division, a destroyer division and several PTboats'.Solomon's Camp.aign EndsAusbltmc continued to support operations in thenorthern Solomons unti IMarch J 944. She escortedconvoys and fought off enemy air attacks. She par-ticipated in bombardment missions against TinpU1S,Ruri and Tsundawan 20 December; Buka-Bonis23-24 Decem ber ; and Sarirne Plantation 4 F " ebrua ry1944. From 8J6 January 1944, Ausburne spent a wellearned and needed overhaul period in Sydney,Australia.On the night of 9 February [944, A'usbnme experien-ced the first effective lise of 'window', radar jamm ingfoil strips, by the japanese,From 13 to 17 February, TF 39,. including Ausbume,

provided cover C o r the landings on the Green Islandslocated north of Bougainville, The Japanese electednot to cbalknge the landings. On the J 7th DesRon 23headed nortb to raid the area around the japaneseport at Kavieng on the north side of New Ireland.

A/ubume and CompaJly, with an Army Air ForceB-24 to spot their shots, opened fire on the harbor,airfield and base area at Kavieng at 0632 18 February.The B24 reported the .fire was effective and that atanker was burning alongside a pier. The enemy'sshore batteries scored. a number of near misses but noserious damage was incurred.Visit to RabaulAfter replenishing, the 'Little Beavers' were back inNew Ireland waters on 20 February. This time theirmission was 10 circum-navigate the island counter-clockwise, ending with a bombardment on Rabaulitself. It was hoped enemy shipping coming down from

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20/27

Captain Arleigh Burke, ComDesRon 23, leans against thetorpedo director reading on the bridge wing of his ffag-ship, Charles Ausbuma. somewhere in the Solomons inearfy 1944_ The hashmarks on the main battery directorindicate from left to right number of aircraft shoe down,shore bombardments conducted, wars/lips and merchantships sunk Note 20mm canvas covered gun just forward ofthe director and 'Little Beaver' insignia on side of the bridge

(Photo: US, Navy)

Ausburne, 27 September 1944, Deteil tett to Tighc includes: the ceotsin's chair, signal bridge witt: flag locker and signalhalyards, forward torpedo tube, 40mm gun directors on slter funnel immediately above their respective twin 40mmmounts and stter torpedo tubes. Note DesRon 23 insignia on bridge wing (Photo: US. Navy)Ausburne. 30 September 1944 with Golden Gete Bridge, San Francisco, in background. By the last year of World War IImost new US, Navy destrovers and chose going chrough major overhaul were given a camouflage scheme along thegeneral lines as shown here. Variations included three color schemes, dappled or 'crezv ouilt' effects (P/1OlO: Us. Navy)

2 L O


21/27

Truk or Palau might be intercepted north ofKavieng.Nothing was sighted on the tw nty-first,About lOl5 on 22 February the five ships pouncedon a single Japanese sh ip of about 1500 tons. A lisburnehoisted the international signal to surrender which the

enemy answered by opening fire. 'he was quicklysunk, Ausburne standing by to pick up survivors. Of theapproximately i50 Japanese floating in the water, 75were eventually rescued by rhre or the US destroyerincluding A usburne. The rest of the Japanese refusedto be rescued and a number committed suicide in avariety of bizarre ways.Later that same afternoon, after the two ships of

DeaDiv 46 had departed to bombard Kavieng again,Ausbume and her two cohorts came upon an old typeenemy destroyer. After a game chase and a heroicdefense, the enemy ship sank with a tremendousunderwater explosion as she went down near TingwonIsland.

u.S.S. Radford (00446) in 7963, one or ttuee FletcherFlam II conversions. Most of the Fram conversions weremade 10 the later Sumner/Gearing Class. Note chat theDash 11angaris larger and the landing pad smaller (han onthe experimental Hazelwood. A variable depth sonar isinstalled on the {antail. Small circular funnel caps aretnstetted (PhOlO: U.S, Navy)

U.S.S. Boyd (00544) in 1963. Note hedgehog launcherimmediaceiy below {he POr i bridge wing. Thss weaponfired a 12 projectile salvo in a circular oeuem aheadof the destroyer. These projecciles were contect fused anddesigned to puncture a submarine's pressure hull

(Photo; US. Navy)That night at the mouth to teffen Strait, a medium

size cargo ship and several enemy barges were encoun-tered and sunk. At 2247, the 'Little Beavers' startedtheir run down narrow t George Channel. In drivingrain, AlIsbume and bel' friends fired some bullets atDuke of York Island and Rabaul as they rushed by;they were clear of the channel by dawn 23 February.En route back to Purvis, AU.lbume picked up the crew ofa downed B-24.

During March, Ausbume escorted a re-supply echelonto the Green Islands made another run north of ewIreland looking for enemy shipping, and supported theErnirau Invasion 17-23 March,On return to Purvis 23 March orders were waitingtransferring DesRon 23 to CTF 58. Commodore Burkewas also ordered as Chief of Staff to CommanderCarrier Division 3 (who was the famous AdmiralMarc Mitcher*) aboard the USS Lexington.

THE MARCH TOWARD JAPANCTF58Ausbume joined the Fifth Fleet on 26 March 1944 and,with an emotional goodbye Commodore Burke washigh-lined to the 'LEX' on the 27th. The greatestchapter in AII.lbllme's history had come LO a close.The nited Stales had finally mobilized its greatmight and was now able to start island-hopping acrossthe Central Pacific .. Another year and one-half wouldgo by and many battles would be fought beforeeventual victory, but Ausbume would not meet sig-nifican t surface un its of the Imperial Navy in com batagain. From this poinl on, it would be his aircraft,kamikazes and shore installations that would feelAusburne's fire. She participated in the following TF 58opera lions:194430 March- 1 Ap,iI2123April Palau, Yap- Ulithl.Woleai raid.Supported Hollandia. New Guinealandings.Truk-Satawan- Ponape raid.Ma,ianas operations: 12 June, onlifeguard duty for Pagan Island strika :rescued live aviator's and destroyed twosampans. 15-16 June. screened forstrikes on Bonins. 17-21 June. sup-ported Saipan landings, and was in thecarrier screen during the famousMarianas 'Turkey Shoot' 01 19 June.2229 June, anti-shipping sweep and

bombardment of Guam.

29 Ap'il-l May6 June-J July

Ausburne received h r second commanding officerJune 1944 when Lieutenant Commander HowardW, Baker relieved Commander Luther K. Reynolds at

Majuro where she was based 4 May-6 June for tenderavailability and exercises. Baker would commandAusburne until she was placed in 'mothballs' in 1946.Statesi deB ou ndAfter the Marianas Campaign, Ausburne received awell earned rest, departing Majuro 3 August 1944 forthe United States. She arrived at _Iavy Yard, MareIsland, California 17 August for a much needed yardperiod and overhaul. While at Mare Island Ausburnereceived three additional twin 40mm mounts andvarious pieces of her machinery and electronicsequipment we)" r 'placed with modern gear, Ausburnedeparted San Francisco 5 October called at PearlHarbor and Eniwetok en route, and arrived at thelarge fleer anchorage at Ulirhi Atoll 5 overnber 1944.Back to the WarAusburne was back in the war and, until the capitulationof Japan in September 1945, she was to operatecontinually with elements of the Fifth and SeventhFleets.

Ausburne's missions while operating out of SanPedro Bay with the amphibious forces ofTF 78 were:211


22/27

Escorted carriers pro'IJJding air cover toco nvovs 10Le y1 a.Escorted res uppl y LST Convo V toMindoro. 'Fought oltheavv air auecks,E scort e dl 'a ns p orts lor ivasi 0n 0 ILing"yen Gull and provided gun fire5UPpOr! for initial landings. Ausburnewas credited wrth sinking destroyerl-iinoki1he night of 7 January 1945.Escorted another convoy to LingsyenGull,Supper ted the landings on Pansy,Supported Ihe landings on Negros_Provided I,ire support for the landings at,Parang. Mindan"o.

9 Decembe.-24 December41 ,5 .Januarv 1945

27 January-12 February15.28 March29 March-2 Ap'il'l' 424 April 1945

Ausburne's missions whi Ie operating wi th TF 51 in theOkinawa area were:16 May-22 June 1945 Antisubmarine patrol in Okinawa watersand oarricipered In the Nansei Shere

occupations 39 June.Radar picketdutv.Command ship for offensive Screen.Availability.Radar picket duty,An elerneru of Task Flotilla 1. partici-paling rnainlv in underway Lraining.

2330 June, -24Ju1V25 July-1 0 August11-12 August23 Augusl-1'O September

Homeward' BoundThe War ended 6 September 1945. On B SeptemberCharles AU.lblime reported 10 Commander Fil"Sl CarrierTask Force (CTF II) and got underway 10 Septemberfrom Okinawa with that force bound lor Pearl Harbor.Escorting battleship I da ho , Au sb ur ne steamed across the.Pacific to transit rh e Panama Canal 8-12 October;she put in at Norfolk 16-17 October and passed up thePotomac River to the Navy Yard, Washington, D.C.18 October.In a ceremony on 19 October 1945, with lour of the'Little Beavers' (Ausbume, D)'JOII, Converse and Claxton)

in attendance, Secretary of the Navy, James Forrestal,awarded Destroyer Squadron 23 the Presidential UnitCitation (see inside from cover), Des Ron 23 was the0111ydestroyer squadron so honored in World War' II.

Ausbume opened her brow to the Washington publicon Navy Day, 27 October. She departed for Nc"'; YorkHarbor on 3 November and remained there until5 January 1946. She arrived at Charleston, SouthCarolina 7 January and In preparation for her de-activation was thorougbly 'mothballed",

Charles Ausburne was decommissioned 18 Apri I 1946and joined the Atlantic Reserve Fleet berthed inCharleston.POST-WAR FLETCHER CONVERSIONSEscort Destroyer (ODE)Nineteen Fletchers were converted to escort destroyersunder the programs authorized 1948-50 .. (See photo.)The DDE was designed to serve as a convoy escort andin hunter-killer ASW learns. The major changes wereto electronics and armament. Two 5in main mountswere retained, numbers one and five. A ''''eaponALFA, a trainable ASW 1275in rocket launcher, wasinstalled in the number lWO S in mount position. Twotwin 3in 50 caliber mounts were located in place of thenumber three and four Sin mounts, The forward 3inmount was offset to port and the after one to starboard.Two hedgehog launchers were placed one on eachside of the bridge on the 0 I level. The 4Omm, 20mm,after quint torpedo mount and the depth charge Kguns were removed. These 19 Fietdiers were reclassi fiedas DDs Iuly 1962.212

Z-6 in its last form. Three single 40mm Bofors haverep/aced the three (win 3i17.mounts(Photo: Terzibaschitsch)

Ftam II FJetchersThree Fletcher DDEs were further modified under theFRAM II (Fleet Rehabilitation and Modernization)program of 1960. Major changes in this modificationwere in electronics (improved CIe,';' Sonar and radar)and armament. A tripod mast replaced the earlierpole mast. The funnels were top bat shaped caps. Twosmall triple torpedo launchers replaced the oneremaining quint mount and were located one eachside of the after funnel. The two 3in twin mounts wereremoved to allow rhe construction of a helicopter padand hangar at the 0 I level abaft the after funnel. Twotorpedo carrying DASH drone helicopters could bestored in the hangar. A small trellis type mainmast wasatop the hanga,. Two FRAM II Fleichers were subse-quently equipped with variable depth sonar, thetransducer and hoisting gear being located on thefantail.Additional Post-War ConversionsIn the post-war period numerous Fletchers receivedvarious modifications besides those mentioned. Some28 had their number three 5in mount and one of theirtorpedo mourns removed. The 20mm mounts wereremoved from most or the Fletchers. A number of theclass had twin- 3in/50cal. mounts replace their twin40mm. On others, the 40mm mounts were reduced innumber of removed completely. Most of the Flstdurswho remained on active duty had their pole mastsreplaced by tripods and eventually almost all of themhad two of the smaller triple torpedo mounts replacethe large quints.Up to the present day, all the remaining Fletchers

in the US Navy are in the Reserve Fleet except for sixoperational Naval Reserve Training ships.

A USB URNE JOmS THEFEDERAL GERMAN NAVYDe- act ivati 0nThirteen years after Amburnt joined the 'mothballed'Reserve Fleet at Charleston, South Carolina, she was

called for service again. Under the provisions of theUnited States Military Assistance Program, Ausbumeand five of her sisters, An/holry (DD 515), Ringgold(DD 500), Wadsworth (DD 516), Claxton (DD 571),


23/27

and Dyson (DD 572), were loaned to the FederalGerman Navy as Z 6 (D 180) Z I(D 170), Z 2 (D 171),Z 3 (D 172), Z 4 (D 178), and Z 5 (D 179), respectively.Charleston Navy Yard completely overhauled andmodernized Ausbume and on 12 April 1960 she wascommissioned as ;:)rsflircl' 6.Representing the German Federal Navy at thecommissioning was Vice Admiral Friedrich Ruge ", thenI ns pe ct eu r d er Bu nd es -ma ri ne , a position corresponding tothat of Chief of Naval Operations in the US Navy.Returning to the familiar deck of Ausburne andrepresenting the US Navy at the ceremony was AdmiralArleigh Burk CHIEF OF NAVAL OPERATIONS.Zarstorer 6: Modern izationAIl~bume was the second ship in the German Navynamed, Z 6. Her predecessor, Z 6, was named TheodoreRiedel. She was commissioned 6 July 1937 and duringWorld War II served in the North Sea, I orthern Atlan-tic, English Channel and the Skagerrak. t theconclusion of hostilities she became a British war prizeand later served in the French Navy as Kleber.The modernization of Z 6 included an enlargedbridge area; a tripod mast with improved radarantenna installed; and a platform carrying additionalelectronics antennas was built on the after funnel.Armament consisted of four 5in mounts, three twin3in/50 caliber automatic open moun rs , a single q u in ttorpedo mount, two hedghog launchers and onc depth

charge radar. Two of the twin 3in mounts werelocated on each side just forward of the after stack.Each of these mounts had its own director, both beinginstalled in the area of the original forward torpedomount between the two funnels. The third twin 3inmount was on top of the after deck house and its directorwas placed just forward, where the old number three5in mount had been located. The two hedgehoglaunchers were on the 0 I level, one on each side, justforward of the bridge. She carried a crew of 12 officersand 316 en! isted men.Z 6, with Z 4 and Z 5, all ex-Dcslcon 23 destroyers,formed Destroyer Squadron 3 based at Flensburg. The

primary mission of the squadron was to defend theBaltic approaches. During the course of her service Z 6participated in numerous national and NATO exer-crses,Z -6 passing under the Kiel Holtenauer Bridge. In theFederal German Navy she was lilted as most 01her U.S.Navy sisters of (he period: four Sin. main mounts. threetwin 31"'. mounts, a single quint torpedo mount. hedge-hogs, tripod mast andg/assed-in bridge(Pharo: Dressler Col/eclion)

In a later overhaul, the two twin 3in mounts amid-ships were removed and two single 40mm mounts wereinstalled in their place. The open bridge of Z 6 wasalso enclosed at this lime.It was decided to inactivate Z 6 and the S Navysubsequently sold her to the Federal German Navy toserve her five sisterships by providing much neededspare parts. She was stricken from the US lavy Register1 December 1967.On a cold and windy Friday, 15 December 1967,Zerstorer 6 was de-commissioned. In a brief ceremonyconducted by Kapitan zlir See von Mutius, theDestroyer Type Commander, and in company withKapitan zi.ir See von Bulow (her first German skipper)and Fregauerikapitan Fclrnberg (the last skipper), herrenowned exploitswere recounted. It was noted that2200 German officers and men had served in Z 6 duringher seven and one-half years of service to the FederalNavy. As the band played The Stars and Stripes F oreverand the A lte K am er ad en (Old Comrades) the NationalEnsign was slowly lowered.NOTES'Builder Key:BBth~Balh Iron Works Corp .Balh, Maine.Bethlehem, S.F.~Belhlehem Shipbuilding Co, San Francisco,California.Bethlehem. S.l.~ Bethlehem Shipbuilding Co. Staten Island, N.Y.8elhl~hem. S.P. ~ Bethlehem Steel Co. SB Division. San Pedro,Calilornia.Boston~Boston Navy Yard. 'Boston. Mass.Chatleslon~ Charl eston Navy Yard, Charleston. S.C.Consolidated-Consolidated Steel Corp., Orange. Texas.Federal-Federal Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Co. Kearny. N,J.Gulf-Gulf Shipbuilding Corp. Chickasaw. Ark.Pugel So"nd~Puget Sound Navy Yard. Bremerton, Wash.SeaWe-T8coma~Sealtle-T.coma Shipbuilding Corp. seeure, Wash.ToddP ..cific~Todd Pacific Shipy"ards, lnc .Seattle. Wash.Cancellations:Percival (452) experimental uhrahigh pressure steam plant. Watson(4B2) experimental with 24 GM 2500h.p, 32 cyi. diesel engines.Stevenson (503). Stockton (504). Thorn (505), Turner (506). Plusthese unnamed serials, 523. 524. 525. 542. 543. 548. 549.

A PPE N DIX ICHARLES AUSBURNE SPECIFICATIONSAuthorized: 4 Sept 1940-Under 70% EXpansion ACI 0119 July1940 (Act 01 Congress757 and Public law 757).Consolidated Steel Co. Orarlge. Texas.$7.315.000'00 (hull and machinery).14May1940.16 March 1942.24 November 1942.Standard 20501005. Full 2940 tons.Length 3561t, beam 39fl 7;n. mean draft 13f t, maxdralt l7t t 9in.Two General Electric Turbines with Falk doublereduction gears (Del.val design).Four Babcock and Wi lOOK Superheated-water tube565p.s.i. at 850' (F) at ful l power.Shaft Horsepower: 60.000 through two propeller s.Tria/Speed: 352 knots.Fuel: 492 tonsAccommodstions: 20 officers. 309 men.Directors and Main Battery Ojr. M k. 37 Mod. 22.Radar (1945): 40mm Gun Dir. Mk.Sl Mod.Ol (3).40mm Gun 01 r. Mk.51 Mod. 02 (2),Torpedo Dir. Mk.27 Mod. 05 (2).Main Battery F.C. Radar Mk.12.Main Battery F.C. Radar Mk.22SG Surface Search Radar,SC Air Search Radar.

Nov42 Mar 435 5

Builder:Contrsct Price:Keel Laid:Launched:Commissioned:Displacement:Dimensions:Engines:80ilers:

Atmame:nt."5in/383in/50 (twins)40mm (twins) 2 3 520mm 4 11 721 Torp. Tubes' 10 10 10D.C. rails 2 2 2D.C. launchers 6 6 6Hedgehog launchers 2'As Z 6 she carried an additional two ASW torpedo tubes. also had he,three twin 3in mounts replaced by three single 40mm at alater date.

Sepl445 Apr604

3

51

213


24/27

571 CLAXTONConso/idaled572 DYSONConsolidated573 HARRISONConsolidallid574 JOHN RODGERSConsolidated575 McKEEConsolidated576 MURRAYConsolideted577 SPROSTONConset ida/ed578 WICKESConsolidated579 W. D. PORTERConsotidsted580 YOUNGConsolidated581 CHARRETIEBasion6B2 CONNERBoston583 HALLBas/on584 HALLIGANBoston585 HARADENBoston5B6 NEWCOMBBoston587 BELLCharleslon588 BURNSCharleslon5891lAROCharleston590 P. HAMILTONCharleston591 TWIGGSCherles/on592 HOWORTHPugetSound593 KILLENPuye/Sound594 HARTpuyetSound595 METCALFpuyetSound596 SHIELDSPuget Sound597 WILEYPuget Sound629 ABBOTB8th630 BRAINE

Bath631 ERBENBath642 HALEBath643 SIGOURNEYB8th644STEMBLEFoderal649 A. W. GRANTCharleston650 CAPERTONBa/h651 COGSWELLBath652 INGERSOLLBath653 KNAPPBath654 BEARSSG u l f655JOHN HOODG u l f656 VAN VALKENBURGHG u l f

657 C. J. BADGERBethlehem. S./ ,658 COLAHANBethlehem. S.I .659 DASHIELFederal

214

8/12/42 Transferred to W. Germany15/12/59.30/12/42 Transferred to W. Germany'17/2160.25/1/43 Stricken 1/5/68.9/2/43 Str icken 1/5/68.31/3/43 Reserve.20/4/43 0 DE conversion, Stricken

1/6/65.19/5/43 0 DE conversion. Stricken1/10/68.16/6/43 Reserve.617/43 Sunk on radar picket duty offOkinawa by Kamikaze 10/6/

45.31/7/43 Stricken 115/68.18/5/43 Transferred to Greece15/6/59.8/6/43 Transferred to Greece15/9/59.717/43 Transferred to G reeee 9/2/60.1918/43 Sunk oft Okinawa probablyby a mine 26/3/45.16/9/43 Reserve,10/11/43 Badly damaged by threeKamikazes off Okinawa 6/41

45. Scrapped at end of war.4/3/43 Reserve.3/4/43 Reserve.1515/43 Stricken 1/5/6B.25/10/43 Stricken 1/5/68.4/11/43 Sunk by a Kamihze offOkinawa 16/6/45.3/4/44 Test ship 1958 atomic tests.Stricken 1/6161. Expended ase tarqet 8/3/62.5/4/44 Test ship 1958 atomic tests.Stricken 1/1/63. Expended

8Satarget.4/11/44 Reserve.18/11/44 Reserve.B/2145 Act.ive service as a NavalReserve Training Ship.22/2/45 Stricken 1/5/68:23/4/43 Reserve.11/5/43 Active service as a NavalReserve Training Ship.28/5/43 Transferred to Korea 1/5/63.15/6/43 Transferred to Columbia

23/1/61.29/6/43 Reserve.16/7/43 Transferred to Argentina

l/B/61.24/1 1/43 Reserve.3017/43 Reserve.17/8/43 Transferred to Turkey1/10/69.31/8/43 Reserve,16/9/43 Reserve,12/4/44 Reserve.716/44 Reserve.2/8/44 Transferred to Turkey28/2/67.2317/43 Reserve.23/8/43 Stricken 1/8/66. Expended

as a target.20/3/43 Reserve.

6608UlLARDFederal661 KIDDFederal662 BENNIONBoston663 H. L. EDWARDSBoston664 R. P. LEARYBas/on665 BRYANTCharleston666 BLACKFederal667 CHAUNCEYFeder,,1668 C. K. 8RONSON

Federal669 CODENFederal670 DORTCHFederal671 GATLINGFedersl672 HEALYFederal673 HICKOXFedelal674 HUNTFederal675 LEWIS HANCOCKFeders!676 MARSHALLFederal677 McDERMUTFederal678 McGOWANFederal679 McNAIRFedelal680 MELVINFedetal681 HOPEWELLBe/hlehem. S.P.682 PORTERFIELDBethlehem. S.P.683 STOCKHAMBethlehem. S.P.684 WEDDERBURNBethlehem. S.P.685 PICKINGBethlehem. 5.1.

686 HALSEY POWELLBelhlehem. S.I.687 UHLMANNBethlehem. S.I.688 REMEYBath6B9 WADLEIGHBalh690 NORMAN SCOTIBath691 MERTZBath792 CALLAGHAMBelhlehem. S.P.

793 CASSIN YOUNGBethlehem.5.P.7941FlWINBethlehem. S.P.795 PRESTONBethlehem. s.e.796 DENHAMBethlehem. S.I.797 CUSHINGBelhlBh8m. S.I.798 MONSSENBethlehem. S.I.799 JARVISTodd Pacilic

B O O PORTERTodd Pacific801 COlHOUNTodd Pacific802 GREGORYTodd Pacific

B03 LlTILETodd Pacific

9/4/43 Reserve.23/4/43 Haserve.14/12/43 Reserve.26/1/44 Transferred to Japan 10/3/59.23/2/44 Transferred to Japan 10/3/59.4/12/43 Stricken 1/6/68.21/5/43 Reserve.31/5/43 Reserve.11/6/43 Transferred to Turke.,.14/1/67.24/7/43 Reserve.7{8/42 Transferred to Argentina1/8/61.19/8/43 Resefve.3/9/43 Reserve.10/9{43 Tran"ferred to S. Korea11/11/68.22/9/43 Resefve.29/9/43 Transferred to Brazil 1/8/67.16/10/43 Stricken 12/7/69.19/11/43 Str icken 1/4/65.20/12/43 Transferred to Spain31/11/68.30/12/43 Reserve.24/11/43 Reserve.30/9/43 Stricken 2/1 (70.30/10/43 Resefve.1l/2/44 Reserve.9/3/44 Reserve.21/9/43 Reserve.25/10/43 Tfansferred to S. Korea27/4/68.22/11/43 Active Service Naval ReserveTraining Ship.30/9143 Reserve.19/10/43 Transferred to Chile 2617/62.5/11/43 Reserve.19/1 1 /43 Resefve.27/1 1/43 Sunk on radar picket dUly offOkinawa by a KamIkaze2917145. one hour before due

to.depart for the US.31/12/43 Reserve.l4/9/44 Transferred to Brazill 0/4/68.20/3/44 Res"rve.20/12/43 Transferred to Peru 8/10/61.17/1/4414/t/443/6/4424/6/448/7/44

Transferred to B r a zi l 20/7/61.Stricken 1/2/63.Trans!"ued 10 Spain 3/11/60.Reserve.

2917/44

Sunk on radar picket duty of fOkinawa by four Kamikazes6/4/45.Stricken 1/5/66. Serving as anon seagoing tra ining ship atSan Diego .renamed Indoct-rinator.Sunk on radar picket duty offOkinawa by four Kamikazes3/5/45.

19/8/44


25/27

804 ROOKSTodd Pacific

APPENDIX II

2/9/44

Destroyers of the Fletcher classPendant No. CommissionedNa.meandBuilde'445 FLETCH E RFederal446 RADFORDFederal447 JENKINSFederal448 LA VALLETIEFederal449 NICHOLASBath4500'BANNONBath451 CHEVALIERBalh465SAUFLEYFederal466 WALLERFederal467 STRONGBath468 TAYLORBath469 DE HAVENBath470 BACHEBethlehem. S.I.471 BEALEBethlehem. S.I.472 GUESTBoston473 BENNETIBoston474 FULLAMBoston475 HUDSONBoston476 HUTCHINSBoston477 PRINGLECha,les/on478 STANLEYCharleston479 STEVENSCharleston480 HALFORDPugatSound481 LEUTZEPugetSound498 PHILIPFederal499 RENSHAWFederal500 RINGGOLD

Federal501 SCHROEDERFederal502 SIGSBEEFadaral507 CONWAYBath508 CONYBath509 CONVERSE8ath510 EATONBath51' FOOTEBath512SPENCEBath513 TERRY8ath514 THATCHERBath5l5'ANTHONYBath

30/6/4222171423117/4212/8/42416/4226/6{4220/7/42

9/8/42

1/1 0/427/8/4228{8{4220/9/4214/11{42

23/12/4215/12/429/2/432/3/42

13/4/4317/11/4215/9/4215/1 0/421 {2/421014/434/3/44

21111/425/2/4230/12/42111/432311/439/10/4230/10/4220/11/424/12/4222/12/42811 {4327/1/4310/2/432.6/2/43

Transferred to Chile 26/7/62.

Noteso DE conversion. Stricken118167.DOE and FRAM II ccnver-versions. Stricken 1517 f69.DOE and FRAM II conver-sions. Stricken 217/69.Re,serve.DOE and FRAM II conver-sions, Suicken 30/1 f70.DOE conversion. smcken30/1170.Sunk by desuoyer Yugumo.Sattle of Vella LaVella in theSolomon. 7/10/43.DOE conversion. Stricken119/66. Expended as a targetFebruary 1968.DDE conversion. Stricken1517169.Sunk by torpedo in theSolomons 517143.DOE conversion. Transferredto Italy 117f69.Sunk by air attack offG uadacanal112/43.DO E conversion. RanagroundolfRhodes. Greece 6f2/68.Stricken 1/3/68.o DE conversion. Stricken1/10f68.Transferred to Brazi l 5/6/59.Transferred to Brazil 15/15159.Test ship 1958 atomic tests.Stricken 1/6/62. Expended asatarget 7{7162.Reserve.Heavi ly damaged by suicideboat off Okinawa 27/4/45and subsequently scrapped.Sunk by Kamikaze off Okin-awa 16/4/45.Reserve.Reserve.Stricken 114/68.Heavi lv damaged byKamikazeoft Okinawa 6/4/45 and sub-seq u ent Iy serapp ad.o DE conversion. Stiicken1/10/68.DOE conversion. Stricken1970.Transferred to West Germany1417/59.Reserve.Re . s e r ve .DO E conversion. Str icken10/11/69.DOE conversion. Stricken2/7/69.Transferred to Spain 1/7/59.DOE conversion. Stricken217/69.Reserve.Sunk in typhoon off Phili-pines. 18/12/44.Reserve.

Badly damaged and subse-quently scrapped.Transferred to W. Germany17/1/58.

516 WADSWORTHBath517WALKERBath518 BROWNSONBethlehem. S.I.519 DALYBethlehem. S.I.520 ISHERWOODBethlehem. S.I.521 KIMBERLYBethlehem. S.I,522 LUCEBethlehem. S.I,526 ABNER READBethlehem. S.F.527 AMMENBethlehem. S.F.528 MULLANYBethlehem. S.F.529 BUSHBethlehem, S.F.530 TRATHENBerhlehem, S.F.531 HA2ELWOODBethlehem, SF532 HEERMANNBethlehem. S.f.533 HOElBethlehem. S.F.534 McCORDBethlehem. S.F.535 MILLERBethlehem. S.F.536 OWENBethlehem. S.F.537 THE SULLIVANSBethlehem. S.F.538 STEPHEN POTIERBethlehem. S.F.539 TINGEYBethlehem. S.F.540TWININGBethlehem. S.F.541 YARNALLBetbtehem, $.F.544 BOYD8et.hleh.m. S.P.545 BRADFORDBethlehem. S.P.546 BROWNBethlehem. S.P.

547 COWELLBethlehem, s.P.550 CAPPSG u l f551 DAVID W. TAYLORG u l f552 EVANSG u l f

553 JOHN D. HENLEYG u l f554 FRANKSSeettle- Tacoma555 HAGGARDSeattle- Tacoma

556 HAILEYSeattla Tacoma557 JOHNSTONSeattle- Tacoma

558 LAWSSeattle Tacoma559 LONGSHAWSealtle-Tacoma560 MORRISONSeettte- Tacoma561 PRICHETISeatt/e- Tacoma562 ROBINSONSeatlill-Tacoma563 ROSSSeatlle-Tacoma564 ROWESeallle- Tacoma5655MALLEYSeallle Tacoma566 STODDAROSaallle Tacom~

1


26/27

29/414467WATISSeettte- Tacoma568WRENSeatrle Tacoma569 AUUCKConsolidated570 CHARLES AUSBURNE 24/11/42Consotkisted

Reserve.20/5/44 Reserve.27/10/42 Transferred to Greece21/8/59.Transferred to W. Germany12/4/60.

A.c.knowledgernents:I wish to express my gratitude and thanks to the followingwithout whose help this Profile would have never beenwritten:Admiral Arleigh A. Burke, USN (Ret.).Rear Admiral Luther K. Reynolds, USN (Rct.).Miss Anna C. Urband, Magazine and Book Branch, Officeof Information, US -.Vice Admiral Edwin B. Hooper, USN (Ret.) Director ofaval History and Curator for the Navy Department.Captain L. C. Traynor, USN; Commander Earl Mann SN;Mr H. A. Vadnais, Jr. and others of the Naval HistoryDivision.Mr John Wingate, D.S.C.Mr Raymond V, B. Blackman, M.n.E., c.sng., M.I. Mar. E.,M.R.I.N.A.Dr Jurgen Rohwer, Bibliothck Fur Zei tgeschichte, Stuttgart.Mr Jeremy Elms,Washington D.C.

The National Archives of the United States.Selected Bibliography:

CRJ\OLE OF SHIPS, HISTORY OP THE DJ\TH IRONWORKS byGarnet Laidlaw Eskew, C. P. Putnam's SOIlS.DESTROYER SQ.UADRON 23 by Ken Jones, Chulton Company .DICTIONARY OF AMERICAN l\AVALFIGHTING SHlPS Office ofthe Chi f of Naval Opera lions, Nosa l H is ta ry D i vi si on ,Depa rtm en t o j t he Na vy .FI-USH DECKS AND FOUR PIPERS by Commander John D.Alden, USN, Uni/ttl Stales Naual Institute.HISTORY OF UNl'l'EO STATES NAV,\J. OPERATIONS IN WORLD

WAR n by Samuel Elliot Morrison, Rear AdmiralUSNR (Rei.), Lillie Broum GndCompany.

JANE'S l'JC'HTING SHIPS (various volumes) edited byRaymond V. B. Blackman, S amp so n L J)w , Ma rs to &Co .L td .THE SHTPS AND AIRCRAFT OF THE V.S. FL.EET (variouseditions) by James C. Fahey, United Slates NaualInstitute.

NITED STA'IU DESTROYJ;;R OPERATIONS 01' WORLD WAR IIby Theodore Roscoe, Un i te d S ta te s Nava l Institute.Warship Series Editor:JOHN WINGATE, DSC* See Warshjp Profile No.3 ... Combat Information Centre ... Author of Warship Profiles Nos. 14 and 28,

Charles Ausburne (DD 570)Charles Ausbume earned the Asiatic-PacificArea Service Medal with 11 Battle Stars, and theNavy Occupation Service Medal Pacific, inaddition to her Presidential Unit Citation duringWorld War II. She was credited with or assistedin sinking nine warships, three merchant shi.psand six barges. Nine enemy aircraft were alsoshot down by Ausbume's guns. Through overtwo years of combat she received no majordamage and came through the war without theloss of a man. Ausburne:s 11 Battle Stars wereforthe following operations:1. Consolidation of Solomon Islands.216

2. Treasury- Bougainville Operation.Occupation and Defense of Cape Torokiria.Bombardment of Buka- Bonis.Battle off Cape St George.3. Bismarck Archipelago Operation.Bombardments of Kavieng and Rabaul.Anti-shipping Sweeps and Bombardmentsof Kavieng.4. Asiatic- Pacific Raids.Palau, Yap, UJithi, Woleai Raid.Truk, Satawan Ponape Raid.5. Hollandia Operation (Aitape Humboldt Bay-Tanahmerah Bay).

6. Marianas Operation.Capture and Occupation of Saipan.First Bonins Raid.Second Bonins Raid.Capture and Occupation of Guam.7. Tinian Capture and Occupation.8. Leyte Operation.Leyte Landings.9. Luzon Operation.Lingayen Gulf Landing.10. Okinawa Gunto Operation.Assault and Occupation of Okinawa Gunto.11. Consolidation of the Southern Phi

warship profile 9 - uss charles ausburne

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