USS Meredith (DD-434)

USS Meredith (DD-434) was a Gleaves class destroyer that took part in the Doolittle Raid and the invasion of Guadalcanal before being sunk while attempting to escort desperately needed fuel to the besieged Marines on that island.

The Meredith was named after Jonathan Meredith, who served in the Marine Corps and was killed during the attack on Tripoli of 1805. 

The Meredith was laid down on 1 June 1939 by the Boston Naval Shipyard, launched on 24 April 1940 when she was sponsored by Miss Ethel Dixon Meredith and commissioned on 1 March 1941.

The Meredith was originally classified as a Livermore class ship, but became a Gleaves class ship when the two classes were merged because the two Gleaves class ships were given the same more powerful engines as the Livermore class.

USS Meredith (DD-434) following USS North Carolina (BB-55)

The Meredith’s shakedown took her to Cuba. She returned to Boston on 8 June 1941 and joined Destroyer Division 22.

In the summer of 1941 she screened the North Carolina (BB-55) during the battleship’s shakedown cruise.

From 25 June-8 July the Gwin and Meredith escorted the Philadelphia and Savannah on a 3,415 mile neutrality patrol that began and ended at Bermuda.

In August 1941 she was part of the force that protected the Augusta (CA-31) when she carried President Roosevelt as he watched the new escort carrier USS Long Island (AVG-1) carrying out operations off Cape Sable, Nova Scotia.

From 25 August-10 September the  Savannah, Gwin and Meredith escorted the Wasp on a neutrality patrol that reached Trinidad and the Martin Vaz Islands before returning to Bermida. The same task group then moved north, reaching Argentia in Newfoundland on 23 September.

From 28 September to 31 January 1942 the Meredith was based at Halfjordur, Iceland, patrolling between Iceland and the Denmark Straits. On 17 October 1941, she rescued survivors of torpedoed British steamer Empire Wave.

The attack on Pearl Harbor didn’t immediately change her role, although the German declaration of war on the US did make the naval war in the Atlantic an official one.

1942

From 6-9 Januuary 1942 the Meredith and Grayson (DD-435) escorted the cruisers Tuscaloosa and Wichita on a training cruiser to the Denmark Strait.

In late January she left Halfjordur to escort a convoy to Boston. On 18 February she left Boston to escort the Washington (BB-56) to Norfolk, where they joined the carrier Hornet (CV-8) and formed TF 18. This force left Norfolk on 4 March heading for San Diego.

On 2 April the task force left San Francisco to take part in the Doolittle Raid on Japan. The Hornet carried the B-25s that actually carried out the raid, taking off on 18 April to bomb Tokyo. The force, still with the Meredith, returned to Hawaii on 25 April.

USS Meredith (DD-434), Cuba, 1941

Five days later the Meredith left Pearl Harbor with the Enterprise in an attempt to join the US forces in the south Pacific. However they were too late to take part in the battle of the Coral Sea. The Meredith was detached from the force on 13 May to escort the Cimarron (AO-22) and Sabine (AO-25) to New Caledonia. From then until 21 June she was used to patrol the Bulari Passage, off the entrance to Noumea Harbour.

On 21 June the Meredith left New Caledonia to screen the Tangier (AV-8) on her voyage to Hawaii. She was photographed in the Fiji islands area on 22 and 23 June 1942. They also stopped at Samoa, before reaching Oahu on 4 July.

Between early July and mid-August the Meredith carried out patrols and drills including gunnery practice in the Hawaiian Islands.

On 15 August she left Hawaii to escort a convoy to Samoa, arriving at Pago Paho, Samoa, on 30 August.

In early September she was used to escort a convoy of transports from Samoa to Tongatabu. Shen them moved to Espiritu Santo in the New Hebrides, from where she helped escort forces heading to Guadalcanal. She escorted Transport Force 2 to Guadalcanal, landing on 20 September. She then returned to the New Hebrides.

On 12 October the Meredith left Espiritu Santo as part of the escort for a convoy taking aviation fuel to Guadalcanal. However Japanese aircraft carriers were known to be operating in the area so the operation was always risky. The Japanese did indeed have the Shokaku and Zuikaku and light carrier Zuiho operating to the north of Guadalcanal, while the US only had the Hornet in the area and she was well to the south to prevent the last operational US carrier in the Pacific being sunk. Early on 15 October Admiral Ghormley was informed that Japanese carriers were operating on the convoy’s intended route. He ordered most of the ships to turn back, but the fuel situation on Guadalcanal was so precarious that he decided to attempt to slip a smaller force through. The fleet tug Vireo was to tow one fuel barge to Guadalcanal, escorted by the Meredith. This small force got to within 75 miles of their target before they were found by a Japanese search plane. At 1050 they were attacked by two Japanese aircraft. The commander of the Meredith, Lt. Commander Harry Hubbard, realised that his fleet would probably soon be attacked by carrier aircraft. He ordered the Vireo to cut the barge loose and attempt to escape east, but soon realised that she was too slow. Instead he ordered her crew to abandon ship, and took them onto the Meredith.

Soon after this, at 1225, a force of 21 Val dive bombers, nine Kate torpedo bombers and eight Zero fighters from the Zuikaku found the Meredith. The destroyer was hit by fourteen bombs and at least three torpedoes, and sanke with minutes. Ironically the Vireo actually survived, but she had now drifted away, and only one raft of survivors from the Meredith managed to reach her. The other survivors drifted at sea for three days before the Grayson (DD-435) and Gwin (DD-433) found them and rescued 88 survivors. 187 men had died, including Captain Hubbard.

A number of ships were named after men lost on the Meredith. Amongst those who died after the sinking was her Executive Officer Lt Commander Edgar G. Chase. The destroyer escort Edgar G. Chase (DE-16) was named after him. The Sumner class destroyer Harry E. Hubbard (DD-748) was named after Captain Hubbard. The destroyer escort USS Atherton (DE-169) was named after Lt (jg) John M Atherton. The high speed transport USS Odum (APD-71/ DE-670) was named after Gunner Joseph Roy Odum, who remained onboard firing his gun as the ship sank.

Meredith received one battle star for World War II service, for the defence and capture of Guadalcanal. Anyone who served on her between 22 September-7 December 1941 qualified for the American Defense Service Medal

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.

Help - F.A.Q. - Contact Us - Search - Recent - About Us - Privacy