.gif)
USS Reid (DD-369)
Encyclopedia
The third USS Reid (DD-369) was a in the United States Navy
during World War II
. She was named for Samuel Chester Reid
.
, Kearny, New Jersey
; launched 11 January 1936; sponsored by Mrs. Beatrice Reid Power; and commissioned 2 November 1936, Captain Robert B. Carney in command.
From 1937 into 1941, Reid participated in training and fleet maneuvers in the Atlantic
and Pacific
. During the attack on Pearl Harbor
, Reid fired at the Japan
ese planes, and her group of destroyers downed one. After the attack Reid patrolled off the Hawaiian Islands
, Palmyra Atoll
, and Johnston Island, in December. In January 1942, she escorted a convoy to San Francisco, California
. Following patrol off Hawaii
, she steamed to Midway Island, and then twice escorted convoys from Pearl Harbor
to San Francisco.
Departing Pearl Harbor 22 May, Reid steamed north to bombard Japanese positions on Kiska Island, Alaska
, 7 August. She supported landings at Adak, Alaska
, 30 August, and sank by gunfire the Japanese submarine RO-61 on the 31st. After transferring five prisoners to Dutch Harbor, Alaska, she patrolled near New Caledonia
, Samoa
, and the Fiji Islands during October and November.
Departing Suva Harbor, Fiji Islands on Christmas Day 1942, she escorted Army troops to Guadalcanal
, before guarding a convoy to Espiritu Santo
, New Hebrides
. In January 1943, she bombarded several enemy locations on Guadalcanal.
After patrols in the Solomon Islands
, Reid provided radar information and fighter direction for landings at Lae
, New Guinea
, 4 September. While supporting landings at Finschhafen
, New Guinea, on the 22d, she downed two enemy planes.
After patrol and escort duty off New Guinea, she sailed from Buna Roads, New Guinea, to escort troop transports to landings at Arawe
, New Britain
, 15 December 1943. She protected landings at Cape Gloucester
, New Britain, on the 26th, and at Saidor, New Guinea, 2 January 1944. She guarded landings at Los Negros Island
, Admiralty Islands
, 29 February, and at Hollandia
, New Guinea, 22 April. Her guns supported landings at Wakde Island 17 May, at Biak
on the 27th, and at Noemfoor Island, New Guinea, 2 July.
Departing Pearl Harbor 29 August, she supported air strikes against Wake Island
3 September. After patrols off Leyte, Philippine Islands, in November she steamed to Ormoc Bay
, Leyte. She supported landings there 7 December, and escorted the damaged Lamson (DD-367)
toward Leyte Gulf.
crashes.
In the Reids final two weeks in the waters around Leyte, the crew was able to sleep only an hour or two at a time. They were called to battle stations (condition red) an average of 10 times a day. It was a period of near constant combat.
In her final hours on 11 December, the Reid was protecting a re-supply force of amphibious craft bound for Ormoc Bay off the west coast of Leyte. About 1700 twelve enemy planes approached the convoy. The Reid was the nearest ship to the oncoming planes. Planes 1 and 2 were shot down by the 5-inch battery. Plane 3 exploded about 500 yards off the starboard beam. Plane 4 hooked a wing on the starboard rigging, crashing at the waterline. His bomb exploded, doing considerable damage forward. Plane 5 strafed the starboard side and crashed on the port bow. Plane 6 strafed the bridge from the port side and crashed off the starboard bow. Planes 5 and 6 apparently had no bombs or they were duds. Plane 7 came in from astern strafing and crashed into the port quarter. His bomb exploded in the after magazine, blowing the ship apart. All this action took place in less than a minute.
The ship was mortally wounded but still doing 20 knots. As the stern opened up, she rolled violently, then laid over on her starboard side and dove to the bottom at 600 fathoms. It was over in less than two minutes. 103 shipmates went down with her. The survivors were strafed in the water by Japanese planes before rescue.
Her 150 survivors were picked up by landing craft in her convoy.
Reid received seven battle stars for World War II service.
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 Samuel Chester Reid
Samuel Chester Reid
Samuel Chester Reid was an officer in the United States Navy who commanded a privateer during the War of 1812. He is also noted for having helped design the 1818 version of the flag of the United States, which first established the rule of keeping thirteen stripes and adding one star for each U.S...
.
History
Reid was laid down 25 June 1934 by Federal Shipbuilding and Drydock CompanyFederal Shipbuilding and Drydock Company
The Federal Shipbuilding and Drydock Company was a United States shipyard, active from 1917 to 1949. During World War II, it built ships as part of the U.S. Government's Emergency Shipbuilding Program. Operated by a subsidiary of the United States Steel Corporation, the shipyard was located at...
, 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....
; launched 11 January 1936; sponsored by Mrs. Beatrice Reid Power; and commissioned 2 November 1936, Captain Robert B. Carney in command.
From 1937 into 1941, Reid participated in training and fleet maneuvers in the Atlantic
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...
and Pacific
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...
. During the attack on Pearl Harbor
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...
, Reid fired at the 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 planes, and her group of destroyers downed one. After the attack Reid patrolled off the Hawaiian Islands
Hawaiian Islands
The Hawaiian Islands are an archipelago of eight major islands, several atolls, numerous smaller islets, and undersea seamounts in the North Pacific Ocean, extending some 1,500 miles from the island of Hawaii in the south to northernmost Kure Atoll...
, Palmyra Atoll
Palmyra Atoll
Palmyra Atoll is an essentially unoccupied equatorial Northern Pacific atoll administered as an unorganized incorporated territory by the United States federal government...
, and Johnston Island, in December. In January 1942, she escorted a convoy to San Francisco, California
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...
. Following patrol off 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...
, she steamed to Midway Island, and then twice escorted convoys from 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...
to San Francisco.
Departing Pearl Harbor 22 May, Reid steamed north to bombard Japanese positions on Kiska Island, Alaska
Alaska
Alaska is the largest state in the United States by area. It is situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent, with Canada to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, with Russia further west across the Bering Strait...
, 7 August. She supported landings at Adak, Alaska
Adak, Alaska
Adak , formerly Adak Station, is a city in the Aleutians West Census Area, Alaska, United States. At the 2010 census the population was 326. It is the westernmost municipality in the United States and the southernmost city in Alaska. The city is the former location of the Adak Army Base and Adak...
, 30 August, and sank by gunfire the Japanese submarine RO-61 on the 31st. After transferring five prisoners to Dutch Harbor, Alaska, she patrolled near New Caledonia
New Caledonia
New Caledonia is a special collectivity of France located in the southwest Pacific Ocean, east of Australia and about from Metropolitan France. The archipelago, part of the Melanesia subregion, includes the main island of Grande Terre, the Loyalty Islands, the Belep archipelago, the Isle of...
, Samoa
Samoa
Samoa , officially the Independent State of Samoa, formerly known as Western Samoa is a country encompassing the western part of the Samoan Islands in the South Pacific Ocean. It became independent from New Zealand in 1962. The two main islands of Samoa are Upolu and one of the biggest islands in...
, and the Fiji Islands during October and November.
Departing Suva Harbor, Fiji Islands on Christmas Day 1942, she escorted Army troops to Guadalcanal
Guadalcanal
Guadalcanal is a tropical island in the South-Western Pacific. The largest island in the Solomons, it was discovered by the Spanish expedition of Alvaro de Mendaña in 1568...
, before guarding a convoy to Espiritu Santo
Espiritu Santo
Espiritu Santo is the largest island in the nation of Vanuatu, with an area of . It belongs to the archipelago of the New Hebrides in the Pacific region of Melanesia. It is in the Sanma Province of Vanuatu....
, New Hebrides
New Hebrides
New Hebrides was the colonial name for an island group in the South Pacific that now forms the nation of Vanuatu. The New Hebrides were colonized by both the British and French in the 18th century shortly after Captain James Cook visited the islands...
. In January 1943, she bombarded several enemy locations on Guadalcanal.
After patrols in the Solomon Islands
Solomon Islands
Solomon Islands is a sovereign state in Oceania, east of Papua New Guinea, consisting of nearly one thousand islands. It covers a land mass of . The capital, Honiara, is located on the island of Guadalcanal...
, Reid provided radar information and fighter direction for landings at Lae
Lae
Lae, the capital of Morobe Province, is the second-largest city in Papua New Guinea. It is located at the start of the Highlands Highway which is the main land transport corridor from the Highlands region to the coast...
, New Guinea
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...
, 4 September. While supporting landings at Finschhafen
Finschhafen
Finschhafen is a district on the northeast coast of the Morobe province of Papua New Guinea. It is named after the port of the same name.The port was discovered in 1884 by the German researcher Otto Finsch. In 1885 the German colony of German New Guinea created a town on the site and named it...
, New Guinea, on the 22d, she downed two enemy planes.
After patrol and escort duty off New Guinea, she sailed from Buna Roads, New Guinea, to escort troop transports to landings at Arawe
Arawe
Arawe is located on the south coast of New Britain about from Cape Gloucester. A small harbour known as Arawe harbour provides an anchorage....
, New Britain
New Britain
New Britain, or Niu Briten, is the largest island in the Bismarck Archipelago of Papua New Guinea. It is separated from the island of New Guinea by the Dampier and Vitiaz Straits and from New Ireland by St. George's Channel...
, 15 December 1943. She protected landings at Cape Gloucester
Cape Gloucester
Cape Gloucester is a headland, in the northwest of the island of New Britain, Papua New Guinea, at . During World War II, the Japanese captured New Britain, and had driven most of Cape Gloucester's native population out to construct two airfields...
, New Britain, on the 26th, and at Saidor, New Guinea, 2 January 1944. She guarded landings at Los Negros Island
Los Negros Island
Los Negros Island is the third largest of the Admiralty Islands. It is significant because it contains the main airport of Manus Province on its eastern coastline, at Momote. It is connected to Lorengau, the capital of the province, on Manus Island via a highway and bridge...
, 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...
, 29 February, and at 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....
, New Guinea, 22 April. Her guns supported landings at Wakde Island 17 May, at Biak
Biak
Biak features a tropical rainforest climate with nearly identical temperatures throughout the course of the year. The average annual temperature in the city is 27 degrees celsius, which is also generally the average temperature of each day in Biak...
on the 27th, and at Noemfoor Island, New Guinea, 2 July.
Departing Pearl Harbor 29 August, she supported air strikes against 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...
3 September. After patrols off Leyte, Philippine Islands, in November she steamed to Ormoc Bay
Ormoc Bay
Ormoc Bay is a bay on the island of Leyte in the Philippines. The bay is an inlet of the Camotes Sea. The city of Ormoc lies at the head of the bay and exports rice, copra and sugar. The World War II Battle of Ormoc Bay took place from November 11 until mid-December in Ormoc Bay during late 1944....
, Leyte. She supported landings there 7 December, and escorted the damaged Lamson (DD-367)
USS Lamson (DD-367)
The third USS Lamson was a Mahan-class destroyer in the United States Navy during World War II. She was named for Roswell Hawkes Lamson.-History:...
toward Leyte Gulf.
Fate
Escorting reinforcements for Ormoc Bay near Surigao Straits 11 December 1944, Reid destroyed seven Japanese planes, before she sank from repeated kamikazeKamikaze
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....
crashes.
In the Reids final two weeks in the waters around Leyte, the crew was able to sleep only an hour or two at a time. They were called to battle stations (condition red) an average of 10 times a day. It was a period of near constant combat.
In her final hours on 11 December, the Reid was protecting a re-supply force of amphibious craft bound for Ormoc Bay off the west coast of Leyte. About 1700 twelve enemy planes approached the convoy. The Reid was the nearest ship to the oncoming planes. Planes 1 and 2 were shot down by the 5-inch battery. Plane 3 exploded about 500 yards off the starboard beam. Plane 4 hooked a wing on the starboard rigging, crashing at the waterline. His bomb exploded, doing considerable damage forward. Plane 5 strafed the starboard side and crashed on the port bow. Plane 6 strafed the bridge from the port side and crashed off the starboard bow. Planes 5 and 6 apparently had no bombs or they were duds. Plane 7 came in from astern strafing and crashed into the port quarter. His bomb exploded in the after magazine, blowing the ship apart. All this action took place in less than a minute.
The ship was mortally wounded but still doing 20 knots. As the stern opened up, she rolled violently, then laid over on her starboard side and dove to the bottom at 600 fathoms. It was over in less than two minutes. 103 shipmates went down with her. The survivors were strafed in the water by Japanese planes before rescue.
Her 150 survivors were picked up by landing craft in her convoy.
Reid received seven battle stars for World War II service.
External links
Location of sinking- ussreid369.org
- Photo gallery at navsource.org