Allied Warships

USS Davis (DD 395)

Destroyer of the Somers class

Navy	The US Navy
Type	Destroyer
Class	Somers
Pennant	DD 395
Built by	Bath Iron Works (Bath, Maine, U.S.A.)
Ordered
Laid down	28 Jul 1936
Launched	30 Jul 1938
Commissioned	9 Nov 1938
End service	19 Oct 1945
History	Decommissioned 19 October 1945. Stricken 1 November 1945. Sold 24 November 1947 and broken up for scrap.

Commands listed for USS Davis (DD 395)

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	Harley Francis Cope, USN	1 Jul 1939	4 Apr 1941
2	Cdr. Charles Clifford Hartman, USN	4 Apr 1941	17 Dec 1941
3	Lt.Cdr. Martin Rowland Peterson, USN	17 Dec 1941	21 Feb 1943
4	T/Cdr. William Archer Dunn, USN	21 Feb 1943	1 Nov 1944 (1)
5	T/Lt.Cdr. Thomas Donald Cunningham, USN	1 Nov 1944	1 Oct 1945
6	William Bruce Tichenor, USN	1 Oct 1945	19 Oct 1945 (1)

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Notable events involving Davis include:

19 May 1942
USS R-12 (Lt. E.E. Shelby, USN) participated in A/S exercises of St. Thomas together with USS Davis (Lt.Cdr. M.R. Peterson, USN).

20 May 1942
USS R-12 (Lt. E.E. Shelby, USN) participated in A/S exercises of St. Thomas together with USS Davis (Lt.Cdr. M.R. Peterson, USN) and USS Somers (Lt.Cdr. A.C. Wood, USN).

23 May 1942
USS R-12 (Lt. E.E. Shelby, USN) participated in A/S exercises of St. Thomas together with USS Davis (Lt.Cdr. M.R. Peterson, USN) and USS Partridge (Lt.Cdr. S.E. Kenney, USN).

18 Jul 1942

Convoy WS 21P.

This convoy was assembled off Oversay on 18 July 1942.

The convoy was made up of the following troop transports;
Duchess of Atholl (British, 20119 GRT, built 1928), Duchess of York (British, 20021 GRT, built 1929), Empress of Japan (British, 26032 GRT, built 1930), Oronsay (British, 20043 GRT, built 1925) and Windsor Castle (British, 19141 GRT, built 1922).

On assembly of Oversay the convoy was escorted by the light cruiser HMS Orion (Capt. G.C.P. Menzies, RN) and the destroyers HMAS Nepal (Cdr. F.B. Morris, RAN), HrMs Tjerk Hiddes (Lt.Cdr. W.J. Kruys, RNethN), HMS Buxton (Lt.Cdr.(Retd.) W.A. Moens, RN) and HMS Georgetown (Lt.Cdr. P.G. MacIver, RNR).

Around 0800O/20, HMS Buxton parted company with the convoy.

Around 2300O/20, HMAS Nepal parted company to proceed to Ponta Delgada, Azores, to fuel. She rejoined the convoy around 0150O/22.

Around 0800O/22, HrMs Tjerk Hiddes parted company with the convoy to proceed to Ponta Delgada, Azores, to fuel. She rejoined the convoy around 0800O/23.

Around 0730Z/25, the destroyer HMS Vimy (Lt.Cdr. H.G.D. de Chair, RN) joined the convoy.

The convoy arrived at Freetown on 27 July 1942.

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The convoy departed Freetown in the same composition on 1 August 1942. It was now escorted by the light cruiser HMS Orion, destroyers HMAS Nepal, HrMs Tjerk Hiddes, HMS Boreas (Lt.Cdr. E.L. Jones, DSC, RN) and the minesweeper / sloop Commandant Duboc.

In the morning of 5 August 1942, the American convoy AS 4 joined the convoy. This convoy was made up of the following transports;
American Manufacturer (American, 6678 GRT, built 1941), Empire Oriole (British, 6535 GRT, built 1941), Exhibitor (American, 6736 GRT, built 1940), Hawaiian Shipper (American, 7775 GRT, built 1941), Mormacdale (American, 6976 GRT, built 1942), Santa Cruz (American, 6925 GRT, built 1941), Seatrain Texas (American, 8108 GRT, built 1940), Tarn (Norwegian, 6850 GRT, built 1933) and Zaandam (Dutch, 19141 GRT, built 1922).

On this convoy joining the American escort, made up of the light cruiser Omaha (Capt. T.E. Chandler, USN), AA cruiser Juneau (Capt. L.K. Swenson, USN) and the destroyers USS Somers (T/Cdr. A.C. Wood, USN) and USS Davis (T/Cdr. M.R. Peterson, USN) then parted company.

At 0900Z/6, HMAS Nepal and HrMs Tjerk Hiddes parted company with the convoy and joined the RFA tanker Rapidol (2648 GRT, built 1917) and her escort, the corvette HMS Snowdrop (Lt. P.A. Tinne, RNVR). The destroyers fuelled from the Rapidol in the early hours of 7 August 1942 when off St. Helena. They rejoined the convoy around 1900A/10.

HMS Boreas also parted company on 6 August 1942. She was also to fuel from the Rapidol.

The convoy arrived at Capetown on 12 August 1942.

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The convoy, now made up of the Duchess of Atholl, Duchess of York, Empire Oriole, Empress of Japan, Exhibitor, Hawaiian Shipper, Oronsay, Tarn, Windsor Castle and Zaandam departed Capetown on 16 August 1942.

The convoy was now escorted by the heavy cruiser HMS Shropshire (Capt. J.T. Borrett, OBE, RN).

Around 1700BC/19, the light cruiser HMS Orion and the destroyers HMAS Nepal and HrMs Tjerk Hiddes joined the convoy. HMS Shropshire then parted company.

Around 1645C/24, HMAS Nepal and HrMs Tjerk Hiddes parted company with the convoy to proceed to Kilindini.

The convoy was dispersed off Aden on 29 August 1942. (2)

21 May 1945
From 21 to 23 May 1945, HMS Sheffield (Capt. J.W.M. Eaton, DSO, DSC, RN) conducted trials and exercises in the Gulf of Maine. She was escorted by the destroyers USS Somers (T/Lt.Cdr. E.M. Luby, USN) and USS Davis (T/Lt.Cdr. T.D. Cunningham, USN). (3)