USS O'Bannon (DD-450)

History

USS O'Bannon (DD/DDE-450), a Fletcher-class destroyer, was the second ship of the United States Navy to be named after Lieutenant Presley O'Bannon (1784–1850), the Marine Corps's "hero of Derna".

O'Bannon was the US Navy's most decorated destroyer during World War II, earning 17 battle stars and a Presidential Unit Citation. First serving in the naval battle of Guadalcanal, where she helped to sink the Japanese destroyer Akatsuki and shelled the battleship Hiei. With the start of 1943, O'Bannon helped to sink the submarines I-18 and Ro-34, scoring fame for throwing potatoes at the latter, before moving on to the Solomon Islands campaign, fighting in the battles of Kula Gulf, Kolombangara, and Horaniu, sinking several small Japanese vessels. During the battle of Vella Lavella, O'Bannon helped to sink the destroyer Yūgumo, but collided with the sinking destroyer USS Chevalier and was badly damaged herself, taking her out of action for several months. However, she was ready for action by March 1944, and led the rest of her WW2 service conducting shore bombardment and escorting duties, with a pump of excitement in January 1945 when she helped to sink the Japanese submarine Ro-115.

After the war, O'Bannon was converted into a destroyer escort, and took on patrol and shore bombardment duties during the Korean War and Vietnam War.

Text from Wikipedia: USS O'Bannon (DD-450), CC BY-SA 4.0, lightly trimmed.

Wars and campaigns

From Wikidata (CC0).

Key dates

1. 1941
   O'Bannon was laid down by Bath Iron Works Corp. in Bath, Maine on 3 March 1941, and launched 14 March 1942, sponsored by Mrs.
2. 1942
   O'Bannon trained for war in the Caribbean and sailed from Boston on 29 August 1942 for the Southwest Pacific, where the Guadalcanal campaign had just begun.
3. 1943
   On 11 February 1943, O'Bannon was operating with the light cruiser USS Helena when she located a spread of torpedoes fired from the Japanese submarine I-18 and evaded them without damage, and ordered the escorting destroyers to engage the attacker.
4. 1944
   By 18 March 1944, she was back in the Solomons, ready for her part in the series of westward-moving amphibious assaults that won New Guinea.
5. 1945
   During the Lingayen offensive on 31 January 1945, O'Bannon, with three other destroyers, attacked and sank an enemy submarine; Japanese records studied after the war indicate it was most likely Ro-115.
6. 1949
   Between 17 January 1949 and 10 February 1950, O'Bannon was converted to an escort destroyer at Long Beach Naval Shipyard.
7. 1951
   O'Bannon was recommissioned on 19 February 1951 to serve out of Pearl Harbor.
8. 1952
   A training period out of Pearl Harbor began upon her return home on 20 June 1952, and she took part in U.S. Atomic Energy Commission operations off Eniwetok.
9. 1964
   In 1964, O'Bannon took part in the 1965 film In Harm's Way.

Dates and events quoted from the same Wikipedia article (CC BY-SA 4.0).

Records that place someone aboard this ship

A ship history doesn't name everyone who served. These records do:

• Navy muster rolls, 1939–1949 (National Archives guide)
• Deck logs: how to get them (Naval History and Heritage Command)
• Crew lists research guide (NHHC)
• Search the National Archives Catalog for “USS O'Bannon (DD-450)”

More history

• Naval History and Heritage Command (DANFS)
• Wikipedia: USS O'Bannon (DD-450)