Fletcher (DD 445) - Naval Cruise Book

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FLETCHER HISTORY THE BEGINNING In March 1934 Congress authorized the design and building of a ship that was to become the forerunner of the modern American destroyer, a ship for whom no Job. was too menial and no task too great. October 2, 1941 in Kearny, New Jersey her keel was laid. On May 3, 1942, she slid down the ways. Named for Admiral Frank Friday FLETCHEE, holder of the Con- gressional Medal of Honor, she was christened by that naval hero's.w1fe. On June 30, 1942 FLETCHER'S commissioning pennant was hoisted and she was readied for sea. TO BATTLE In August 1942 the Coral Sea had been won and the Imperial Japanese Navy was driven back from Midway. Two carriers and nine destroyers had been lost. The Solomons situation was critical. On November 13, 1942, in the battle of Guadalcanal, which has often been cited as the most furious surface engagement ever fought, FLETCHER steamed to the great South Pacific battle arena and had her baptism of fire. That night she assisted in sinking a Japanese light cruiser, but her outstanding contribution to the battle was the single-handed destruction of a heavy cruiser. Our losses after that terrible twenty-four minutes were one battleship, two cruisers and five destroyers all sunk, two cruisers and seven destroyers damaged. A staggering toll, yet the FIGHTING FLETCHER emerged from the battle without a scratch. A ship of tempered steel whose luck was solid goldg a luck that was to hold almost to the end of the war. Her battle record reads like the history of the great Pacific war: Guadalcanal, Tas- safaronga, Gilbert Islands, Hollandia, New Guinea, Mindoro, Corregidor and Borneo. She steamed over 200,000 miles in three years with but one engineering casualty. FLETCHER suffered her first Qand only! hit by the enemy in February 1945. A shore battery on Corregi- dor scored, knocking out both forward gun mounts, taking the lives of seven men and wound- ing six others. Damage was controlled, largely through the efforts of Elmer C. Bigelow, WT 2fC, USNR, who gave his life when he plunged into the burning ammunition magazine and ex- . tinguished the fire. BIGELOW was posthumously awarded the ,Congressional Medal of Honor. In February 1957 the destroyer BIGELOW was launched in honor of FLETCHER'S hero. On May 31, 1945 FLETCHER arrived in San Pedro, California for her first overhaul. Early in 1949 FLETCHER went through modernization and conversion. On October 3, 1949, she was recommissioned as an escort destroyer. With her new armament and equipment, her pri- mary task was to hunt down and kill submarines. At the outbreak of hostilities in Korea, the old warhorse climbed back into harness and joined the Seventh Fleet. Again her battle record reads like the history of the Korean Conflict: Inohon, Amgak, Sak To Island, Peppa Kotsu, Hosen, Nenjo Chi, Hungnan and Wonsan. Her presence in the battle line reassured all who knew the gallant ship from days past. TODAY ' The FLETCHER was redesignated Destroyer in. 1961. Now an all-purpose destroyer, she is part Of Destroyer Squadron TWENTY-FIVE homeported in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. Her duties include naval gunfire support, antisubmarine warfare, convoy and escort duties as well as SQHPC11 and YSSCUG. FLETCHER again is seeing action in the struggle for peace in Vietnam, and like the gallant old lady she is, her wake can be seen as one of the Seventh Fleet's best. 2 1

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T w E QT I V Q F- T Q 4 1 T .iff f l Length ........ 2 I Beam ......... Standard displacement . T Full load . ....... Guns ......... ASW weapons . . Shafts! Total horsepower Trial speed .... . . STATISTICS . . 376 feet . . 39feet . . . . . ..... 2l00tons . . . . . ..... 3050 tons . . . Two 5 f38 single mounts Two 3 f 50 twin mounts . MK 108 l2.75 rocket launcher Two single MK 23 torpedo tubes Two triple MK 32 torpedo tubes Two fixed hedgehog mounts ............2f60,000 35knots