- USS Colhoun (DD-801)
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For other ships of the same name, see USS Colhoun.
Career (US) 
Namesake: Edmund Colhoun Builder: Todd Pacific Shipyards, Seattle, Washington Laid down: 3 August 1943 Launched: 10 April 1944 Commissioned: 8 July 1944 Honours and
awards:1 Battle Star Fate: Sunk by Kamikaze[1], 6 April 1945 General characteristics Class and type: Fletcher class destroyer Displacement: 2,050 tons Length: 376 ft 6 in (114.7 m) Beam: 39 ft 8 in (12.1 m) Draft: 17 ft 9 in (5.4 m) Propulsion: 60,000 shp (45 MW)
- 2 propellers
Speed: 38 kn (70 km/h) Range: 6500 nm @ 15 kn (12,000 km @ 28 km/h) Complement: 273 Armament: 5 × 5 in/38 cal guns (127 mm),
10 × 40 mm AA guns,
7 × 20 mm AA guns,
10 × 21 in torpedo tubes,
6 × depth charge projectors,
2 × depth charge tracksUSS Colhoun (DD-801), a Fletcher-class destroyer, was the second ship of the United States Navy to be named for Rear Admiral Edmund Colhoun (1821–1897).
Colhoun was launched 10 April 1944 by Todd-Pacific Shipbuilding Corp., Seattle, Wash.; sponsored by Captain K. K. Johnson, WAC; and commissioned 8 July 1944, Commander G. R. Wilson in command.
Contents
Service history
Colhoun arrived at Pearl Harbor 10 October 1944 for training and patrol duty. Arriving off Iwo Jima 19 February 1945, she screened transports, served as radar picket and gave fire support for the invasion of Iwo Jima. On 1 March, she was hit by a salvo from heavy enemy batteries ashore, which killed one man and injured 16. After repairs at Saipan, Colhoun sailed for Okinawa, arriving 31 March for radar picket duty.
At 1530 on 6 April 1945, during the first heavy kamikaze raid of the battle of Okinawa, Colhoun received a request for help from Bush and sped to her aid. Interposing her guns between Bush and the attacking suicide planes, Colhoun downed three planes before a kamikaze crashed into the 40 mm mount scattering flaming wreckage across the ship and dropping a bomb into the after fireroom where it exploded. Retaining power and using emergency steering, Colhoun awaited the next attacking trio, shooting down the first two while the third struck her on the starboard side.
The bomb from the kamikaze exploded, breaking Colhoun's keel, piercing both boilers, ripping a 20' by 4' hole below the waterline, and starting oil and electrical fires. Operating the remaining guns manually, the crew gamely faced yet another wave of three attackers shooting down one and damaging another, while the third kamikaze struck her aft section. This airplane's bomb bounced overboard and exploded, adding another 3' hole to allow more flooding. Colhoun valiantly struggled to stay afloat, but a final kamikaze crashed into the bridge in a mass of flames. At 1800, edit] Awards
Colhoun received one battle star for World War II service.
References
- ^ Brown p. 144
- Brown, David. Warship Losses of World War Two. Arms and Armour, London, Great Britain, 1990. ISBN 0-85368-802-8.
- This article includes text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be found here.
External links
Coordinates: 27°16′N 127°48′E / 27.267°N 127.8°E
Categories:- World War II destroyers of the United States
- Ships built in Washington (state)
- World War II shipwrecks in the Pacific Ocean
- 1944 ships
- Fletcher class destroyers of the United States Navy
- Ships sunk by kamikaze attack
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