USS Henley (DD-391)

USS ''Henley'' (DD-391), a ''Bagley''-class destroyer, was the 2nd ship of the United States Navy to be named for Captain Robert Henley, an officer in the United States Navy during the Quasi-War with France, the War of 1812 and the Second Barbary War.

History

The second ''Henley'' (DD-391) was launched 12 January 1937 by the Mare Island Navy Yard, Vallejo, California; sponsored by Miss Beryl Henley Joslin, a collateral descendant of Captain Robert Henley; and commissioned 14 August 1937.

After shakedown in the Pacific and Hawaiian waters, ''Henley'' joined the Pacific Battle Force, Destroyer Division 11, at San Diego 12 September 1938. She departed San Diego 14 April 1941 to join the Fleet at Pearl Harbor. When the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor 7 December 1941, ''Henley'' was moored in East Loch with battle stations manned, a green sailor having sounded General Quarters instead of Quarters for Muster. This fortunate mistake gave ''Henley'' under the command of Lieutenant Francis Edward Fleck, Jr., the opportunity to fire the first destroyer shots as the initial wave of enemy planes swooped in. A bomb exploded 150 yards off her port bow as she slipped her chain from the buoy, and, as she cleared, she received a signal that a submarine was in the harbor. ''Henley'' maneuvered through the smoke, fire, and confusion and sped out of the channel. Her gunners shot down one dive bomber with her .50 cal. guns and shared credit for another. Conned by Fleck—both her commanding officer and executive officer were ashore when the attack began—''Henley'' dropped depth charges on a sonar contact, possibly a midget submarine, outside the harbor, and continued to blaze away at the enemy with her guns. In the following weeks ''Henley'' operated with the task forces to reinforce Wake Island and conducted patrol for the protection of Midway and convoy lanes.

''Henley'' carried out convoy and antisubmarine duty, primarily in Australian waters. On 11 May 1942 she rescued the survivors of the and , sunk during the Battle of the Coral Sea. She departed for Wellington 22 July 1942 to escort transports to Guadalcanal. As American forces stormed ashore in the Solomons 7 August, ''Henley'' patrolled on an ASW station, coming under fire from enemy planes but suffering no casualties and assisting in shooting down two in the process. As the fierce struggle for Guadalcanal raged, the destroyer remained in the area to screen ships bringing up supplies and reinforcements until 29 August. ''Henley'' then set course south, and remained in Australian and New Guinea waters until September 1943 on plane guard, convoy duty, and antisubmarine patrol.

Fate

When Australian troops established a beachhead at Finschafen, New Guinea, 21 September 1943, ''Henley'' formed a part of their protective screen. Attacked by 10 Japanese torpedo bombers, she claimed to have shot down 3 and assisted in downing 3 others in a fierce half-hour engagement. However, the valiant ship's wartime career, begun in the chaos at Pearl Harbor, was drawing to a close. On 3 October 1943 ''Henley'' was steaming with ''Reid'' and ''Smith'' on an offensive sweep off Finschafen when her skipper sighted two torpedoes fired by the submarine ''Ro-108'' heading for her. Split-second maneuvering permitted ''Henley'' to evade those two torpedoes; but a third was immediately sighted, closing too fast and too near to be avoided. ''Henley'' was struck on the port side, with the torpedo exploding in the number 1 fire-room, destroying her boilers, breaking her keel, and displacing her bow about 30 degrees from the longitudinal axis of the ship.

At 18:29, with all her crew having abandoned ship, ''Henley'' went down, stern first. Her companion DD's searched for the sub, then returned to rescue Henley's survivors, who had lashed their life-rafts together and were using flashlights as signals. Eighteen officers and 225 men were rescued, with 1 officer and 14 men missing.

Honors

''Henley'' earned four battle stars for her participation in World War II.

References

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External links

navsource.org: USS ''Henley''

{{DEFAULTSORT:Henley
Henley (DD-391)
Henley (DD-391)
Ships sunk by Japanese submarines
Shipwrecks in the Solomon Sea
Ships built in Vallejo, California
1937 ships
Maritime incidents in 1938
Ships present during the attack on Pearl Harbor
Maritime incidents in October 1943