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USS Putnam (DD-757)
Encyclopedia
USS Putnam (DD-757), an , was the 2nd ship of the United States Navy
to be named for Charles Putnam
. She was built and saw action in the Pacific during World War II. She was laid down 11 July 1943 by Bethlehem Steel Co., Shipbuilding Division, San Francisco, California; launched 26 March 1944; sponsored by Mrs. Doana Putnam Wheeler; and commissioned 12 October 1944. Cdr. Frederick Hilles was in command.
30 December 1944 to take her place with the Pacific Fleet. Arriving Pearl Harbor
2 January 1945, the destroyer prepared for her first offensive operation, and got under way 29 January for the Marianas Islands, screening the transports carrying 4th and 5th Division Marines.
Pausing briefly at Eniwetok, Saipan
, and Tinian
, the destroyer steamed from Guam
17 February in convoy en route to Iwo Jima
. She arrived off Iwo Jima on D-Day
(19 February) with the amphibious landing and battle
underway. Gunfire support ships lying off-shore kept a thunderous rain of destruction pouring on the island.
Putnam inched in dangerously close to blast shore installations in support of the invading marines and illuminated Japanese troop concentrations at night with star shells. On 23 February, Secretary of the Navy James Forrestal
and a high-ranking Navy-Marine Corps party, after observing the initial phases of the landing, embarked in Putnam for transportation to Guam and a conference with Fleet Admiral Chester W. Nimitz.
Putnam departed Guam 12 March and escorted logistics ships to Leyte
in the Philippine Islands, arriving five days later. She stood out of San Pedro Bay
, Philippines 27 March and escorted a transport group to Okinawa
; arriving Easter Sunday, the destroyer immediately took up anti-aircraft screening duties. After escorting a convoy to Ulithi
, Putnam returned to Okinawa and was assigned a gunfire support station southwest of the island 16 April.
Later assigned to a hazardous radar picket
station, Putnam vectored Navy fighters against kamikaze
s. She remained unscathed only because an unidentified American pilot heroically crashed into a kamikaze 16 June just seconds before it would have hit the destroyer.
Soon after sundown the same day, a torpedo
dropped from a low-flying Japanese plane struck to port and exploded her No. 2 magazine. Captain Glenn R. Hartwig, the squadron commander in Putnam, quickly closed. Exploding ammunition made rescue operations hazardous, but of 188 Twiggs survivors snatched from the sea, Putnam accounted for 114.
With the "cease hostilities" order of 15 August, the occupation of the Japanese home islands became the primary mission, and through the first week of September Putnam served as a guide and rescue destroyer for Tokyo-bound transport planes. She left her station, some 100 miles north of Okinawa, 13 September to serve in the escort for as she steamed for Wakayama, on the central island of Honshū
.
Putnam stood into Tokyo Bay
17 September, where she rode out a howling typhoon. She then made a return to Wakayama 25 September, thence to Okinawa 1 October, and then back to Wakayama. Steaming via Eniwetok 5 December, the destroyer touched at Pearl Harbor 10 December for fuel, and dropped her hook at San Diego 22 December.
Putnam received three battle stars for World War II service.
, for availability. She subsequently operated out of Newport, Rhode Island
until the beginning of 1947, when she made Pensacola, Florida
, her base. Late April 1947, Putnam called at Norfolk, Virginia
, to be readied for a peacetime cruise to European waters.
Putnam was one of three destroyers assigned 19–25 April 1948 to the United Nations
mediator, Count Folke Bernadotte
, to attempt to maintain peace between Arab
and Israel
i forces during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War
. When the truce temporarily broke down Putnam stood into Haifa
23 July to evacuate the UN team from that port. She was thus the first U.S. Navy ship to fly the UN flag.
After a brief period of decommissioned reserve status with the Atlantic Reserve Fleet, Putnam reactivated in October 1950. A Mediterranean
cruise took her away from Norfolk from October 1951 through 4 June 1952. Local operations and overhaul were followed by Caribbean
refresher training 21 May through 10 July 1953. Putnam departed Norfolk 25 September and transited the Suez Canal
15 October, arriving Yokosuka 10 November. She operated in the Sea of Japan
and the East China Sea
through 11 March 1954. Departing Midway
17 March, she touched at Pearl Harbor 21 March, called at various West Coast
ports, then transited the Panama Canal
and arrived Norfolk 1 May.
A round of training cruises and deployments ("Lantflex" 1–55) took Putnam from the East Coast
to the Mediterranean and the Caribbean. Her 1955 and 1956 Mediterranean deployments were followed by NATO North Atlantic exercises late 1957. A September 1958 Mediterranean deployment was followed by overhaul at the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard
.
Summer 1959 found Putnam participating in the first operation "Inland Seas" during which she steamed in all five of the Great Lakes
. Between 1960 and 1969 the destroyer made nine annual deployments to the Mediterranean, interspersed with northern European operations, coast-wise trips, and visits to the Caribbean. In June 1962 she entered the New York Naval Shipyard for a FRAM II conversion, which was completed in March 1963.
On 6 August 1973, Putnam was decommissioned and struck from the Navy List. Within a year she was sold for scrapping.
DD757, USS Putnam, can be seen in the film, "The Bridges at Toko Ri". Watch for her during the scene in which Mickey Rooney is transferred via bosun's chair between the Savo Island (really the USS Oriskany) and USS Putnam.
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 Charles Putnam
Charles Putnam
Charles Flint Putnam was an officer in the United States Navy.-Biography:Born in Freeport, Illinois, Putnam entered the Naval Academy at the age of 14. Upon his request at graduation in 1873, he was ordered to the Far East in , serving in that vessel with the Asiatic Squadron until 1875...
. She was built and saw action in the Pacific during World War II. She was laid down 11 July 1943 by Bethlehem Steel Co., Shipbuilding Division, San Francisco, California; launched 26 March 1944; sponsored by Mrs. Doana Putnam Wheeler; and commissioned 12 October 1944. Cdr. Frederick Hilles was in command.
World War II service
Following shakedown off the Pacific Coast, Putnam glided beneath the Golden Gate BridgeGolden Gate Bridge
The Golden Gate Bridge is a suspension bridge spanning the Golden Gate, the opening of the San Francisco Bay into the Pacific Ocean. As part of both U.S. Route 101 and California State Route 1, the structure links the city of San Francisco, on the northern tip of the San Francisco Peninsula, to...
30 December 1944 to take her place with the Pacific Fleet. Arriving 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...
2 January 1945, the destroyer prepared for her first offensive operation, and got under way 29 January for the Marianas Islands, screening the transports carrying 4th and 5th Division Marines.
Pausing briefly at Eniwetok, 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...
, 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 steamed from 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...
17 February in convoy en route to 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...
. She arrived off Iwo Jima on D-Day
D-Day
D-Day is a term often used in military parlance to denote the day on which a combat attack or operation is to be initiated. "D-Day" often represents a variable, designating the day upon which some significant event will occur or has occurred; see Military designation of days and hours for similar...
(19 February) with the amphibious landing and battle
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...
underway. Gunfire support ships lying off-shore kept a thunderous rain of destruction pouring on the island.
Putnam inched in dangerously close to blast shore installations in support of the invading marines and illuminated Japanese troop concentrations at night with star shells. On 23 February, Secretary of the Navy James Forrestal
James Forrestal
James Vincent Forrestal was the last Cabinet-level United States Secretary of the Navy and the first United States Secretary of Defense....
and a high-ranking Navy-Marine Corps party, after observing the initial phases of the landing, embarked in Putnam for transportation to Guam and a conference with Fleet Admiral Chester W. Nimitz.
Putnam departed Guam 12 March and escorted logistics ships to Leyte
Leyte Island
Leyte is an island in the Visayas group of the Philippines.The island measures about 180 km north-south and about 65 km at its widest point. In the north it nearly joins Samar, separated by the San Juanico Strait, which becomes as narrow as 2 km in some places...
in the Philippine Islands, arriving five days later. She stood out of San Pedro Bay
San Pedro Bay (Philippines)
San Pedro Bay is a bay in the Philippines, at the northwest end of Leyte Gulf, about 15 km east-west and 20 km north-south. The bay is bounded on the north and east by Samar and on the east by Leyte Island. It is connected by San Juanico Strait to Carigara Bay of the Samar Sea. The...
, Philippines 27 March and escorted a transport group to Okinawa
Okinawa Island
Okinawa Island is the largest of the Okinawa Islands and the Ryukyu Islands of Japan, and is home to Naha, the capital of Okinawa Prefecture. The island has an area of...
; arriving Easter Sunday, the destroyer immediately took up anti-aircraft screening duties. After escorting a convoy 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...
, Putnam returned to Okinawa and was assigned a gunfire support station southwest of the island 16 April.
Later assigned to a hazardous 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, Putnam vectored Navy fighters against 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....
s. She remained unscathed only because an unidentified American pilot heroically crashed into a kamikaze 16 June just seconds before it would have hit the destroyer.
Soon after sundown the same day, a torpedo
Torpedo
The modern torpedo is a self-propelled missile weapon with an explosive warhead, launched above or below the water surface, propelled underwater towards a target, and designed to detonate either on contact with it or in proximity to it.The term torpedo was originally employed for...
dropped from a low-flying Japanese plane struck to port and exploded her No. 2 magazine. Captain Glenn R. Hartwig, the squadron commander in Putnam, quickly closed. Exploding ammunition made rescue operations hazardous, but of 188 Twiggs survivors snatched from the sea, Putnam accounted for 114.
With the "cease hostilities" order of 15 August, the occupation of the Japanese home islands became the primary mission, and through the first week of September Putnam served as a guide and rescue destroyer for Tokyo-bound transport planes. She left her station, some 100 miles north of Okinawa, 13 September to serve in the escort for as she steamed for Wakayama, on the central island of 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...
.
Putnam stood into 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...
17 September, where she rode out a howling typhoon. She then made a return to Wakayama 25 September, thence to Okinawa 1 October, and then back to Wakayama. Steaming via Eniwetok 5 December, the destroyer touched at Pearl Harbor 10 December for fuel, and dropped her hook at San Diego 22 December.
Putnam received three battle stars for World War II service.
Post-war service
Standing out of San Diego 3 January 1946, Putnam steamed for the New York Naval Shipyard, BrooklynBrooklyn
Brooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...
, for availability. She subsequently operated out of 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...
until the beginning of 1947, when she made Pensacola, Florida
Pensacola, Florida
Pensacola is the westernmost city in the Florida Panhandle and the county seat of Escambia County, Florida, United States of America. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 56,255 and as of 2009, the estimated population was 53,752...
, her base. Late April 1947, Putnam called at 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....
, to be readied for a peacetime cruise to European waters.
Putnam was one of three destroyers assigned 19–25 April 1948 to the United Nations
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
mediator, Count Folke Bernadotte
Folke Bernadotte
Folke Bernadotte, Count of Wisborg was a Swedish diplomat and nobleman noted for his negotiation of the release of about 31,000 prisoners from German concentration camps during World War II, including 450 Danish Jews from Theresienstadt released on 14 April 1945...
, to attempt to maintain peace between Arab
Arab
Arab people, also known as Arabs , are a panethnicity primarily living in the Arab world, which is located in Western Asia and North Africa. They are identified as such on one or more of genealogical, linguistic, or cultural grounds, with tribal affiliations, and intra-tribal relationships playing...
and Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
i forces during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War
1948 Arab-Israeli War
The 1948 Arab–Israeli War, known to Israelis as the War of Independence or War of Liberation The war commenced after the termination of the British Mandate for Palestine and the creation of an independent Israel at midnight on 14 May 1948 when, following a period of civil war, Arab armies invaded...
. When the truce temporarily broke down Putnam stood into Haifa
Haifa
Haifa is the largest city in northern Israel, and the third-largest city in the country, with a population of over 268,000. Another 300,000 people live in towns directly adjacent to the city including the cities of the Krayot, as well as, Tirat Carmel, Daliyat al-Karmel and Nesher...
23 July to evacuate the UN team from that port. She was thus the first U.S. Navy ship to fly the UN flag.
After a brief period of decommissioned reserve status with the Atlantic Reserve Fleet, Putnam reactivated in October 1950. A Mediterranean
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...
cruise took her away from Norfolk from October 1951 through 4 June 1952. Local operations and overhaul were followed by Caribbean
Caribbean Sea
The Caribbean Sea is a sea of the Atlantic Ocean located in the tropics of the Western hemisphere. It is bounded by Mexico and Central America to the west and southwest, to the north by the Greater Antilles, and to the east by the Lesser Antilles....
refresher training 21 May through 10 July 1953. Putnam departed Norfolk 25 September and transited 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...
15 October, arriving Yokosuka 10 November. She operated in the Sea of Japan
Sea of Japan
The Sea of Japan is a marginal sea of the western Pacific Ocean, between the Asian mainland, the Japanese archipelago and Sakhalin. It is bordered by Japan, North Korea, Russia and South Korea. Like the Mediterranean Sea, it has almost no tides due to its nearly complete enclosure from the Pacific...
and the East China Sea
East China Sea
The East China Sea is a marginal sea east of China. It is a part of the Pacific Ocean and covers an area of 1,249,000 km² or 750,000 square miles.-Geography:...
through 11 March 1954. Departing Midway
Midway Atoll
Midway Atoll is a atoll in the North Pacific Ocean, near the northwestern end of the Hawaiian archipelago, about one-third of the way between Honolulu, Hawaii, and Tokyo, Japan. Unique among the Hawaiian islands, Midway observes UTC-11 , eleven hours behind Coordinated Universal Time and one hour...
17 March, she touched at Pearl Harbor 21 March, called at various West Coast
West Coast of the United States
West Coast or Pacific Coast are terms for the westernmost coastal states of the United States. The term most often refers to the states of California, Oregon, and Washington. Although not part of the contiguous United States, Alaska and Hawaii do border the Pacific Ocean but can't be included in...
ports, then 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...
and arrived Norfolk 1 May.
A round of training cruises and deployments ("Lantflex" 1–55) took Putnam from the East Coast
East Coast of the United States
The East Coast of the United States, also known as the Eastern Seaboard, refers to the easternmost coastal states in the United States, which touch the Atlantic Ocean and stretch up to Canada. The term includes the U.S...
to the Mediterranean and the Caribbean. Her 1955 and 1956 Mediterranean deployments were followed by NATO North Atlantic exercises late 1957. A September 1958 Mediterranean deployment was followed by overhaul at the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard
Philadelphia Naval Shipyard
The Philadelphia Naval Business Center, formerly known as the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard and Philadelphia Navy Yard, was the first naval shipyard of the United States. The U.S. Navy reduced its activities there in the 1990s, and ended most of them on September 30, 1995...
.
Summer 1959 found Putnam participating in the first operation "Inland Seas" during which she steamed in all five of the Great Lakes
Great Lakes
The Great Lakes are a collection of freshwater lakes located in northeastern North America, on the Canada – United States border. Consisting of Lakes Superior, Michigan, Huron, Erie, and Ontario, they form the largest group of freshwater lakes on Earth by total surface, coming in second by volume...
. Between 1960 and 1969 the destroyer made nine annual deployments to the Mediterranean, interspersed with northern European operations, coast-wise trips, and visits to the Caribbean. In June 1962 she entered the New York Naval Shipyard for a FRAM II conversion, which was completed in March 1963.
On 6 August 1973, Putnam was decommissioned and struck from the Navy List. Within a year she was sold for scrapping.
DD757, USS Putnam, can be seen in the film, "The Bridges at Toko Ri". Watch for her during the scene in which Mickey Rooney is transferred via bosun's chair between the Savo Island (really the USS Oriskany) and USS Putnam.