USS Harding (DD-625/ DMS-28)

USS Harding (DD-625) was a Gleaves class destroyer that served on convoy escort duties, then took part in Operation Overlord and the Invasion of the South of France before moving to the Pacific where she was badly damaged off Okinawa.

The Harding was named after Seth Harding, who served in the Continental Navy during the US War of Independence, being captured twice during the war.

The Harding (DD-625) was laid down by the Seattle-Tacoma Shipbuilding Corp., Seattle, launched on 28 June 1942 when she was sponsored by Mrs. Sherwood A. Taffinder, and commissioned on 25 May 1943.

The Harding was originally classified as a Bristol class ship, which were built with four 5in guns instead of the five installed on the Livermore/ Gleaves class. However after the fifth gun was removed from those ships all of the Bristol class ships joined the Livermore/ Gleaves class.

1943

After her shakedown cruise the Harding moved to the Atlantic, reaching Hampton Roads on 19 July. After training in Chesapeake Bay she was allocated to convoy escort duties. Her first convoy left Norfolk on 16 August 1943 and over the next eight months she made three round trips to Casablanca.

1944

Early in 1944 she was used to screen the battleship Texas during her training exercises.

On 18 April the Harding left the US as part of the escort of a convoy heading to the UK, and to join the forces being gathered for the invasion of Normandy.

She spent May training, moving between Plymouth and the Clyde.  

On D-Day the Harding was allocated to Red and Fox beaches at the eastern end of Omaha Beach, to support the 1st Infantry Division.

Just after 0530 the warships began firing, starting with the French light cruiser Montcalm. Guns near Port-en-Bessin opened fire on the Allied fleet and the Harding was one of four US destroyers to return fire. The Harding recorded them as being 155mm guns, while the Doyle thought they were 75mm or 88mm. After this initial clash she turned her attention to the German defences of Omaha Beach, firing ahead of the first wave of landing craft.

At 0730 the Harding withdrew from the fire support area to her patrol station in the swept channel, in line with the pre-invasion planes.

At 0810 she picked up Rear Admiral Arthur B. Cook and Major General Thomas T. Handy, observers sent from Washington.

At 1024 her medical officer, Lt E. P. McKenzie, took her gig to attend to wounded men on a drifting landing craft, returning to the Harding several hours later at 1515 brining the two most serious wounded with him.

At about 1043 the Harding was supporting US troops advancing up the draw towards Colleville, firing salvoes into the draw.

At around 1050 she fired on targets on Easy Red Beach, supporting infantry struggling on the beach. Her target was a pill box firing down draw E-3 north of Colleville.

At 1109 a damaged landing craft sank near the Harding and four wounded were taken onboard.

At 1350 the Harding received a message from LCI 538 reported that her shore party thought the church steeple at Verville was being used as an enemy observation point and asked her to ‘blast it’. The Harding asked for permission from the Forward Observers, and when this was granted opened fire at 1413 at a range of 3,200 yards. She fired 40 shells and claimed to have completely demolished the church.

At 1750 the commander of Destroyer Division 36 moved from the Satterlee to the Harding.

At 1854 she was asked to fire for two minutes on Colleville Church, which had evidently survived the early bombardment. She ceased fire at 1857.

At 1935 yet another request to fire on the church was received, as it was believed to be being used as an observation point for German mortars. She opened fire at 1937 at a range of 3,800 yards and claimed multiple hits.

Early on D+1 she replaced the Thompson as the support ship for the rangers at Pointe du Hoc, responding to calls for fire from the Rangers. She was also ordered to send a motor whaleboat to evacuate wounded Rangers, but the boat was wrecked on the rock.

At 1429 the Harding hit an unmarked obstruction and damaged both of her propellers, although she was still able to remain in place.

On D+2 she was ordered to fire on targets at Grandcamp-les-Bains and later at Maisy.

On D+4 (10 June) she was sent back to Plymouth to have her damaged propellers repaired. The commander of Destroyer Division 36 moved back to the Satterlee.

The Harding was soon back off Normandy and remained active in the assault area until 16 July.

The Harding was next allocated to the forces being gathered for Operation Dragoon, the invasion of the South of France. She departed for Oran, Algeria on 1 August.

On 15 August, D-Day in the south, she was part of the screening forces protecting the landing fleets. She was briefly sent to Corsica, then returned to begin patrol duties off the assault area.

On the night of 17 August she detected a German aircraft in the sea, and recovered the bodies of some of her crew. She then moved to investigate an unidentified contact. As her signalman attempted to light the target up, enemy machine gun fire knocked out his searchlight. This was the start of a battle between four US destroyers and four E-boats, which ended with all four of the E-boats sunk, three of them by the Harding. She helped rescue the survivors and then resumed her patrol duties.

On 24 August she departed for Oran as part of the escort of a convoy of LCIs. She returned to France at the end of August and remained until 6 September.

On 25 September she departed for New York. After arriving there on 3 October she moved to Boston to be converted into a destroyer-minesweeper. On 15 November she was reclassified as DMS-28. The work was completed by 1 December, and she spent the rest of the month training before departing for the Pacific on 30 December. 

1945

The Harding arrived at San Diego on 15 January 1945 and carried out more mine-sweeping training. On 10 February she departed for Pearl Harbor, then moved on to Ulithi, arriving on 9 March to join the forces being gathered for the invasion of Okinawa.

She departed for Okinawa on 19 March, and began minesweeping operations around the islands on 24 March, a week before the land invasion. During the first day of the invasion, 1 April, she served as part of the outer screen.

This put her on the front line against the kamikaze attacks that hit the fleet off Okinawa, but her first brush with danger came on 6 April when she suffered a near miss from a conventional horizontal bomber. On the night of 8 April she was called closer to the island to provide fire support.

On the morning of 15 April the Harding was moving to replace Hobson at Radar Picket Station No.14 when she was attacked by four Japanese aircraft. One abandoned the attack. One was shot down. The third almost hit her bridge, but was hit by gunfire and instead hit close by on the starboard side. Its bomb exploded, blowing a 20ft by 10ft hole from her keel to the main deck and bend the keel. Fourteen men were killed, eight missing and nine wounded by the attack.

The Harding was able to back slowly towards Kerama Retto, helped by the ocean tug USS Tekesta (AT-93). She underwent basic repairs at Okinawa, and was then send back to Pearl Harbor, arriving on 22 August. However although she had survived the attack she was never fully repaired. Instead she was sent back to Norfolk, arriving on 17 September, and was decommissioned on 2 November 1945. On 16 April 1947 she was sold for scrap.

Harding received three battle stars for World War II service, although only those for Normandy and Okinawa are listed on the US Navy’s Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The third was probably for the invasion of the South of France.

Displacement (standard)

1,630t design
1,838t as built

Displacement (loaded)

2,395t

Top Speed

35kts design
36.5kt at 50,200shp at 2,220t on trial (Niblack)

Engine

2-shaft Westinghouse turbines
4 boilers
50,000hp design

Range

6500nm at 12kt design

Length

348ft 3in

Width

36ft 1in

Armaments

Five 5in/38 guns
Ten 21in torpedo tubes
Six 0.5in AA guns
Two depth charge tracks

Crew complement

208

Laid down

22 July 1941

Launched

28 June 1942

Commissioned

25 May 1943

Struck off

16 November 1945

Sold for scrap

16 April 1947

U.S. Destroyers: An Illustrated Design History, Norman Friedmann . The standard history of the development of American destroyers, from the earliest torpedo boat destroyers to the post-war fleet, and covering the massive classes of destroyers built for both World Wars. Gives the reader a good understanding of the debates that surrounded each class of destroyer and led to their individual features.
cover cover cover

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How to cite this article: Rickard, J (4 September 2024), USS Harding (DD-625/ DMS-28) , http://www.historyofwar.org/articles/weapons_USS_Harding_DD625.html

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