Allied Warships

USS Kearny (DD 432)

Destroyer of the Benson / Gleaves class

Navy	The US Navy
Type	Destroyer
Class	Benson / Gleaves
Pennant	DD 432
Built by	Federal Shipbuilding & Drydock Co. (Kearny, New Jersey, U.S.A.)
Ordered	17 Aug 1938
Laid down	1 Mar 1939
Launched	9 Mar 1940
Commissioned	13 Sep 1940
End service	7 Mar 1946
History	Decommissioned 7 March 1946. Stricken 1 June 1971. Sold 6 October 1972 and broken up for scrap. Hit by U-boat Damaged on 17 Oct 1941 by U-568 (Preuss).
U-boat Attack	See our U-boat attack entry for the USS Kearny

Commands listed for USS Kearny (DD 432)

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. Anthony Leo Danis, USN	13 Sep 1940	25 Nov 1941
2	Lt.Cdr. Adolph Henry Oswald, USN	25 Nov 1941	4 Dec 1942 (1)
3	T/Cdr. Lindsey Williamson, USN	4 Dec 1942	1 Oct 1944
4	T/Cdr. Frank Knowles Bladsell Wheeler, USN	1 Oct 1944	7 Mar 1946 (1)

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Notable events involving Kearny include:

17 Oct 1941
The USS Kearny (DD 432) (Lt.Cdr. Anthony Leo Danis, USN) was part of the Escort Group 4.1.4 (detached from convoy ON-24) and escorted SC-48 southwest of Iceland. At 04.15 hours on 17 October 1941, the destroyer was hit by one of four torpedoes fired by U-568. The torpedo struck on starboard side, killing eleven men and wounded 22 others including the commanding officer. The vessel steamed at 10 knots under escort by the American destroyer USS Greer (DD 145) to Hvalfjordur, Iceland, arriving on 19 October. After temporary repairs alongside the American repair ship USS Vulcan (AR 5) she left Iceland on 24 December for Boston for permanent repairs, which were completed until March 1942.

16 Jul 1942
USS Kearny picks up 123 survivors of the American merchant Fairport that was torpedoed and sunk by German U-boat U-161 about 500 nautical miles north of St.Thomas, Virgin Islands in position 27°10'N, 64°33'W.

6 Aug 1942

Convoy AT 18.

This convoy departed New York on 6 August 1942.

It was made up of the following troop transports; Andes (British, 25689 GRT, built 1939), Argentina (American, 20614 GRT, built 1929), Batory (Polish, 14287 GRT, built 1936), Brazil (American, 20614 GRT, built 1929), Monterey (American, 148017 GRT, built 1932), Orcades (British, 23456 GRT, built 1937), Thomas H. Barry (American, 11250 GRT, built 1930), Uruguay (American, 20183 GRT, built 1928), Wakefield (American, 24289 GRT, built 1931) and West Point (American, 26454 GRT, built 1940).

The armed merchant cruiser HMS Queen of Bermuda (A/Capt.(Retd.) A.D. Cochrane, RN) was also part of the convoy.

The convoy was escorted by Task Force 38, which was made up of the battleship 5922 Arkansas (Capt. C.F. Bryant, USN, which was also COMTASKFOR 38), light cruiser USS Brooklyn (T/Capt. F.C. Denebrink, USN) and the with destroyers USS Livermore (T/Cdr. V. Huber, USN, with COMDESDIV 21, T/Capt. T.L. Madeira, USN, on board), USS Kearny (T/Cdr. A.H. Oswald, USN), USS Plunkett (T/Cdr. W.H. Standley, Jr., USN, with COMDESRON 7, Cdr. S.R. Clark, USN, on board), USS Niblack (Lt.Cdr. W.L. Dyer, USN, with COMDESDIV 13, T/Capt. P.R. Heineman, USN, on board), USS Benson (T/Cdr. C.A. Fines, USN), USS Gleaves (T/Cdr. C.L. Winecoff, USN), USS Mayo (T/Cdr. I.T. Duke, USN), USS Charles F. Hughes (Lt.Cdr. B.S. Copping, USN) and USS Hilary P. Jones (Lt.Cdr. R.B. Ellis, USN) as inner screen for the convoy. An outer screen was formed of the destroyers USS Madison (Cdr. W.B. Ammon, USN, with COMDESDIV 14, ???, on board), USS Nicholson (Cdr. J.S. Keating, USN), USS Eberle (Lt.Cdr. K.F. Poehlmann, USN), USS Ericsson (T/Cdr. C.M. Jensen, USN) and USS Roe (T/Cdr. J.N. Opie, 3rd, USN).

Around 2300Q/7, Eberle, Ericsson and Roe were detached to proceed to Boston. USS Hilary P. Jones then joined the outer screen.

The convoy arrived at Halifax on 8 August 1942.

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The convoy departed Halifax on 9 August 1942.

Two troop transports joined the convoy leaving Halifax, these were the; Cameronia (British, 16297 GRT, built 1920) and Capetown Castle (British, 27002 GRT, built 1938).

The convoy was now escorted by USS Arkansas, USS Brooklyn, USS Plunkett, USS Niblack, USS Gleaves, USS Mayo, USS Madison, USS Lansdale (T/Cdr. D.C. Varian, USN), USS Hilary P. Jones, USS Charles F. Hughes. The above destroyers served as inner screen. Also an out screen made up of the destroyers USS Mayrant (T/Capt. C.C. Hartman, USN, which was also COMDESDIV 16), USS Rhind (T/Cdr. H.T. Read, USN) and USS Nicholson was present.

Late on the 9th, the Cameronia straggled from the convoy. USS Hilary P. Jones was ordered to escort her. They rejoined on the 10th but the Cameronia had difficulty in keeping up with the convoy and was smoking badly.

On the 10th, USS Nicholson was detached to Casco Bay. Also on this day, USS Benson departed Halifax to overtake and join the convoy. She had been unable to depart with the convoy on the 9th due to the fact that she was in dock for repairs to her sonar installation.

On the 11th USS Benson joined from Halifax. USS Mayrant and USS Rhind were detached later on the 11th. They were to proceed to Argentia.

Around 1015Z/16, HMS Queen of Bermuda and the Batory were detached from the convoy and joined convoy DS 31 proceeding from the Clyde to Iceland. One of the escorts of convoy DS 31 then joined convoy AT 18, this was the AA cruiser HMS Curacoa (Capt. J.W. Boutwood, RN).

The convoy arrived in U.K. waters on 17 August 1942. (2)