USS Allen (DD-66)

USS "Allen" (DD-66) was a "Sampson"-class destroyer of the United States Navy. She was the second Navy ship named for Lieutenant William Henry Allen (1784–1813), a naval officer during the War of 1812.

hip history

"Allen" was laid down on 10 May 1915 at Bath Maine, by the Bath Iron Works; launched on 5 December 1916; sponsored by Miss Dorthea Dix Allen and Miss Harriet Allen Butler; and commissioned on 24 January 1917, Lt. Comdr. Samuel W. Bryant in command. Final delivery from Bath Iron Works recorded as 22 October 1917, per the official records of the Bath Iron Works Company. (record Number 68)

World War I service

Over the next five months, "Allen" conducted patrol and escort duty along the eastern seaboard and in the West Indies. During that time, the United States entered World War I on the side of the Allies on 6 April. On 14 June, the destroyer put to sea from New York in the escort of one of the first convoys to take American troops to Europe. After seeing the convoy safely across the Atlantic, "Allen" joined other American destroyers at Queenstown, Ireland, and began duty patrolling against U-boats and escorting convoys on the last leg of their voyage to Europe.

That duty included escort missions into both French and British ports. During her service at Queenstown, she reported engagements with German submarines on 10 separate occasions, but postwar checks of German records failed to substantiate even the most plausible of the supposed encounters. One of the last duties the destroyer performed in European waters came in December 1918 when she helped to escort "George Washington"—with President Woodrow Wilson embarked—into Brest, France, on the 13th. Following that mission, the destroyer returned to Queenstown, whence she departed on the day after Christmas, bound for home. "Allen" pulled into New York on 7 January 1919.

Training ship duties

After voyage repairs, the destroyer resumed duty along the east coast and in the West Indies with the U.S. Atlantic Fleet. That duty continued until 22 June 1922 at which time she was placed out of commission, in reserve. She was placed back in commission three years later, on 23 June 1925. "Allen" spent almost three years as a training platform for naval reservists at Washington, D.C. In March of 1928, the destroyer returned to the Reserve Fleet and was berthed at Philadelphia. There, she remained for more than 12 years. On 23 August 1940, "Allen" was recommissioned at Philadelphia, Lt. Comdr. Frederick P. Williams in command.

World War II service

Following a brief period of service on the east coast, she was reassigned to the Pacific Fleet as a unit of Destroyer Division (DesDiv) 80. By the time "Allen" returned to commission, the Pacific Fleet had been moved from its base on the west coast to Pearl Harbor in Hawaii as a gesture to "restrain" the Japanese. Therefore, "Allen" moved to the Hawaiian base whence she operated until the beginning of hostilities between the United States and Japan. On the morning of 7 December 1941, she was moored in East Loch to the northeast of Ford Island and just south of east of the hospital ship USS "Solace" (AH-5). During the Japanese attack on the harbor, she claimed to have assisted in downing three enemy planes.(In her actual after action report online at the naval historical center, Her Commanding Officer states "that no damage to attacking forces was seen to have been infilicted by this ship. " Following the attack, she began duty escorting ships between islands of the Hawaiian chain and patrolling the area for enemy ships—primarily submarines. A primary training function of the USS Allen during this period was to work-up new submarine crews in penetrating ASW defensive positions, with the USS Allen acting as the defender. This task is recorded in several histories of US Submarine operations in the Pacific as their first actual action against a ship, even though it was one of ours. She also made periodic round-trip voyages to the west coast. Such duty remained her occupation throughout World War II. In September 1945, the destroyer sailed from Hawaii to Philadelphia, where she was placed out of commission on 15 October 1945. Her name was struck from the Navy list on 1 November 1945, and she was sold to the Boston Metals Company, Baltimore, Maryland, on 26 September 1946 for scrapping. Being in service prior to the US entry into WW-1, and service through WW-2, the Allen was the longest serving Destroyer on the Naval Register when she was sold.

"Allen" (DD-66) earned one battle star for World War II service.

References

*DANFS|http://www.history.navy.mil/danfs/a6/allen-ii.htmUS FLUSH DECK DESTROYERS in Action BY Al Adcock & Don Greer : Squadron Publications

External links

* [http://www.destroyers.org/DANFS/h-DD-66.htm Tin Can Sailors.com USS Allen DD-66]