Allied Warships

USS Sturtevant (i) (DD 240)

Destroyer of the Clemson class

Navy	The US Navy
Type	Destroyer
Class	Clemson
Pennant	DD 240
Built by	New York Shipbuilding Corp. (Camden, New Jersey, U.S.A.)
Ordered
Laid down	23 Nov 1918
Launched	29 Jul 1919
Commissioned	21 Sep 1920
Lost	26 Apr 1942
History	Decommissioned 30 January 1931 Recommissioned 9 March 1932 Decommissioned 20 November 1935 Recommissioned 26 September 1939 Struck mine and sank off Key West, Florida on April 26 1942 The minefield was American-laid 15 members of her crew were lost.

Commands listed for USS Sturtevant (i) (DD 240)

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	Commander	From	To
1	Lt.Cdr. Albert Edmondson Jarrell, USN	26 Sep 1939	27 Nov 1940
2	Lt.Cdr. William Stamps Howard, Jr., USN	27 Nov 1940	27 Jan 1941
3	Lt. Edwin Elmer Lord, 3rd, USN	27 Jan 1941	26 Feb 1941
4	Lt.Cdr. William Stamps Howard, Jr., USN	26 Feb 1941	9 Dec 1941
5	Lt. Claude Lee Weigle, USN	9 Dec 1941	26 Apr 1942

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Notable events involving Sturtevant (i) include:

8 Dec 1940
HMS Diomede (Capt. J.W. Farquhar, RN) intercepts the German passenger / cargo ship Idarwald (5033 GRT, built 1923) off Cape Corrientes, Cuba. Unfortunately before the German ship can be captured it is set on fire by her crew and finally sank on December 9th.

At 1320R/8, HMS Diomede sighted an US 4-stack destroyer (USS Sturtevant) escorting a merchant vessel. Course was set to intercept and speed increased to 25 knots.

At 1409R/8, a round was fired across the merchant ship bows which by now had been identified as the Idarwald. The German ship was already on fire and was being abandoned. After picking up her crew HMS Diomede went alongside. Although the fire in the engine room was soon under control, other fires were not. Also the ship was still flooding despite the use of a submersible pump. At dark HMS Diomede cast off and stood by.

At dawn on the 9th preparations were made to take the ship in tow but the ship was settling too quickly and she finally sank at 1252R/9.

HMS Diomede then set course for Kingston, Jamaica where she was to fuel and land the survivors, 45 in total, 5 of which were injured. (1)

6 Apr 1942
USS Sturtevant picks up 38 survivors from the American tanker Catahoula that was torpedoed and sunk the previous day by German U-boat U-154 off the northwest coast of the Dominican Republic in position 19°16'N, 68°12'W.

USS Sturtevant also picks up 39 survivors from the American tanker Comol Rico that was torpedoed and sunk the previous day by German U-boat U-154 225 nautical miles north of San Juan, Puerto Rico in position 20°46'N, 66°46'W.