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USS Hunt (DD-674)
Encyclopedia
USS Hunt (DD-674) was a Fletcher-class
destroyer
of the United States Navy
, the second Navy ship named for William H. Hunt
, Secretary of the Navy
under President
James A. Garfield.
Hunt was launched
by the Federal Shipbuilding & Drydock Co., Kearny, N.J.
, 1 August 1943; sponsored by Mrs. Henry Kent Hewitt, wife of Vice Admiral
Hewitt, and granddaughter of the namesake; and commissioned
22 September 1943, Commander Frank P. Mitchell in command.
and final alterations in New York Navy Yard, Hunt cleared Norfolk, Va.
for the Pacific
2 December 1943. She entered Pearl Harbor
24 December 1943 and joined Vice Adm. Marc A. Mitscher's Fast Carrier Task Force
(then 5th Fleet's TF 58, later 3rd Fleet's TF 38) operating as a part of the antisubmarine
screen for a task group which included aircraft carrier
s Essex
(CV-9), Intrepid
(CV-11), and Cabot
(CVL-28).
, the operation which, in the words of Rear Adm. Richard L. Conolly
, "... really cracked the Japanese shell. It broke the crust of their defenses on a scale that could be exploited at once." At dawn 29 January, Mitscher's planes opened the operation with strikes against enemy-held airfields on Roi Island, Kwajalein
Atoll, while Hunt protected the carriers from which they were launched. The next day she joined battleship
s North Carolina
(BB-55), South Dakota
(BB-57) and Alabama
(BB-60) in shelling pillboxes and other targets on the northern beaches of Roi and Namur Islands. After 2 days on bombardment station she rejoined the screen of the carriers who were furnishing planes to support landing operations
on the small islands adjoining Roi and Namur. She entered newly won Majuro
Lagoon in company with Essex 5 February 1944 for replenishment.
On 12 February Hunt sailed with most of the Fast Carrier Force to neutralize Truk Atoll
, that reputedly impregnable enemy air and naval base which threatened both General Douglas MacArthur
's forces then encircling Rabaul
and Rear Adm. Harry W. Hill
's amphibious vessels preparing to assault Eniwetok. In the early morning darkness of 17 February, Hunt arrived off Truk with the rest of the force which began the systematic destruction of the Japanese ships and planes caught in the area. A group of heavies—two battleships, two heavy cruiser
s, and four destroyers—circled the atoll to catch enemy ships attempting to escape, while carrier-based planes attacked targets on the islands and in the Lagoon. Hunts role in the operation was to protect Admiral Albert E. Montgomery's carrier group from submarine
or air attack. When her task force steamed away the following evening, its planes and ships had sunk two light cruiser
s, 4 destroyers, 3 auxiliary cruisers, 6 auxiliaries of different types, and 137,091 tons of merchant shipping. Moreover, the destruction and damaging of between 250 and 275 enemy planes was especially gratifying to the Navy which, by this successful raid, had forced the Japanese Combined Fleet to shun Truk, its base since July 1942, in favor of safer areas closer to home.
After clearing Truk, Hunt, in company with carrier Enterprise
(CV-6), cruiser San Diego
(CL-53), and five other destroyers, left the main body of the task force to raid "leapfrogged" Jaluit Atoll, Marshall Islands
, 20 February 1944. The next day she anchored in Majuro Lagoon from which, after a brief visit to Pearl Harbor, she put to sea as a part of the screen of the Bunker Hill carrier task group (TG 58.2) bound for the Palau Islands 22 March. She steamed on station as the first air strikes at Peleliu
were launched 30 March. Intense and accurate antiaircraft fire from Hunt and her sister ships drove off three flight groups of Japanese torpedo bomber
s as strikes continued during the next 3 days. On 1 April she left the formation with destroyer Hickox
(DD-673) to destroy two 125-foot patrol craft which had been firing on American planes.
She returned to Majuro on 6 April for replenishment, then sejt course with the Bunker Hill
carrier task group to lend support to the invasion and occupation of Hollandia
, D.N.G.
Planes from the carriers repeatedly struck enemy emplacements in the area, and night fighters successfully repelled all enemy planes which approached the warships. On the passage returning to Majuro Hunts carriers paused off Truk 29 and 30 April for another raid on that weakened but reinforced enemy base. Thereafter Truk was almost useless to the Japanese.
May was a welcome interlude devoted to training exercises in the Marshalls enlivened by a diversionary raid on Wake Island
24 May to draw attention away from the Marianas. Hunt put to sea with the Bunker Hill carrier task group 6 June for the invasion of the Marianas
. The first air strikes of the operation against the Island Group were launched on 11 June and continued until 15 June when the marines
hit the beaches, and attention shifted to providing close support for troops ashore. On that day, Admiral Raymond A. Spruance
receivedj a warning from submarine Flying Fish
(SS-229) that an enemy carrier force was approaching from San Bernardino Strait
. In the early hours of 19 June it arrived within striking distance of the fast carrier force which guarded the amphibious forces off Saipan
. The Battle of the Philippine Sea
began in a series of dog fights over Guam
, where American planes were neutralizing Japanese land-based air forces. About an hour and a half later, the major phase of the battle, nicknamed "The Marianas Turkey Shoot", opened when the American flattops launched their fighters to intercept the first of four raids from the Japanese carriers. During the ensuing 8 hours of fierce, continuous fighting in the air, Japan lost 346 planes and 2 carriers while only 30 U.S. planes splashed and 1 American battleship suffered a bomb hit but was not put out of action. Hunt then steamed westward with the carriers in pursuit of the fleeing remnants of the enemy fleet. The following afternoon planes from the carriers caught up with their quarry and accounted for carrier Hiyō and two oilers while damaging several other Japanese ships. This carrier battle, the greatest of the war, virtually wiped out the emperor's naval air power which would be sorely missed in the impending battle for Leyte Gulf
.
The next evening the task force gave up the chase and set course for Saipan. On the return passage, Hunt rescued four pilots and seven crewmen from planes which had been unable to land on their carriers. Once back in the Marianas, Hunt and her sister ships resumed the task of supporting the American forces which were taking Saipan
, Tinian
, and Guam. They continued this duty until fighting in these islands ended early in August.
After voyage repairs at Pearl Harbor, she departed 30 August as part of the screen for Admiral William F. Halsey's flagship
, New Jersey
(BB-62). Hunt joined the Bunker Hill Carrier Group off the Admiralty Islands
6 September for operations south of the Palau Islands. On 11 September she carried Admiral Halsey from New Jersey to carrier Lexington
(CV-16) for a conference and returned him to his flagship. In the following days she guarded the carriers which were repeatedly raiding the Palaus to soften them up for the invasion. When marines attle of Peleliu|landed on Peleliu]j] 15 September, planes from these carriers supported the efforts on shore until the determined leathernecks finally stamped out the last organized resistance of the dogged Japanese defenders. Hunt entered Kossol Passage 30 September to embark Admiral Halsey and his staff for passage to Peleliu. Hunt put him ashore that afternoon and steamed off shore as stand-by flagship until the following afternoon when he again came on board to be returned to Kossol Passage.
On 6 October, she cleared port with the Bunker Hill carrier task group for air strikes against Okinawa Jima. Hunt rescued a pilot and two crewmen of a splashed Bunker Hill plane 10 October. She repeated this fjeat 2 days later when she saved a pilot and two crewmen whose plane had been downed during an attack on Formosan
airbases.
Hunt accompanied the carriers off Northern Luzon
during the landings on Leyte
20 October while they struck again and again at Japanese airfields throughout the Philippines
to eliminate enemy airpower during General MacArthur's long-awaited return. During the decisive Battle for Leyte Gulf they went after the Japanese norjjthern force and sank four carriers and a destroyer besides damaging several other ships.
area in a furious 2-day attack. Then the flattops turned their attention to support the landings on Iwo Jima
which began 19 February. That day her guns brought down an enemy plane as they repelled the first of the air raids against American ships off that bitterly-contested island. Hunt sailed from Iwo Jima
22 February for waters off Honshū
, Japan and another swipe at Tokyo Bay, 25 February. On the way to Ulithi
the carriers paused to strike Okinawa 1 March.
Hunt departed Ulithi 14 March for rendezvous with carrier FrankIin (CV-13) off the Ryukyu Islands
18 March. The next day Franklin maneuvered closer to the Japanese mainland than had any other U.S. carrier up to that point in the war to launch a fighter sweep against Honshū and later a strike against shipping in Kobe Harbor. Suddenly a single enemy plane broke through the cloud cover and made a low level run to drop two semi-armor-piercing bombs on the gallant ship. The carrier burned furiously as the flames triggered ammunition, bombs, and rockets. Hunt closed the stricken ship to assist in picking up survivors blown overboard by the explosions. After rescuing 429 survivors, she joined three other destroyers in a clockwise patrol arjound the stricken ship which had gone dead in the water within 50 miles of the Japanese Coast. Cruiser Pittsburgh
(CA-72) took the ship in tow and, after an epic struggle, managed to get her to Ulithi 24 March. Hunt put the survivors ashore and sped to the Ryukyus 5 April to support troops who were struggling to take Okinawa
.
Hunt took up radar picket
station off Okinawa 8 April. On 14 April a kamikaze
roared in toward Hunt and was riddled by her guns during the approach. It struck the destroyer at deck level shearing off the mainmast and slicing into the forward stack, where it left its starboard wing. The fuselage of the suicide plane splashed into the water about 25 yards from Hunt whose crew quickly doused the small fires which had broken out on board. A second kamikaze which approached Hunt that day was knocked down by her alert gunners before it could reach the ship.
Hunt continued to guard the carriers as they gave direct support to troops on Okinawa, taking time out on 4 separate days for radar picket duty in dangerous waters. When she departed Ryukyus 30 May for tender
overhaul in Leyte Gulf, her crew had been to general quarters 54 times.
Hunt sailed for the United States 19 June 1945, arrived in San Francisco, Calif.
for overhaul 6 July, and decommissioned 15 December 1945 at San Diego, Calif.
where she arrived 3 March 1952. She cruised from that port for the next 2½ years conducting antisubmarine and plane guard duty. She departed Newport 1 June 1954 for Yokosuka, Japan where she arrived 7 July and was underway again 16 July for task force maneuvers off the Philippine Islands. On 21 October she cleared Sasebo, Japan, on the second leg of a world cruise which took her to Hong Kong
, Singapore
, the Suez Canal
, and Naples
which she reached 20 November 1954. She passed through the Strait of Gibraltar
12 December 1954 and arrived back in Newport 18 December.
The next 2 years were filled with intensive antisubmarine warfare and convoy
exercises. Hunt departed Newport 6 November for patrol in the Eastern Mediterranean during the Suez Crisis
and the Hungarian Revolution
. She returned to Newport 27 February 1957 where more antisubmarine warfare and convoy exercises awaited. She embarked midshipmen
at Annapolis
for a training cruise which included the International Naval Review in Hampton Roads
on 12 June, and a visit to Rio de Janeiro
, Brazil
; future United States Senator and presidential candidate John McCain
was one of the midshipmen on this cruise. She departed Newport for Belfast
, Northern Ireland
3 September to participate in Operation "Seaspray", maneuvers with the combined forces of NATO. From 22 October 1957 through 1 August 1958 Hunt operated out of Newport. On the latter date while on a cruise to the Caribbean
she sped from San Juan, Puerto Rico
to join attack carrier Saratoga (CVA-60) in the Mediterranean to augment the 6th Fleet during the Near Eastern crisis which had necessitated the landing of marines in Beirut
, Lebanon
to check aggression. She reached that port 28 August and 3 days later was underway for the Red Sea
. She completed transit of the Suez Canal 11 September for Massawa
, Ethiopia
, and after calling at Aden
, Arabia, set course 14 October for the Mediterranean and maneuvers with the 6th Fleet en route home to Newport, arriving 13 November.
Hunt operated out of Newport with occasional cruises in the Caribbean conducting exercises in antisubmarine warfare and battle practice. She won the Battle Efficiency Award
for the fiscal year 1957 to 1958 and repeated the feat for the 1958 to 1959 period. She decommissioned 30 December 1963 and was berthed in the Atlantic Reserve Fleet at Philadelphia, Pa.
Hunt was stricken from the Naval Vessel Register
1 December 1974. She was sold 14 August 1975 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...
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...
, the second Navy ship named for William H. Hunt
William H. Hunt
William Henry Hunt was the United States Secretary of the Navy under President James Garfield and briefly under President Chester A. Arthur.-Biography:...
, Secretary of the Navy
United States Secretary of the Navy
The Secretary of the Navy of the United States of America is the head of the Department of the Navy, a component organization of the Department of Defense...
under President
President of the United States
The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....
James A. Garfield.
Hunt 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...
by the Federal Shipbuilding & Drydock Co., Kearny, N.J.
Kearny, New Jersey
Kearny is a town in Hudson County, New Jersey, United States. It was named after Civil War general Philip Kearny. As of the United States 2010 Census, the town population was 40,684. The town is a suburb of the nearby city of Newark....
, 1 August 1943; sponsored by Mrs. Henry Kent Hewitt, wife of Vice Admiral
Vice Admiral
Vice admiral is a senior naval rank of a three-star flag officer, which is equivalent to lieutenant general in the other uniformed services. A vice admiral is typically senior to a rear admiral and junior to an admiral...
Hewitt, and granddaughter of the namesake; 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...
22 September 1943, Commander Frank P. Mitchell in command.
World War II
After shakedown off BermudaBermuda
Bermuda is a British overseas territory in the North Atlantic Ocean. Located off the east coast of the United States, its nearest landmass is Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, about to the west-northwest. It is about south of Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, and northeast of Miami, Florida...
and final alterations in New York Navy Yard, Hunt cleared Norfolk, Va.
Naval Station Norfolk
Naval Station Norfolk, in Norfolk, Virginia, is a base of the United States Navy, supporting naval forces in the United States Fleet Forces Command, those operating in the Atlantic Ocean, Mediterranean Sea, and Indian Ocean...
for the Pacific
Pacific Theater of Operations
The Pacific Theater of Operations was the World War II area of military activity in the Pacific Ocean and the countries bordering it, a geographic scope that reflected the operational and administrative command structures of the American forces during that period...
2 December 1943. She entered 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...
24 December 1943 and joined Vice Adm. Marc A. Mitscher's Fast Carrier Task Force
Fast Carrier Task Force
The Fast Carrier Task Force was the main striking force of the United States Navy in the Pacific Ocean theatre of World War II.The Fast Carrier Task Force was known under two designations. The Navy made use of two sets of upper command structures for planning the upcoming operations...
(then 5th Fleet's TF 58, later 3rd Fleet's TF 38) operating as a part of the antisubmarine
Anti-submarine warfare
Anti-submarine warfare is a branch of naval warfare that uses surface warships, aircraft, or other submarines to find, track and deter, damage or destroy enemy submarines....
screen for a task group which included aircraft carrier
Aircraft carrier
An aircraft carrier is a warship designed with a primary mission of deploying and recovering aircraft, acting as a seagoing airbase. Aircraft carriers thus allow a naval force to project air power worldwide without having to depend on local bases for staging aircraft operations...
s Essex
USS Essex (CV-9)
USS Essex was an aircraft carrier, the lead ship of the 24-ship built for the United States Navy during World War II. She was the fourth US Navy ship to bear the name. Commissioned in December 1942, Essex participated in several campaigns in the Pacific Theater of Operations, earning the...
(CV-9), Intrepid
USS Intrepid (CV-11)
USS Intrepid , also known as The Fighting "I", is one of 24 s built during World War II for the United States Navy. She is the fourth US Navy ship to bear the name. Commissioned in August 1943, Intrepid participated in several campaigns in the Pacific Theater of Operations, most notably the Battle...
(CV-11), and Cabot
USS Cabot (CVL-28)
USS Cabot was an in the United States Navy, the second ship to carry the name. Cabot was commissioned in 1943 and served until 1947. She was recommissioned as a training carrier from 1948 to 1955. From 1967 to 1989, she served in Spain as '...
(CVL-28).
1944
Hunt sortied with the carrier task force 16 January 1944 to support the invasion of the Marshall IslandsGilbert and Marshall Islands campaign
In the Pacific Theater of World War II, the Gilbert and Marshall Islands campaign, from November 1943 through February 1944, were key strategic operations of the United States Pacific Fleet and Marine Corps in the Central Pacific. The campaign was preceded by a raid on Makin Island by U.S...
, the operation which, in the words of Rear Adm. Richard L. Conolly
Richard L. Conolly
Richard Lansing Conolly was a United States Navy Admiral, who served during World War I and World War II.-Biography:...
, "... really cracked the Japanese shell. It broke the crust of their defenses on a scale that could be exploited at once." At dawn 29 January, Mitscher's planes opened the operation with strikes against enemy-held airfields on Roi Island, 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...
Atoll, while Hunt protected the carriers from which they were launched. The next day she joined battleship
Battleship
A battleship is a large armored warship with a main battery consisting of heavy caliber guns. Battleships were larger, better armed and armored than cruisers and destroyers. As the largest armed ships in a fleet, battleships were used to attain command of the sea and represented the apex of a...
s North Carolina
USS North Carolina (BB-55)
USS North Carolina was the lead ship of her class of battleship and the fourth in the United States Navy to be named in honor of this U.S. state. She was the first new-construction U.S. battleship to enter service during World War II, participating in every major naval offensive in the Pacific...
(BB-55), South Dakota
USS South Dakota (BB-57)
USS South Dakota was a battleship in the United States Navy from 1942 until 1947. The lead ship of her class, South Dakota was the third ship of the US Navy to be named in honor of the 40th state. During World War II, she first served in a fifteen-month tour in the Pacific theater, where she saw...
(BB-57) and Alabama
USS Alabama (BB-60)
USS Alabama , a South Dakota-class battleship, was the sixth completed ship of the United States Navy named for the U.S. state of Alabama, however she was only the third commissioned ship with that name. Alabama was commissioned in 1942 and served in World War II in the Atlantic and Pacific...
(BB-60) in shelling pillboxes and other targets on the northern beaches of Roi and Namur Islands. After 2 days on bombardment station she rejoined the screen of the carriers who were furnishing planes to support landing operations
Battle of Kwajalein
The Battle of Kwajalein was a battle of the Pacific campaign of World War II, fought from 31 January-3 February 1944, on Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands. Employing the hard-learned lessons of the battle of Tarawa, the United States launched a successful twin assault on the main islands of...
on the small islands adjoining Roi and Namur. She entered newly won Majuro
Majuro
Majuro , is a large coral atoll of 64 islands in the Pacific Ocean, and forms a legislative district of the Ratak Chain of the Marshall Islands. The atoll itself has a land area of and encloses a lagoon of...
Lagoon in company with Essex 5 February 1944 for replenishment.
On 12 February Hunt sailed with most of the Fast Carrier Force to neutralize Truk Atoll
Operation Hailstone
Operation Hailstone was a massive naval air and surface attack launched on February 17–18, 1944, during World War II by the United States Navy against the Japanese naval and air base at Truk in the Caroline Islands, a pre-war Japanese territory.-Background:Truk was a major Japanese logistical base...
, that reputedly impregnable enemy air and naval base which threatened both General Douglas MacArthur
Douglas MacArthur
General of the Army Douglas MacArthur was an American general and field marshal of the Philippine Army. He was a Chief of Staff of the United States Army during the 1930s and played a prominent role in the Pacific theater during World War II. He received the Medal of Honor for his service in the...
's forces then encircling Rabaul
Rabaul
Rabaul is a township in East New Britain province, Papua New Guinea. The town was the provincial capital and most important settlement in the province until it was destroyed in 1994 by falling ash of a volcanic eruption. During the eruption, ash was sent thousands of metres into the air and the...
and Rear Adm. Harry W. Hill
Harry W. Hill
Harry Wilbur Hill was an admiral in the United States Navy during World War II.-Biography:Hill was born in Oakland, California on 7 April 1890...
's amphibious vessels preparing to assault Eniwetok. In the early morning darkness of 17 February, Hunt arrived off Truk with the rest of the force which began the systematic destruction of the Japanese ships and planes caught in the area. A group of heavies—two battleships, two heavy cruiser
Heavy cruiser
The heavy cruiser was a type of cruiser, a naval warship designed for long range, high speed and an armament of naval guns roughly 203mm calibre . The heavy cruiser can be seen as a lineage of ship design from 1915 until 1945, although the term 'heavy cruiser' only came into formal use in 1930...
s, and four destroyers—circled the atoll to catch enemy ships attempting to escape, while carrier-based planes attacked targets on the islands and in the Lagoon. Hunts role in the operation was to protect Admiral Albert E. Montgomery's carrier group from 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...
or air attack. When her task force steamed away the following evening, its planes and ships had sunk two light cruiser
Light cruiser
A light cruiser is a type of small- or medium-sized warship. The term is a shortening of the phrase "light armored cruiser", describing a small ship that carried armor in the same way as an armored cruiser: a protective belt and deck...
s, 4 destroyers, 3 auxiliary cruisers, 6 auxiliaries of different types, and 137,091 tons of merchant shipping. Moreover, the destruction and damaging of between 250 and 275 enemy planes was especially gratifying to the Navy which, by this successful raid, had forced the Japanese Combined Fleet to shun Truk, its base since July 1942, in favor of safer areas closer to home.
After clearing Truk, Hunt, in company with carrier Enterprise
USS Enterprise (CV-6)
USS Enterprise , colloquially referred to as the "Big E," was the sixth aircraft carrier of the United States Navy and the seventh U.S. Navy ship to bear the name. Launched in 1936, she was a ship of the Yorktown class, and one of only three American carriers commissioned prior to World War II to...
(CV-6), cruiser San Diego
USS San Diego (CL-53)
The second USS San Diego was an Atlanta-class light cruiser of the United States Navy, commissioned just after the US entry into World War II, and active throughout the Pacific theater...
(CL-53), and five other destroyers, left the main body of the task force to raid "leapfrogged" Jaluit Atoll, Marshall Islands
Marshall 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...
, 20 February 1944. The next day she anchored in Majuro Lagoon from which, after a brief visit to Pearl Harbor, she put to sea as a part of the screen of the Bunker Hill carrier task group (TG 58.2) bound for the Palau Islands 22 March. She steamed on station as the first air strikes at 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....
were launched 30 March. Intense and accurate antiaircraft fire from Hunt and her sister ships drove off three flight groups of Japanese torpedo bomber
Torpedo bomber
A torpedo bomber is a bomber aircraft designed primarily to attack ships with aerial torpedoes which could also carry out conventional bombings. Torpedo bombers existed almost exclusively prior to and during World War II when they were an important element in many famous battles, notably the...
s as strikes continued during the next 3 days. On 1 April she left the formation with destroyer Hickox
USS Hickox (DD-673)
USS Hickox was a of the United States Navy, named for Lieutenant Commander Ralph Hickox .Hickox was launched 4 July 1943 by Federal Shipbuilding and Drydock Company, Kearny, N.J.; sponsored by Mrs. Ralph Hickox, wife of the late Commander Hickox; and commissioned 10 September 1943, Comdr. William M...
(DD-673) to destroy two 125-foot patrol craft which had been firing on American planes.
She returned to Majuro on 6 April for replenishment, then sejt course with the Bunker Hill
USS Bunker Hill (CV-17)
USS Bunker Hill was one of 24 s built during World War II for the United States Navy. The ship, the second US Navy ship to bear the name, was named for the Battle of Bunker Hill. Bunker Hill was commissioned in May 1943, and served in several campaigns in the Pacific Theater of Operations, earning...
carrier task group to lend support to the invasion and occupation of Hollandia
Jayapura
Jayapura City is the capital of Papua province, Indonesia, on the island of New Guinea. It is situated on Yos Sudarso Bay . Its approximate population in 2002 was 200,000....
, D.N.G.
New Guinea
New Guinea is the world's second largest island, after Greenland, covering a land area of 786,000 km2. Located in the southwest Pacific Ocean, it lies geographically to the east of the Malay Archipelago, with which it is sometimes included as part of a greater Indo-Australian Archipelago...
Planes from the carriers repeatedly struck enemy emplacements in the area, and night fighters successfully repelled all enemy planes which approached the warships. On the passage returning to Majuro Hunts carriers paused off Truk 29 and 30 April for another raid on that weakened but reinforced enemy base. Thereafter Truk was almost useless to the Japanese.
May was a welcome interlude devoted to training exercises in the Marshalls enlivened by a diversionary raid on Wake Island
Wake Island
Wake Island is a coral atoll having a coastline of in the North Pacific Ocean, located about two-thirds of the way from Honolulu west to Guam east. It is an unorganized, unincorporated territory of the United States, administered by the Office of Insular Affairs, U.S. Department of the Interior...
24 May to draw attention away from the Marianas. Hunt put to sea with the Bunker Hill carrier task group 6 June 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...
. The first air strikes of the operation against the Island Group were launched on 11 June and continued until 15 June when the marines
United States Marine Corps
The United States Marine Corps is a branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for providing power projection from the sea, using the mobility of the United States Navy to deliver combined-arms task forces rapidly. It is one of seven uniformed services of the United States...
hit the beaches, and attention shifted to providing close support for troops ashore. On that day, Admiral Raymond A. Spruance
Raymond A. Spruance
Raymond Ames Spruance was a United States Navy admiral in World War II.Spruance commanded US naval forces during two of the most significant naval battles in the Pacific theater, the Battle of Midway and the Battle of the Philippine Sea...
receivedj a warning from submarine Flying Fish
USS Flying Fish (SS-229)
USS Flying Fish , a Gato-class submarine, was the first submarine and second ship of the United States Navy to be named for the flying fish, a family of fishes of tropic and warm temperate seas whose long winglike fins make it possible for them to move some distance through the air.The keel of...
(SS-229) that an enemy carrier force was approaching from San Bernardino Strait
San Bernardino Strait
The San Bernardino Strait is a strait in the Philippines. It separates the Bicol Peninsula of Luzon island from the island of Samar in the south.-Filipinos and San Bernardino Strait:...
. In the early hours of 19 June it arrived within striking distance of the fast carrier force which guarded the amphibious forces off 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...
. 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...
began in a series of dog fights over 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...
, where American planes were neutralizing Japanese land-based air forces. About an hour and a half later, the major phase of the battle, nicknamed "The Marianas Turkey Shoot", opened when the American flattops launched their fighters to intercept the first of four raids from the Japanese carriers. During the ensuing 8 hours of fierce, continuous fighting in the air, Japan lost 346 planes and 2 carriers while only 30 U.S. planes splashed and 1 American battleship suffered a bomb hit but was not put out of action. Hunt then steamed westward with the carriers in pursuit of the fleeing remnants of the enemy fleet. The following afternoon planes from the carriers caught up with their quarry and accounted for carrier Hiyō and two oilers while damaging several other Japanese ships. This carrier battle, the greatest of the war, virtually wiped out the emperor's naval air power which would be sorely missed in the impending battle for Leyte Gulf
Leyte Gulf
Leyte Gulf is a body of water immediately east of the island of Leyte in the Philippines, adjoining the Philippine Sea of the Pacific Ocean, at . The Gulf is bounded on the north by the island of Samar, which is separated from Leyte on the west by the narrow San Juanico Strait, and on the south by...
.
The next evening the task force gave up the chase and set course for Saipan. On the return passage, Hunt rescued four pilots and seven crewmen from planes which had been unable to land on their carriers. Once back in the Marianas, Hunt and her sister ships resumed the task of supporting the American forces which were taking Saipan
Battle of Saipan
The Battle of Saipan was a battle of the Pacific campaign of World War II, fought on the island of Saipan in the Mariana Islands from 15 June-9 July 1944. The Allied invasion fleet embarking the expeditionary forces left Pearl Harbor on 5 June 1944, the day before Operation Overlord in Europe was...
, Tinian
Battle of Tinian
The Battle of Tinian was a battle of the Pacific campaign of World War II, fought on the island of Tinian in the Mariana Islands from 24 July 1944 to 1 August 1944.-Background:...
, and Guam. They continued this duty until fighting in these islands ended early in August.
After voyage repairs at Pearl Harbor, she departed 30 August as part of the screen for Admiral William F. Halsey's flagship
Flagship
A flagship is a vessel used by the commanding officer of a group of naval ships, reflecting the custom of its commander, characteristically a flag officer, flying a distinguishing flag...
, New Jersey
USS New Jersey (BB-62)
USS New Jersey , is an , and was the second ship of the United States Navy to be named in honor of the U.S. state of New Jersey. New Jersey earned more battle stars for combat actions than the other three completed Iowa-class battleships, and is the only U.S...
(BB-62). Hunt joined the Bunker Hill Carrier Group off 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...
6 September for operations south of the Palau Islands. On 11 September she carried Admiral Halsey from New Jersey to carrier Lexington
USS Lexington (CV-16)
USS Lexington , known as "The Blue Ghost", is one of 24 s built during World War II for the United States Navy. The ship, the fifth US Navy ship to bear the name, is named in honor of the Revolutionary War Battle of Lexington...
(CV-16) for a conference and returned him to his flagship. In the following days she guarded the carriers which were repeatedly raiding the Palaus to soften them up for the invasion. When marines attle of Peleliu|landed on Peleliu]j] 15 September, planes from these carriers supported the efforts on shore until the determined leathernecks finally stamped out the last organized resistance of the dogged Japanese defenders. Hunt entered Kossol Passage 30 September to embark Admiral Halsey and his staff for passage to Peleliu. Hunt put him ashore that afternoon and steamed off shore as stand-by flagship until the following afternoon when he again came on board to be returned to Kossol Passage.
On 6 October, she cleared port with the Bunker Hill carrier task group for air strikes against Okinawa Jima. Hunt rescued a pilot and two crewmen of a splashed Bunker Hill plane 10 October. She repeated this fjeat 2 days later when she saved a pilot and two crewmen whose plane had been downed during an attack on Formosan
Taiwan
Taiwan , also known, especially in the past, as Formosa , is the largest island of the same-named island group of East Asia in the western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. The island forms over 99% of the current territory of the Republic of China following...
airbases.
Hunt accompanied the carriers off Northern Luzon
Luzon
Luzon is the largest island in the Philippines. It is located in the northernmost region of the archipelago, and is also the name for one of the three primary island groups in the country centered on the Island of Luzon...
during the landings on Leyte
Battle of Leyte
The Battle of Leyte in the Pacific campaign of World War II was the invasion and conquest of the island of Leyte in the Philippines by American and Filipino guerrilla forces under the command of General Douglas MacArthur, who fought against the Imperial Japanese Army in the Philippines led by...
20 October while they struck again and again at Japanese airfields throughout the Philippines
Philippines
The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...
to eliminate enemy airpower during General MacArthur's long-awaited return. During the decisive Battle for Leyte Gulf they went after the Japanese norjjthern force and sank four carriers and a destroyer besides damaging several other ships.
1945
For the rest of the year, Hunt continued to serve as a screening unit for the carrier strikes against Formosa and Japanese-held areas in the Philippines. On 16 February 1945, her fast carrier task force hit hard at the Tokyo BayTokyo 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...
area in a furious 2-day attack. Then the flattops turned their attention to support the landings on Iwo Jima
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...
which began 19 February. That day her guns brought down an enemy plane as they repelled the first of the air raids against American ships off that bitterly-contested island. Hunt sailed from 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...
22 February for waters off Honshū
Honshu
is the largest island of Japan. The nation's main island, it is south of Hokkaido across the Tsugaru Strait, north of Shikoku across the Inland Sea, and northeast of Kyushu across the Kanmon Strait...
, Japan and another swipe at Tokyo Bay, 25 February. On the way to Ulithi
Ulithi
Ulithi is an atoll in the Caroline Islands of the western Pacific Ocean, about 191 km east of Yap. It consists of 40 islets totalling , surrounding a lagoon about long and up to wide—at one of the largest in the world. It is administered by the state of Yap in the Federated States of...
the carriers paused to strike Okinawa 1 March.
Hunt departed Ulithi 14 March for rendezvous with carrier FrankIin (CV-13) off the Ryukyu Islands
Ryukyu Islands
The , also known as the , is a chain of islands in the western Pacific, on the eastern limit of the East China Sea and to the southwest of the island of Kyushu in Japan. From about 1829 until the mid 20th century, they were alternately called Luchu, Loochoo, or Lewchew, akin to the Mandarin...
18 March. The next day Franklin maneuvered closer to the Japanese mainland than had any other U.S. carrier up to that point in the war to launch a fighter sweep against Honshū and later a strike against shipping in Kobe Harbor. Suddenly a single enemy plane broke through the cloud cover and made a low level run to drop two semi-armor-piercing bombs on the gallant ship. The carrier burned furiously as the flames triggered ammunition, bombs, and rockets. Hunt closed the stricken ship to assist in picking up survivors blown overboard by the explosions. After rescuing 429 survivors, she joined three other destroyers in a clockwise patrol arjound the stricken ship which had gone dead in the water within 50 miles of the Japanese Coast. Cruiser Pittsburgh
USS Pittsburgh (CA-72)
The third USS Pittsburgh , originally named Albany, was a Baltimore-class heavy cruiser laid down on 3 February 1943 by the Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corporation's Fore River Shipyard at Quincy, Massachusetts; launched on 22 February 1944, sponsored by Mrs Cornelius D. Scully, wife of the Mayor of...
(CA-72) took the ship in tow and, after an epic struggle, managed to get her to Ulithi 24 March. Hunt put the survivors ashore and sped to the Ryukyus 5 April to support troops who were struggling to take Okinawa
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...
.
Hunt took up 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...
station off Okinawa 8 April. On 14 April a 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....
roared in toward Hunt and was riddled by her guns during the approach. It struck the destroyer at deck level shearing off the mainmast and slicing into the forward stack, where it left its starboard wing. The fuselage of the suicide plane splashed into the water about 25 yards from Hunt whose crew quickly doused the small fires which had broken out on board. A second kamikaze which approached Hunt that day was knocked down by her alert gunners before it could reach the ship.
Hunt continued to guard the carriers as they gave direct support to troops on Okinawa, taking time out on 4 separate days for radar picket duty in dangerous waters. When she departed Ryukyus 30 May for tender
Destroyer tender
A destroyer tender is a ship designed to provide maintenance support to a flotilla of destroyers or other small warships. The use of this class has faded from its peak in the first half of the 20th century as the roles of small combatants have evolved .Due to the increased size and automation of...
overhaul in Leyte Gulf, her crew had been to general quarters 54 times.
Hunt sailed for the United States 19 June 1945, arrived in San Francisco, Calif.
San Francisco, California
San Francisco , officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the financial, cultural, and transportation center of the San Francisco Bay Area, a region of 7.15 million people which includes San Jose and Oakland...
for overhaul 6 July, and decommissioned 15 December 1945 at San Diego, Calif.
Naval Station San Diego
Naval Base San Diego is the largest base of the United States Navy on the west coast of the United States, in San Diego, California. Naval Base San Diego is the principal homeport of the Pacific Fleet, consisting of 54 ships and over 120 tenant commands. The base is composed of 13 piers stretched...
1951 – 1963
Hunt recommissioned at San Diego 31 October 1951, Comdr. Lynn F. Barry in command. After refresher training in local areas, she departed 14 February for Newport, R.I.Naval Station Newport
The Naval Station Newport is a United States Navy base located in the towns of Newport and Middletown, Rhode Island. Naval Station Newport is home to the Naval War College and the Naval Justice School...
where she arrived 3 March 1952. She cruised from that port for the next 2½ years conducting antisubmarine and plane guard duty. She departed Newport 1 June 1954 for Yokosuka, Japan where she arrived 7 July and was underway again 16 July for task force maneuvers off the Philippine Islands. On 21 October she cleared Sasebo, Japan, on the second leg of a world cruise which took her to Hong Kong
Hong Kong
Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...
, Singapore
Singapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
, the Suez Canal
Suez Canal
The Suez Canal , also known by the nickname "The Highway to India", is an artificial sea-level waterway in Egypt, connecting the Mediterranean Sea and the Red Sea. Opened in November 1869 after 10 years of construction work, it allows water transportation between Europe and Asia without navigation...
, and Naples
Naples
Naples is a city in Southern Italy, situated on the country's west coast by the Gulf of Naples. Lying between two notable volcanic regions, Mount Vesuvius and the Phlegraean Fields, it is the capital of the region of Campania and of the province of Naples...
which she reached 20 November 1954. She passed through the Strait of Gibraltar
Strait of Gibraltar
The Strait of Gibraltar is a narrow strait that connects the Atlantic Ocean to the Mediterranean Sea and separates Spain in Europe from Morocco in Africa. The name comes from Gibraltar, which in turn originates from the Arabic Jebel Tariq , albeit the Arab name for the Strait is Bab el-Zakat or...
12 December 1954 and arrived back in Newport 18 December.
The next 2 years were filled with intensive antisubmarine warfare and convoy
Convoy
A convoy is a group of vehicles, typically motor vehicles or ships, traveling together for mutual support and protection. Often, a convoy is organized with armed defensive support, though it may also be used in a non-military sense, for example when driving through remote areas.-Age of Sail:Naval...
exercises. Hunt departed Newport 6 November for patrol in the Eastern Mediterranean during the Suez Crisis
Suez Crisis
The Suez Crisis, also referred to as the Tripartite Aggression, Suez War was an offensive war fought by France, the United Kingdom, and Israel against Egypt beginning on 29 October 1956. Less than a day after Israel invaded Egypt, Britain and France issued a joint ultimatum to Egypt and Israel,...
and the Hungarian Revolution
Hungarian Revolution
Hungarian Revolution may refer to:* The Hungarian Revolution of 1848.* The Hungarian Revolution of 1919, which led to the formation of the Hungarian Soviet Republic headed by Béla Kun.* The Hungarian Revolution of 1956....
. She returned to Newport 27 February 1957 where more antisubmarine warfare and convoy exercises awaited. She embarked midshipmen
Midshipman
A midshipman is an officer cadet, or a commissioned officer of the lowest rank, in the Royal Navy, United States Navy, and many Commonwealth navies. Commonwealth countries which use the rank include Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, India, Pakistan, Singapore, Sri Lanka and Kenya...
at Annapolis
United States Naval Academy
The United States Naval Academy is a four-year coeducational federal service academy located in Annapolis, Maryland, United States...
for a training cruise which included the International Naval Review in Hampton Roads
Hampton Roads
Hampton Roads is the name for both a body of water and the Norfolk–Virginia Beach metropolitan area which surrounds it in southeastern Virginia, United States...
on 12 June, and a visit to Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro , commonly referred to simply as Rio, is the capital city of the State of Rio de Janeiro, the second largest city of Brazil, and the third largest metropolitan area and agglomeration in South America, boasting approximately 6.3 million people within the city proper, making it the 6th...
, Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
; future United States Senator and presidential candidate John McCain
John McCain
John Sidney McCain III is the senior United States Senator from Arizona. He was the Republican nominee for president in the 2008 United States election....
was one of the midshipmen on this cruise. She departed Newport for Belfast
Belfast
Belfast is the capital of and largest city in Northern Ireland. By population, it is the 14th biggest city in the United Kingdom and second biggest on the island of Ireland . It is the seat of the devolved government and legislative Northern Ireland Assembly...
, Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...
3 September to participate in Operation "Seaspray", maneuvers with the combined forces of NATO. From 22 October 1957 through 1 August 1958 Hunt operated out of Newport. On the latter date while on a cruise to the Caribbean
Caribbean
The Caribbean is a crescent-shaped group of islands more than 2,000 miles long separating the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea, to the west and south, from the Atlantic Ocean, to the east and north...
she sped from San Juan, Puerto Rico
San Juan, Puerto Rico
San Juan , officially Municipio de la Ciudad Capital San Juan Bautista , is the capital and most populous municipality in Puerto Rico, an unincorporated territory of the United States. As of the 2010 census, it had a population of 395,326 making it the 46th-largest city under the jurisdiction of...
to join attack carrier Saratoga (CVA-60) in the Mediterranean to augment the 6th Fleet during the Near Eastern crisis which had necessitated the landing of marines in Beirut
Beirut
Beirut is the capital and largest city of Lebanon, with a population ranging from 1 million to more than 2 million . Located on a peninsula at the midpoint of Lebanon's Mediterranean coastline, it serves as the country's largest and main seaport, and also forms the Beirut Metropolitan...
, Lebanon
Lebanon
Lebanon , officially the Republic of LebanonRepublic of Lebanon is the most common term used by Lebanese government agencies. The term Lebanese Republic, a literal translation of the official Arabic and French names that is not used in today's world. Arabic is the most common language spoken among...
to check aggression. She reached that port 28 August and 3 days later was underway for the Red Sea
Red Sea
The Red Sea is a seawater inlet of the Indian Ocean, lying between Africa and Asia. The connection to the ocean is in the south through the Bab el Mandeb strait and the Gulf of Aden. In the north, there is the Sinai Peninsula, the Gulf of Aqaba, and the Gulf of Suez...
. She completed transit of the Suez Canal 11 September for Massawa
Massawa
Massawa, also known as Mitsiwa Massawa, also known as Mitsiwa Massawa, also known as Mitsiwa (Ge'ez ምጽዋዕ , formerly ባጽዕ is a city on the Red Sea coast of Eritrea. An important port for many centuries, it was ruled by a succession of polities, including the Axumite Empire, the Umayyad Caliphate,...
, Ethiopia
Ethiopia
Ethiopia , officially known as the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a country located in the Horn of Africa. It is the second-most populous nation in Africa, with over 82 million inhabitants, and the tenth-largest by area, occupying 1,100,000 km2...
, and after calling at Aden
Aden
Aden is a seaport city in Yemen, located by the eastern approach to the Red Sea , some 170 kilometres east of Bab-el-Mandeb. Its population is approximately 800,000. Aden's ancient, natural harbour lies in the crater of an extinct volcano which now forms a peninsula, joined to the mainland by a...
, Arabia, set course 14 October for the Mediterranean and maneuvers with the 6th Fleet en route home to Newport, arriving 13 November.
Hunt operated out of Newport with occasional cruises in the Caribbean conducting exercises in antisubmarine warfare and battle practice. She won the Battle Efficiency Award
Battle Efficiency Award
The Battle Effectiveness Award , commonly known as the Battle "E", is awarded annually to the small number of U.S...
for the fiscal year 1957 to 1958 and repeated the feat for the 1958 to 1959 period. She decommissioned 30 December 1963 and was berthed in the Atlantic Reserve Fleet at Philadelphia, Pa.
Hunt was stricken from the Naval Vessel Register
Naval Vessel Register
The Naval Vessel Register is the official inventory of ships and service craft in custody of or titled by the United States Navy. It contains information on ships and service craft that make up the official inventory of the Navy from the time a vessel is authorized through its life cycle and...
1 December 1974. She was sold 14 August 1975 and broken up for scrap.
External links
- Hazegray Destroyer Database, DD-674
- Destroyer Photo Index, USS Hunt
- Unofficial web site, run by former officers.