- USS Daly (DD-519)
USS "Daly" (DD-519), a "Fletcher"-class
destroyer , was a ship of theUnited States Navy named for Marine Sergeant MajorDaniel Daly , (1873–1937), one of the very few people to be "twice" awarded theMedal of Honor ."Daly" was launched
24 October 1942 byBethlehem Steel Co.,Staten Island , N.Y., sponsored by Mrs. A. Ransweiler, niece of Sergeant Major Daly; and commissioned10 March 1943 , Commander R. G. Visser in command.1943
Between
14 May and21 June 1943 "Daly" screened "Ranger" (CV-4) on exercises and patrol off NS Argentia, Newfoundland. She sailed from New York a week later screening "Lexington" (CV-16) and arrived at San Diego4 August . The next day she was underway forAlaska , arriving at Adak11 August . She escorted transports to the invasion ofKiska from 15 to21 August , then patrolled and had escort duty between Kiska and Attu until18 November when she sailed forPearl Harbor , arriving23 November ."Daly" left Pearl Harbor
9 December 1943 and arrived atMilne Bay ,New Guinea ,18 December . Four days later she sortied to escortlanding craft during the assault onCape Gloucester ,New Britain on26 December . She splashed two attacking Japanese bombers, then aided survivors from "Brownson" (DD-518), rescuing 168 of her crew despite explodingdepth charge s from the sinking ship which caused temporary loss of power on "Daly".1944
"Daly" covered the withdrawal of the LSTs to
Cape Sudest , then escorted aconvoy toSaidor for the invasion landings of 2 to4 January 1944 . She remained in the New Guinea area covering resupply operations for the troops on Saidor and Cape Gloucester until4 February when she sailed forSydney ,Australia .Returning to Milne Bay,
22 February 1944, "Daly" sailed with Task Group 74.2 (TG 74.2) for theinvasion of the Admiralty Islands , participating in the bombardments ofLos Negros Island on29 February andSeeadler Harbor ,Manus Island on7 March , and patrolling in support of the landing forces. She returned to Milne Bay12 March . She operated from this port on various training exercises and bombardedWewak Harbor on17 March , then sortied18 April for theHollandia operation. She provided fire support for the invading troops on 21 and22 April , then operated out of Seeadler Harbor to bombardSawar andWakde on 29 and30 April and to patrol betweenAitape andTanamerah .From
15 May to5 August 1944 "Daly" served in the Western New Guinea operations. She provided fire support and bombardment in theToem -Wakde-Sarmi area, offBiak ,Noemfoor , andMios Woendi Islands, and acted as radar guard and linking ship between the landing and covering forces offCape Sansapor . After a brief overhaul at Sydney, Australia, she sortied from Humboldt Bay11 September for the invasion ofMorotai , providing patrol and fire support before returning to Manus29 September . She got underway on11 October to render fire support to the troops invading Leyte and joined in the surface action with Japanese ships during theBattle of Surigao Strait phase of the decisiveBattle for Leyte Gulf on 25 and26 October . "Daly" returned to Manus3 November and six days later sailed for a West Coast overhaul.1945
"Daly" arrived off
Iwo Jima 16 February 1945 in the screen of air support carriers. She rescued 11 survivors of "Bismarck Sea" (CVE-95), sunk by a suicide plane on21 February . "Daly" cleared the area7 March for San Pedro Bay, Leyte, to join forces preparing for the invasion of Okinawa. On27 March she sortied to provide patrol and fire support during the assault and occupation ofOkinawa . During a suicide attack on28 April she took an enemy plane under fire and splashed it a scant 25 yards off the port beam. The plane's bomb exploded, killing three and injuring 16 of "Daly"'s crew. Repairs were quickly accomplished atKerama Retto and "Daly" resumed her hazardous patrol duty. On25 May she aided "Bates" (APD-47), akamikaze 's victim, rescuing one badly burned survivor from the sinking ship. On10 June she screened the carriers of the 3rd Fleet in their strikes on theJapan ese mainland.After replenishing at
Leyte Gulf , "Daly" returned to Okinawa16 July 1945. She joined with Task Force 95 (TF 95) to sweep theEast China Sea for enemy shipping. Two more searches off the mouth of theYangtze River and approaches toShanghai were made before the end of the war. "Daly" arrived at Nagasaki14 September for occupation duty, serving in Japanese waters until17 November when she departed Sasebo for the United States, arriving at San Diego6 December . She arrived at Charleston, S.C.,23 December , and was placed out of commission in reserve18 April 1946 .1951 – 1960
Recommissioned
6 July 1951 "Daly" joined the Atlantic Fleet, and operated out of her home port, Newport, R.I., for antisubmarine and convoy escort exercises and on patrol. Between18 March 1953 and15 January 1954 she made a round-the-world cruise, sailing west to join TF 77 offKorea where she patrolled offCheju -do, the site ofUN prisoner-of-war camps, then continuing homeward through theIndian Ocean and theMediterranean , calling at various ports en route."Daly"'s next extended cruise took her to
Northern Europe and the Mediterranean between28 July and28 November 1955 , after which she operated with Hunter-Killer Group 3 in theCaribbean until10 April 1956 . On4 January 1957 she sailed from Newport for a cruise with the Middle East Force, implementing American foreign policy with visits toFreetown ,Sierra Leone ;Simonstown andCape Town ,Union of South Africa ;Mombasa ,Kenya ;Karachi ,Pakistan ;Aden ,Massawa ,Eritrea ; and theCanary Islands before returning toNarragansett Bay 7 June 1957 .Between
3 September and27 November 1957, "Daly" cruised to Northern Europe and the Mediterranean, onNATO exercises and service with the 6th Fleet. Between 17 March and11 October 1959 , she returned to the Mediterranean, theRed Sea andPersian Gulf .Fate
On
2 May 1960 , at Norfolk, she was decommissioned and placed in reserve. The ship was stricken from theNaval Vessel Register 1 December 1974 . She was sold22 April 1976 , and broken up for scrap.Honors
"Daly" received eight
battle star s forWorld War II service and one forKorean War service.References
*DANFS|http://history.navy.mil/danfs/d1/daly.htm
External links
* [http://history.navy.mil/danfs/d1/daly.htm history.navy.mil: USS "Daly"]
* [http://www.navsource.org/archives/05/519.htm navsource.org: USS "Daly"]
* [http://www.hazegray.org/danfs/destroy/dd519txt.htm hazegray.org: USS "Daly"]
* [http://www.dalydd519.org/ USS "Daly" website]
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