USS Whipple (DD-217)

USS "Whipple" (DD- 217/AG-117), a "Clemson"-class destroyer was the second ship of the United States Navy named in honor of Captain Abraham Whipple (1733–1819), who served in the Continental Navy.

"Whipple" was laid down on 12 June and launched 6 November 1919 from William Cramp and Sons; sponsored by Mrs. Gladys V. Mulvey, great-great-great granddaughter of Abraham Whipple; and commissioned on 23 April 1920, Lt. Richard F. Bernard in command.

1920 to World War II

Following shakedown training out of Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, "Whipple" returned to Philadelphia for post-shakedown availability. The destroyer sailed for the Near East on 29 May 1920 and arrived at Constantinople, Turkey, on 13 June. For the next eight months, she operated in the region of the Black Sea and eastern Mediterranean, under the overall command of Admiral Mark L. Bristol, Commander, U.S. Naval Detachment in Near Eastern Waters. At this time, the entire Near East was in turmoil due to changes caused by, and in the wake of, World War I.

"Whipple" delivered mail to "Chandler" (DD-206) at Samsun, Turkey, on 16 June and landed British American Tobacco company representatives whom the destroyer had transported from Constantinople. She next visited Sevastopol, in the Russian Crimea, and Constanţa, Romania. Unexpectedly ordered to Batum, Georgia, "Whipple" departed Samsun on 6 July and made 30 knots to reach her destination the next day. There, she attended the peaceful birth of the Georgian Republic, as British and French troops turned over the city to White Russian forces.

"Whipple" then shifted south for a brief cruise along the Levantine coast during which she visited Beirut and Damascus, Syria; and Port Said, Egypt, before she returned to Constantinople on 18 August. While she was making this cruise, the sweeping Navy-wide designation of hull numbers took place; and "Whipple" was classified as DD-217 on 17 July 1920. The destroyer next resumed her previous routine on the Black Sea route, carrying mail between ports (including dispatches for consulates and the like), and observing conditions prevailing at the ports visited in Romania, Russia, and Asiatic Turkey.

While underway on 19 October, "Whipple" sighted distress signals from Greek steamer "Thetis" and proceeded to the stricken vessel's assistance, as she lay aground off Constanţa. After 10 hours, the destroyer succeeded in freeing "Thetis" from her predicament and earned a commendation from her division commander. The citation lauded Lt. Comdr. Bernard's display of initiative and his excellent handling of the ship in shoal waters with a heavy sea running. "The whole affair," the citation concluded, "... reflected great credit on the "Whipple" and the United States Naval Service."

In the meantime, while "Whipple" conducted her patrols, the situation in the Russian Civil War was changing. "Whipple" convoyed the disabled American steamer SS "Haddon" into Constantinople and later fueled at Constanţa where she learned that Russian Bolshevik troops were approaching the Crimea. Baron General Pyotr Wrangel, commanding the White Russian forces in the area, pulled his force back to Sevastopol in a rear-guard action, from where the Whites evacuated to sea in a wide variety of craft to escape the oncoming Bolshevik forces.

"Whipple" arrived at Sevastopol on the morning of 14 November and reported to Vice Admiral Newton A. McCully for orders. Hundreds of boats were present in the harbor, often crammed to the gunwales with evacuating White Russians. In addition to "Whipple", cruiser "St. Louis" and two destroyers - "Overton" (DD-239) and "Humphreys" (DD-236) - stood by to evacuate selected individuals bearing passes from Admiral McCully.

During the entire time "Whipple" remained at Sevastopol, her main battery was trained out and manned. Armed boat crews carried evacuees out to the ship while her landing force stood in readiness. As her last boatload pushed off from shore, Bolshevik troops reached the main square and began firing on the fleeing White Russians; "Whipple" had completed the mission just in time.

"Whipple" then towed a barge loaded with wounded White Russian troops out of range of the Bolshevik guns and then turned the tow over to "Humphreys". As "Whipple" passed "Overton", Vice Admiral McCully, on the latter's bridge, called out by megaphone "well done, "Whipple"." The last American vessel out of Sevastopol, the destroyer headed for Constantinople with her passengers, both topside and below decks. Each carried very few belongings, had no food, and possessed very little money. Many were sick or wounded.

After disembarking the refugees at Constantinople, "Whipple" resumed her station ship and mail carrying duties with the Near Eastern Naval Detachment and continued the task through the end of 1920 and into the spring of 1921. On 2 May 1921, the destroyer, along with her division mates, sailed for the Far East, transiting the Suez Canal and called at Bombay, India; Colombo, Ceylon; Batavia, Java; Singapore, Straits Settlements; and Saigon, French Indochina. She arrived at her new home port, Cavite, Philippine Islands, near Manila, on 29 June. For the next four years, the destroyer served in the Asiatic Fleet, "showing the flag" and standing ready to protect American lives and property in strife-torn China. She operated out of Cavite in the winter months, conducting tactical exercises in the Philippines until heading north to North China ports in the spring for summer operations out of Tsingtao.

Warfare between local warlords around Shanghai in late 1924 and early 1925 resulted in "Whipple's" being called upon to serve as a transport. On 15 January 1925, the Marine detachment from "Sacramento" (PG-19) went ashore to protect American property, while about the same time, an expeditionary force of marines, led by Capt. James P. Schwerin, USMC, embarked in "Whipple" and her sisters "Borie" (DD-215) and "Barker" (DD-213). The three destroyers landed the marines on 22 January, relieving the 28-man detachment from the gunboat at that time.

On 18 May 1925, "Whipple" and her division sailed for the United States, via Guam, Midway, and Pearl Harbor, and arrived at San Diego on 17 June. Five days later, the ship got underway for the east coast of the United States; and she arrived at Norfolk on 17 July. She next operated off the east coast from Maine to Florida and cruised to Guantanamo Bay for maneuvers with the Fleet. During this time, "Whipple" put ashore a landing force in Nicaragua to protect American lives and property threatened by the banditry and unrest. On four separate instances, in late 1926 and early 1927, a landing party from the destroyer served on shore, earning the ship the Second Nicaraguan Campaign Medal.

"Whipple" departed Norfolk on 26 May 1927 to begin a cruise with her division to northern European ports. She then steamed south for a brief tour in the Mediterranean before departing Gibraltar on 29 January 1928 and heading for Cuba. She conducted operations in the Caribbean out of Guantanamo Bay, until 26 March when she set course for the west coast. She operated in the Pacific out of the Destroyer Base at San Diego, California, until 1 August 1929. "Whipple" departed the west coast, bound for the Asiatic Station and her second tour with the Asiatic Fleet.

"Whipple" spent the next decade with the Asiatic Fleet, watching the rising ascendancy of Japan over China and the Far East. She resumed the routine common to ships of her type with the Fleet: winter exercises in the Philippine Islands and summer maneuvers out of Tsingtao, China, with cruises to Chinese coastal ports in the interim.

While on exercises in Subic Bay during the spring of 1936, "Whipple" and "Smith Thompson" (DD-212) collided on 14 April. The latter suffered such serious damage in the accident that she had to be scrapped. As a consequence, "Whipple", whose own bow had been bent around until it faced sternward, received "Smith Thompson's" undamaged bow and soon reentered active service.

Meanwhile, tension between China and Japan continued to worsen, particularly in North China. These long-simmering antagonisms erupted in open fighting near Peking on 7 July 1937, which soon became an all-out war in the vicinity. Two weeks later, a small squadron of Asiatic Fleet units, including "Whipple", sailed from Chefoo on 24 July. The destroyer - in company with sisters "Alden" (DD-211), "Barker" (DD-213), and "Paul Jones" (DD-230) - rendezvoused with Fleet flagship "Augusta" (CA-31), on the 25th, en route to the coast of Siberia. The five ships arrived at Vladivostok, USSR, on the 28th.

The visit, the first by American men-of-war since the establishment of diplomatic relations with the Soviet Union in 1933, lasted until 1 August when the five ships headed back to China. Within the next fortnight, while the Fleet continued its routine, hostilities broke out between Chinese and Japanese forces at Shanghai, and the Second Sino-Japanese War entered a new phase.

The Fleet continued its mission of observing the conflict, standing ready to evacuate Americans from Chinese ports should the occasion arise. By mid-1938, when the war had moved inland and up the Yangtze, the Fleet resumed its former routine. "Whipple" and her division mates, in company with squadron tender "Black Hawk" (AD-9), visited Bangkok, Siam, in June 1938.

The Japanese captured most of the major coastal cities and ports and those along the lower Yangtze, and opportunities for trouble multiplied for the western nations still trying to maintain their interests in China. In the spring of 1939, one such occasion came at Amoy, China, where a Chinese gunman shot a Japanese citizen. The Japanese responded by landing Special Naval Landing Force personnel near the International Settlement of Koolangsu. The British and Americans did likewise, landing bluejackets from "Marblehead" (CL-12) and the British light cruiser "Birmingham". By September 1939, "Whipple" was serving as station ship at Amoy, her landing force ashore and Capt. John T. G. Stapler, Commander, South China Patrol, embarked on board.

At 2355 on 3 September 1939, "Whipple's" deck log noted that France had declared war on Germany, two days after German troops invaded Poland. World War II had begun in Europe, substantially altering the balance of power in the Orient as Britain pulled out much of her China Station fleet to bolster the Home and Mediterranean Fleets. "Whipple" operated on neutrality patrol off the Philippines into 1941, as Admiral Thomas C. Hart prepared the small Asiatic Fleet for war.

World War II

See USS "Whipple" (DD-217) World War II Service, 1941-1945 for information on "Whipple's" World War II service.

Post-World War II

Arriving at New London, Connecticut, on 6 June 1945, "Whipple" was redesignated an auxiliary, AG-117. After acting as a target ship for submarines off New London, the erstwhile destroyer entered the New York Navy Yard on 9 July for conversion to a high-speed target vessel.

On 5 August, "Whipple" departed New York for duty in the Pacific. Transiting the Panama Canal, the target ship proceeded via San Diego to Hawaii and arrived at Pearl Harbor on 30 August. She subsequently served as a target vessel for submarines of the Pacific training command until 21 September.

The need for her services no longer required, "Whipple" departed Pearl Harbor and proceeded to the east coast, arriving at Philadelphia on 18 October. Decommissioned on 9 November 1945, her name was struck from the Navy list on 5 December. Stripped for scrap, the hulk was sold on 30 September 1947 to the Northern Metals Company of Philadelphia.

"Whipple" received two battle stars for her World War II service.

See also

See USS "Whipple" for other ships of this name.

References

*DANFS|http://www.history.navy.mil/danfs/w7/whipple-ii.htm

External links

* [http://www.navsource.org/archives/05/217.htm Photo of USS "Whipple"]