USS Nelson (DD-623)

USS Nelson (DD-623) was a Gleaves class destroyer that served on convoy escort duty, took part in the invasion of Sicily and the D-Day landings, where her stern was blown off by a torpedo, and reached the Pacific just as the war ended.

The Nelson was named after Charles Preston Nelson who served in the US Navy during the Spanish American War, then served in the Mediterranean during the First World War, taking part in the attack on the Austrian naval base at Durazzo on 3 October 1918.

The Nelson was laid down at the Federal Shipbuilding and Drydock Co., Kearny, N.J. on 7 May 1942, launched on 15 September when she was sponsored Rear Admiral Nelson’s daughter Mrs. Nelson Stewart and commissioned on 26 November 1942.

The Nelson 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 the those ships all of the Bristol class ships joined the Livermore/ Gleaves class.

1943

The Nelson’s shakedown cruiser took her along the Atlantic coast. She then joined the Atlantic Fleet on 21 January 1943 and began a spell of convoy escort duties. Between then and 29 May she served as the flagship of Destroyer Squadron 17, and escorted convoys to Bermuda, Trinidad, Dakar, Aruba, Casablanca and Gibraltar.

USS Nelson (DD-623) off Madagascar, November 1945 USS Nelson (DD-623) off Madagascar, November 1945

On 31 January 1943 the Nelson and Maddox joined the Glennon off Galveston and the three ships headed for Aruba in the Dutch West Indies. On 3 February the Glennon suffered problems in one of her firerooms and the Nelson and Maddox circled her while her crew carried out repairs. They then continued on to Aruba.

On 5 February the same three ships left Aruba to escort the tankers American Sun, Cherry Valley, Esso Norfolk and Esso Washington to Trinidad. They left Trinidad on 9 February to escort the tankers across the Atlantic to Dakar in West Africa, arriving on 18 February. On 24 February the same seven ships departed Dakar, and reached Trinidad safely on 4 March. On 6 March the convoy departed for Arubu, then reached Norfolk on 9 March.

On 10 March the Glennon, Meddox and Nelson joined the South Dakota (BB-57) to carry out exercises in Casco Bay. On 16 March Nelson, Glennon and Hamul (AD-20) departed for New York. On the following day the two destroyers left the Hamul and headed to the New York Navy Yard.

From 5-9 April the Nelson served as the flagship of Destroyer Squadron 17 as the squadron escorted a convoy made up of two mine sweepers, three submarine chasers, one oiler and  25 LSTs to Bermuda.

On 2 June the Nelson left Norfolk to carry out a series of exercises with other destroyers. 

On 7 June she left the US to screen the Boise (CL-47) as they moved to the Mediterranean to take part in the invasion of Sicily.

During Operation Husky the Nelson served as the flagship of Task Force 81, and was allocated to the central part of the Western Task Force, which was to support the landings near Gela.

On 6 July the Nelson departed from Algiers at the start of Operation Husky. She patrolled close to the transports early on D-Day for Sicily, 10 July. During the day she fired on attacking Axis aircraft. This continued on the following day. At 1733 on 12 July the Nelson was attacked by German dive bombers, shooting down one.

An hour after the air attack the Nelson left Sicilian waters as part of the escort for convoy TF 81.2, heading for Algiers, arriving on 15 July.

On 17 July the Nelson returned to the assault area off Gela. On the evening on 18 July she briefly left the area to escort a supply convoy coming from Goza Island, Malta. She then carried out anti-submarine patrols around Gela and Scoglitti until 23 July, when she returned to Algiers.

On 30 July she escorted troop ships into Palermo Harbour on the northern coast of Sicily, once again coming under air attack. Early on 1 August she shot down a German aircraft. Soon afterwards she returned to North Africa.

On 9 August she left Mers-El-Kebir to help escort a convoy to Casablanca. The convoy passed through the Straits of Gibraltar on 10 August and reached Casablanca later on the same day.

On 12 August the Nelson left Casablanca to escort a convoy to Brooklyn. On 17 August the Glennon spotted a U-boat and she and the Nelson both dropped depth charges, but without result. On 21 August the Nelson’s medical officer, Lt. Raymont W. Johnson, was transferred to the Glennon to operate on a duodenal ulcer. The convoy reached New York on 22 August, where Johnson was returned to his ship.

The Nelson spent the winter of 1943-44 escorting convoys to Belfast. During this period she escorted three convoys to Belfast, one to Greenock, Scotland and one to Gibraltar.

The first of these, UT-2, left New York on 5 September and reached Belfast Lough on 14 September.

From 21 September-1 October 1943 the Nelson helped escort the return convoy, TU-2, back to New York.

On 21 October the Nelson joined TF 69, which included the battleship Texas (BB-35) to escort the mixed merchant and troop convoy UT-4 to Belfast. The convoy reached Belfast on 31 October.
 
On 7 November the Nelson departed Belfast with TF 69 to escort Convoy TU-4 back to New York, arriving on 18 November.

On 2 December the Nelson was one of six destroyers that left Long Island to carry out gunnery exercises on the way to the New York Navy Yard.

1944

From 11-15 January 1944 the Nelson took part in gunnery exercises in Casco Bay.

On 18 January she left New York as part of the escort of Convoy UT-7, which reached Lough Larne on 28 January. On 30 January the Nelson, Rhind, Jeffers and Glennon moved north to Greenock.

On 3 February she left Scotland as part of the escort for the New York bound convoy TU-7, arriving on 13 February.

On 22 March the Nelson left New York as part of Task Force 63, heading for Gibraltar. They arrived at Gibraltar on 1 April, and on 6 April departed for New York as the escort of convoy GUS-35. They arrived at New York on 22 April.

USS Nelson (DD-623) with stern damaged off Normandy, 1944 USS Nelson (DD-623) with stern damaged off Normandy, 1944

From 5-14 May 1944 the Nelson served as flagship of Destroyer Squadron 17 as it crossed the Atlantic to take part in the D-Day invasion. She reached Belfast Lough on 14 May.

On 15 May the Nelson and her squadron departed for Plymouth, arriving on 16 May to take part in training exercises with shore fire control parties. On 23 May she took part in gunnery exercises at Slapton Sands.

On 24 May the Nelson was moored alongside a tanker at Plymouth when her port screw fouled a mooring buoy, causing extensive damage to the screw and shaft. She was moved into dry dock where the damaged screw and shaft judged to be beyond repair and were removed. However the need for destroyers for the D-Day invasion was so great that the Nelson returned to the fleet on 2 June with only her starboard screw.

As a result of this damage she missed D-Day itself, but she arrived off Normandy on 8 June as part of the escort of a convoy coming from Milford Haven.

On 9 June she moved to position No.13 on the Dixie Line, the anti-submarine and E-boat screen around Omaha Beach. That night a German glide bomb came close but exploded too far off her starboard quarter to do any damage.

On the night of 12-13 June she was once again anchored in position 13. At 0105 she detected a target on radar. She challenged the contact with her lights, but also opened fire. The target turned out to be a formation of E-boats, which turned away after firing their torpedoes. After she had fired ten salvos she was hit by one of their torpedoes just aft of No.4 Gun. The stern as far back as No.4 mount were blown off. Twenty four men were killed or missing and another nine wounded. However the Nelson remained afloat. The Maloy (DE-791) stood by her to rescued her crew if needed, and she was towed to safety. 

The Nelson underwent emergency repairs at Londonderry. She was then towed across the Atlantic by the tug USS Bannock (AT-81), reaching Boston on 26 August. At Boston she was given a complete new stern with the work completed by 23 November 1944.

Once the repairs were completed the Nelson returned to patrol duty in the Atlantic. In December she crossed the Atlantic to Plymouth, before returning to the US.

1945

The Nelson left New York on 16 February 1945, with the Edgar G. Chase and Andres to escort convoy UGS-75 to North Africa. They met up with the convoy on 17 February. On 4 March the convoy passed through the Straits of Gibralter, and the Nelson, Edgar G. Chase, Andres and Annapolis weredetached to escort party of the convoy to Oran. The Nelson returned to New York on 31 March.

In April-May she served as a plane guard and screen for the escort carrier USS Card (CVE-11).

On 1 August she passed through the Panama Canal heading for the Pacific. From 3-14 September, after the surrender of Japan, she was in Tokyo Bay,

Post-War

In late September she departed for the US, heading west. She visited Okinawa, Korea, then reached Singapore on 24 September and Colombo on 30 September. On 3 November she departed for New York via Capetown, reaching the States on 6 December.

On 29 January 1946 she left New York to move to Charleston, where she was placed out of commission and into the US Atlantic Reserve Fleet. She was struck off on 1 March 1968 and sold for scrap in July 1969.

Nelson earned two battle stars for World War II service, for the invasion of Sicily and the D-Day invasion. Anyone who served on her from 15 September-15 October 1945 qualified for the Navy Occupation Service Medal (Asia).

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

7 May 1942

Launched

15 September 1942

Commissioned

26 November 1942

Struck off

1 March 1968

Sold for scrap

18 July 1969

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 (19 August 2024), USS Nelson (DD-623) , http://www.historyofwar.org/articles/weapons_USS_Nelson_DD623.html

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