- USS Hovey (DD-208)
USS "Hovey" (DD-208/DMS-11) was a "Clemson"-class
destroyer in theUnited States Navy duringWorld War II . She was the only ship named for EnsignCharles Hovey (1885–1911)."Hovey" was launched
26 April 1919 byWilliam Cramp & Sons ,Philadelphia, Pennsylvania ; sponsored by Mrs. Louise F. Kautz, sister of Ensign Hovey; and commissioned2 October 1919 , Commander Stephen B. McKinney in command.1919 – 1940
After shakedown off the coast of
Florida and in theCaribbean "Hovey" sailed fromNewport, Rhode Island 19 December 1919 in company with "Chandler" (DD-206) for theAzores andBrest, France , for duty as station ship. She sailed fromDalmatia ,Italy 10 July 1920 ] for theAdriatic Sea to deliver important papers and claims. ArrivingConstantinople 12 July she later visited variousRussia n ports as station ship until17 December when she sailed forPort Said ,Egypt , and duty with theAsiatic Fleet in thePhilippines . "Hovey" remained on the Asiatic station until she returned toSan Francisco, California 2 October 1922 , decommissioning at San Diego,1 February 1923 ."Hovey" recommissioned
20 February 1930 atSan Diego, California , Commander Stuart O. Greig in command. After shakedown out of San Diego and Mare Island she served principally as training ship for reservists until9 April 1934 when she transited thePanama Canal , arriving New York31 May . After training and fleet exercises out ofNew England and off theFlorida coast, "Hovey" returned to San Diego9 November . After overhaul atMare Island , she resumed her operations along the West Coast with additional exercises and fleet problems in the Canal Zone andHawaii an waters.World War II
"Hovey" converted to a high speed minesweeper and was reclassifled DMS-11
19 November 1940 . After intensive training she sailed4 February 1941 for duty at Pearl Harbor. When the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor7 December 1941 "Hovey" was steaming in company with "Chandler" as antisubmarine screen for "Minneapolis" (CA-36), engaged in gunnery practice some 20 miles (40 km) off Pearl Harbor. The minesweeper immediately took up patrol and convoy duty around Pearl Harbor until20 May when she escorted a 20-shipconvoy to San Francisco, arriving31 May . "Hovey" returned to Pearl Harbor in mid-June and sailed10 July for the southwest Pacific escorting "Argonne" (AP-4) in company with "Hovey". She reached the Fiji Islands23 July and joined Minesweeping Group of Rear AdmiralRichmond K. Turner 's South Pacific Amphibious Force the 31st.Solomon Islands campaign
On
7 August during the invasion of Guadalcanal, the first amphibious assault in the long island-hopping campaign, "Hovey" was assigned a screening station for the transports. Then, shortly before 08:00, she took a bombardment station to cover the landings east ofGavutu .Japan ese shore batteries opened up but were quickly silenced by accurate fire from "Hovey" and the other ships providing fire support. She next joined other DMS's for sweeps between Gavutu andBungana Islands. The next morning she steamed intoLengo Channel to help ward off an attack by a squadron oftorpedo bomber s. Intensive US anti-aircraft fire caused the Japanese planes to drop their torpedoes prematurely and hence at too great a range, thereby rendering the attack almost totally ineffective."Hovey" continued her operations around Guadalcanal before retiring to
New Caledonia 13 September for replenishment. From there she proceeded to Samoa before returning to Ndeni, Santa Cruz, with a reconnaissance party of marines on board. Returning to New Caledonia, "Hovey" departed10 October with twoPT boat s in tow and 127 drums of aviation gasoline on board, which she delivered to Tulagi two days later. "Hovey" continued escort duty between Guadalcanal andEspiritu Santo , until she returned to San Francisco19 April 1943 for overhaul. She joined a convoy out of Mare Island31 May for New Caledonia, arriving10 August . She then resumed her escort and patrol duties until30 October when she joined Rear Admiral Theodore S. Wilkinson, Jr.'s III Amphibious Force for theCape Torokina landing,1 November 1943 . For the next week during the seizure ofEmpress Augusta Bay , "Hovey" operated with the invasion forces, screening transports and making prelanding sweeps."Hovey" continued screening and escort duties in the Solomons until
5 April 1944 when she escorted "Lindenwald" (LSD-6) fromTulagi toMajuro ,Marshall Islands . She returned to Espiritu Santo11 April and on the 20th joined Task Unit 34.9.3 (Captain Kane in "Petrof Bay" (CVE–80)) delivering replacement planes to other carriers at Manus. The task unitrendezvous ed29 April withFast Carrier Task Force (TF 58) to furnish replacement planes for the first strikes on Truk. Proceeding toFlorida Island , "Hovey" departed for the West Coast, arriving31 May via Pearl Harbor.Central Pacific campaigns
Repairs complete, "Hovey" sailed for Pearl Harbor
29 July to becomeflagship for Mine Squadron Two (Commander W. R. Loud). She sortied fromPort Purvis 6 September as part of the antisubmarine screen for Rear AdmiralJesse B. Oldendorf 's Western Gunfire Support Group for operations in the southern Palaus. After sweeps betweenAngaur andPeleliu Islands and in Kossol Passage "Hovey" took up antisubmarine patrol in the transport area off Peleliu Island. She joined the Minesweeping and Hydrographic Group of Rear Adm.Thomas Sprague 's Escort Carrier Group for the invasion of Leyte (17 October –25 October 1944 ). On the 17th she began sweeping ahead of the high speed transports and fire support vessels in the approach to the landing beaches on Dinagat Island. After more sweeps throughLooc Bay and theTacloban –Dulag approach "Hovey" retired to Manus25 October .Invasion of Luzon
As flagship for Commander Loud's Minesweeping and Hydrographic Group, "Hovey" departed Manus
23 December , arriving Leyte Gulf the 30th. She sortied2 January 1945 , proceeded south throughSuriago Strait and passed into theMindanao Sea en route to the landings on Lingayen,Luzon . Many reconnaissance aircraft harassed the convoy during the night but no attacks developed until morning of the3 January .From then on the convoy was under such heavy air attack that "Hovey" had to adopt the policy of not firing unless she was directly under attack, fearing that she would expend all her ammunition. In the entrance to
Lingayen Gulf , at 8:00 the sweepers came under attack and "Hovey" immediately shot down onekamikaze suicide plane. As the ships made a return sweep, two suicide planes made straight runs on the last two ships in the column, crashing into "Brooks" (DD-232) and "Long" (DD-209). "Hovey" slipped her gear and stood in to assist "Long". "Long"'s entire bridge and well deck was on fire, with intermittent explosions coming from the forward magazine and ready ammunition. Due to the explosions and air attacks, "Hovey" could not get alongside, but spent an hour picking up 149 survivors. At dark the sweepers made their night retirement and began steaming off the entrance to Lingayen Gulf.No more attacks occurred until 4:25,
7 January , when enemy aircraft were picked up on radar. At 4:50, one plane flying low to the water came in from the starboard quarter passing ahead of "Hovey". A few moments later another plane coming from the port beam was put on fire by "Chandler" (DD-206). This plane passed very low over "Hovey" and crashed on the starboard beam. At 4:55, the instant the burning plane crashed, "Hovey" was struck by a torpedo on her starboard side in the after engineroom. Lights and power were lost instantly. The stern remained nearly level and sinking to the top of the after deck house, the bow listed 40 degrees to starboard and rose out of the water, the ship breaking in half. Two minutes later the bow listed to 90 degrees, rose vertically and rapidly sank in 54fathom s (99 m) of water. Twenty four men were killed in addition to twenty four more men who were survivors from "Long" and "Brooks"."Hovey" received eight
battle star s forWorld War II service.As of 2005 , no other ship of the US Navy has been named "Hovey".References
*DANFS|http://history.navy.mil/danfs/h8/hovey.htm
External links
* [http://history.navy.mil/danfs/h8/hovey.htm history.navy.mil: USS "Hovey"]
* [http://www.navsource.org/archives/05/208.htm navsource.org: USS "Hovey"]
* [http://www.hazegray.org/danfs/destroy/dd208txt.htm hazegray.org: USS "Hovey"]
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