View source for USS Stringham (DD-83)

{{Short description|Wickes-class destroyer}}
{{other ships|USS Stringham}}
{{Use American English|date=November 2024}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2024}}
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{{Infobox ship image
|Ship image=USSStringhamDD83.jpg
|Ship caption= USS ''Stringham'' at anchor
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{{Infobox ship career
|Hide header=
|Ship country=United States
|Ship flag={{USN flag|1945}}
|Ship name=''Stringham''
|Ship namesake=[[Silas Stringham|Silas Horton Stringham]]
|Ship ordered=
|Ship builder=[[Fore River Shipyard]], [[Quincy, Massachusetts|Quincy]], [[Massachusetts]]
|Ship laid down=19 September 1917
|Ship launched=30 March 1918
|Ship acquired=
|Ship commissioned= 2 July 1918
|Ship decommissioned= 2 June 1922
|Ship identification=DD-83
}}
{{Infobox ship career
|Hide header=yes
|Ship recommissioned= 11 December 1940
|Ship reclassified=* 2 August 1940 as APD-6
* 25 June 1945 as DD-83
|Ship decommissioned=9 November 1945
|Ship in service=
|Ship out of service=
|Ship struck=5 December 1945
|Ship reinstated=
|Ship honours=
|Ship fate=Scrapped, March 1946
|Ship notes=
}}
{{Infobox ship characteristics
|Hide header=
|Header caption=
|Ship class={{sclass|Wickes|destroyer}}
|Ship displacement={{convert|1284|<!--assume long-->long ton}}
|Ship length={{convert|314|ft|4+1/2|in|m|abbr=on|1}}
|Ship beam={{convert|30|ft|11+1/4|in|m|abbr=on|1}}
|Ship draft={{convert|9|ft|2|in|m|abbr=on|1}}
|Ship propulsion=
|Ship speed={{convert|35|kn|km/h|lk=in|0}}
|Ship range=
|Ship complement=103 officers and enlisted
|Ship sensors=
|Ship EW=
|Ship armament=* 4 × [[4"/50 caliber gun|{{convert|4|in|mm|abbr=on|0}}]]
*  2 × [[QF 1-pounder pom-pom|1-pounder]]
*  12 × [[American 21 inch torpedo|{{convert|21|in|mm|abbr=on|0}}]] [[torpedo tube]]s
|Ship notes=
}}
|}

'''USS ''Stringham'' (DD–83)''' was a {{sclass|Wickes|destroyer}} in the [[United States Navy]] during [[World War I]].<ref>{{cite book|title=Lost Voyages: Two Centuries of Shipwrecks in the Approaches to New York|author= Bradley Sheard|year= 1998|publisher=Aqua Quest Publications, Inc.|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=hixsMukWNEAC&q=%22USS+Stringham%22&pg=RA52-PA1|isbn=1-881652-17-3}}</ref> Later she served in [[World War II]] as '''APD-6'''. She was the second ship named for [[Silas Stringham|Silas Horton Stringham]].

''Stringham'' was [[Keel laying|laid down]] on 19 September 1917 at [[Quincy, Massachusetts|Quincy]], [[Massachusetts]], by the [[Fore River Shipbuilding Company]]. The ship was [[Ceremonial ship launching|launched]] on 30 March 1918, [[Ship sponsor|sponsored]] by Mrs. Edward B. Hill. The destroyer was [[Ship commissioning|commissioned]] on 2 July 1918, Cmdr. Neil E. Nichols in command.

==Service history==

===World War I===
Following commissioning, ''Stringham'' was assigned to [[convoy]] escort and [[Anti-submarine warfare|antisubmarine]] duty through the end of World War I. Upon her return to the [[United States]] in 1919, she was assigned to Destroyer Division (DesDiv) 6 of the [[United States Atlantic Fleet|Atlantic Fleet]] Destroyer Force. Except for a six-month period from December 1919 to June 1920 when she was in reduced commission, ''Stringham'' remained fully active with the Atlantic Fleet until the middle of 1922. During that time, alpha-numeric hull numbers were adopted by the Navy; and ''Stringham'' was redesignated DD-83 effective 17 July 1920. On 2 June 1922, she was [[Ship commissioning#Ship decommissioning|decommissioned]] at the [[Philadelphia Navy Yard]].

===World War II===
She remained inactive until 1940, when she was apparently moved to the [[Norfolk Navy Yard]] for conversion to a [[high-speed transport]] (APD). On 2 August 1940, ''Stringham'' was redesignated APD-6.

====1940-1942====
On 11 December 1940, she was recommissioned at [[Norfolk, Virginia|Norfolk]], whence she operated until mid-1942. Her duties consisted primarily of escorting coastal convoys from point to point along the eastern seaboard and to various bases in the [[Caribbean Sea]]. On 18 April 1942, ''Stringham'' attacked an enemy [[submarine]], but could not confirm a kill, even though heavy black oil surfaced soon after her attack. On the following day, she put into Norfolk and participated in [[Military exercise|amphibious exercises]] in the [[Chesapeake Bay]] through the first week in July.

On 6 July, she got underway from Norfolk in company with a convoy bound for the [[Panama Canal]]. She transited the canal on 13 July, reported to the Commander, Southeastern Pacific, and continued west. After stops in the [[Society Islands|Society]] and [[Fiji|Fiji Islands]], she reached [[Espiritu Santo]], in the [[New Hebrides]], on 14 August. Two days later, she put to sea on the first of many resupply voyages to help bolster the [[United States Marine Corps|marines]] defending the beachhead on [[Guadalcanal]].

The [[Battle of Guadalcanal|Guadalcanal campaign]] was unique among the amphibious operations conducted in the [[Pacific Ocean|Pacific]] during World War II. Neither the United States nor [[Empire of Japan|Japan]] enjoyed the overwhelming naval superiority which in almost every other case ensured victory for the greater force. Relative equality made the naval forces of each side a constant threat to the supply lines of the other. Consequently, both sides relied upon the high-speed transport, converted destroyers like ''Stringham'', which were well armed for transports and fast enough to evade more powerfully armed warships. While the contribution of the larger elements of the American fleet cannot be overlooked, the struggle for Guadalcanal was to a great extent the battle of the high-speed transport. ''Stringham'' and similar high speed transports succeeded where their Japanese counterparts failed. They kept the marines supplied.

On 23 August, during ''Stringham''{{'}}s second run to Guadalcanal, a [[torpedo]] passed her close astern; and she immediately charged to the attack. She dropped 11 [[depth charge]]s; forced the submarine to broach; and then lost contact. Although her crew thought at the time they had sunk the submarine, subsequent checking failed to verify their victory. Not long after her scrape with the submarine, ''Stringham'' was ordered out to join the group of ships attempting to tow the destroyer {{USS|Blue|DD-387|2}}, torpedoed the previous evening, into [[Tulagi]]. The imminence of the [[Battle of the Eastern Solomons]], however, forced that weak formation to abandon ''Blue'' and seek shelter. Accordingly, ''Blue'' sank at 2223 on 23 August. ''Stringham'' resumed her supply runs in the Solomons until 5 October, when she got underway from [[New Caledonia]] to return to the California coast.

====1943====
After six weeks in the [[Mare Island Navy Yard]], she got underway for the [[South Pacific Area|South Pacific]]. Her return to action, however, was short-lived for—while operating in [[Pepasala Bay]] in the [[Russell Islands]] on 26 February 1943—a heavy squall forced her [[Ship grounding|aground]] on a reef. In maneuvering clear of the reef, she was forced to back down to avoid a collision with the destroyer {{USS|Humphreys|DD-236|2}} and damaged her [[starboard]] propeller. After emergency repairs at [[Tulagi]], she was routed back to Mare Island, where she arrived on 16 April.

Over the next six months, ''Stringham'' advanced up the Solomons staircase with the American forces. In mid-August, she participated in the landings at [[Vella Lavella]] in the central Solomons. That operation cut the Japanese supply lines to [[Kolombangara]] and delivered vital air bases to the Americans. On 27 October, she and six other APDs, along with various smaller ships, put a force of [[New Zealand]]ers ashore at [[Mono Island|Mono]] and [[Stirling Island|Stirling]] islands in the [[Treasury Islands]] sub-group. November found her supporting the assault on [[Bougainville Island|Bougainville]] at [[Empress Augusta Bay]].

On the day after Christmas, ''Stringham'' joined the American forces which outflanked the [[Bismarck Barrier]] at [[Cape Gloucester (Papua New Guinea)|Cape Gloucester]], near the western terminus of [[New Britain]]. From that position, they could move in two directions—west to pounce upon the back of the [[New Guinea]] hen or north to the [[Admiralties]] to isolate [[Kavieng]] and [[Rabaul]]. ''Stringham'' participated in one operation in each direction.

====1944====
On 2 January 1944, she supported the forces which landed at [[Saidor]], New Guinea; and, in March, she assisted in the [[Landing on Emirau|invasion of Emirau]]. Between these two operations, ''Stringham'' helped land troops in the [[Green Islands, Papua New Guinea|Green Islands]], the northernmost subgroup of the Solomons, located between [[Buka Island|Buka]] and [[New Ireland (island)|New Ireland]].

During the spring of 1944, American military thinking focused increasingly upon the Central Pacific invasion route to Japan. Accordingly, ''Stringham'' returned to [[Hawaii]] with [[United States Marine Corps|marines]] embarked; and both she and her passengers commenced preparations for the invasion of the [[Marianas]]. The initial waves of assault troops stormed the beaches at [[Saipan]] on 15 June. ''Stringham'' discharged her marines the following day and patrolled off Saipan throughout the [[Battle of the Philippine Sea]] on 19 and 20 June. On 22 June, Underwater Demolition Team (UDT) 7 shifted to her from {{USS|Brooks|DD-232|2}} for the [[Tinian]] phase of the Marianas operation. Until the landings, the high-speed transport conducted sporadic bombardment and harassment fire on Tinian. On 10 July, she sent her UDT men ashore to reconnoiter the two potential landing sites; and, just before the actual assault began on 24 July, her frogmen participated in a daylight feint at [[Tinian Town]] to divert Japanese attention from the actual landing sites. On 28 July, she completed her work with UDT 7 in the Marianas and headed for [[Espiritu Santo]], via [[Eniwetok Atoll]].

''Stringham'', was at [[Purvis Bay]], [[Florida Island]], in the midst of exercises preparatory to the invasion of the [[Palau]]s when UDT 7 rejoined her on 5 September. By 12 September, she and her frogmen were off the coast of [[Angaur]] with Task Group 32.5. At 1035, she disembarked the UDT men at [[Peleliu]] to clear a path through heavy minefields. That afternoon, she towed {{USS|Afoa|DD-343|2}} to [[Kossol Passage]], and then returned to work with the UDT teams until 27 September, when she headed for [[Manus Island|Manus]]. There she was moored alongside {{USS|Clemson|DD-186|2}}. On the night of 3 October, a fire broke out on ''Clemson'' and swept across ''Stringham'' amidships and aft, igniting the UDT teams' rubber boats and bags of explosives. ''Stringham'' drifted from her moorings after the lines were cut, and her crew finally got the fire under control.

====1945====
''Stringham'' returned to the United States for [[wikt:overhaul|overhaul]], repairs, and alterations. She did not return to the western Pacific until 17 March 1945. She joined the southern defense group at Saipan and sortied with it for [[Okinawa Prefecture|Okinawa]] on 26 March. The high-speed transport arrived off Okinawa on 2 April, the day following the initial assault, and screened the transport area until 7 April, when she headed for [[Guam]]. During that time, ''Stringham'' took two ''[[kamikaze]]s'' under fire, one on 3 April and one on 6 April. The former succeeded in crashing {{USS|LST-599||2}} while the latter gave up his plunge in the face of ''Stringham''{{'}}s heavy antiaircraft fire, dove on a destroyer, but missed both American ships.

''Stringham'' screened another convoy from Guam to the [[Ryukyu]]s, reaching Okinawa on 22 April. She remained in the vicinity for five relatively uneventful days; then headed back to Guam. On this voyage, she rendered assistance to the [[hospital ship]], {{USS|Comfort|AH-6|2}}, which had been crashed by a Japanese ''kamikaze''. ''Comfort'' was able to resume course without assistance, but ''Stringham'' shepherded her until relieved by {{USS|Wickes|DD-578|2}}.

While at Guam, ''Stringham'' was rammed by {{USS|La Vallette|DD-448|2}}, a battle casualty. The APD's starboard side was damaged, as was her [[Bridge (nautical)|bridge]], her forward crew's compartment, and much of her electrical equipment. Because of this, ''Stringham'' was ordered back to San Diego for extensive repairs. On 19 June, she entered San Diego and began conversion back to a destroyer; and, on 25 June, she resumed her former designation, DD-83. In August, the end of the war brought a halt to ''Stringham''{{'}}s conversion. Later that month, it was determined that she would be decommissioned at [[Philadelphia, Pennsylvania|Philadelphia]]. In September, she sailed from San Diego, transited the [[Panama Canal]], and proceeded to Philadelphia, where she reported for duty to the Commandant, 4th Naval District, on 26 September. She was decommissioned on 9 November 1945, and her name was struck from the [[Naval Vessel Register|Navy list]] on 5 December 1945. ''Stringham'' was [[Ship breaking|scrapped]] at Philadelphia in March 1946.

==Awards==
*[[Navy Unit Commendation]]
*[[World War I Victory Medal (United States)|World War I Victory Medal]] with "ESCORT" clasp
*[[American Campaign Medal]]
*[[American Defense Service Medal]] with "FLEET" clasp
*[[Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal]] with nine [[battle star]]s
*[[World War II Victory Medal]]

==References==
{{reflist}}
* {{DANFS|http://www.history.navy.mil/research/histories/ship-histories/danfs/s/stringham-ii.html}}

==External links==
* [http://www.history.navy.mil/photos/sh-usn/usnsh-s/dd83.htm Photos]{{dead link|date=April 2025|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}
* [http://www.navsource.org/archives/05/083.htm NavSource Photos]

{{Wickes-class destroyer}}
{{Flush-decker high speed transport}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stringham (Dd-83)}}
[[Category:Wickes-class destroyers]]
[[Category:World War I destroyers of the United States]]
[[Category:World War II amphibious warfare vessels of the United States]]
[[Category:Ships built in Quincy, Massachusetts]]
[[Category:1918 ships]]