Allied Warships

USS Tarbell (DD 142)

Destroyer of the Wickes class

Navy	The US Navy
Type	Destroyer
Class	Wickes
Pennant	DD 142
Built by	William Cramp and Sons (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.A.)
Ordered
Laid down	31 Dec 1917
Launched	28 May 1918
Commissioned	27 Nov 1918
End service	20 Jul 1945
History	Decommissioned at San Diego, California on 8 June 1922 Recommissioned on 29 May 1930 Decommissioned in late 1936 at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Recommissioned on 4 October 1939 Decommissioned at Philadelphia on 20 July 1945 Stricken 13 August 1945 Sold 30 November 1945 and broken up for scrap.

Commands listed for USS Tarbell (DD 142)

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. Edward White Rawlins, USN	4 Oct 1939	21 Mar 1941
2	Lt. Solomon David Willingham, USN	21 Mar 1941	20 May 1942 (1)
3	T/Lt.Cdr. Walter Manley Foster, USN	20 May 1942	4 Nov 1943
4	Lt.Cdr. Howard Martin Payne, USNR	4 Nov 1943	15 Jun 1944
5	Lt. Cmdr. Charles Alfred Berry, USNR	15 Jun 1944	20 Jul 1945

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Notable events involving Tarbell include:

22 Mar 1942
Around 0435Q/22, the aircraft carrier HMS Furious (Capt. T.O. Bulteel, RN) proceeded from Delaware Bay to Norfolk, Virginia.

Around 0700Q/22, the high speed minesweeper USS Hamilton (Lt.Cdr. H.O. Larson, USN) joined as escort.

Around 0815Q/22, the destroyers USS Tarbell (Lt.Cdr. S.D. Willingham, USN) and USS Herbert (Lt.Cdr. W.P. Mowatt, USN) joined to bolster the escort.

Around 2120Q/22, HMS Furious anchored off Norfolk, Virginia. (2)

26 Mar 1942
USS Tarbell picks up 22 survivors of the American tanker Dixie Arrow that was torpedoed and sunk by German U-boat U-71 12 nautical miles off the Diamond Shoals Lighted Buoy in position 34°55'N, 75°02'W.

3 Apr 1942
The aircraft carrier HMS Furious (Capt. T.O. Bulteel, RN) conducted full power trials in Chesapeake Bay on completion of which she set course for Bermuda escorted by the destroyers USS Greer (Lt.Cdr. L.H. Frost, USN, with COMDESDIV 61, Cdr. G.W. Johnson, USN, on board) and USS Tarbell (Lt.Cdr. S.D. Willingham, USN). (3)

3 Apr 1942
Around 1845P/3, HMS Furious (Capt. T.O. Bulteel, RN), USS Greer (Lt.Cdr. L.H. Frost, USN, with COMDESDIV 61, Cdr. G.W. Johnson, USN, on board) and USS Tarbell (Lt.Cdr. S.D. Willingham, USN) arrived at Bermuda from Chesapeake Bay. (3)

5 Apr 1942
Around 0945P/5, the aircraft carrier HMS Furious (Capt. T.O. Bulteel, RN) departed Bermuda for the U.K. She was escorted by the destroyers USS Greer (Lt.Cdr. L.H. Frost, USN, with COMDESDIV 61, Cdr. G.W. Johnson, USN, on board) and USS Tarbell (Lt.Cdr. S.D. Willingham, USN). The destroyers had departed a little earlier to conduct an A/S sweep of the harbour entrance.

Around 1245N/10, the destroyers parted company to return to Bermuda where they arrived on the 15th.

Around 1345Z/12, the destroyers HMS Keppel (Cdr. J.E. Broome, RN), HMS Volunteer (Lt. A.S. Pomeroy, RN) and HMS Leamington (Lt.Cdr. H.G. Bowerman, RN) joined HMS Furious.

Around 1800Z/13, HMS Leamington parted company to proceed to Londonderry where she arrived on the 15th.

Around 0635B/15, HMS Keppel parted company to proceed to Belfast where she arrived later the same day.

Around 1130B/15, HMS Furious anchored off Greenock. HMS Volunteer then proceeded to Londonderry arriving later on the 15th. (3)

15 May 1942
USS Tarbell picks up 25 survivors of the American merchant Lammot Du Pont that was torpedoed and sunk on 23 April 1942 by German U-boat U-125 500 nautical miles south-east of Bermuda in position 27°10'N, 57°10'W. Three of these survivors later died in hospital.

4 Jun 1942
USS Tarbell picks up 30 survivors of the American tanker M.F. Elliott that was torpedoed and sunk the previous day by German U-boat U-502 about 150 nautical miles north-west of Trinidad in position 12°04'N, 63°49'W.

9 Sep 1942
USS R-12 (Lt. E.E. Shelby, USN) participated in A/S exercises of Guantanamo Bay together with USS Chevalier (Lt.Cdr. E.R. McLean, Jr., USN), USS Jenkins (Lt.Cdr. F.H. Miller, USN) and USS Tarbell (Lt.Cdr. W.M. Foster, USN).

1 Jan 1943

Convoy TAG 33.

This convoy departed Trinidad on 1 January 1943.

On departure from Trinidad the convoy was made up of the following transports / tankers; City of Lyons (British, 7063 GRT, built 1926), Esso Baltimore (American (tanker), 7940 GRT, built 1938), Fort Fraser (British, 7126 GRT, built 1942), Liebre (American (tanker), 7057 GRT, built 1921), Moreton Bay (British, 14193 GRT, built 1921), Nordeflinge (British, 2873 GRT, built 1942), Ocean Valour (British, 7174 GRT, built 1942), Settler (British, 6202 GRT, built 1939), Socony-Vacuum (American (tanker), 9511 GRT, built 1935), Tamaroa (British, 12405 GRT, built 1922) and William R. Davie (American, 7177 GRT, built 1942).

The damaged light cruiser HMS Phoebe (Capt. C.P. Frend, RN) was also tanking passage in this convoy.

The convoy was escorted by the destroyer USS Tarbell (T/Cdr. W.M. Foster, USN), corvette HMS Clarkia (Lt.Cdr. S. Darling, RANVR) and the patrol vessels PC-469 (Cdr. R.E. Morrell, USCG) and PC-567 (Lt. J.E. Allen, USNR).

On 3 January 1943, the convoy was joined by the following tankers coming from Curacao; Athelduchess (British (tanker), 8940 GRT, built 1929), Athelprince (British (tanker), 8782 GRT, built 1926), Axtell J. Byles (American, 9059 GRT, built 1927), Empire Coleridge (British (tanker), 9798 GRT, built 1942), Francis T. Hart (Honduran, 9623 GRT, built 1938) and Nortind (Norwegian, 8221 GRT, built 1941).

Also the tanker F.Q. Barstow (American, 9003 GRT, built 1917) joined coming from Aruba.

In the morning of January 5th, the Nordeflinge and Settler detached from the convoy.

Early in the afternoon the convoy was joined by the destroyer USS Dickerson (T/Cdr. F.E. Wilson, USN), corvette USS Temptress (?), patrol vessels USCGC Triton (?), USS PC-562 (Lt. S.H. Johnson, USNR) and USS PC-619 (Lt. J. van Brown, USNR). They then took over the convoy to proceed with it towards New York. The convoy was now renumbered GN 33.

The Athelprince, Francis T. Hart and HMS Phoebe however parted company with the convoy to proceed to Guantanamo Bay escorted by USS Tarbell, HMS Clarkia and PC-567. PC-469 proceeded to Guantanamo Bay independently. Francis T. Hart was however later detached.

The Athelprince, HMS Phoebe, USS Tarbell, HMS Clarkia and PC-567 arrived at Guantanamo Bay on 6 January 1943.