USS Brooks (DD-232/ APD-10)

USS Brooks (DD-232/ APD-10) was a Clemson class destroyer that was converted into a fast transport, and took part in the New Guinea campaign and the invasion of the Philippines, before being badly damaged by a kamikaze attack and never repaired.

Brooks (DD-232) was launched 24 April 1919 by New York Shipbuilding Co., Camden, N.J.; sponsored by Mrs. George S. Keyes, grandniece of Lieutenant Brooks; and commissioned 18 June 1920, Lieutenant D. M. Dalton in command.

The Brooks was one of five Clemson class destroyers that were armed with 5”/51 calibre guns in place of the 4in guns used on the rest of the class.

USS Brooks (DD-232) on her high speed trials

Soon after entering service, the Brooks was assigned to the US fleet in European waters. She departed for Europe on 26 August 1920 and joined the Baltic Patrol. She was then moved to the Adriatic.

While serving in the Adriatic she played a part in the fate of the Zrinyi, an Austro-Hungarian pre-dreadnought battleship that was allocated to the Italians by the victorious Allies, but that was given to the Yugoslavs before the Austrian navy collapsed. The Yugoslavs then turned her over to the Americans, who moored her at Spalato while her fate was decided. Eventaully the Italians got their ship, and on 7 November 1920 the Brooks, Hovey (DD-208) and Chattanooga (CL-18) towed her to Papaja, Italy. However by now she was rather elderly, and the Italians broke her up for scrap.

In June 1921 the Brooks joined the United States Naval Forces in Turkish waters, but she didn’t stay for long, leaving for the United States on 26 September 1921.

After her return to the US the Brooks joined the Scouting Fleet, and took part in manuevers in the Caribbean, Atlantic and Pacific. The Dictionary of American Fighting Ships has the Brooks out of commission in the reserve at Philadelpha from 20 January 1921 until 18 June 1932, but this can’t be entirely accurate. She was clearly active in December 1926, as any of her crew who landed in Nicaragua between 18-21 December 1926 qualified for the Second Nicaraguan Campaign Medal. She was also photographed in the Hudson River at New York in February 1927. Other sources have her going ont of commission in 1931, which fits rather better!

The Brooks was recommissioned at Philadelphia on 18 June 1932 and re-joined the Scouting Force. She took part in fleet exercise in the Atlantic and Pacific, before being decommissioned once again on 2 September 1938.

The Brooks was recommissioned for the final tiem on 25 April 1939. She joined the Neutrality Patrol in the Atlantic until November 1940 when she was assigned to the Local Defense Force, 13th Naval District, in the Pacific North West, with its HQ at Seattle. On 27 October 1941 the Brooks was one of fifteen ships that the Japanese consul at Seattle reported had sailed through the harbour in single file to commemorate Navy Day.

After the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor the Brooks was used as an escort ship on the routs between California, Washington state and Alaska. On 20 September 1942 she returned to Seattle to be converted into a high speed transport, and on 1 December she was redesignated as APD-10.

The Brooks had a busy career as a fast transport. She took part in the landings at Lae on New Guinea (4-14 September 1943), Finschhafen, New Guinea (22 and 29-30 September), Cape Gloucester on New Britain (26 and 28-29 December), Saidor, New Guinea (2 January-17 February 1944), the Admiralty Islands (29 February-5 March and 19 March 1944) and Hollandia, New Guinea (22-28 April 1944). She then took part in the invasion of Saipan (14-22 June 1944).

The Brooks final campaign was the invasion of the Philippines. She took part in the invasion of Leyte (18 November-4 December 1944), Mindoro (12-18 December 1944) and Lingayen Gulf (3-6 January 1945).

On 6 January the Brooks was hit by a kamikaze aircraft, which struck her port side. This started a fire amidships, the main and auxiliary steam lines and fire main were broken and the forward engine room was flooded after the sea value to the condenser was damaged. Three men were killed and another eleven wounded. Despite the damage, she was still officialy part of Transport Division 101 on 1 May 1945. The Brooks stayed afloat, but she never returned to service. Instead she was towed back to San Pedro, California, and decommissioned on 2 August 1945. She was sold for scrap on 30 January 1946.

The Brooks received six battle stars for her service in the Second World War (Eastern New Guinea September 1943-February 1944, Bismarck Archipelago February-March and December 1944, Saipan 14-22 June 1944, Leyte and Ormoc Bay Landings 1944, Mindoro and Lingayen Gulf landings and Hollandia landings 21 April 1944. She also received the Navy Unit Commendation.

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