Figure 1: USS Philip (DD-498), left, and USS Renshaw (DD-499), right. Both ships are ready for launching during dual christening ceremonies at the Federal Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company shipyard, Kearny, New Jersey, 13 October 1942. Courtesy of Donald M. McPherson, 1975. US Naval Historical Center Photograph. Click on photograph for larger image.
Figure 3: USS Missouri (BB-63) off New York City, New York, during the Navy Day Fleet Review, circa 27 October 1945. USS Renshaw (DD-499), which carried President Harry S. Truman when he reviewed the assembled warships, is alongside. Donation of Lieutenant Gustave J. Freret, USN (Retired), 1972. US Naval Historical Center Photograph. Click on photograph for larger image.
Figure 4: President Harry S. Truman (waving his hat) with his party on board USS Renshaw (DD-499) during the Navy Day Fleet Review in New York Harbor, New York, 27 October 1945. USS Missouri is in the right background and Navy planes are flying in formation overhead. Official US Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the U.S. National Archives. Click on photograph for larger image.
Figure 5: Navy Day Fleet Review, 27 October 1945. USS Missouri (BB-63) fires a salute with one of her 5-inch guns as Navy planes fly overhead during Navy Day celebrations in New York City, New York. Watching from the destroyer USS Renshaw (DD-499) are President and Mrs. Harry S. Truman, Commander-in-Chief of the Atlantic Fleet Admiral Jonas H. Ingram, and others. US Navy photograph from the National Naval Aviation Museum. Click on photograph for larger image.
Figure 6: Aerial view of the USS Renshaw (DD-499) alongside USS Missouri (BB-63) on 27 October 1945. Renshaw is transferring President Harry Truman to Missouri during the Navy Day celebrations held in New York City, New York. Photograph courtesy of the US Navy and Marine Corps Museum/Naval Aviation Museum, Photo Number. 2001.256.079. Click on photograph for larger image.
Figure 7: USS Renshaw (now DDE-499) circa 1950, location unknown. Photograph courtesy of David Buell. Click on photograph for larger image.
Figure 8: USS Renshaw (DDE-499) photographed from an aircraft from USS Sicily (CVE-118) while operating in Korean waters. Photograph is dated 27 July 1951. Official US Navy photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives. Click on photograph for larger image.
Figure 10: Photograph of USS Renshaw (now DD-499) taken in 1963 in the Taiwan Straits during an underway replenishment. Photograph courtesy of OSCM Kent Smith USN (Retired). Click on photograph for larger image.
Figure 11: USS Renshaw (DD-499) in the North China Sea during the summer of 1965. Photograph courtesy of Joe Radigan. Click on photograph for larger image.
Figure 12: USS Renshaw (DD-499) at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, 12 February 1966. Photograph courtesy of Richard Leonhardt. Click on photograph for larger image.
Named after US
Navy Commander William B. Renshaw (1816-1863), who was killed while heroically
defending his ship during the Civil War, the 2,940-ton USS Renshaw was a Fletcher
class destroyer that was built by the Federal Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company
at Kearny, New Jersey, and was commissioned on 5 December 1942. The ship was
approximately 376 feet long and 39 feet wide, had a top speed of 38 knots, and
had a crew of 273 officers and men. Renshaw
was armed with five 5-inch guns, four 40-mm guns, six 20-mm guns, ten 21-inch
torpedo tubes, two depth-charge tracks, and six depth-charge projectors.
Renshaw was assigned to the US Navy’s Pacific
Fleet in the spring of 1943 and escorted merchant ships and transports to the
Solomon Islands. On 2 July 1943, Renshaw
bombarded Vila Stanmore and Shortland Island in the Solomons while coming under
fire from Japanese shore batteries. From 21 November 1943 to 20 January 1944, Renshaw’s guns continued to pound targets
in the Solomon Islands. In March of 1944, Renshaw
bombarded Japanese positions in New Guinea, especially during the Allied
landings on New Britain and New Ireland.
After going
to Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, to attend some amphibious naval exercises, Renshaw escorted a group of Landing Ship
Tanks (LSTs) to the Marianas Islands. The destroyer steamed next to the beach
at Tinian in the Marianas Islands and provided close fire support for the
American troops on shore. Renshaw
then participated in the invasion of the Philippines and in November 1944,
while conducting an anti-shipping patrol off the island of Leyte, the destroyer
spotted a surfaced Japanese submarine. Renshaw,
along with several other American destroyers, opened fire on the submarine and
after a few minutes the enemy warship was blown to pieces and sank. After that,
Renshaw sailed into Ormoc Bay off
Leyte and intercepted a large Japanese barge, which she subsequently fired on
and sank.
On 31
December 1944, Renshaw was part of a
task force that escorted a large convoy of transports and merchant ships into
Lingayen Gulf off the island of Luzon in the Philippines. The actual amphibious
invasion of Luzon began on 9 January 1945, with American troops landing between
the towns of Lingayen and San Fabian. Despite
repeated Japanese air attacks, Renshaw
and the other escorts enabled the convoy to complete the landings without any serious
losses.
On 21
February 1945, while steaming in the Mindanao Sea off the Philippines, Renshaw was hit by a torpedo from a
Japanese submarine. The torpedo exploded roughly ten feet below the waterline,
flooding part of the ship. All power was lost and a large section of the hull
was warped by the explosion, with bulkheads and decks being fractured as well. But
even though 19 men were killed and 20 injured, within a few minutes damage
control parties had the flooding reduced by half. Because of the crew’s valiant
efforts, the main propulsion machinery suffered no damage. Renshaw remained afloat, but just barely. She completed temporary
repairs by April 1945 with the assistance of the destroyer tender USS Whitney (AD-4) and the repair ship Prometheus (AR-3). The ship then limped
under her own power to Tacoma, Washington, where permanent repairs were made at
the Todd Pacific Shipyards. All work was finally completed by early October
1945.
Renshaw participated in the major Navy Day celebration
on 27 October 1945. The event took place in New York Harbor, New York, and
President Harry S. Truman reviewed the fleet that was assembled there from USS Renshaw. It was a proud day for the
veteran destroyer and it was an enormous display of naval power that celebrated
the successful end of World War II. But in February 1947, Renshaw was decommissioned and placed in the US Navy’s Atlantic
Reserve Fleet. From 1949 to 1950, the ship was converted into a specialized
anti-submarine vessel and then re-commissioned in June 1950 as DDE-499.
During the
Korean War, Renshaw completed two tours of duty in the Far East, from May to
November 1951 and November 1952 to June 1953. While steaming off the coast of
Korea, Renshaw was used as an escort and as a patrol, search and rescue, and
fire support vessel. After the war, Renshaw served in the Pacific Proving
Grounds from February to May 1954 and was part of “Operation Castle,” which
were six large nuclear tests conducted at the Bikini and Enewetak Atolls. The
most notable test was “Castle Bravo,” which was of the first deployable
hydrogen bomb built by the United States. Its yield (15 megatons) was more than
twice as powerful as predicted and was the largest weapon ever detonated by the
United States. Renshaw was part of
Joint Task Force 7 throughout these tests and was assigned to patrol and air
control duties.
From June to
August 1954, Renshaw was in the Far
East and participated in anti-submarine naval exercises with a force composed
of American and Canadian warships. On 8 August 1955, Renshaw sailed for her fourth tour of duty in the Far East, with
most of her time dedicated to anti-submarine exercises and task force
operations. She subsequently made several additional Far Eastern deployments
from October 1956 to October 1960 while based at Pearl Harbor.
From 1960 to
1963, Renshaw patrolled various parts
of the Pacific, mainly working out of Pearl Harbor. On 7 August 1962, the ship
was re-designated a destroyer and was given back her old hull number of DD-499.
On 3 October 1962, Renshaw
participated in the recovery of Project Mercury astronaut Commander Walter M.
Schirra.
On 3 March
1965, Renshaw, along with other ships
from Destroyer Division 252, left Pearl Harbor on short notice to assist other
destroyers in the South China Sea off the coast of Vietnam. From April to May,
the ship served in surveillance roles and supported carrier strike operations.
In June, the destroyer patrolled the waters off Taiwan, but Renshaw returned to Vietnam in July and
remained there until September before steaming back to Pearl Harbor.
Renshaw began her eleventh tour of duty in
the Far East on 5 July 1966. She participated in anti-submarine operations,
served as an aircraft carrier rescue destroyer, and went on special operations
with USS Chicago (CG-11) in the Gulf
of Tonkin off the coast of Vietnam. The ship also completed various patrol
assignments in the Taiwan Strait.
Renshaw remained in Hawaiian waters
throughout 1967. She left Pearl Harbor on 8 April 1968 for yet another tour of
duty in the Far East. During this deployment, Renshaw primarily escorted the fast carrier attack forces on Yankee
Station in the Gulf of Tonkin. In September, Renshaw returned to Pearl Harbor. In June 1969, Renshaw was sent back to Yankee Station and
completed numerous search and rescue and patrol missions. In December, the ship
sailed to Pearl Harbor and on 14 February 1970, Renshaw was decommissioned and struck from the Navy list that same
day. The old destroyer was sold for
scrapping in October 1970. USS Renshaw received eight battle stars for
her service in World War II, five battle stars for her service during the
Korean War, and six battle stars for her service during the Vietnam War.
