Allied Warships

USS Kennison (DD 138)

Destroyer of the Wickes class

Navy	The US Navy
Type	Destroyer
Class	Wickes
Pennant	DD 138
Built by	Mare Island Navy Yard (Vallejo, California, U.S.A.)
Ordered
Laid down	14 Feb 1918
Launched	8 Jun 1918
Commissioned	2 Apr 1919
End service	18 Nov 1945
History	Decommissioned at San Diego, California on 22 June 1922 Recommissioned on 18 December 1939 Reclassified as target ship AG-83 on 1 October 1944 Decommissioned at Philadelphia on 18 November 1945 Stricken 5 December 1945 Sold 18 November 1946 and broken up for scrap.

Commands listed for USS Kennison (DD 138)

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. William Giers Michelet, USN	18 Dec 1939	20 Mar 1941
2	Lt. Bennett Smith Copping, USN	20 Mar 1941	14 Feb 1942
3	Lt.Cdr. Joseph Ronald Hamley, USN	14 Feb 1942	26 Feb 1943
4	James Buchanan Welier, USN	26 Feb 1943	31 Aug 1943
5	T/Lt.Cdr. Richard Edward Babb, USN	31 Aug 1943	21 Sep 1944
6	Lt. Richard Francis Young, USNR	21 Sep 1944	18 Nov 1945

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Notable events involving Kennison include:

4 Aug 1943
USS Skate (T/Cdr. E.B. McKinney, USN) conducted exercises off San Diego with USS Kennison (T/Cdr. J.B. Weiler, USN).

5 Dec 1943
USS Tang (T/Lt.Cdr. R.H. O'Kane, USN) departed the Mare Island Navy Yard for San Diego.

Most likely she is escorted but we have been unable to identify the vessel which escorted her.

At some point during the passage, most likely in the morning of the 6th, USS Kennison (T/Lt.Cdr. R.E. Babb, USN) joined to take over the escort duties.

USS Tang and USS Kennison arrived at San Diego later on the 6th.

7 Dec 1943
USS Tang (T/Lt.Cdr. R.H. O'Kane, USN) conducted exercises off San Diego with USS Kennison (T/Lt.Cdr. R.E. Babb, USN) and USS PC-783 (Lt. H.E Ellis, USNR).

9 Dec 1943
During 9/10 December 1943, USS Tang (T/Lt.Cdr. R.H. O'Kane, USN) conducted exercises off San Diego with USS Kennison (T/Lt.Cdr. R.E. Babb, USN) and USS PC-783 (Lt. H.E Ellis, USNR). These included night exercises.

11 Dec 1943
During 11/12 December 1943, USS Tang (T/Lt.Cdr. R.H. O'Kane, USN) conducted exercises off San Diego with USS Kennison (T/Lt.Cdr. R.E. Babb, USN) and USS PC-783 (Lt. H.E Ellis, USNR). These included night exercises.

19 Dec 1943
During 19/20 December 1943, USS Tang (T/Lt.Cdr. R.H. O'Kane, USN) conducted exercises off San Diego with USS PC-783 (Lt. H.E Ellis, USNR). These included night exercises.

On completion of the night exercises on the 20th, USS Kennison (T/Lt.Cdr. R.E. Babb, USN) joined and then USS Tang departed for San Francisco (Mare Island Navy Yard) escorted by USS Kennison.

22 Dec 1943
USS Tang (T/Lt.Cdr. R.H. O'Kane, USN) arrived at the Mare Island Navy Yard from San Diego.

Earlier that day, her escort from San Diego, USS Kennison (T/Lt.Cdr. R.E. Babb, USN) had been relieved off the Farallon Islands by USS PC-620 (Lt. E.C. Reich, USNR).

6 Feb 1944
During 6/7 February 1944, USS Tilefish (T/Lt.Cdr. R.M. Keithly, USN) conducted exercises off San Diego with USS Kennison (T/Lt.Cdr. R.E. Babb, USN) and USS PC-819 (Lt. E.D. Mendenhall, Jr., USNR).

8 Feb 1944
During 8/9 February 1944, USS Tilefish (T/Lt.Cdr. R.M. Keithly, USN) conducted exercises off San Diego with USS Kennison (T/Lt.Cdr. R.E. Babb, USN) and USS PC-819 (Lt. E.D. Mendenhall, Jr., USNR).

10 Feb 1944
During 10/11 February 1944, USS Tilefish (T/Lt.Cdr. R.M. Keithly, USN) conducted exercises off San Diego with USS Kennison (T/Lt.Cdr. R.E. Babb, USN) and USS PC-819 (Lt. E.D. Mendenhall, Jr., USNR).

USS PC-819 participated only on the 10th though.

17 Feb 1944
During 18/19 February 1944, USS Tilefish (T/Lt.Cdr. R.M. Keithly, USN) conducted exercises off San Diego with USS Crane (Lt.Cdr. S.L. Halfon, USNR).

On completion of the exercises USS Tilefish set course for San Francisco. USS Crane returned to San Diego while USS Kennison (T/Lt.Cdr. R.E. Babb, USN) joined to escort the submarine all the way to San Francisco.