USS Wadleigh (DD-689)
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USS ''Wadleigh'' (DD-689) was a of the United States Navy, named for Rear Admiral
George H. Wadleigh Rear Admiral George Henry Wadleigh (September 28, 1842 – July 11, 1927) served in the United States Navy during the American Civil War and the Spanish–American War. Biography Wadleigh was born in Dover, New Hampshire, and entered the Unit ...
(1842–1927). ''Wadleigh'' was laid down on 5 April 1943 at Bath, Maine, by the Bath Iron Works; launched on 7 August 1943; sponsored by Miss Clara F. Wadleigh, daughter of RAdm. Wadleigh; and commissioned at the Boston Navy Yard on 19 October 1943.


World War II

Following shakedown training in the West Indies, ''Wadleigh'' rendezvoused in the mid-Atlantic with , , and . The three destroyers escorted the
battleship A battleship is a large armored warship with a main battery consisting of large caliber guns. It dominated naval warfare in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The term ''battleship'' came into use in the late 1880s to describe a type of ...
as she carried president Franklin D. Roosevelt back to the United States from talks with other Allied leaders at the Cairo Conference.


1944

Soon after her return from this special escort duty, ''Wadleigh'' got underway from
Hampton Roads, Virginia Hampton Roads is the name of both a body of water in the United States that serves as a wide channel for the James, Nansemond and Elizabeth rivers between Old Point Comfort and Sewell's Point where the Chesapeake Bay flows into the Atlantic O ...
, on 3 January 1944 and steamed via Panama to Pearl Harbor. Her baptism of fire came on 20 March 1944 during the
Marshall Islands campaign The Gilbert and Marshall Islands campaign were a series of battles fought from August 1942 through February 1944, in the Pacific theatre of World War II between the United States and Japan. They were the first steps of the drive across the cent ...
. Assigned shore-bombardment duties, ''Wadleigh''—in company with and —supported LCIs and LSTs during the landings on
Ailinglapalap Ailinglaplap or Ailinglapalap ( Marshallese: , ) is a coral atoll of 56 islands in the Pacific Ocean, and forms a legislative district of the Ralik Chain in the Marshall Islands. It is located northwest of Jaluit Atoll. Its total land area is on ...
and expended 478 rounds of 5 inch shells which destroyed an enemy-held village. Three days later, the new destroyer again took part in shooting up Japanese defenses, shelling a weather station and a radio station on Ebon Island, helping to clear the way for the 1,500 marines who soon took the island. The ship returned to the
Hawaiian Islands The Hawaiian Islands ( haw, Nā Mokupuni o Hawai‘i) are an archipelago of eight major islands, several atolls, and numerous smaller islets in the North Pacific Ocean, extending some from the island of Hawaii in the south to northernmost Kur ...
for further operational training in preparation for the upcoming conquest of the
Marianas The Mariana Islands (; also the Marianas; in Chamorro: ''Manislan Mariånas'') are a crescent-shaped archipelago comprising the summits of fifteen longitudinally oriented, mostly dormant volcanic mountains in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, betw ...
. Assigned to Task Group 52.4 (TG 52.4), ''Wadleigh'' arrived off
Roi Island Roi-Namur ( ) is an island in the north part of the Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands. Today it is a major part of the Ronald Reagan Ballistic Missile Defense Test Site, hosting several radar systems used for tracking and characterizing missi ...
in the Marshalls on 10 June, five days before
D-Day The Normandy landings were the landing operations and associated airborne operations on Tuesday, 6 June 1944 of the Allied invasion of Normandy in Operation Overlord during World War II. Codenamed Operation Neptune and often referred to as D ...
for the invasion of Saipan Island. The day before the first landings, the warship closed
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 ...
and commenced fire early in the morning, beginning her part in the operations designed to "soften up" the enemy defenses. On D-Day, ''Wadleigh'' lay offshore, providing predawn gunfire support for underwater demolition teams (UDTs) and for the initial waves of troops. After spending the day in shelling enemy positions, she retired seaward to conduct screening patrols. While thus engaged, ''Wadleigh'' and both picked up strong sonar contacts with a
submarine A submarine (or sub) is a watercraft capable of independent operation underwater. It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability. The term is also sometimes used historically or colloquially to refer to remotely op ...
west of Tinian. Both ships went to general quarters and attacked, dropping
depth charge A depth charge is an anti-submarine warfare (ASW) weapon. It is intended to destroy a submarine by being dropped into the water nearby and detonating, subjecting the target to a powerful and destructive Shock factor, hydraulic shock. Most depth ...
s with deadly precision. A heavy explosion, followed by a widening slick of oil and debris, indicated that whatever had been down there had been heavily hit. Postwar accounting revealed that the two destroyers had teamed to sink the Japanese submarine . Assigned to bombard Garapan, the capital city of Saipan, ''Wadleigh'' encountered heavy activity of all types in this area, from both friend and foe alike, while expending some 1,700 rounds of 5 inch shells against the Japanese-held island. Not only was ''Wadleigh'' fired on by a Japanese shore battery, but the doughty destroyer was also straddled by a stick of bombs from a Japanese plane, mistaken for a low-flying aircraft by American forces, and again taken under fire from shore—all within a hair-raising space of 15 minutes! During the latter days of the campaign ''Wadleigh'' shot enemy snipers out of caves, trees, and cliffs; picked up an occasional Japanese prisoner, and rescued downed American aircrews shot down near her position. Following escort runs to Eniwetok and
Guadalcanal Guadalcanal (; indigenous name: ''Isatabu'') is the principal island in Guadalcanal Province of Solomon Islands, located in the south-western Pacific, northeast of Australia. It is the largest island in the Solomon Islands by area, and the seco ...
, ''Wadleigh'' was assigned to support the invasion of the
Palaus Palau,, officially the Republic of Palau and historically ''Belau'', ''Palaos'' or ''Pelew'', is an island country and microstate in the western Pacific. The nation has approximately 340 islands and connects the western chain of the Caro ...
. On 15 September, she patrolled north of the islands on radar picket duty, standing ready to provide early warning if Japanese planes were sighted. On the following day, ''Wadleigh'' steamed to
Kossol Roads Kossol Roads is a large body of reef-enclosed water north of Babeldaob in northern Palau at .Kossol Roads
a ...
to begin assisting minesweepers in clearing the sealanes there. Floating mines swept up by the minesweepers provided the destroyers with "game", and ''Wadleigh'' destroyed 22 with 40-millimeter fire. The 23d, however, was deadly. While approaching one mine, the destroyer brushed horns with another, an unswept mine which burst amidships. The explosion ripped into the bowels of the ship, killing three men and injuring 20, while flooding three engineering compartments and one living space. As the crew raced to general quarters, the ship settled five feet by the stern, and listed seven degrees to starboard. ''Wadleigh'', now sporting a 40-foot rend in her bottom, came to an even keel as the crew manhandled all movable weight from starboard to port to correct the list. passed a towline and towed the stricken destroyer out of danger. The crippled ship, now sagging noticeably amidships, "worked" noticeably in the swells, prompting initial fears that the ship was breaking in two. In addition, the shock of the blast snapped one radar antenna and jarred both 26-foot motor whaleboats from their blocks.


1945

After temporary repairs, the ship painfully made her way back to Pear l Harbor and thence proceeded to the west coast to enter the Mare Island Navy Yard for repairs. Nearly rebuilt from the keel up, ''Wadleigh'' emerged from Mare Island on 20 February 1945 for speed trials and gunnery shoots. She departed San Diego, California, on 19 April and arrived at Pearl Harbor on 25 April, in company with , to conduct type-training exercises in the Hawaiian Islands. She departed Pearl Harbor on 3 May, bound for Ulithi, and arrived there after an 11-day passage. Rejoining her old unit— Destroyer Squadron 54 (DesRon 54)—the destroyer sortied with other
5th Fleet The Fifth Fleet is a numbered fleet of the United States Navy. It has been responsible for naval forces in the Persian Gulf, Red Sea, Arabian Sea, and parts of the Indian Ocean since 1995 after a 48-year hiatus. It shares a commander and headq ...
units on 25 May. After serving several tours on radar picket stations with the Fleet, ''Wadleigh'' weathered heavy typhoons from 5 to 7 June and subsequently accompanied and in a shore bombardment mission to
Minami Daito Shima Minami (kanji 南, hiragana みなみ) is a Japanese word meaning "south". Places Japan There are several Minami wards in Japan, most of them appropriately in the south part of a city: * Minami, Tokushima, a village in Tokushima Prefectur ...
(
Rasa Island Rasa Island is a flat coral island in the Sulu Sea just off the coast of the municipality of Narra in Palawan, Philippines. It is a shallow island surrounded by mangroves and tidal flats containing one of the country's last remaining coastal fo ...
) on the 9th, demolishing radar installations and buildings. After a rest period in the Philippines, ''Wadleigh'' sailed again for Japanese waters to screen the
aircraft carrier An aircraft carrier is a warship that serves as a seagoing airbase, equipped with a full-length flight deck and facilities for carrying, arming, deploying, and recovering aircraft. Typically, it is the capital ship of a fleet, as it allows a ...
s as they continued to pound the Japanese home islands. On 10 July, the ship embarked a party of dignitaries—including Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Air,
John L. Sullivan John Lawrence Sullivan (October 15, 1858 – February 2, 1918), known simply as John L. among his admirers, and dubbed the "Boston Strong Boy" by the press, was an American boxer recognized as the first heavyweight champion of gloved boxing ...
, and Vice Admiral
Aubrey W. Fitch Aubrey Wray Fitch (June 11, 1883 – May 22, 1978) was an admiral of the United States Navy during World War II. A naval aviator, he held important aviation-related commands both at sea and on shore from the 1920s onward. He also served a ...
, for transportation to
Iwo Jima Iwo Jima (, also ), known in Japan as , is one of the Japanese Volcano Islands and lies south of the Bonin Islands. Together with other islands, they form the Ogasawara Archipelago. The highest point of Iwo Jima is Mount Suribachi at high. ...
. Rendezvousing with at Guam, she rejoined her task force on 21 July to support offensive operations off Japan's doorstep. While serving on occasion 50 miles from the enemy shore, ''Wadleigh'' rescued two downed Navy aircrewmen who had been shot down during a strike on Tokyo. The destroyer slowed to destroy a derelict mine on 10 August, but excessive turbine vibrations forced the ship to shut down her starboard engine. Detached from the task force, ''Wadleigh'' limped back to Ulithi, in a convoy of replenishment ships and
tanker Tanker may refer to: Transportation * Tanker, a tank crewman (US) * Tanker (ship), a ship designed to carry bulk liquids ** Chemical tanker, a type of tanker designed to transport chemicals in bulk ** Oil tanker, also known as a petroleum ta ...
s, for repairs. While en route, she received word of the Japanese capitulation. Departing Ulithi on 23 August and hoping to rejoin the Fleet in time for the triumphal entry into Tokyo Bay, ''Wadleigh'' stopped at Iwo Jima en route for passengers and mail and arrived 24 hours after the first ships had entered the bay. Ordered to proceed directly to
Sagami Wan lies south of Kanagawa Prefecture in Honshu, central Japan, contained within the scope of the Miura Peninsula, in Kanagawa, to the east, the Izu Peninsula, in Shizuoka Prefecture, to the west, and the Shōnan coastline to the north, while t ...
, ''Wadleigh'' went to general quarters in company with as the ships passed beneath the once-menacing shore batteries along the Urage Strait. They soon arrived at their destination, the Yokosuka Naval Base, on 29 August. As the first American troops went ashore at Yokohama and Yokosuka, ''Wadleigh'' headed out to sea and rendezvoused with incoming carrier groups. She returned to her anchorage, near , on 2 September—in time to be on hand when the official surrender accords were signed that day. Back at sea with the carriers once more, ''Wadleigh'' patrolled off the Japanese coast for two weeks, before she departed Nipponese waters on 16 September and proceeded via Eniwetok to Saipan in company with and for air group replacements. The destroyer returned to Tokyo Bay after a week at Saipan and arrived on 13 October, escorting and ''Lexington''. Departing Japanese waters on 20 October, bound for the Hawaiian Islands, ''Wadleigh'' carried a load of men eligible for discharge upon their return to the United States. After a 48-hour layover in the Hawaiian Islands, she pressed on for San Francisco, arriving on 5 November 1945. She commenced a preinactivation overhaul on 5 December and sailed for San Diego, California, on 27 January 1946, for inactivation. The destroyer was placed out of commission, in reserve, in the San Diego group of the
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 ...
, in January 1947.


1951 – 1962

''Wadleigh'' remained in reserve until she was reactivated during the Korean War. On 3 October 1951, ''Wadleigh'' was recommissioned at San Diego. She departed San Diego on 4 January 1952, bound for duty with the Atlantic Fleet. She transited the Panama Canal on 14 January—in company with , , , and —and, upon arrival at her new home port of Newport, Rhode Island, became
flagship A flagship is a vessel used by the commanding officer of a group of naval ships, characteristically a flag officer entitled by custom to fly a distinguishing flag. Used more loosely, it is the lead ship in a fleet of vessels, typically the fi ...
for Destroyer Division 342. After participating in various Fleet exercises, ''Wadleigh'' arrived at
Pensacola, Florida Pensacola () is the westernmost city in the Florida Panhandle, and the county seat and only incorporated city of Escambia County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 54,312. Pensacola is the principal ...
, on 17 August, to commence four weeks of plane-guard duty for . She rescued three downed aviators from the Gulf of Mexico during this tour. Next, the destroyer sailed north for an overhaul at the
Boston Naval Shipyard The Boston Navy Yard, originally called the Charlestown Navy Yard and later Boston Naval Shipyard, was one of the oldest shipbuilding facilities in the United States Navy. It was established in 1801 as part of the recent establishment of t ...
—during which time the ship received a battery of 3 inch guns—replacing the older 40-millimeter mounts. On 3 May 1954, ''Wadleigh'' departed Newport, bound via the Panama Canal, Pearl Harbor, Midway, and Guam for the Western Pacific (WestPac), and arrived at Yokosuka, Japan, on 7 June 1954. After initially operating in the Philippine Islands, the destroyer shifted to the waters off the east coast of Korea, assisting in monitoring the Armistice Agreement reached at Panmunjom the year before. While in Subic Bay, ''Wadleigh'' was put on alert and ordered to rendezvous with Task Group 70.2 (TG 70.2). Once she joined with the group, TG 70.2 proceeded to the southern coast of
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 ...
in a precautionary move by the United States to forestall possible Chinese communist intentions towards the American-supported Nationalist Chinese regime on the island. While en route to Formosa, the ship struck an underwater object which inflicted minor damage to both screws. Returning to Subic Bay, the ship repaired the damage and sailed to rejoin the group. Once back on station, she spent 20 tense but uneventful days on patrol off Formosa and, soon thereafter, proceeded back to
Sasebo, Japan is a core city located in Nagasaki Prefecture, Japan. It is also the second largest city in Nagasaki Prefecture, after its capital, Nagasaki. On 1 June 2019, the city had an estimated population of 247,739 and a population density of 581 persons p ...
, to prepare to return to the United States. ''Wadleigh'' returned to Newport—via Hong Kong, Singapore, Colombo, and various Mediterranean ports— and arrived at her home port on 28 November 1954. Shifting to the Caribbean, she operated both in these waters and off the east coast, on
antisubmarine warfare Anti-submarine warfare (ASW, or in older form A/S) is a branch of underwater warfare that uses surface warships, aircraft, submarines, or other platforms, to find, track, and deter, damage, or destroy enemy submarines. Such operations are typic ...
(ASW) exercises and local operations, through the end of 1955. She then deployed three times to the Mediterranean. During the third of these deployments, in July 1958, tensions flared in Lebanon, and civil strife threatened American lives and property. Accordingly, the United States landed troops to restore order. ''Wadleigh'' was among the first American ships to arrive on the scene, with another much-decorated ''Fletcher''-class destroyer, , arriving simultaneously. During the Lebanese crisis, she conducted eastern Mediterranean patrols as a unit of TF 61. She returned to the east coast soon thereafter to operate along the Atlantic seaboard and into the Caribbean through the fall of 1958 before deploying to the Mediterranean for a fourth time in June 1959. While homeward-bound to Newport in September of that year, she served as one of the chain of ships beneath the aerial route of president Dwight D. Eisenhower's return to the United States after his summit conferences in Europe. During the period in which the ship continued to be based out of Newport, she conducted ASW exercises and local operations through the end of the year and into 1960. On 19 March 1960, ''Wadleigh'' sped to the scene of a collision between and a
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tanker off
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. Commander,
Destroyer Squadron 20 In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast, manoeuvrable, long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy or battle group and defend them against powerful short range attackers. They were originally developed i ...
(DesRon 20), embarked in ''Wadleigh'', was on-scene commander and directed the successful effort to take ''Darby'' under tow. Returning to a schedule of local operations, ''Wadleigh'' conducted a
midshipman A midshipman is an officer of the lowest rank, in the Royal Navy, United States Navy, and many Commonwealth navies. Commonwealth countries which use the rank include Canada (Naval Cadet), Australia, Bangladesh, Namibia, New Zealand, South Afr ...
's training cruise, ASW patrols, and exercises. During a deployment to European waters in the fall of 1960, she conducted NATO fall exercises in the North Sea and across the
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. Deploying to the Mediterranean for the fifth time, ''Wadleigh'' transited 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 ...
and participated in CENTO Exercise Midlink III, in which the naval forces of five nations participated. In November 1960, the ship returned to Mediterranean and western European waters, and took part in ASW Exercises "Hay-strike" and "Jetstream" with French Navy units before returning to Newport on 15 December 1960. She then conducted ASW exercises out of
Mayport, Florida Mayport is a small community located between Naval Station Mayport and the St. Johns River in Jacksonville, Florida. It is part of the Jacksonville Beaches communities. The only public road to Mayport is State Road A1A, which crosses the St. Johns ...
, and practiced recovery techniques for participation in Project Mercury, the first American manned spaceflight program. Attached to TG 140.8, ''Wadleigh'' was on station on 5 May 1961 when Comdr. Alan Shepard conducted his history-making flight. A second participation by ''Wadleigh'' in the Project Mercury program came in August of that year, but unfavorable weather "scrubbed" the launch, and the destroyer was detached to return to Newport. Late in the following fall, ''Wadleigh'' sailed for European waters once more and participated in Exercise Line Jug II—extensive ASW exercises with Royal Navy units. She topped this deployment with visits to ports in the British Isles like Londonderry and Southampton before returning to her home port on 22 February 1962. She conducted routine local operations until departing Newport on 22 June for
Norfolk, Virginia Norfolk ( ) is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. Incorporated in 1705, it had a population of 238,005 at the 2020 census, making it the third-most populous city in Virginia after neighboring Virginia Be ...
. There, the ship was decommissioned and placed in reserve on 28 June 1962.


Honors and awards

''Wadleigh'' received six battle stars for her service in World War II.


Chilean service

''Wadleigh'' was transferred to Chile under the
Military Aid Program A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. It is typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with its members identifiable by their distinct ...
in 1963. The ship was renamed ''Blanco Encalada'' and was given identification number 14. ''Blanco Encalada'' was decommissioned and stricken in 1982, and on 28 September 1991 was sunk off southern Chile by a Harpoon missile launched from the ''Spruance''-class destroyer during an Operation Unitas XXXII exercise.


References

*


External links


navsource.org: USS ''Wadleigh''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wadleigh (DD-689) Fletcher-class destroyers of the United States Navy Ships built in Bath, Maine 1943 ships World War II destroyers of the United States Cold War destroyers of the United States Fletcher-class destroyers of the Chilean Navy Maritime incidents in 1962 Ships sunk as targets Maritime incidents in 1991