Allied Warships

USS Tillman (ii) (DD 641)

Destroyer of the Bristol class

Navy	The US Navy
Type	Destroyer
Class	Bristol
Pennant	DD 641
Built by	Charleston Navy Yard (Charleston, South Carolina, U.S.A.)
Ordered	16 Dec 1940
Laid down	1 May 1941
Launched	20 Dec 1941
Commissioned	4 Jun 1942
End service	16 Mar 1946
History	Decommissioned 16 March 1946. Stricken 1 June 1970. Sold 8 May 1972 and broken up for scrap.

Commands listed for USS Tillman (ii) (DD 641)

Please note that we're still working on this section
and that we only list Commanding Officers for the duration of the Second World War.

	Commander	From	To
1	Lt.Cdr. Francis Douglas McCorkle, USN	4 Jun 1942	14 Aug 1943
2	T/Cdr. Charles Slack Hutchings, USN	14 Aug 1943	19 Nov 1944 (1)
3	Lt.Cdr. Paul Albert Dimberg, USN	19 Nov 1944	16 Mar 1946 (1)

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Notable events involving Tillman (ii) include:

5 May 1943

Convoy TA 41B.

This convoy was only made up of one ship, the troopship Queen Mary (British, 81235 GRT, built 1936). She departed the Clyde on 5 May 1943 for New York and had on board about 5000 German POW's and also Prime Minister Churchill and his staff.

The AA cruiser HMS Scylla (Capt. I.A.P. Macintyre, CBE, DSO, RN) departed Scapa Flow on 4 May 1943 and provided close escort for the troopship.

On 5 May 1943, the light cruiser HMS Glasgow (Capt. E.M. Evans-Lombe, RN) departed Scapa Flow to provide cover. HMS Glasgow returned to Scapa Flow on 10 May apparently having turned back on 8 May.

Also on 5 May 1943, the aircraft carrier HMS Indomitable (Capt. G. Grantham, CB, DSO, RN) departed Greenock to provide air cover for the Queen Mary during the first part of her voyage. The carrier was escorted by the destroyers HMS Matchless (Lt.Cdr. J. Mowlam, DSO, RN), HMS Mahratta (Lt.Cdr. E.A.F. Drought, DSC, RN) and HMS Eclipse (Lt.Cdr. E. Mack, DSO, DSC, RN). They turned back very late on 6 May and HMS Indomitable and HMS Eclipse returned to the Clyde on the 8th. HMS Matchless and HMS Mahratta were detached on the 8th to proceed to Scapa Flow where they arrived later on the same day.

Also on 5 May 1943, the light cruiser HMS Uganda (Capt. W.G. Andrewes, RN) and AA cruiser HMS Charybdis (Capt. G.A.W. Voelcker, RN) departed Plymouth to make rendezvous with the Queen Mary. Rendezvous was effected on 7 May. Most likely HMS Scylla then parted company as she arrived at Plymouth on 8 May. HMS Charybdis parted company around 2100A/8 to return to Plymouth where she arrived on 10 May.

The Queen Mary then continued on escorted by HMS Uganda.

At 1345N/9, the heavy cruisers USS Tuscaloosa (Capt. J.B.W. Waller, USN), USS Augusta (Capt. G. Hutchins, USN) and the destroyers USS Fitch (T/Cdr. K.C. Walpole, USN), USS Corry (T/Cdr. L.B. Ensey, USN), USS Hobson (T/Lt.Cdr. K. Loveland, USN) and Murphy (T/Cdr. L.W. Bailey, USN) joined. They had departed Argentia, Newfoundland on 6 May. HMS Uganda parted company shortly afterwards and proceeded to Argentia, arriving there on 11 May.

In the morning of the 10th the four US destroyers were relieved by four other destroyers, these were USS Mervine (T/Cdr. S.D. Willingham, USN), USS Quick (T/Cdr. P.W. Cann, USN), USS Beatty (T/Cdr. F.C. Stelter, Jr., USN) and USS Tillman (T/Cdr. F.D. McCorkle, USN).

The Queen Mary and her USN escort arrived at New York on 11 May.