Henley (DD 762) - Naval Cruise Book

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U.S.S. HENLEY (DD 762) The USS HENLEY is a summer (DD 762) class destroyer named in honor of Captain Robert Henley, U.S. Navy, who first saw action while serving in Constellation as a midshipman in 1800, during the Quasi War with France. Captain Henley is most renowned, however, for his part in the decisive battle on Lake Champlain during the War of 1812. As Commanding Officer of the Brig Eagle, he was second in command of the American Forces. For this action he received a vote of thanks and a gold medal from congress. The present HENLEY is the third to bear the name. The first one was scrapped in 1934 in ac- cordance with the terms of the London Treaty on Naval Disarmament. The second ship was sunk by a Japanese submarine at New Guinea after winning Battle Stars at Midway, Guadalcanal, Tulagi, and the Savo Islands. The present HENLEY ' s keel was laid down in 1944 and commissioned in October 1946. In March of 1950 she was inactivated and placed in mothballs , but at the outbreak of War in Korea, less than six months later, she was reactivated and again placed in commission. To a great extent the voyagesof the present HENLEY reflect the world wide committments ossum- med by the United States. Since the second World War. The friendly HENLEY has deployed eight times to the Mediterranean to act as part of the Sixth Fleet, three times to the Middle East, four times to the waters of Northern Europe and once to Artie Waters -in order to test equipment under extremely low temperatures. Also once through the Great Lakes as far as Chicago. And all of these operations were in addition to a round the world cruise of 47,000 miles land 218 days) undertaken by HENLEY in 1953 to join U. S. Naval Forces in the Far East. The HENLEY has a displacement of about 3000 tons, a length of 376 feet, a beam of 41 feet, and a navigation draft of nearly 20 feet. She is powered by four oil fired boilers and two sets of tur- bines driving two 4-bladed screws, and steared by twin rudders. There ore six 5 38 caliber guns in 3 mounts, and four 3 50 calibre anti-air craft guns in 2 mounts. There are six mm 32 torpedo tubes capable of firing either the MK43 or MK44 A S HOMING TORPEDOES. In addition their are two MKl 1 hedge hog mounts and finally a rack of depth charges on the fantail. HENLEY is considered to be a General Purpose Destroyer , capable of anti-submarine, anti- aircraft, and shore bombardment operations, able to respond quickly in any naval situation.