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USS John D. Ford (DD-228)
Encyclopedia
USS John D. Ford (DD-228/AG-119) was a Clemson-class
destroyer
in the United States Navy
during World War II
. She was named for Rear Admiral
John Donaldson Ford
.
John D. Ford was laid down 11 November 1919 and launched 2 September 1920 from William Cramp & Sons; sponsored by Miss F. Faith Ford, daughter of Rear Admiral Ford; and commissioned as Ford 30 December 1920, Lieutenant, junior grade
L. T. Forbes in temporary command.
, John D. Ford received Lieutenant Commander
C. A. Pownall as commanding officer 16 July 1921. On 17 November, while operating along the eastern seaboard, her name was changed to John D. Ford. After training in the Caribbean
, she departed Newport, Rhode Island
, 20 June 1922 for permanent duty with the Asiatic Fleet. Sailing via the Mediterranean Sea
, the Suez Canal
, and the Indian Ocean
, she arrived Cavite
, Manila Bay
, 21 August to begin almost two decades of service in the Far East
.
Prior to the outbreak of World War II, Ford operated out of Manila, cruising Asiatic waters from southern China
to northern Japan
. During April and May 1924, she helped establish temporary air bases on the Japanese Kurile and Hokkaidō
Islands in support of the pioneer, global flight between 9 April and 28 September by the U.S. Air Service
.
, China, to protect American lives and interests, which were threatened by Chinese civil strife. After renewal of the Chinese Civil War
in May 1926, she patrolled the Chinese coast to protect convoys from roving bands of bandits. On 24 March 1927 she supported the evacuation of American and foreign nationals, who were fleeing from mob violence at Nanking. That event included a naval bombardment of the city.
The ascendancy of the reformed Nationalist government under Chiang Kai-Shek
in 1928 reduced the intensity of the civil strife. However, Sino-Japanese relations deteriorated, requiring Ford to remain in China. Following Japanese aggression in northern China during July 1937, she evacuated Americans from Peiping as Japanese ships prepared to blockade the Chinese coast. Steaming to Manila 21 November, she operated between the Philippines
and southern China on fleet maneuvers. After war broke out in Europe
in September 1939, she increased training off the Philippines and commenced Neutrality patrol
s in the Philippine and South China Sea
s.
After the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor
7 December 1941, John D. Ford readied for action at Cavite as a unit of DesDiv 59. Undamaged by the destructive Japanese air raid on Manila Bay 10 December, she sailed southward the same day to patrol the Sulu Sea
and Makassar Strait
with Task Force 6. She remained in Makassar Strait until 23 December, then she steamed from Balikpapan
, Borneo
, to Surabaya
, Java, arriving the 24th.
As the Japanese pressed southward through the Philippines and into Indonesia
, the Allies could hardly hope to contain the Japanese offensive in the East Indies
. With too few ships and practically no air support they strove to harass the Japanese forces in an attempt to delay their advance, and to prevent the invasion of Australia
. Anxious to strike back at the Japanese, Ford departed Surabaya 11 January 1942 for Kupang
, Timor
, where she arrived on the 18th to join a destroyer striking force. Two days later the force sailed for Balikpapan
to conduct a surprise torpedo attack on Japanese shipping. Arriving off Balikpapan during mid watch 24 January, the four destroyers launched a raid through the Japanese transports while Japanese destroyers steamed about Makassar Strait in search of reported American submarines. For over an hour the destroyers fired torpedoes and shells at the astonished enemy. Before retiring from the first surface action in the Pacific war, they sank four Japanese ships, one a victim of John D. Ford's torpedoes. The striking force arrived Surabaya 25 January.
The Japanese pincer offensive through the Dutch East Indies
continued despite Allied harassment. On 3 February the Japanese began air raids on Surabaya, and John D. Ford retired in convoy to Tjilatjap on the southern coast of Java. During mid-February the Japanese tightened their control of islands east and west of Java, and on 18 February they landed troops on Bali, adjacent to the eastern end of the Java. In response John D. Ford, , and other American and Dutch ships steamed to Badoeng Strait in two waves to engage an enemy destroyer-transport force during the night of 19/20 February in what became known as the Battle of Badung Strait
. A unit of the first wave, Ford conducted a running engagement with two Japanese destroyers without results. The outcome from the battle as a whole was a Japanese victory: the landings on Bali were successful and the Dutch destroyer Piet Hein was sunk, while suffering substantial damage to only one ship.
Returning to Tjilatjap 21 February for fuel, Ford and Pope immediately sailed to Kiritimati
to pick up the last reserve of 17 to 18 torpedoes from . Then they steamed to Surabaya, arriving on the 24th to join the dwindling ABDA
Striking Force. Hampered by shortages of fuel, ammunition, and torpedoes and reduced in strength by sinkings, battle damage, and repair needs, the Allies indeed faced a "critical situation." Only four U.S. destroyers remained operational in the Striking Force.
Late on the 25th, Ford sortied with the Striking Force from Surabaya in search of a large enemy amphibious force in the Java Sea. Returning to port the following day, the force was joined by five British ships; once more the Striking Force steamed to intercept the enemy. Following an unsuccessful strike by enemy planes the morning of the 27th, the Allied force steamed for Surabaya. While steaming through the mine field, the ships reversed course and deployed to meet the enemy off the northern coast of Java.
The Battle of Java Sea commenced at 1616 and continued for over 7 hours. The Allied ships, 5 cruisers and 9 destroyers, engaged the enemy force, 4 cruisers and 13 destroyers, in a furious running battle marked by intermittent gun and torpedo duels. Ford emerged from the battle undamaged, but once again the battle as whole was a defeat for the Allies, as in the unsuccessful attempt to prevent the invasion of Java five Allied ships were sunk.
Retiring to Surabaya, Ford and three other destroyers of DesDiv 58 departed after dark 28 February for Australia. Steaming undetected through the narrows of Bali Strait during midwatch 1 March, the destroyers encountered three Japanese destroyers guarding the southern end of the strait. Out of torpedoes and low on ammunition, the destroyers retreated from the Japanese patrol and steamed for Fremantle. Lieutenant Commander J. E. Cooper, who had skippered Ford since before the outbreak of the war, brought her safely to Australia 4 March.
After 2 months of convoy escort duty along the Australian coast, Ford departed Brisbane
9 May for Pearl Harbor
. Arriving 2 June, she sailed in convoy 3 days later for San Francisco and arrived 12 June. She cleared San Francisco for Pearl Harbor 23 June, and during the next 11 months escorted nine convoys between San Francisco and Pearl. Returning to the West Coast 20 May 1943, she departed San Francisco 24 May for convoy and antisubmarine warfare (ASW) patrols in the Atlantic.
Assigned to the 10th Fleet, Ford transited the Panama Canal
4 June and joined a Trinidad-bound convoy the 6th. For the next 6 months she ranged the North and South Atlantic from New York and Charleston, South Carolina
, to Casablanca
, French Morocco
, and Recife
, Brazil
, protecting supply convoys from U-boat
s. After ASW training late in December, she joined out of Norfolk, Virginia
5 January 1944 for offensive ASW operations in the Atlantic. The destroyer supported the destruction of German submarine U-544 by planes from Guadalcanal, who surprised and depth charged the submarine while refueling west of the Azores
16 January.
After returning to the East Coast 16 February, Ford cleared Norfolk 14 March for a convoy run to the Mediterranean. While at Gibraltar
29 March, she was damaged in a collision with a British tanker. Following repairs, she returned to Norfolk, arriving 1 May. Departing Norfolk 24 May for convoy duty to the Canal Zone, Ford continued convoy patrols for almost a year from eastern seaboard ports to Recife
, Reykjavík
, and Casablanca.
From 24 May 1945 to 27 June, she acted as escort and plane guard for during the carrier's shakedown in the Caribbean, then she returned to Norfolk. She sailed 8 July for Boston Navy Yard where she arrived 9 July for conversion to miscellaneous auxiliary AG-119. After conversion, she returned to Norfolk 9 September and decommissioned 2 November 1945. Subsequently, she was sold for scrap 5 October 1947 to Northern Metal Company, Philadelphia.
As of 2010, no other U.S. Navy ship has been named John D. Ford.
Clemson class destroyer
The Clemson class was a series of 156 destroyers which served with the United States Navy from after World War I through World War II.The Clemson-class ships were commissioned by the United States Navy from 1919 to 1922, built by Newport News Shipbuilding & Dry Dock Company, New York Shipbuilding...
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...
in 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...
during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. She was named for Rear Admiral
Rear Admiral
Rear admiral is a naval commissioned officer rank above that of a commodore and captain, and below that of a vice admiral. It is generally regarded as the lowest of the "admiral" ranks, which are also sometimes referred to as "flag officers" or "flag ranks"...
John Donaldson Ford
John D. Ford
Rear Admiral John Donaldson Ford was an officer in the United States Navy during the American Civil War and the Spanish–American War.-Biography:...
.
John D. Ford was laid down 11 November 1919 and launched 2 September 1920 from William Cramp & Sons; sponsored by Miss F. Faith Ford, daughter of Rear Admiral Ford; and commissioned as Ford 30 December 1920, Lieutenant, junior grade
Lieutenant, Junior Grade
Lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer rank in the United States Navy, the United States Coast Guard, the United States Public Health Service Commissioned Corps, United States Merchant Marine USMM, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Commissioned Corps, with the pay grade...
L. T. Forbes in temporary command.
Service history
After acceptance trials off New EnglandNew England
New England is a region in the northeastern corner of the United States consisting of the six states of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut...
, John D. Ford received Lieutenant Commander
Lieutenant Commander
Lieutenant Commander is a commissioned officer rank in many navies. The rank is superior to a lieutenant and subordinate to a commander...
C. A. Pownall as commanding officer 16 July 1921. On 17 November, while operating along the eastern seaboard, her name was changed to John D. Ford. After training in 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 departed Newport, Rhode Island
Newport, Rhode Island
Newport is a city on Aquidneck Island in Newport County, Rhode Island, United States, about south of Providence. Known as a New England summer resort and for the famous Newport Mansions, it is the home of Salve Regina University and Naval Station Newport which houses the United States Naval War...
, 20 June 1922 for permanent duty with the Asiatic Fleet. Sailing via the Mediterranean Sea
Mediterranean Sea
The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean surrounded by the Mediterranean region and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Anatolia and Europe, on the south by North Africa, and on the east by the Levant...
, 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 the Indian Ocean
Indian Ocean
The Indian Ocean is the third largest of the world's oceanic divisions, covering approximately 20% of the water on the Earth's surface. It is bounded on the north by the Indian Subcontinent and Arabian Peninsula ; on the west by eastern Africa; on the east by Indochina, the Sunda Islands, and...
, she arrived Cavite
Cavite
Cavite is a province of the Philippines located on the southern shores of Manila Bay in the CALABARZON region in Luzon, just 30 kilometers south of Manila. Cavite is surrounded by Laguna to the east, Metro Manila to the northeast, and Batangas to the south...
, Manila Bay
Manila Bay
Manila Bay is a natural harbor which serves the Port of Manila , in the Philippines.The bay is considered to be one of the best natural harbors in Southeast Asia and one of the finest in the world...
, 21 August to begin almost two decades of service in the Far East
Far East
The Far East is an English term mostly describing East Asia and Southeast Asia, with South Asia sometimes also included for economic and cultural reasons.The term came into use in European geopolitical discourse in the 19th century,...
.
Prior to the outbreak of World War II, Ford operated out of Manila, cruising Asiatic waters from southern China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
to northern Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
. During April and May 1924, she helped establish temporary air bases on the Japanese Kurile and Hokkaidō
Hokkaido
, formerly known as Ezo, Yezo, Yeso, or Yesso, is Japan's second largest island; it is also the largest and northernmost of Japan's 47 prefectural-level subdivisions. The Tsugaru Strait separates Hokkaido from Honshu, although the two islands are connected by the underwater railway Seikan Tunnel...
Islands in support of the pioneer, global flight between 9 April and 28 September by the U.S. Air Service
United States Army Air Corps
The United States Army Air Corps was a forerunner of the United States Air Force. Renamed from the Air Service on 2 July 1926, it was part of the United States Army and the predecessor of the United States Army Air Forces , established in 1941...
.
Chinese Civil War
On 6 June she deployed to ShanghaiShanghai
Shanghai is the largest city by population in China and the largest city proper in the world. It is one of the four province-level municipalities in the People's Republic of China, with a total population of over 23 million as of 2010...
, China, to protect American lives and interests, which were threatened by Chinese civil strife. After renewal of the Chinese Civil War
Chinese Civil War
The Chinese Civil War was a civil war fought between the Kuomintang , the governing party of the Republic of China, and the Communist Party of China , for the control of China which eventually led to China's division into two Chinas, Republic of China and People's Republic of...
in May 1926, she patrolled the Chinese coast to protect convoys from roving bands of bandits. On 24 March 1927 she supported the evacuation of American and foreign nationals, who were fleeing from mob violence at Nanking. That event included a naval bombardment of the city.
The ascendancy of the reformed Nationalist government under Chiang Kai-Shek
Chiang Kai-shek
Chiang Kai-shek was a political and military leader of 20th century China. He is known as Jiǎng Jièshí or Jiǎng Zhōngzhèng in Mandarin....
in 1928 reduced the intensity of the civil strife. However, Sino-Japanese relations deteriorated, requiring Ford to remain in China. Following Japanese aggression in northern China during July 1937, she evacuated Americans from Peiping as Japanese ships prepared to blockade the Chinese coast. Steaming to Manila 21 November, she operated between 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...
and southern China on fleet maneuvers. After war broke out in Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
in September 1939, she increased training off the Philippines and commenced Neutrality patrol
Neutrality Patrol
At the beginning of World War II, when Nazi Germany's invasion of Poland on 1 September 1939 started the hostilities in Europe, President Franklin D...
s in the Philippine and South China Sea
South China Sea
The South China Sea is a marginal sea that is part of the Pacific Ocean, encompassing an area from the Singapore and Malacca Straits to the Strait of Taiwan of around...
s.
World War II
Attack on Pearl Harbor
The attack on Pearl Harbor was a surprise military strike conducted by the Imperial Japanese Navy against the United States naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on the morning of December 7, 1941...
7 December 1941, John D. Ford readied for action at Cavite as a unit of DesDiv 59. Undamaged by the destructive Japanese air raid on Manila Bay 10 December, she sailed southward the same day to patrol the Sulu Sea
Sulu Sea
The Sulu Sea is a body of water in the southwestern area of the Philippines, separated from the South China Sea in the northwest by Palawan and from the Celebes Sea in the southeast by the Sulu Archipelago. Borneo is found to the southwest and Visayas to the northeast.Sulu Sea contains a number of...
and Makassar Strait
Makassar Strait
Makassar Strait is a strait between the islands of Borneo and Sulawesi in Indonesia. To the north it joins the Celebes Sea, while to the south it meets the Java Sea.The Mahakam River of Borneo empties into the strait....
with Task Force 6. She remained in Makassar Strait until 23 December, then she steamed from Balikpapan
Balikpapan
Balikpapan is a seaport city on the eastern coast of the island of Borneo, Indonesia, in the East Kalimantan province, a resource-rich region well known for its timber, mining, and petroleum export products. Two harbors, Semayang and Kariangau , and the Sepinggan International Airport are the main...
, Borneo
Borneo
Borneo is the third largest island in the world and is located north of Java Island, Indonesia, at the geographic centre of Maritime Southeast Asia....
, to Surabaya
Surabaya
Surabaya is Indonesia's second-largest city with a population of over 2.7 million , and the capital of the province of East Java...
, Java, arriving the 24th.
As the Japanese pressed southward through the Philippines and into Indonesia
Indonesia
Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...
, the Allies could hardly hope to contain the Japanese offensive in the East Indies
East Indies
East Indies is a term used by Europeans from the 16th century onwards to identify what is now known as Indian subcontinent or South Asia, Southeastern Asia, and the islands of Oceania, including the Malay Archipelago and the Philippines...
. With too few ships and practically no air support they strove to harass the Japanese forces in an attempt to delay their advance, and to prevent the invasion of 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...
. Anxious to strike back at the Japanese, Ford departed Surabaya 11 January 1942 for Kupang
Kupang
Not to be confused with Tanjung Kupang in JohoreKupang is the provincial capital of East Nusa Tenggara province in southeast Indonesia....
, Timor
Timor
Timor is an island at the southern end of Maritime Southeast Asia, north of the Timor Sea. It is divided between the independent state of East Timor, and West Timor, belonging to the Indonesian province of East Nusa Tenggara. The island's surface is 30,777 square kilometres...
, where she arrived on the 18th to join a destroyer striking force. Two days later the force sailed for Balikpapan
Balikpapan
Balikpapan is a seaport city on the eastern coast of the island of Borneo, Indonesia, in the East Kalimantan province, a resource-rich region well known for its timber, mining, and petroleum export products. Two harbors, Semayang and Kariangau , and the Sepinggan International Airport are the main...
to conduct a surprise torpedo attack on Japanese shipping. Arriving off Balikpapan during mid watch 24 January, the four destroyers launched a raid through the Japanese transports while Japanese destroyers steamed about Makassar Strait in search of reported American submarines. For over an hour the destroyers fired torpedoes and shells at the astonished enemy. Before retiring from the first surface action in the Pacific war, they sank four Japanese ships, one a victim of John D. Ford's torpedoes. The striking force arrived Surabaya 25 January.
The Japanese pincer offensive through the Dutch East Indies
Dutch East Indies
The Dutch East Indies was a Dutch colony that became modern Indonesia following World War II. It was formed from the nationalised colonies of the Dutch East India Company, which came under the administration of the Netherlands government in 1800....
continued despite Allied harassment. On 3 February the Japanese began air raids on Surabaya, and John D. Ford retired in convoy to Tjilatjap on the southern coast of Java. During mid-February the Japanese tightened their control of islands east and west of Java, and on 18 February they landed troops on Bali, adjacent to the eastern end of the Java. In response John D. Ford, , and other American and Dutch ships steamed to Badoeng Strait in two waves to engage an enemy destroyer-transport force during the night of 19/20 February in what became known as the Battle of Badung Strait
Battle of Badung Strait
The Battle of Badung Strait was a naval battle of the Pacific campaign of World War II, fought on the night of 19/20 February 1942 in Badung Strait between the American-British-Dutch-Australian Command and the Imperial Japanese Navy...
. A unit of the first wave, Ford conducted a running engagement with two Japanese destroyers without results. The outcome from the battle as a whole was a Japanese victory: the landings on Bali were successful and the Dutch destroyer Piet Hein was sunk, while suffering substantial damage to only one ship.
Returning to Tjilatjap 21 February for fuel, Ford and Pope immediately sailed to Kiritimati
Kiritimati
Kiritimati or Christmas Island is a Pacific Ocean raised coral atoll in the northern Line Islands, and part of the Republic of Kiribati....
to pick up the last reserve of 17 to 18 torpedoes from . Then they steamed to Surabaya, arriving on the 24th to join the dwindling ABDA
Abda
Abda may refer to:People*Abda , a personal name, given to two biblical figures*Abda of Edessa, saint of the Assyrian Church of the East*Abda of Dair-Koni, also known as Rabban Mar Abda, abbot and saint...
Striking Force. Hampered by shortages of fuel, ammunition, and torpedoes and reduced in strength by sinkings, battle damage, and repair needs, the Allies indeed faced a "critical situation." Only four U.S. destroyers remained operational in the Striking Force.
Late on the 25th, Ford sortied with the Striking Force from Surabaya in search of a large enemy amphibious force in the Java Sea. Returning to port the following day, the force was joined by five British ships; once more the Striking Force steamed to intercept the enemy. Following an unsuccessful strike by enemy planes the morning of the 27th, the Allied force steamed for Surabaya. While steaming through the mine field, the ships reversed course and deployed to meet the enemy off the northern coast of Java.
The Battle of Java Sea commenced at 1616 and continued for over 7 hours. The Allied ships, 5 cruisers and 9 destroyers, engaged the enemy force, 4 cruisers and 13 destroyers, in a furious running battle marked by intermittent gun and torpedo duels. Ford emerged from the battle undamaged, but once again the battle as whole was a defeat for the Allies, as in the unsuccessful attempt to prevent the invasion of Java five Allied ships were sunk.
Retiring to Surabaya, Ford and three other destroyers of DesDiv 58 departed after dark 28 February for Australia. Steaming undetected through the narrows of Bali Strait during midwatch 1 March, the destroyers encountered three Japanese destroyers guarding the southern end of the strait. Out of torpedoes and low on ammunition, the destroyers retreated from the Japanese patrol and steamed for Fremantle. Lieutenant Commander J. E. Cooper, who had skippered Ford since before the outbreak of the war, brought her safely to Australia 4 March.
After 2 months of convoy escort duty along the Australian coast, Ford departed Brisbane
Brisbane
Brisbane is the capital and most populous city in the Australian state of Queensland and the third most populous city in Australia. Brisbane's metropolitan area has a population of over 2 million, and the South East Queensland urban conurbation, centred around Brisbane, encompasses a population of...
9 May for 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...
. Arriving 2 June, she sailed in convoy 3 days later for San Francisco and arrived 12 June. She cleared San Francisco for Pearl Harbor 23 June, and during the next 11 months escorted nine convoys between San Francisco and Pearl. Returning to the West Coast 20 May 1943, she departed San Francisco 24 May for convoy and antisubmarine warfare (ASW) patrols in the Atlantic.
Assigned to the 10th Fleet, Ford transited the Panama Canal
Panama Canal
The Panama Canal is a ship canal in Panama that joins the Atlantic Ocean and the Pacific Ocean and is a key conduit for international maritime trade. Built from 1904 to 1914, the canal has seen annual traffic rise from about 1,000 ships early on to 14,702 vessels measuring a total of 309.6...
4 June and joined a Trinidad-bound convoy the 6th. For the next 6 months she ranged the North and South Atlantic from New York and Charleston, South Carolina
Charleston, South Carolina
Charleston is the second largest city in the U.S. state of South Carolina. It was made the county seat of Charleston County in 1901 when Charleston County was founded. The city's original name was Charles Towne in 1670, and it moved to its present location from a location on the west bank of the...
, to Casablanca
Casablanca
Casablanca is a city in western Morocco, located on the Atlantic Ocean. It is the capital of the Grand Casablanca region.Casablanca is Morocco's largest city as well as its chief port. It is also the biggest city in the Maghreb. The 2004 census recorded a population of 2,949,805 in the prefecture...
, French Morocco
French Morocco
French Protectorate of Morocco was a French protectorate in Morocco, established by the Treaty of Fez. French Morocco did not include the north of the country, which was a Spanish protectorate...
, and Recife
Recife
Recife is the fifth-largest metropolitan area in Brazil with 4,136,506 inhabitants, the largest metropolitan area of the North/Northeast Regions, the 5th-largest metropolitan influence area in Brazil, and the capital and largest city of the state of Pernambuco. The population of the city proper...
, 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...
, protecting supply convoys from U-boat
U-boat
U-boat is the anglicized version of the German word U-Boot , itself an abbreviation of Unterseeboot , and refers to military submarines operated by Germany, particularly in World War I and World War II...
s. After ASW training late in December, she joined out of Norfolk, Virginia
Norfolk, Virginia
Norfolk is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. With a population of 242,803 as of the 2010 Census, it is Virginia's second-largest city behind neighboring Virginia Beach....
5 January 1944 for offensive ASW operations in the Atlantic. The destroyer supported the destruction of German submarine U-544 by planes from Guadalcanal, who surprised and depth charged the submarine while refueling west of the Azores
Azores
The Archipelago of the Azores is composed of nine volcanic islands situated in the middle of the North Atlantic Ocean, and is located about west from Lisbon and about east from the east coast of North America. The islands, and their economic exclusion zone, form the Autonomous Region of the...
16 January.
After returning to the East Coast 16 February, Ford cleared Norfolk 14 March for a convoy run to the Mediterranean. While at Gibraltar
Gibraltar
Gibraltar is a British overseas territory located on the southern end of the Iberian Peninsula at the entrance of the Mediterranean. A peninsula with an area of , it has a northern border with Andalusia, Spain. The Rock of Gibraltar is the major landmark of the region...
29 March, she was damaged in a collision with a British tanker. Following repairs, she returned to Norfolk, arriving 1 May. Departing Norfolk 24 May for convoy duty to the Canal Zone, Ford continued convoy patrols for almost a year from eastern seaboard ports to Recife
Recife
Recife is the fifth-largest metropolitan area in Brazil with 4,136,506 inhabitants, the largest metropolitan area of the North/Northeast Regions, the 5th-largest metropolitan influence area in Brazil, and the capital and largest city of the state of Pernambuco. The population of the city proper...
, Reykjavík
Reykjavík
Reykjavík is the capital and largest city in Iceland.Its latitude at 64°08' N makes it the world's northernmost capital of a sovereign state. It is located in southwestern Iceland, on the southern shore of Faxaflói Bay...
, and Casablanca.
From 24 May 1945 to 27 June, she acted as escort and plane guard for during the carrier's shakedown in the Caribbean, then she returned to Norfolk. She sailed 8 July for Boston Navy Yard where she arrived 9 July for conversion to miscellaneous auxiliary AG-119. After conversion, she returned to Norfolk 9 September and decommissioned 2 November 1945. Subsequently, she was sold for scrap 5 October 1947 to Northern Metal Company, Philadelphia.
Awards
John D. Ford received four battle stars for her World War II service.As of 2010, no other U.S. Navy ship has been named John D. Ford.
External links
- USS John D. Ford at Destroyer History Foundation
- http://www.navsource.org/archives/05/228.htm