Jenkins (DD 447) - Naval Cruise Book

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SHlP'S HISTORY THE sHnP's NAME I I On 27 November 1941, the keel was- laid for the start of construction ofthe USS JENKINS by the Federal Shipbuilding and Drydock Co. at Kearny, New Jersey. The ship is named in honor of Rear Admiral Thornton A. JENKINS. Admiral JENKIN-Sbegan his career as a midshipman in 1828. He served in many ships including coastfsurvley! duty where he became interested in the problems of navigation. In 1852 hefwqsimqde Secretary to the Light-house Board. Early during the War he commandedgia variety of ships and was appointed a Fleet Captain and o6'StrJ'IT-70.111Farrfagut's Fleet. He also had command of a division in the Mobile blockadeisahd tooklpcjt in all operations in the Battle of Mobile Bay. He became Chief of the Bureai of Navigation in 1865 after having researched and writtenlfmany outstanding government publications on the problems and procedures of Naval Navigation., In 1878 he was promoted to the rank of Rear Admiral and placed in command of the Asiatic station. Her retired in 1873 and was President of the U.S. Naval Institute from 1883 to 1885. He died in 1893 and was buried at Arlington National Cemetary. I A ' THE SHIP Originally commissioned on 31 July 1942, JENKINS earned Battle stars in both the Atlantic and Pacific theatres of war for participating in actions at Algeria, Morocco, Casablanca, Solomon Islands, Battle of Guadalcanal, New Georgia Group Operations, Gilbert Islands, Marshall Islands, Hollondia Operations, Western New Guinea Oper- ations, Western New Guinea Operaiions, Leyte, Luzon, Borneo, and Manila Bay Operations. '

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JENKINS is a 2I00 ton FLETCHER class destroyer modified for antisubmarine warfare Her full wartime complement includes 20 officers and 260 enlisted men The ship is 3765 feet in length 397 feet abeam and has a mean draft of I35 feet Full load displacement is 3000 tons Maximum speed is 34 knots or better The ship has one oversized rubber and twin screws steam driven by four boilers through turbines and gears to develop 30 000 horsepower on each shaft Since being originally commissioned JENKINS has steamed over 550000 miles JENKINS armament includes DASH Drone anti submarine weapon carrying helicopter I2 75 inch anti submarme rockets Anti submarine homing torpedoes 2 five inch guns 72 inch anti submarine Hedgehogs lahead thrown weaponsl COMBAT OPERATIONS JENKINS first entered combat in November I942 in suport of the Allied Iandmgs at Casablanca Following this action she was assigned to the Pacific Fleet in which she served out the rest of World War ll During the Solomons Islands Campaign in mid I9-43 the ship is credited with having and conducted shore bombardment in O 7 . 0 . . 0 I - , , . o , ' . I I 0 I . ll ll ' ' 0 0 1 ' n 1 . - I un O I . I . 0 I . . . . . . . . , I support of U.N. troops during the Korean hostilities. She returned to Pearl Harbor in I952 where- she has been homeported ever since. Upon returning to Pearl Harbor from deployment in May, I960, JENKINS went into the shipyard for the FRAM lFIeet Rehabilitation and Modernizationl overhaul which has extended the useful life of the ship from five to ten years while at the same time outfitting the ship with the Navy's mostimodern electronic equipment, DASH anti-submarine helicopter, and latest sonar improvements. As a unit of the Hawaii based Destroyer Squadron 25, JENKINS is trained to seek out and destroy hostile submarines. In addition, she is prepared to carry out the shore bombardment, aircraft control, anti-shipping, and anti-aircraft functions required of the general purpose destroyer. JENKINS deploys regularly to the Western Pacific, ready to perform her missians in conjunction with other units of the U-S- Seventh Fleet. I H