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Japanese destroyers, slipping down
the starboard side of the American destroyers, loosed a deadly wave of
torpedoes. It was slightly after midnight November 13, 1942, off
Guadalcanal. Dead ahead of
the Fletcher the 1650-ton
destroyer Barton was hit
amidships. She
exploded in a ball of flame, settling beneath the water in seconds,
leaving only a sputtering, flickering mass of debris to mark the grave
of her crew. In the combined light of flashing guns and burning ships
Fletcher's lookouts spotted
certain destruction churning the water.
Five
torpedoes streaked for her starboard side. There was no need to shout a
warning - it was too late. The watching crew were certain they would be
blown up. Then - no explosion, no plunge into eternity - just the thin
lines of bubbles. One forward, one aft, and three directly under the
ship.
A perfect torpedo spread that had run inches too deep, just deep enough
to clear the keel of the Fletcher.
Was it the tensed hand of a frightened Japanese torpedoman who
deflected a depth setting? Was it faulty mechanisms? Or was it just the
luck of the Fletcher? The
situation 15 minutes later seems to bear out the latter assumption for
only three U.S. ships, all destroyers, remained undamaged. Fletcher was one of them in spite
of close range duel with a Japanese light cruiser and a brief exchange
with a battleship. Two American destroyers had been sunk and three
damaged. Each of the cruisers had sustained hits.
The trio of unscarred "tin cans" pressed home the attack, scoring hits
on cruisers and one of the battleships. In a lull, as Fletcher shifted targets, the
skipper called to the executive officer. "Bill, just where in the hell
are we now?" The exec, from his position at the search radar, answered
bluntly, "Right in the middle of the whole damn Jap fleet. Turn hard
right or left and let's get out of here." The helmsman spun the wheel
and Fletcher, at flank speed,
headed for the friendly darkness of the shoreline of Guadalcanal.
Behind her lay a graveyard of broken and burning ships - some slowly
sinking, others exiting in a shower of tracer shells and pyrotechnics
as fire reached their magazines. (Read the rest of Huggard's story.)
Fletcher (DD-445) was launched 3 May 1942 by Federal
Shipbuilding and
Drydock Co., Kearny, N.J.; sponsored by Mrs. F. F. Fletcher,
widow of
Admiral Fletcher; and commissioned 30 June 1942. Lieutenant
Commander
W. M. Cole in command. She was re-classified DDE-445 on 26 March 1949.
(DD-445: dp. 2,100; l. 376'3"; b. 39'8"; dr. 13'; s. 36 k.; cpl. 273;
a. 5 5", 10 21" tt., 6 dcp., 2 dct.; cl. Fletcher)
Fletcher arrived at Noumea, New Caledonia, 5 October 1942 from
the east
coast, and at once began escort and patrol duty in the Guadalcanal
operation, bombarding Lunga Point 30 October. Sailing from Espiritu
Santo 9 November to cover the landing of reinforcements on the
embattled island, she joined in driving off a heavy enemy air attack on
the transports 12 November, splashing several enemy aircraft. This was
the opening phase of the Battle of Guadalcanal, a 3-day air and surface
action in which American naval forces fought so determinedly and
tenaciously to hold control of the seas in the Solomons that the
Japanese never again sent large naval forces into the waters around
Guadalcanal. Fletcher played an important part in the surface
action
off Guadalcanal 13 November, firing guns and torpedoes in the general
melee which sank two Japanese destroyers and damaged battleship Hiei,
later sent to the bottom by carrier and Marine aircraft.
Fletcher retired to replenish at Espiritu Santo, arriving the
day after
the battle, and after patrolling against submarines off Noumea, sortied
30 November 1942 with a force of cruisers and destroyers to intercept a
force of enemy transports and destroyers expected to attempt a
reinforcement of Guadalcanal that night. Fletcher led the force
through
Lengo Channel, and made the first radar contact with the enemy off
Tassafaronga Point just before midnight. The resulting battle saw one
Japanese destroyer sunk, and one slightly damaged and four American
cruisers badly damaged, all but one of which were saved by superb
damage control measures. Fletcher rescued survivors of
Northampton
(CA-26), ingeniously using cork-floated cargo nets to take great groups
of them from the water.
The destroyer continued to operate in the Solomons, patrolling,
bombarding shore targets, driving off Japanese air attacks, rescuing
downed aviators, destroying Japanese landing barges, and covering new
landings on the northern coast of Guadalcanal. Out on patrol 11
February 1943, Fletcher was alerted by a smoke float dropped by
a plane
from Helena (CL-50), and sped to attack and sink a Japanese submarine
I-18. She sailed in support of the landings on the Russell Islands 21
February, bombarded Munda airfield on New Georgia during the night of
5-6 March, and continued to guard the movement of transports in the
Solomons.
Between 23 April 1943 and 4 May, Fletcher was in Sydney,
Australia, for
a well-earned breather and a chance to put the ship in top condition
for another month of general duty in the Solomons. She left Espiritu
Santo 19 June for a stateside overhaul, returning to Noumea 27
September to resume her former activities until 31 October. Then she
sortied with a carrier task group to provide air support for the
invasion of the Gilbert Islands, fighting off a Japanese counter-attack
from the air 26 November. Again Fletcher fired on Japanese
aircraft on
4 December, when the task group came under attack after it had made a
strike on Kwajalein.
Fletcher returned to Pearl Harbor 9 December 1943, and after a
brief
overhaul and training on the west coast, was ready for the attack on
the Marshalls. She screened a force of transports from San Diego to
Lahaina Roads between 13 and 21 January 1944, then joined a bombardment
group to fire on Wotje Atoll 30 January. Next day she rendezvoused with
the main attack force for the landings on Kwajalein, screening the
transports and patrolling off the atoll until 4 February. After
escorting empty transports to Funafuti, Fletcher reported at
Majuro 15
February for duty screening battleships in bombardments of Taroa and
Wotje on 20 and 21 February, then patrolled off Eniwetok.
After joining in training exercises off Port Purvis, Fletcher
arrived
at Cape Sudest, Netherlands New Guinea, 18 April 1944. This was her
base during the next month as she supported the Humboldt Bay landings
with bombardment on tiny Ali and Seleo Islands 23 April, and by
covering reinforcement landings on 30 April. After escorting a convoy
to Noumea, out of which she patrolled against submarines in late May,
Fletcher arrived at Humboldt Bay 5 June. She made one patrol
against
any attempt of the Japanese to reinforce their Biak garrison, then
covered and provided shore bombardment for the invasions of Noemfoor,
Sansapor, and Morotai, as well as patrolling and escorting
reinforcements for these various operations through the summer.
Fletcher reached Manus 9 October 1944 from Humboldt Bay to
prepare for
the invasion of Leyte, for which she sortied 12 October screening
transports. She covered them while they sent their boats ashore in the
initial landings 20 October, and next day departed for New Guinea, thus
clearing Leyte Gulf before the great battle for its control broke out.
She returned to Leyte with transports carrying reinforcements 23
November, and through the next month, continued her support of the
first phase of the Philippine Liberation, escorting convoys, firing
prelanding bombardments at Ormoc Bay and Mindoro, and firing on
Japanese aircraft in several attacks.
On 4 January 1945, Fletcher sortied from San Pedro Bay to
provide close
cover for the Luzon Attack Force as it sailed toward its objective. She
splashed at least one of the many Japanese aircraft which attacked on 8
January, and during the landings in Lingayen Gulf the next day,
patrolled the Gulf. After supporting the landings on San Antonio Beach,
Luzon, 29 January, she entered Subic Bay to cover minesweeping, then on
31 January provided fire support to the landings in Nasugbu Bay.
Fletcher began 4 days of operations in the occupation of Bataan
and
Corregidor 13 February, firing a preliminary bombardment, giving fire
support on call, and covering minesweepers opening Manila Bay. On 14
February, while firing on Japanese batteries at Los Cochinos Point,
Fletcher took a hit which killed eight and wounded three of her
men.
She continued to fire as she controlled damage, and a half-hour later
added rescue operations to her activities as she took the survivors off
YMS-48, also hit by Japanese fire. Fletcher's firing in Manila
Bay
continued until the 17th.
Fletcher took part in the landings at Puerto Princesa, Palawan,
and
Zamboanga, covered minesweeping and landings at Tarakan, and gave local
patrol and escort service in the Philippines until 13 May 1945, when
she sailed for a west coast overhaul. After exercises off San Diego and
in the Hawaiian Islands, she was immobilized at San Diego until placed
in commission in reserve 7 August 1946 and out of commission in reserve
15 January 1947.
Recommissioned 3 October 1949 as a specialist in antisubmarine warfare,
Fletcher sailed for San Diego 1 May 1950 for a tour of duty with
the
7th Fleet in the western Pacific. At the outbreak of the Korean
Conflict, she lay at Hong Kong with Valley Forge (CV-45), and on 3 July
arrived off Korea with the Valley Forge group, augmented by British
carrier HMS Triumph, to begin launching air strikes on North Korea.
Through the summer, she sailed off Korea on this duty, replenishing
when necessary at Buckner Bay, Okinawa, or Sasebo, Japan. She also
participated in the invasion of Inchon from 13 to 17 September, and
returned to Pearl Harbor, her home port 11 November.
On 19 November 1951, Fletcher cleared Pearl Harbor for another
tour of
duty screening the carriers of the 7th Fleet in Korean operations. She
also fired shore bombardment on two occasions, participated in
antisubmarine training off Okinawa, and patrolled in the Taiwan
Straits. Returning to Pearl Harbor 20 June 1952, she was at sea again
from 5 September to 24 November for atomic tests in the Marshalls, then
completed another tour of Far Eastern duty from 14 May 1953 to 30
November.
Annually from 1954 through 1962 Fletcher sailed to the Far East
for
duty with the 7th Fleet, in 1955 providing antisubmarine screening for
the evacuation of the Tachen Islands. In both 1957 and 1958 she made
her outward bound passage by way of Samoa and Australia. Intensive
antisubmarine training was her major occupation during periods between
deployment.
Fletcher received 15 battle stars for World War II service, and
five
for Korean War service.
Sources: Public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships
and pictures from my father's 1943 Naval Recognition Manual
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