USS ''McGowan'' (DD-678) was a of the United States Navy, named for Rear Admiral
Samuel McGowan Samuel McGowan may refer to:
* Samuel McGowan (admiral)
* Samuel McGowan (general)
* Samuel McGowan (engineer)
* S. H. McGowan (Samuel Henry McGowan), gold mining entrepreneur in Bendigo, Victoria, Australia
See also
* Samuel Magowan
Samuel Ma ...
Kearny, N.J.
Kearny ( ) is a town in the western part of Hudson County, New Jersey, United States and a suburb of Newark. As of the 2010 United States Census, the town's population was 40,684,launched 14 November 1943, sponsored by Mrs. Rose McG. Cantey, sister of Rear Admiral McGowan, and commissioned 20 December 1943.
World War II
Post shakedown training completed in time to participate in the
Marianas campaign
The Mariana and Palau Islands campaign, also known as Operation Forager, was an offensive launched by United States forces against Imperial Japanese forces in the Mariana Islands and Palau in the Pacific Ocean between June and November 1944 dur ...
, ''McGowan'' arrived at Roi, Kwajalein Atoll, 31 May 1944. Ten days later she sailed with Task Group 52.17 (TG 52.17) for
Saipan
Saipan ( ch, Sa’ipan, cal, Seipél, formerly in es, Saipán, and in ja, 彩帆島, Saipan-tō) is the largest island of the Northern Mariana Islands, a Commonwealth (U.S. insular area), commonwealth of the United States in the western Pa ...
. On 14 June she screened the bombardment ships. The next day, during the invasion of Saipan she added fire support to her duties, disposing of a fuel dump and artillery emplacements endangering forces on the beach. As the beachhead expanded, ''McGowan'' continued to support the assault forces with counter-battery and harassing fire until the 23d, when she retired to Eniwetok. Next assigned to TG 53.1 she screened the transports carrying troops to Guam, remained through the initial
landing operations
Landing is the last part of a flight, where a flying animal, aircraft, or spacecraft returns to the ground. When the flying object returns to water, the process is called alighting, although it is commonly called "landing", "touchdown" or ...
, and then set course back to Saipan. There she rejoined TG 52.17 for screening and fire support missions during the Tinian phase of the conquest of the Marianas.
At the end of July ''McGowan'' sailed to Guadalcanal to prepare for the amphibious assault on the Palaus. Her TG 32.2, sortied 8 September, arriving in the transport area east of the Palaus on the 15th. ''McGowan'' remained in that area until the 17th when, with her transport group she moved toward Angaur Island. There she took position in the antisubmarine screen, remaining through the 22d.
The destroyer then cruised south to Manus Island, the staging area for the upcoming Leyte operation. On 11 October she got underway, screening LSTs and LCIs of the 7th Fleet to Leyte. During the assault on Dulag, 20 October she served as fighter-director for aircraft covering the landings. In the early hours of the 25th she participated in DesRon 54's torpedo attack on Japanese men-of-war, weakening them as they steamed Up
Surigao Strait
Surigao Strait (Filipino: ''Kipot ng Surigaw'') is a strait in the southern Philippines, between the Bohol Sea and the Leyte Gulf of the Philippine Sea.
Geography
It is located between the regions of Visayas and Mindanao. It lies between northern ...
into defeat at the hands of Rear Admiral
Jesse B. Oldendorf
Jesse Barrett "Oley" Oldendorf (16 February 1887 – 27 April 1974) was an admiral in the United States Navy, famous for defeating a Japanese force in the Battle of Leyte Gulf during World War II. He also served as commander of the American naval ...
and his
battleline
The line of battle is a tactic in naval warfare in which a fleet of ships forms a line end to end. The first example of its use as a tactic is disputed—it has been variously claimed for dates ranging from 1502 to 1652. Line-of-battle tacti ...
.
Within 48 hours ''McGowan'' was underway for
Hollandia Hollandia may refer to:
* HVV Hollandia, Dutch football team
* Hollandia Victoria Combinatie, defunct Dutch football team
* ''Hollandia'' (1742 ship), a ship of the Dutch East India Company, wrecked in 1743 on her maiden voyage
* Jayapura, a city ...
, from where she screened convoys to the Philippines until after the Mindoro landings in December. She sailed into
Lingayen Gulf
The Lingayen Gulf is a large gulf on northwestern Luzon in the Philippines, stretching . It is framed by the provinces of Pangasinan and La Union and sits between the Zambales Mountains and the Cordillera Central. The Agno River and the Balili ...
Honshū
, historically called , is the largest and most populous island of Japan. It is located south of Hokkaidō across the Tsugaru Strait, north of Shikoku across the Inland Sea, and northeast of Kyūshū across the Kanmon Straits. The island separa ...
in mid-February. Next, setting a southerly course, they supported the Iwo Jima campaign and then, in March returned to the
Japan
Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
ese home islands for further strikes. Throughout April and May they provided support for the troops
fighting on Okinawa
The , codenamed Operation Iceberg, was a major battle of the Pacific War fought on the island of Okinawa by United States Army (USA) and United States Marine Corps (USMC) forces against the Imperial Japanese Army (IJA). The initial invasion of ...
as they struck at enemy military and industrial targets from
Formosa
Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is an island country located in East Asia. The main island of Taiwan, formerly known in the Western political circles, press and literature as Formosa, makes up 99% of the land area of the territorie ...
to
Kyūshū
is the third-largest island of Japan's five main islands and the most southerly of the four largest islands ( i.e. excluding Okinawa). In the past, it has been known as , and . The historical regional name referred to Kyushu and its surround ...
. Replenishing in the Philippines in early June, they extended their range northward again and by 1 July were headed for objectives on Honshū,
Hokkaidō
is Japan's second largest island and comprises the largest and northernmost prefecture, making up its own region. The Tsugaru Strait separates Hokkaidō from Honshu; the two islands are connected by the undersea railway Seikan Tunnel.
The la ...
and the Kuriles.
Following the strikes on the Kuriles, ''McGowan'' was detached from TF 38 and ordered back to the west coast for overhaul. While at Adak, Alaska, 14 August, she received word of the Japanese surrender. Assigned to the
9th Fleet
The structure of the United States Navy consists of four main bodies: the Office of the Secretary of the Navy, the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations, the operating forces (described below), and the Shore Establishment.
Office of the Chief of ...
she steamed back to Japan for occupation duty in the Ominato Naval Base area. On 12 October she departed Honshū for the United States. Arriving in November she underwent overhaul, and on 30 April 1946 she decommissioned and entered the San Diego Group,
Pacific Reserve Fleet
The United States Navy maintains a number of its ships as part of a reserve fleet, often called the "Mothball Fleet". While the details of the maintenance activity have changed several times, the basics are constant: keep the ships afloat and ...
.
1951 – 1960
Less than 6 years later the outbreak of hostilities in Korea required an expansion of the active fleet. ''McGowan'' recommissioned 6 July 1951 and by 1952 had transited the Panama Canal and reported for duty in the Atlantic Fleet. By May she was involved in training for Far Eastern deployment. She departed
Newport, R.I.
Newport is an American seaside city on Aquidneck Island in Newport County, Rhode Island. It is located in Narragansett Bay, approximately southeast of Providence, south of Fall River, Massachusetts, south of Boston, and northeast of New Yo ...
6 September and arrived at Yokosuka, Japan 20 October. On 17 November, following operations with TF 96 off Okinawa, ''McGowan'' rendezvoused with TF 77 in the combat area. As a unit of the U.N. Naval Force she cruised along the Korean east coast providing close fire support for
U.N.
The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmonizin ...
troops and periodically took station off Wonsan to bombard. Upon leaving the battle area she called at
Buckner Buckner may refer to:
People
* Buckner H. Payne (1799-1889), American clergyman, publisher, and racist pamphleteer
*Buckner Thruston (1763–1845), U.S. Senator and judge from Kentucky
* Buckner (surname)
Music
* Buckner & Garcia was an American ...
Aden
Aden ( ar, عدن ' Yemeni: ) is a city, and since 2015, the temporary capital of Yemen, near the eastern approach to the Red Sea (the Gulf of Aden), some east of the strait Bab-el-Mandeb. Its population is approximately 800,000 people. ...
Gibraltar
)
, anthem = " God Save the King"
, song = " Gibraltar Anthem"
, image_map = Gibraltar location in Europe.svg
, map_alt = Location of Gibraltar in Europe
, map_caption = United Kingdom shown in pale green
, mapsize =
, image_map2 = Gib ...
, arriving Newport 11 April 1953.
Home ported there, ''McGowan'' operated on the eastern seaboard, deploying annually to the Mediterranean, for the next 7 years. During her 1956–58 oversee deployments she was involved in peace keeping operations in the volatile eastern Mediterranean. In the spring of 1956 she cruised in the Red Sea area and then the
Port Said
Port Said ( ar, بورسعيد, Būrsaʿīd, ; grc, Πηλούσιον, Pēlousion) is a city that lies in northeast Egypt extending about along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea, north of the Suez Canal. With an approximate population of 6 ...
area as British troops withdrew from the
Suez Canal
The Suez Canal ( arz, قَنَاةُ ٱلسُّوَيْسِ, ') is an artificial sea-level waterway in Egypt, connecting the Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea through the Isthmus of Suez and dividing Africa and Asia. The long canal is a popular ...
zone, returning to Newport before nationalization of the canal. Subsequent events led, in the fall, to the brief war between British,
French
French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to France
** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents
** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...
, Israeli, and Egyptian forces. Tension remained high and in May 1957 ''McGowan'' was back in the Mediterranean. On the 22d, she, with three other ships of Destroyer Division 202 (DesDiv 202), became the first warships to transit the Suez Canal since its reopening to maximum draft ships (9 April 1957). She then cruised in the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf to insure safe passage of American merchant shipping to Israel and Jordan.
By late spring of 1958, as ''McGowan'' again returned to the eastern Mediterranean, Jordan and Lebanon were threatened with coups d'état in the continued struggle for leadership of the Arab world. In July, President Camille Chamoun of Lebanon requested the aid of the United States in insuring the stability of his government, while Jordan made a similar request to Britain. On the 15th, the 6th Fleet stood off the Lebanese coast while landing the Marines. On the 16th, ''McGowan'' arrived from another tense area, Cyprus. She remained at Beirut through the 20th, then got underway to take a patrol station off the coast, remaining until 1 August. She resumed operations to the north, and in September departed for Newport. arriving on the 30th.
Spanish service
In October 1960 ''McGowan'' was designated for transfer to the Government of Spain on a renewable 5-year loan under the terms of the
Military Assistance Program
The Mutual Defense Assistance Act was a United States Act of Congress signed by President Harry S. Truman on 6 October 1949. For US Foreign policy, it was the first U.S. military foreign aid legislation of the Cold War era, and initially to Euro ...
. On 30 November 1960, at Barcelona, ''McGowan'' decommissioned and the following day became the Spanish Navy's ''Jorge Juan'' (originally with hull number 45, designated D 25 in 1961).
''Jorge Juan'' was stricken from the Spanish Navy list on 15 November 1988, then scrapped.