Blue (DD 744) - Naval Cruise Book

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ivfll of the lllllli llll 744 -l-HIS IS a pietographie story of a destroyer ofthe United States Navy during World War II. It is a story of the life ofthe Ill-ll? from the time of her launching in New York in November, 1943, to the end of the war in Tokyo Bay in Sep- tember, 1945, and the first months of the peace.

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'Ilflli U. Se S. llllllf N NOVEMBEIK 30, 1943, the AGL destroyer Blue was launched in ' ,' the Bethlehem Steel Shipyard, Staten Island, New York. She went into commission on March 20, 1944, in the New York Navy Yard, Brooklyn, New York, with nineteen officers and 335 enlisted men aboard. QQQ The Blue was one of the first 2,200 ton super-destroyers to be commissioned in the navy, and was named after the 1,500 ton U. S. S. Blue fDD387j , which was sunk in the Solomon Islands Campaign in 1943. The first Blue was named in honor of the late Admiral Victor Blue and his son, Lieutenant-Commander john Stuart Blue, who was killed in action in the South Pacific. In April, the Blue went to Bermuda for a month shake- down cruise, after which she returned to New York for alterations. On july 6, she left New York for Norfolk, Virginia. There she joined another destroyer, a destroyer- escort, and the aircraft carrier Ranger, with whom she steamed to Pearl Harbor, by way of the Panama Canal. The ship was in the Canal Zone two days. Upon leaving Panama, during the morning of july 16, she entered Pacific waters and steered a course for San Diego. After three days in port at San Diego, she departed from the United States bound for the combat areas of the Wfestern Pacific. The date was july 28, 1944. The first stop out of the states was Pearl Harbor. There the Blue left the Ranger 1nd proceeded in company w ith three other carriers the Intrepid Enterprise ind Inde pendence to Eniw etok Atoll which w is the fleet anchor age at that time At Enrw etok the Blue joined the h heing umts of the fleet in the powerful eurier Task Force 58 with whom she Operated during the rem rinin., tw elye months of the war Task Force SS Qand rlternitely T F 35 when Ad miral Halsey w as present is Comm inder Third Fleetj w as composed of the new est and fistest ships in the United Hornet YVasp Intrepid Bunker Hill Essex Iexington Franklin Randolph and Treonderoga the battleships New ersey Iow 1 Missouri Wfrsconsin Massachusetts Alabama, Wasliinvton md South Dakota plus dozens of cruisers, and more than one hundred destroy ers Three days after Task Force 58 sor tied from Eniw etok rt crossed the equator Neptunus Rex and his trusty shellbacks initiated many lowly pollyw ogs w hile the ships were in his roy al domain of Latitude 00 00 degrees 1 IDI, 744 e Thus, it was a salty group which turned northward the next day to launch the initial assaults on Palau and the Philippines. The opening of the Philippine Campaign in September, 1944, was the beginning of combat experi- ence for the Blue. After a month of striking the Japs in the Philippine Sea, the ship was temporarily detached from the task force for special duty trips to Guam, Eniwetok, Saipan, and Ulithi. Ulithi, in the West Caroline Island, became the fleet anchorage and was used as such for seven months. There, in October, the Blue joined the eight other de- stroyers of her squadron, UDESRON 61. Destroyer Squadron Sixty-One was assigned to Task Force 38lf58 for duty in November, 1944. That month, and the month following, the task force launched re- peated air strikes against Luzon and Formosa in support of the Philippine invasions. On December 19, off Luzon, the ships were caught in a violent typhoon in which three destroyers, the I-Iull, Spence, and Monaghan were sunk. The Blue was so badly damaged that she had to return to Ulithi for repairs. The ship was ready for sea early in January, in time for the Third Fleet's daring thrust into the South china Sea. The fleet steamed through the Bashi Channel, be- tween Luzon and Formosa, and turned southward to strike shipping and military installations along the French Indo-China Coast. These strikes were followed by air attacks on I-Iong Kong and Canton but further air opera tions w ere halted by adverse weather conditions In the center of the South China Sea the fleet w as caught again in a ty phoon In this storm the Blue was damaged worse than before so she limped through the Mindoro Surrgao Straits in the Philippines back to Ulithi for more re pairs After tw o w eeks alongside a destroyer render rn Ulithi, the ship was ready for action again She got underway with Task Force 58 in February to conduct the First and strikes for the my asion of Iwo Jima The task force pro y ided air coy er for the marines on Iwo until the beginning of March at which time the ships returned to Ulithi to prepare themselves for one of the most difficult battles in which the nay y has ey er fought 1 e the Okinawa Cam paign The Blue participated in the Okmaw a Campaign from Nfarch 15 to June 5 In support of the invasion and cap ture of Okinaw a the Blue fired shore bombardments on ' . 1 K ' L '3 i r 1' 'I . s ' I ' n K . 1 -X . . 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