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Page 6 text:
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SS BENNER DDR-80 HISTQRY The USS BENNER was launched on 30 November, 1944, at the Bath Iron Works in Bath, Maine. She was christened by Mrs. 3 Herman C. Benner, mother of Second Lieutenant Stanley G. Benner of the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve, whose name the ship bears. Lt. Benner was killed in action in October of 1942, while courageously leading his platoon against enemy forces on Guadalcanal. The BENNER is a Gearing Class Destroyer, originally displacing 2,250 tons. She is equipped with six 5 inch guns, four 3 inch guns, depth charges astern, sonar system for submarine detection, ahead- thrown hedgehogs for submarine destruction, and self-guided anti-submarine torpedoes. Later modifications included the addition of more air and surface search radar, and electronic detection devices, resulting in her designation as a radar picket Destroyer, and the addition of the R in her title. Today her primary mission is early detection and ,reporting of air-borne attacks, and guidance of striking and returning friendly aircraft. However, she still retains the many capabilities of other destroyer-types, including anti-air defense, surface and shore bombardment, and submarine detection and destruction. Her powerful steam plant enables her to maintain speeds of 32 knots for operations with fast carrier task forces. Fuel capacity at economical speeds gives her a cruising range of several thousand miles. Completely equipped with a distillation plant, tons of stored provisions, over twenty thousand spare parts, and complex electronic communications systems, she is able to operate as a self-contained independent unit for extended periods of time. Following her launching in 1944, the BENNER was commissioned in Boston, Massachusetts, where she took on her first skipper, Commander John Munhollan. She journeyed swiftly toward Cuba, where she completed her shakedown training at Guantanamo Bay. Flying the pennant of Commander Destroyer Division TWENTY, BENNER sailed through the Panama Canal for duty with the U.S. Pacific Fleet in the spring of 1945. In July of 1945, BENNER sailed westward from Pearl Harbor, escorting a Carrier to the front. She saw action against Wake Island while operating with the carrier, and in August of 1945, success- fully fought off a Kamikaze attack in the waters east of Honshu, Japan. . After the war's conclusion, BENNER continued to work in the Pacific, destroying drifting mines, screening the return of larger ships, and working with Task Force 38, until her assignment to the Atlantic Fleet in May of 1949. She made the long voyage from San Diego via Panama Canal, .bb
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Page 5 text:
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fe g K L Lf rail , fig NHC M51 From Commander Destroyer Flotilla ONE, RADM O.D. WATERS: HThe OUTSTANDING performance of BENNER personnel in achieving detection ranges is noted with great satisfactiond Also to be noted with equal satisfaction is the state of material readi- ness of BENNER during this deployment. Equipment performance to and exceeding designed specifications can only be achieved by equipment operators and maintenance personnel who have the interest, initiative, and perseverance to achieve results second to none. It is abundantly clear that BENNER has such personnelln Q17 Febl From Commander SEVENTH Fleet, RADM C.D. GRIFFIN: NYour fine performance in gunnery exercise as reported by USS TAWASA noted with pleasure and sets a goal for SEVENTH FLEET small boys to emulate.H HBENNER has established her reputa- tion as an outstanding long range gunnery shooter...apparently ' good surface gunnery is not a lost artn Q15-l6 Febj From commanding Officer, Uss TAwAsA QATF-925, LT R.H. RUSHENBERGER: HBest exercise fired by any PACFLEET ship observed by this command in two yearsu C9 Febj From Commander Destroyer Flotilla THREE, RADM M.E. DCHNIN: HIt is with a great deal of pride that I note the outstanding performance of your gunners in your shoot against the TAWASA's sled target. Congratulations and Well Donelu Cl8 Feb? I am proud to be your Captain. jaaaaxuz Joseph B. DRACHNIK Commander, United States Navy Bi X
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Page 7 text:
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. Qzil 'ei Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and soon arrived in Newport, Rhode Island, her new home port. In late 1950, BENNER h d ' ' ' ' ' ' was attac e to the Sixth Fleet in the Mediterranean, she made cruises there in 1951 and again in 1952. In 1956, she shifted oceans again, returning with Destroyer Division 102 to the Paciic. Arrival in Long Beach, California was 28 June 1956. In March of the next year, BENNER departed on the first of a series of deployments to the Western Pacihc. Her ports-of-call included Pearl Harbor, Suva, Fiji Islands, and Melbourne. Australia. In 1957, 1958, and 1959 BENNER returned to various ports in the Far East for deployments, missions included assistance during anti-American riots in Tai Pei, Gperation Hardtack Cconducted between Bikini and Eniwetok atollsb, patrols through the Formosa Straits, and carrier escort operations with the HANCOCK, HORNET, and LEXINGTON. .
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