USS Quick (DD-490)
Encyclopedia
USS Quick (DD-490/DMS-32), a Gleaves-class
destroyer
, was the only ship of the United States Navy
to be named for Sergeant Major
John H. Quick
(1870–1922), who received the Medal of Honor
“for gallantry in action” at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, 14 June 1898, during the Spanish-American War
.
Quick was laid down by the Federal Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Co., Kearny, New Jersey
on 3 November 1941. It was completed and launched on 3 May 1942; sponsored by Mrs. William T. Roy, niece of Sergeant Major Quick. She was commissioned
on 3 July 1942, with Lieutenant Commander
R. B. Nickerson in command.
and the Maritime Provinces, Quick departed New York
, 6 September 1942, for the Caribbean Sea
and the Gulf of Mexico
. Assigned to escort work, she accompanied United States Army
transports and merchantmen
as they plied the Gulf and West Indian shipping lanes — lanes which in preceding months had suffered the greatest losses to U-boat
activities in the eastern Atlantic Ocean
.
In October, Quick left the Gulf and steamed to Norfolk, Virginia
where she joined Task Force 34 (TF 34) on 23 October and steamed east. Just before midnight on 7 November, she arrived off the coast of Safi
, Morocco
, and took up station in the transport area for the Southern Attack Group of Operation TORCH
the invasion of North Africa
. During the landings the following day, she provided gunfire support, then resumed anti-aircraft and anti-submarine duties. On 14 November, she shifted to Casablanca
and two days later assisted in sinking . On the 17th, she got underway for the United States
and at the end of the month anchored in New York harbor
. She resumed escort work and for the next six months guarded coastal and trans-Atlantic convoy
s.
On 8 June 1943, Quick departed the east coast with TF 65, bound for North Africa. Arriving at Mers-el-Kebir
on the 22 June, she joined TF 85 and on 5 July sailed for Sicily
and Operation HUSKY. From the 10th-13th, she cruised off Seoglitti and along the Camerina plain, providing fire support for the U.S. 7th Army's assault troops. She then returned to escort work in the North Atlantic until May 1944, and on Mediterranean runs until the end of the war in Europe
.
The war in the Pacific Ocean
raged on, however, and, as Allied forces pushed closer to the Japanese home islands, their need for minesweepers
increased, doubly so with the toll among that type in the Ryukyus. Quick, no longer needed for escort work in the Atlantic, was designated to help fill the need, and on 13 June 1945, she entered the Charleston Naval Shipyard
where she became a destroyer-minesweeper. Emerging from conversion on 2 August as DMS-32 (effective 23 June 1945), she sailed for the west coast, arriving at San Diego
after the cessation of Pacific hostilities.
Toward the end of September, she sailed for Pearl Harbor
, thence to Eniwetok for abbreviated operations after which she returned to Hawaii
. On 2 December 1946, she headed west again, arriving at Sasebo
on the 16th for a nine-month tour during which she operated off the China
coast and off Okinawa in addition to working in Japan
ese waters. Spending a little over a month on the west coast, she operated in the Marianas from December 1946 to February 1947, then returned to Japanese waters. In April 1947 she resumed operations in the Trust Territories and in August returned to the west coast. The following spring she deployed to the Marshall Islands
and Marianas for another three months, returning to San Diego on 4 June.
Eight months later she was designated for inactivation and, on 1 March 1949, she reported to Commander, Pacific Reserve Fleet, decommissioning 28 May 1949. Reclassified DD-490 on 15 July 1955, Quick was stricken from the Naval Vessel Register
on 15 January 1972 and sold 27 August 1973 and broken up for scrap.
Gleaves class destroyer
The Gleaves-class destroyers were a class of 66 destroyers of the United States Navy built 1938–1942, and designed by Gibbs & Cox. The first ship of the class was the USS Gleaves . The U.S. Navy customarily names a class of ships after the first ship of the class; hence the Gleaves class...
destroyer
Destroyer
In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast and maneuverable yet long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy or battle group and defend them against smaller, powerful, short-range attackers. Destroyers, originally called torpedo-boat destroyers in 1892, evolved from...
, was the only ship of the United States Navy
United States Navy
The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...
to be named for Sergeant Major
Sergeant Major
Sergeants major is a senior non-commissioned rank or appointment in many militaries around the world. In Commonwealth countries, Sergeants Major are usually appointments held by senior non-commissioned officers or warrant officers...
John H. Quick
John H. Quick
John Henry Quick was a United States Marine who received the Medal of Honor for his actions at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba in 1898 during the Spanish-American War...
(1870–1922), who received the Medal of Honor
Medal of Honor
The Medal of Honor is the highest military decoration awarded by the United States government. It is bestowed by the President, in the name of Congress, upon members of the United States Armed Forces who distinguish themselves through "conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his or her...
“for gallantry in action” at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, 14 June 1898, during the Spanish-American War
Spanish-American War
The Spanish–American War was a conflict in 1898 between Spain and the United States, effectively the result of American intervention in the ongoing Cuban War of Independence...
.
Quick was laid down by the Federal Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Co., Kearny, New Jersey
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....
on 3 November 1941. It was completed and launched on 3 May 1942; sponsored by Mrs. William T. Roy, niece of Sergeant Major Quick. She was 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...
on 3 July 1942, with 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...
R. B. Nickerson in command.
Service history
Following her initial shakedown off the coast of 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...
and the Maritime Provinces, Quick departed New York
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, 6 September 1942, for the Caribbean Sea
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....
and the Gulf of Mexico
Gulf of Mexico
The Gulf of Mexico is a partially landlocked ocean basin largely surrounded by the North American continent and the island of Cuba. It is bounded on the northeast, north and northwest by the Gulf Coast of the United States, on the southwest and south by Mexico, and on the southeast by Cuba. In...
. Assigned to escort work, she accompanied United States Army
United States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
transports and merchantmen
Cargo ship
A cargo ship or freighter is any sort of ship or vessel that carries cargo, goods, and materials from one port to another. Thousands of cargo carriers ply the world's seas and oceans each year; they handle the bulk of international trade...
as they plied the Gulf and West Indian shipping lanes — lanes which in preceding months had suffered the greatest losses to 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...
activities in the eastern Atlantic Ocean
Atlantic Ocean
The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's oceanic divisions. With a total area of about , it covers approximately 20% of the Earth's surface and about 26% of its water surface area...
.
In October, Quick left the Gulf and steamed to 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....
where she joined Task Force 34 (TF 34) on 23 October and steamed east. Just before midnight on 7 November, she arrived off the coast of Safi
Safi, Morocco
Safi is a city in western Morocco on the Atlantic Ocean. The capital of the Doukkala-Abda Region, it has a population of 282,227 , but is also the centre of an agglomeration which has an estimated 793,000 inhabitants ....
, Morocco
Morocco
Morocco , officially the Kingdom of Morocco , is a country located in North Africa. It has a population of more than 32 million and an area of 710,850 km², and also primarily administers the disputed region of the Western Sahara...
, and took up station in the transport area for the Southern Attack Group of Operation TORCH
Operation Torch
Operation Torch was the British-American invasion of French North Africa in World War II during the North African Campaign, started on 8 November 1942....
the invasion of North Africa
North Africa
North Africa or Northern Africa is the northernmost region of the African continent, linked by the Sahara to Sub-Saharan Africa. Geopolitically, the United Nations definition of Northern Africa includes eight countries or territories; Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, South Sudan, Sudan, Tunisia, and...
. During the landings the following day, she provided gunfire support, then resumed anti-aircraft and anti-submarine duties. On 14 November, she shifted 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...
and two days later assisted in sinking . On the 17th, she got underway for the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and at the end of the month anchored in New York harbor
New York Harbor
New York Harbor refers to the waterways of the estuary near the mouth of the Hudson River that empty into New York Bay. It is one of the largest natural harbors in the world. Although the U.S. Board of Geographic Names does not use the term, New York Harbor has important historical, governmental,...
. She resumed escort work and for the next six months guarded coastal and trans-Atlantic 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...
s.
On 8 June 1943, Quick departed the east coast with TF 65, bound for North Africa. Arriving at Mers-el-Kebir
Mers-el-Kébir
Mers-el-Kébir is a port town in northwestern Algeria, located by the Mediterranean Sea near Oran, in the Oran Province.-History:Originally a Roman port, Mers-el-Kébir became an Almohad naval arsenal in the 12th century, fell under the rulers of Tlemcen in the 15th century, and eventually became a...
on the 22 June, she joined TF 85 and on 5 July sailed for Sicily
Sicily
Sicily is a region of Italy, and is the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. Along with the surrounding minor islands, it constitutes an autonomous region of Italy, the Regione Autonoma Siciliana Sicily has a rich and unique culture, especially with regard to the arts, music, literature,...
and Operation HUSKY. From the 10th-13th, she cruised off Seoglitti and along the Camerina plain, providing fire support for the U.S. 7th Army's assault troops. She then returned to escort work in the North Atlantic until May 1944, and on Mediterranean runs until the end of the war 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...
.
The war in the Pacific Ocean
Pacific Ocean
The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic in the north to the Southern Ocean in the south, bounded by Asia and Australia in the west, and the Americas in the east.At 165.2 million square kilometres in area, this largest division of the World...
raged on, however, and, as Allied forces pushed closer to the Japanese home islands, their need for minesweepers
Minesweeper (ship)
A minesweeper is a small naval warship designed to counter the threat posed by naval mines. Minesweepers generally detect then neutralize mines in advance of other naval operations.-History:...
increased, doubly so with the toll among that type in the Ryukyus. Quick, no longer needed for escort work in the Atlantic, was designated to help fill the need, and on 13 June 1945, she entered the Charleston Naval Shipyard
Charleston Naval Shipyard
Charleston Naval Shipyard was a U.S. Navy ship building and repair facility located along the west bank of the Cooper River, in North Charleston, South Carolina and part of Naval Base Charleston...
where she became a destroyer-minesweeper. Emerging from conversion on 2 August as DMS-32 (effective 23 June 1945), she sailed for the west coast, arriving at San Diego
San Diego, California
San Diego is the eighth-largest city in the United States and second-largest city in California. The city is located on the coast of the Pacific Ocean in Southern California, immediately adjacent to the Mexican border. The birthplace of California, San Diego is known for its mild year-round...
after the cessation of Pacific hostilities.
Toward the end of September, she sailed 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...
, thence to Eniwetok for abbreviated operations after which she returned to Hawaii
Hawaii
Hawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states , and is the only U.S. state made up entirely of islands. It is the northernmost island group in Polynesia, occupying most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of...
. On 2 December 1946, she headed west again, arriving at Sasebo
United States Fleet Activities Sasebo
U.S. Fleet Activities Sasebo is a United States Navy naval base, in Sasebo, Japan, on the island of Kyūshū. It provides facilities for the logistic support of forward-deployed units and visiting operating forces of the United States Pacific Fleet and designated tenant activities.- History :Sasebo...
on the 16th for a nine-month tour during which she operated off the 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...
coast and off Okinawa in addition to working in 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...
ese waters. Spending a little over a month on the west coast, she operated in the Marianas from December 1946 to February 1947, then returned to Japanese waters. In April 1947 she resumed operations in the Trust Territories and in August returned to the west coast. The following spring she deployed to the 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...
and Marianas for another three months, returning to San Diego on 4 June.
Eight months later she was designated for inactivation and, on 1 March 1949, she reported to Commander, Pacific Reserve Fleet, decommissioning 28 May 1949. Reclassified DD-490 on 15 July 1955, Quick 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...
on 15 January 1972 and sold 27 August 1973 and broken up for scrap.