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USS Hudson (DD-475)
Encyclopedia
USS Hudson (DD-475), a Fletcher-class
destroyer
, was the second ship of the United States Navy
to be named for Captain William L. Hudson
(1794–1862).
Hudson (DD-175) was launched
3 June 1942 by the Boston Navy Yard
; sponsored by Mrs. Henry H. Hough, wife of Admiral Henry H. Hough (Ret.); and commissioned
13 April 1943, Commander Richard R. Pratt in command.
, New Hebrides
, where she was just in time to provide fire support for the initial landings on Bougainville
1 November. As the Japanese
staged a heavy air attack 8 November, Hudson helped repel them by splashing two "bogies" and assisting on a third. She then made antishipping sweeps in the Truk area and participated in operations against the Green Islands
1 February 1944. En route to the invasion, Hudson attacked and sank a Japanese submarine
on 31 January.
Following a brief respite in Australia
, Hudson steamed to Kwajalein
to join the armada readying for the invasion of the Marianas
. After delivering shore bombardment to clear the way for landings on Saipan
, Guam
, and Tinian
, the destroyer took part in the Battle of the Philippine Sea
on 19 June. She contributed two kills to the massive destruction of Japanese planes later known as "The Marianas Turkey Shoot". In mid-July, as the invasion of Guam was launched, Hudson steamed off the island to screen transports and shot down another enemy aircraft, as well as rescuing three downed Navy pilots and a Japanese flier. From the Marianas
, Hudson steamed to Palau
to support landings on Peleliu
and Angaur
from 12–25 September. Departing Manus
in the Admiralty Islands
on 4 October, she reached San Francisco 2 weeks later for overhaul.
After refresher training at Pearl Harbor
, Hudson returned to action, arriving off Iwo Jima
on 19 February 1945. she provided vital radar picket
protection during the initial invasion of the enemy stronghold
. While returning from Iwo Jima after the island was secured, Hudson rescued eight survivors of a B-29 Superfortress
which had crashed at sea on 8 March. Her next action came as a radar picket ship off Okinawa on 1 April, when American troops stormed the last Japanese stronghold
before the home islands. On 5 April the Hudson gained credit for her second Japanese submarine, when a 6-hour attack with six barrages of depth charge
s resulted in the sinking of the RO-49 off Okinawa. Although under almost constant attack by kamikaze
aircraft, Hudson suffered only one injury to a crewman, inflicted when a kamikaze crashed nearby on 22 April 1945, a wingtip clipping a chief
on the head.
Also off Okinawa, Hudson became known as the "destroyer that saved a carrier". On 4 May a kamikaze pilot crashed into the escort carrier
Sangamon
(CVE-26). Hudson steered for the fiercely blazing carrier. Despite the exploding ammunition on the drifting carrier, the destroyer was able to go alongside three times, getting a total of 16 hoses over the side. The overhanging flight deck of the carrier caused extensive damage to Hudsons superstructure as burning debris and a flaming plane jettisoned by Sangamons crew crashed into Hudsons depth charges on the fantail
, causing some damage. When the fires were finally under control, Hudson had suffered damage equal to that of the kamikaze plane's victim, though the carrier had been saved with only a small loss of life and was ordered to Guam for repairs on 10 May.
. After escorting a convoy to the Aleutians, she returned to Northern Japan to take part in the occupation and control of the enemy home islands 8 September, 6 days after the signing of unconditional surrender in Tokyo Bay
. From Japan, Hudson sailed to Alaska
where she began carrying veterans back to the States in Operation Magic Carpet. She then put in at the Puget Sound Navy Yard, Bremerton, Wash.
, to prepare to decommission.
Sailing to San Diego 15 March 1946, Hudson decommissioned and went into reserve there 31 May. In January 1947 Hudson was moved to Mare Island Naval Shipyard
, Calif, where she was put into mothballs. Hudson was stricken 1 December 1972, sold 27 November 1973 and broken up for scrap.
Fletcher class destroyer
The Fletcher class were a class of destroyers built by the United States during World War II. The class was designed in 1939 as a result of dissatisfaction with the earlier destroyer leader types...
destroyer
Destroyer
In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast and maneuverable yet long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy or battle group and defend them against smaller, powerful, short-range attackers. Destroyers, originally called torpedo-boat destroyers in 1892, evolved from...
, was the second ship of the United States Navy
United States Navy
The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...
to be named for Captain William L. Hudson
William L. Hudson
Captain William Levereth Hudson, USN was a United States Navy officer in the first half of the 19th century.-Career:Hudson was born 11 May 1794 in Brooklyn...
(1794–1862).
Hudson (DD-175) was launched
Ship naming and launching
The ceremonies involved in naming and launching naval ships are based in traditions thousands of years old.-Methods of launch:There are three principal methods of conveying a new ship from building site to water, only two of which are called "launching." The oldest, most familiar, and most widely...
3 June 1942 by the Boston Navy Yard
Boston Navy Yard
The Boston Navy Yard, originally called the Charlestown Navy Yard and later Boston Naval Shipyard, was one of the oldest shipbuilding facilities in the United States Navy. Established in 1801, it was officially closed as an active naval installation on July 1, 1974, and the property was...
; sponsored by Mrs. Henry H. Hough, wife of Admiral Henry H. Hough (Ret.); and commissioned
Ship commissioning
Ship commissioning is the act or ceremony of placing a ship in active service, and may be regarded as a particular application of the general concepts and practices of project commissioning. The term is most commonly applied to the placing of a warship in active duty with its country's military...
13 April 1943, Commander Richard R. Pratt in command.
History
After shakedown and escort duty along the Atlantic coast, Hudson sailed for EfateÉfaté
Efate is an island in the Agean Ocean which is part of the Shefa Province in The Republic of Maliki. It is also known as Île Vate. It is the most populous island in Vanuatu. Efate's land area of makes it Vanuatu's third largest island. Most inhabitants of Efate live in Port Vila, the national...
, New Hebrides
New Hebrides
New Hebrides was the colonial name for an island group in the South Pacific that now forms the nation of Vanuatu. The New Hebrides were colonized by both the British and French in the 18th century shortly after Captain James Cook visited the islands...
, where she was just in time to provide fire support for the initial landings on Bougainville
Bougainville Island
Bougainville Island is the main island of the Autonomous Region of Bougainville of Papua New Guinea. This region is also known as Bougainville Province or the North Solomons. The population of the province is 175,160 , which includes the adjacent island of Buka and assorted outlying islands...
1 November. As the Japanese
Empire of Japan
The Empire of Japan is the name of the state of Japan that existed from the Meiji Restoration on 3 January 1868 to the enactment of the post-World War II Constitution of...
staged a heavy air attack 8 November, Hudson helped repel them by splashing two "bogies" and assisting on a third. She then made antishipping sweeps in the Truk area and participated in operations against the Green Islands
Green Islands, Papua New Guinea
The Green Islands are a small group of islands in Papua New Guinea. They are located at , about east of Rabaul on New Britain and about northwest of Bougainville. The Green Islands are administered as part of Bougainville Province .Nissan is the largest island of the group. Other islands include:...
1 February 1944. En route to the invasion, Hudson attacked and sank a Japanese submarine
Submarine
A submarine is a watercraft capable of independent operation below the surface of the water. It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability...
on 31 January.
Following a brief respite in Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, Hudson steamed to Kwajalein
Kwajalein
Kwajalein Atoll , is part of the Republic of the Marshall Islands . The southernmost and largest island in the atoll is named Kwajalein Island. English-speaking residents of the U.S...
to join the armada readying for the invasion of the Marianas
Mariana and Palau Islands campaign
The Mariana and Palau Islands campaign, also known as Operation Forager, was an offensive launched by United States forces against Imperial Japanese forces in the Mariana Islands and Palau in the Pacific Ocean between June and November, 1944 during the Pacific War...
. After delivering shore bombardment to clear the way for landings on Saipan
Saipan
Saipan is the largest island of the United States Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands , a chain of 15 tropical islands belonging to the Marianas archipelago in the western Pacific Ocean with a total area of . The 2000 census population was 62,392...
, Guam
Guam
Guam is an organized, unincorporated territory of the United States located in the western Pacific Ocean. It is one of five U.S. territories with an established civilian government. Guam is listed as one of 16 Non-Self-Governing Territories by the Special Committee on Decolonization of the United...
, and Tinian
Tinian
Tinian is one of the three principal islands of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.-Geography:Tinian is about 5 miles southwest of its sister island, Saipan, from which it is separated by the Saipan Channel. It has a land area of 39 sq.mi....
, the destroyer took part in the Battle of the Philippine Sea
Battle of the Philippine Sea
The Battle of the Philippine Sea was a decisive naval battle of World War II which effectively eliminated the Imperial Japanese Navy's ability to conduct large-scale carrier actions. It took place during the United States' amphibious invasion of the Mariana Islands during the Pacific War...
on 19 June. She contributed two kills to the massive destruction of Japanese planes later known as "The Marianas Turkey Shoot". In mid-July, as the invasion of Guam was launched, Hudson steamed off the island to screen transports and shot down another enemy aircraft, as well as rescuing three downed Navy pilots and a Japanese flier. From the Marianas
Mariana Islands
The Mariana Islands are an arc-shaped archipelago made up by the summits of 15 volcanic mountains in the north-western Pacific Ocean between the 12th and 21st parallels north and along the 145th meridian east...
, Hudson steamed to Palau
Palau
Palau , officially the Republic of Palau , is an island nation in the Pacific Ocean, east of the Philippines and south of Tokyo. In 1978, after three decades as being part of the United Nations trusteeship, Palau chose independence instead of becoming part of the Federated States of Micronesia, a...
to support landings on Peleliu
Peleliu
Peleliu is an island in the island nation of Palau. Peleliu forms, along with two small islands to its northeast, one of the sixteen states of Palau. It is located northeast of Angaur and southwest of Koror....
and Angaur
Angaur
Angaur or Ngeaur is an island in the island nation of Palau. The island, which forms its own state, has an area of 8 km² . Its population is 188 . State capital is the village of Ngeremasch on the western side...
from 12–25 September. Departing Manus
Manus Island
Manus Island is part of Manus Province in northern Papua New Guinea and is the largest island of the Admiralty Islands. It is the fifth largest island in Papua New Guinea with an area of 2,100 km², measuring around 100 km × 30 km. According to the 2000 census, Manus Island had a...
in the Admiralty Islands
Admiralty Islands
The Admiralty Islands are a group of eighteen islands in the Bismarck Archipelago, to the north of New Guinea in the south Pacific Ocean. These are also sometimes called the Manus Islands, after the largest island. These rainforest-covered islands form part of Manus Province, the smallest and...
on 4 October, she reached San Francisco 2 weeks later for overhaul.
After refresher training at Pearl Harbor
Pearl Harbor
Pearl Harbor, known to Hawaiians as Puuloa, is a lagoon harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu. Much of the harbor and surrounding lands is a United States Navy deep-water naval base. It is also the headquarters of the U.S. Pacific Fleet...
, Hudson returned to action, arriving off Iwo Jima
Iwo Jima
Iwo Jima, officially , is an island of the Japanese Volcano Islands chain, which lie south of the Ogasawara Islands and together with them form the Ogasawara Archipelago. The island is located south of mainland Tokyo and administered as part of Ogasawara, one of eight villages of Tokyo...
on 19 February 1945. she provided vital radar picket
Radar picket
A radar picket is a radar-equipped ship, submarine, aircraft, or vehicle used to increase the radar detection range around a force to protect it from surprise attack. Often several detached radar units encircle a force to provide increased cover in all directions.-World War II:Radar picket ships...
protection during the initial invasion of the enemy stronghold
Battle of Iwo Jima
The Battle of Iwo Jima , or Operation Detachment, was a major battle in which the United States fought for and captured the island of Iwo Jima from the Empire of Japan. The U.S...
. While returning from Iwo Jima after the island was secured, Hudson rescued eight survivors of a B-29 Superfortress
B-29 Superfortress
The B-29 Superfortress is a four-engine propeller-driven heavy bomber designed by Boeing that was flown primarily by the United States Air Forces in late-World War II and through the Korean War. The B-29 was one of the largest aircraft to see service during World War II...
which had crashed at sea on 8 March. Her next action came as a radar picket ship off Okinawa on 1 April, when American troops stormed the last Japanese stronghold
Battle of Okinawa
The Battle of Okinawa, codenamed Operation Iceberg, was fought on the Ryukyu Islands of Okinawa and was the largest amphibious assault in the Pacific War of World War II. The 82-day-long battle lasted from early April until mid-June 1945...
before the home islands. On 5 April the Hudson gained credit for her second Japanese submarine, when a 6-hour attack with six barrages of depth charge
Depth charge
A depth charge is an anti-submarine warfare weapon intended to destroy or cripple a target submarine by the shock of exploding near it. Most use explosives and a fuze set to go off at a preselected depth in the ocean. Depth charges can be dropped by either surface ships, patrol aircraft, or from...
s resulted in the sinking of the RO-49 off Okinawa. Although under almost constant attack by kamikaze
Kamikaze
The were suicide attacks by military aviators from the Empire of Japan against Allied naval vessels in the closing stages of the Pacific campaign of World War II, designed to destroy as many warships as possible....
aircraft, Hudson suffered only one injury to a crewman, inflicted when a kamikaze crashed nearby on 22 April 1945, a wingtip clipping a chief
Chief Petty Officer
A chief petty officer is a senior non-commissioned officer in many navies and coast guards.-Canada:"Chief Petty Officer" refers to two ranks in the Canadian Navy...
on the head.
Also off Okinawa, Hudson became known as the "destroyer that saved a carrier". On 4 May a kamikaze pilot crashed into the escort carrier
Escort aircraft carrier
The escort aircraft carrier or escort carrier, also called a "jeep carrier" or "baby flattop" in the USN or "Woolworth Carrier" by the Royal Navy, was a small and slow type of aircraft carrier used by the British Royal Navy , the Imperial Japanese Navy and Imperial Japanese Army Air Force, and the...
Sangamon
USS Sangamon (CVE-26)
USS Sangamon was an escort carrier converted from an oiler, the second ship to carry her name. She was one of 12 Cimarron class oilers built on a joint Navy-Maritime Commission design later duplicated by the T3-S2-A1 type...
(CVE-26). Hudson steered for the fiercely blazing carrier. Despite the exploding ammunition on the drifting carrier, the destroyer was able to go alongside three times, getting a total of 16 hoses over the side. The overhanging flight deck of the carrier caused extensive damage to Hudsons superstructure as burning debris and a flaming plane jettisoned by Sangamons crew crashed into Hudsons depth charges on the fantail
Fantail
Fantails are small insectivorous birds of southern Asia and Australasia belonging to the genus Rhipidura in the family Rhipiduridae...
, causing some damage. When the fires were finally under control, Hudson had suffered damage equal to that of the kamikaze plane's victim, though the carrier had been saved with only a small loss of life and was ordered to Guam for repairs on 10 May.
Fate
Promptly repaired, Hudson joined the 3rd Fleet off Okinawa 22 June and then proceeded to Eniwetok for convoy duty in the MarshallsMarshall Islands
The Republic of the Marshall Islands , , is a Micronesian nation of atolls and islands in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, just west of the International Date Line and just north of the Equator. As of July 2011 the population was 67,182...
. After escorting a convoy to the Aleutians, she returned to Northern Japan to take part in the occupation and control of the enemy home islands 8 September, 6 days after the signing of unconditional surrender in Tokyo Bay
Tokyo Bay
is a bay in the southern Kantō region of Japan. Its old name was .-Geography:Tokyo Bay is surrounded by the Bōsō Peninsula to the east and the Miura Peninsula to the west. In a narrow sense, Tokyo Bay is the area north of the straight line formed by the on the Miura Peninsula on one end and on...
. From Japan, Hudson sailed to Alaska
Alaska
Alaska is the largest state in the United States by area. It is situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent, with Canada to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, with Russia further west across the Bering Strait...
where she began carrying veterans back to the States in Operation Magic Carpet. She then put in at the Puget Sound Navy Yard, Bremerton, Wash.
Bremerton, Washington
Bremerton is a city in Kitsap County, Washington, United States. The population was 38,790 at the 2011 State Estimate, making it the largest city on the Olympic Peninsula. Bremerton is home to Puget Sound Naval Shipyard and the Bremerton Annex of Naval Base Kitsap...
, to prepare to decommission.
Sailing to San Diego 15 March 1946, Hudson decommissioned and went into reserve there 31 May. In January 1947 Hudson was moved to Mare Island Naval Shipyard
Mare Island Naval Shipyard
The Mare Island Naval Shipyard was the first United States Navy base established on the Pacific Ocean. It is located 25 miles northeast of San Francisco in Vallejo, California. The Napa River goes through the Mare Island Strait and separates the peninsula shipyard from the main portion of the...
, Calif, where she was put into mothballs. Hudson was stricken 1 December 1972, sold 27 November 1973 and broken up for scrap.