USS Russell (DD-414)

USS ''Russell'' (DD-414) was a World War II-era in the service of the United States Navy, named after Rear Admiral John Henry Russell. She was among the most decorated US Naval vessels of World War II.

''Russell'' was laid down on 20 December 1937 by the Newport News Shipbuilding and Drydock Company, Newport News, Virginia; launched on 8 December 1938; sponsored by Mrs. Charles H. Marshall, granddaughter of Rear Admiral Russell; and commissioned on 3 November 1939.

Service history

Commissioned two months after the outbreak of World War II in Europe, ''Russell'' cruised in the western Atlantic and in the Caribbean on neutrality patrol until the bombing of Pearl Harbor.

File:Original_plaque_from_USS_Russell_DD_414.jpg, Plaque from USS Russell DD 414

World War II

1942

''Russell'' was ordered to the Pacific, and she transited the Panama Canal and proceeded to San Diego, where on 6 January 1942, she sailed west, screening reinforcements to Samoa. By the time of her arrival, 20 January, the Japanese had moved into British Malaya, Borneo, the Celebes and Gilbert Islandss, and the Bismarck Archipelago. Within the week, Rabaul fell and the Japanese continued on to New Ireland and the Solomons while further west they extended their occupation of the Netherlands East Indies.

On 25 January, ''Russell'' sailed north with Task Force 17 (TF 17), screened as her planes raided Makin, Mili, and Jaluit on 1 February, then set a course for Pearl Harbor. In midmonth, the force sailed again. Diverted from its original destination, Wake Island, it covered forces establishing an airbase on Canton Island, important on the Hawaii-Samoa-Fiji route to Australia and less than 1,000 miles (1,600 km) from Makin. Raids on Rabaul and Gasmata were next ordered to cover a movement of troops to New Caledonia, but on 8 March the Japanese landed at Salamaua and Lae in New Guinea and Port Moresby was threatened. The force, again joined by the force, steamed into the Gulf of Papua, where on 10 March, planes were sent over the Owen Stanley Range to bomb the newly established Japanese bases on the Huon Gulf.

Through April, ''Russell'' continued to screen the ''Yorktown'' force, operating primarily in the ANZAC area. Detached on 3 May to screen during fueling operations with TF 11, she rejoined TF 17 early on 5 May and resumed screening duties for the force's heavier units. On 7 May in the Coral Sea, she engaged enemy planes closing the formation to threaten ''Yorktown'' and ''Lexington'' and to support Japanese forces in an assault on Port Moresby. ''Lexington'' hit and heavily damaged, but still in action, continued to recover and launch planes. Three hours later, however, she reported a serious explosion. A second followed. Her fires were no longer under control. She soon commenced abandoning ship. ''Russell'' joined her screen, circled the crippled ship as rescue ships evacuated personnel, and with the completion of that work, departed the scene of the Battle of the Coral Sea.

Retiring to Tonga, ''Russell'' debarked 170 survivors from ''Lexington'' and sailed for Pearl Harbor. Arriving on 27 May, she headed out again on 30 May, this time toward Midway Island. On 4 June, TFs 16 and 17 again met the enemy in an air duel, through which ''Russell'' steamed in the screen of ''Yorktown''. In the afternoon, enemy torpedo planes broke through the screen and scored successfully on the carrier. The patched-up survivor of the Battle of the Coral Sea was abandoned. ''Russell'' took on 492 of her crew and aviation personnel. The next day she transferred 27 to to assist in salvage operations on the carrier, but Japanese torpedoes (from ) negated the effort and ''Yorktown'' and were lost. On 10 June, ''Russell'' covered the transferral of replacements from to and , and on 13 June, she returned to Pearl Harbor.

Engaged in training exercises for the next 2 months, ''Russell'' again sortied with TF 17 on 17 August, took station screening ''Hornet'', and headed southwest. On the 29th, TF 17 joined TF 61, becoming Task Group 61.2 (TG 61.2). On the 31st, ''Saratoga'' took a torpedo and ''Russell'' conducted an unsuccessful submarine hunt, the first of many in the long and costly campaign for Guadalcanal. On 6 September, one of ''Hornet''s planes dropped an explosive off ''Russell''s starboard quarter to detonate a torpedo. Another submarine search commenced. At 1452, she established contact and dropped six 600-pound depth charges. At 1513, she sighted an oil slick 1 mile by one-half-mile, but contact was lost at 700 yards and never regained.

Through the remainder of the year, and into the new, ''Russell'' continued to operate in support of the Guadalcanal campaign. On 25–26 October, she participated in the Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands, during which she again joined in rescue operations for a sinking carrier, this time ''Hornet'', from which she transferred the commander of TF 17, Rear Admiral George D. Murray and his staff to , seriously wounded personnel to , and other survivors to Nouméa where ''Russell''s superstructure, damaged during rescue work, was repaired.

1943

In December 1942 – January 1943, she screened convoys to Guadalcanal and Tulagi, then to Rennell. In February, she screened ''Enterprise'', then in March, resumed convoy escort work, making one run to Australia and back by mid-April.

On 1 May, the destroyer set a course for the west coast. At the end of July, after overhaul at Mare Island, she steamed north to join forces staging for the "invasion" of Kiska Island. Aleutian patrol duty followed, and with the arrival of autumn, she turned south to escort landing craft to Hawaii. In October, she continued on to Wellington, New Zealand; and, in early November, she escorted transports to the New Hebrides where she joined TF 53, then preparing to push into the Gilberts. Underway on 13 November with the Task Force, she arrived with the troop transports off Betio, Tarawa

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