USS Swanson (DD-443)

USS Swanson (DD-433) was a Gleaves class destroyer that served on convoy escort duties, and took part in Operation Torch and the invasion of Sicily before moving to the Pacific in 1944 where she took part in the fighting in western New Guinea, the Philippines, including the battle of Leyte Gulf, then served on patrol duties between Iwo Jima and Saipan.

Side view of USS Swanson (DD-443), New York, 1943

The Swanson was named after Claude A. Swanson, President Roosevelt’s Secretary of the Navy from 1933 until his death in office in 1939.

The Swanson (DD-443) was laid down on 15 November 1939 by the Charleston Navy Yard, Charleston, S.C., launched on 2 November 1940 when she was sponsored by Mrs. Claude A. Swanson, widow of Secretary Swanson and commissioned on 29 May 1941.

The Swanson 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.

After her shakedown cruise the Swanson joined the US forces operating in the Atlantic. Her main duty was to escort convoys moving between the US, Bermuda and Iceland. She was also used to escort the battleships Washington and North Carolina and the carrier Hornet during their trial runs.

After the US entry into the war the Swanson began to operate further afield, carrying out three round trips to Scotland and single trips to Nova Scotia and Greenland.

1942

She was photographed off Boston on 16 April 1942.

She arrived at New York with the Buck and Wilkes in early June 1942.

In the autumn of 1942 the Swanson joined the forces assigned to Operation Torch, the invasion of French North Africa. In October she took part in amphibious training in Chesapeake Bay in preparation for the invasion.

She was allocated to TG 34.9, which was to transport the men allocated to the landings at Fedala, north of Casablanca. Her first duty, early on 8 November, was to go close inshore to guide the landing craft heading to Fedhala. As she pulled out to sea at the end of this duty the French guns opened fire. The Swanson spent the next two hours duelling with these guns. The French naval response was more vigorous than hoped for. Just after 0800 seven French destroyers came out from Casablanca to attack the transports. They opened fire on the first American ships they encountered, the Swanson, Ludlow and Wilkes. The Ludlow was hit and forced to retire, while the Swanson and Wilkes pulled back to join the cruisers Augusta and Brooklyn. The covering force, led by the Massachusetts then arrived to take over the action. The Ludlow was again engaged with French destroyers at around 1000 when three attempted to move along the shore to reach the transports. Once this threat had been removed she turned back to her duel with the French shore guns, before withdrawing to join the screen around the convoy area.

Within a few days of the landing German U-boats reached the area and began to sink transports. On 16 November the Woolsey made a sonar contact and carry out a series of attacks on it. The Swanson and Quick then took over and made more attacks. At the time it was decided that the contact had actually been a sunken wreck, but it has since been discovered to have been U-173, which was sunk in the attack.

At some point during the operation she was used to screen the carrier USS Ranger (CV-4).

1943

After the end of the fighting around Casablanca the Swanson returned to Atlantic convoy duty

USS Swanson (DD-443) at New York, 1943

On 15-16 April 1943 she was photographed at the New York Navy Yard.

In July 1943 the Swanson joined the forces allocated to Operation Husky, the invasion of Sicily.

The Swanson was allocated to the forces supporting the attack at Licata, Sicily, and was to act as a fire support ship. She was part of the Western Naval Task Force.

Early on 10 July the Swanson and Roe (DD-418) moved towards the Italian motor torpedo base at Porto Empedocle to investigate small radar contacts. As they were about to open fire on the possible contacts the Roe turned to avoid the minefield defending the base and move behind the Swanson, but she was going faster, and instead just before 0300 she hit the Swanson and right angles on the port side. The Swanson’s fireroom was flooded, while the Roe lost part of her bow. Both ships were briefly dead in the water. The crew of the Swanson were able to fight off a Luftwaffe attack. The Swanson was under way by 0500, and was able to move to Malta under her own power for temporary repairs.

From Malta she moved to the Brooklyn Navy Yard for repairs. Once these were complete she spent the rest of 1943 on escort duties in the Atlantic.

1944

On 7 January 1944 the Swanson, Wilkes and Marshall (DD-676)left New York to head to the Panama Canal, on their way to join the 7th Fleet operating off New Guinea.

The Swanson reached the Pacific in time to provide fire support for the landings at Seeadler Harbour in the Admiralty Islands from 3-7 March 1944.

On 13 March she left Buna to form part of the escort of a convoy of seven LSTs heading from Cape Sudest to Seeadler Harbor in the Admiralty Islands. They arrived early on 16 March, and patrolled off the harbour entrance before escorting the LSTs back to Cape Sudest.

The Swanson was used as a command ship for the landings at Hollandia on 22 April, carrying the Navy commander Rear-Admiral Barbey and the Army commander.

At Biak she acted as a fighter director ship, before leaving the area late on 30 May and handing that duty over to the Warrington.

The Swanson provided fire support during the landings at Noemfoor on 2 July.

She acted as a command ship for the landings at Sansapor on 30 July.

On 19 August the Swanson left New Guinea to join the Third Fleet, where she was assigned to the screen for the Fast Carriers of Task Force 38.

On 8 September she rescued Ens Robert E. Slingerland, whose F6F-5 had been shot down while straffing Japanese gun positions on Yap.

The Swanson screened the carriers Franklin, Enterprise and San Jacinto as they attacked the Bonins, Ulithi, Yap, Palau, Okinawa and Taiwan. She then screened the same carriers as they supported the return to the Philippines on 20 October.

During the battle of Leyte Gulf the Swanson’s task group took part in the attack on the Japanese central force in the San Bernardino Strait on 24 October, when their aircraft sank the Musashi. She then took part in the dash north to intercept the Japanese carriers at the battle of Cape Engano. When this turned out to have been a lure to distract the US carriers while the central force attempting to attack the potentially vulnerable amphibious forces at Leyte, the Swanson remained in the north to support the forces that sank most of the Japanese carriers.

On 26 October the Swanson and Wilkes were detached from the fast carrier forces and sent to Ulithi for upkeep and repairs. She then joined the escort patrol group based at Saipan.

For the rest of the year she was used on anti-submarine patrols and raar picket patrols in the area between Iwo Jima and Saipan, and for air sea rescue. She was also used as the flagship of the escort patrol group’s commander.

1945

This role lasted until April 1945 when she was detached from the group and sent for an overhaul at the Puget Sound Navy Yard.

Chamorro visitors on USS Swanson, 1945

She was photographed moving at high speed at sea in Puget Sound on 24 June 1945 suggesting her overhaul was complete by then. She was photographed at Pearl Harbor alongside USS Black Hawk in July 1945.

The Swanson returned to the Pacific in time to resume her duties around Iwo Jima.

On 9 September she began a relatively leasurely trip back to the United States. She was probably at Guam for Navy Day in October 1945.

The Swanson was decommissioned on 10 December 1945 and joined the reserve at Charleston. She was struck off on 1 March 1971 and scrapped in 1972.

Swanson received eight battle stars for her World War II service, for North Africa, Sicily, the Bismarck Archipelago, Hollandia, Western New Guinea, the Western Caroline Islands, Leyte and sinking U-173

Anyone who served on her between 30 October and 2 December 1941 qualified for the American Defense Service Medal. Anyone who served on her between 8 September and 23 October 1945 qualified for the Navy Occupation 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.

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