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N7KTP > NAVNET 17.10.04 01:58l 92 Lines 5035 Bytes #999 (0) @ WW
BID : 24932_N7FSP
Read: GUEST OE6DFD
Subj: USS SIMS (DD-409)
Path: DB0FHN<DB0RGB<OK0PPL<OK0NAG<9A0BBS<VK6BBS<VK6HGR<GB7ESX<GB7SYP<GB7PMB<
GB7MAX<GB7PZT<VE2PKT<IK5CKL<IW2ESA<KP4IG<HG8LXL<ON4HU<7M3TJZ<N7FSP
Sent: 041016/1558z @:N7FSP.#SEA.#WWA.WA.USA.NOAM West Seattle, WA. on 145.010
USS Sims crew fought valiantly to the end .
By FRED MILES WATSON - Managing Editor - Northwest Navigator
The first Sims (DD-409) was built by Bath Iron Works Corp., Bath,
Maine, and commissioned on Aug. 1, 1939 with Lt. Cmdr. W. A. Griswold
in command.
Displacing 1,570-tons, Sims was 348 feet in length and had a draw of
nine feet, 11-inches. She carri four, 5-inch gunmounts and eight, 21-
inch torpedo tubes. In addition there were four 50.Caliber machine
ns.
The lead ship of her class, Sims had 241 Sailo on the ship's
roster. After shakedown training in the Caribbean and post shakedown
availability in the Boston Navy Yard, Sims joined the Atlantic Squadron
at Norfolk on Aug. 2, 1940. The destroyer operated with the Neutrality
Patrol in Caribbean and South Atlantic waters. In November and December
1940, Sims patrolled off Martinique. On May 28, 1941, the ship arrived
at Newport, R.I., and began operating from there. She sailed for
Iceland on July 28, with an American task force. In August, the
destroyer patrolled the approaches to Iceland. In September and
October, Sims made two lengthy North Atlantic patrols. The escort had
been attached to Destroyer Squadron (DesRon) 2 since she began making
Neutrality Patrols.
With the outbreak of war on Dec. 7, DesRon 2 became part of a task
force (Task Force 17) formed around Yorktown (CV-5). The task force
sortied from Norfolk on Dec. 16, 1941 for San Diego. From there, it
sailed as part of a convoy taking marines to Samoa, arriving on Jan.
23, 1942.
At the time, it was believed that the Japanese would attack Samoa to
sever Allied communications with Australia. To repel such a move, a
carrier raid against Japanese bases in the Marshall Islands was
planned. The Yorktown task force was to strike the islands of Mili,
Jaluit, and Makin, while another force centered around Enterprise (CV-
6) was to hit Kwajalein, Wotje, and Maloelap.
TaskForce 17 departed Samoa on Jan. 25 with Sims in the screen. At
11:05 a.m. on the 28th, she sighted an enemy bomber. At 11:14 a.m., a
stick of four bombs fell approximately 1,500 yards astern, straddling
the wake of the destroyer. The next day, the two carrier forces and a
bombardment group attacked the islands and withdrew. Sims, with Task
Force 17, sailed from Pearl Harbor on Feb. 16, to attack Wake Island.
Shortly after departing, their sailing orders were changed; and they
proceeded to the Canton Island area. Canton is a small island on the
Honolulu-New Caledonia air route and thought to be endangered by the
Japanese.
By early March, the Japanese had occupied Lae and Salamaua on the
north coast of New Guinea. To check this occupation out, a carrier
strike was launched on March 10, from Lexington (CV-2) and Yorktown.
Sims remained near Rossel Island in the Louisiades with a force of
cruisers and destroyers to protect the carriers from enemy surface
ships. Sims next operated in the New Caledonia-Tonga Islands area.
In late April, a Japanese task force was assembled to win control of
the Coral Sea area and thereby isolate Australia. This consisted of a
covering group to protect landing forces on Tulagi and Port Moresby and
a striking force to eliminate Allied shipping in the Coral Sea. The
light carrier, Shoho, was attached to the covering force, and the big
new carriers, Shokaku, and Zuikaku, were the striking force under
command of Admiral Takagi. The American ships were divided into task
forces centered around Lexington and Yorktown. Sims was ordered to
escort the oiler, USS Neosho (AO-23). The task force refueled on May 5
and 6 and then detached Neosho and Sims to continue to the next fueling
point.
On the morning of May 7, a search plane from the Japanese striking
force sighted the oiler and destroyer and reported them to Admiral
Takagi as a carrier and a cruiser. Takagi ordered an all-out attack. At
9:30 a.m., 15 high level bombers attacked the two ships but did no
damage. At 1038 a.m. they attacked the destroyer, but skillful
maneuvering evaded the nine bombs that were dropped. A third attack
against the two ships by 36 dive bombers was devastating. Neosho was a
blazing wreck as the result of seven direct hits and one plane that
dived into her.
Sims was attacked from all directions. The destroyer defended her
self as best she could. Three 500-pound bombs hit the destroyer.
Two exploded in the engine room; and, within minutes, the ship buckled
amidships and began to sink, stern first. As Sims slid beneath the
waves, there was a tremendous explosion that raised what was left of
the ship almost 15 feet out of the water, Meanwhile, Chief Petty
Officer R J. Dicken, in a damaged whaleboat, picked up 15 other
survivors. They remained with Neosho, still afloat despite severe
damage, until they were rescued by USS Henley (DD-391) on May 11. Sims
was struck from the Navy list on June 24, 1942.
USS Sims (DD-409) was awarded two battle stars for her World War II
service.
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