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USS Baldwin (DD-624) was a Gleaves class destroyer that took part in convoy escort duties, supported the D-Day invasion and the invasion of the South of France before moving to the Pacific where she supported the minesweepers clearing the seas after the end of the war.
The Baldwin was named after Charles Baldwin, who served in the US Navy during the American Civil War, taking part in a daring but failed attempt to sink the ironclad ram Albermarle in 1864.
The Baldwin was laid down at the Seattle Tacoma Shipbuilding Corp on 19 July 1941, launched on 14 June 1942 when she was sponsored by Mrs. Ida E. Crawford, the daughter of Acting Master's Mate Baldwin, and commissioned on 30 April 1943.
The Baldwin 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 a shakedown cruise on the west coast the Baldwin moved to Norfolk to join the Atlantic Fleet. She arrived on 19 July and began a short period operating along the US East Coast.
On 13 August she left New York as part of the escort for a convoy heading to Casablanca, and spent the rest of 1943 on similar duties.
On 7 December the Baldwin and Thompson screened the New Jersey (BB-62) as she carried out high speed runs and turning trials. On the night of 7-8 December the three ships carried out night illumination and spotting practice. They repeated the exercises on 8 December then returned to Casco Bay.
1944
Her period of trans-Atlantic escort duties came to an end late in January 1944, when she returned back to operations along the US East Coast.
On 3-4 March she screened the new cruisers Quincy (CA-71) and Miami (CL-89) during exercises and trials off Puerto Rico. After the exercises the Baldwin escorted the Quincy to South Boston, for a period of yard availability.
On 17 April the Baldwin and Destroyer Squadron 18 departed for Europe as the screen of the Arkansas (BB-33) and Nevada (BB-36), and heavy cruiser Tuscaloosa (CA-37), to join the forces gathering for the D-Day landings. She reached Plymouth on 28 April.
Over the next few weeks the Baldwin carried out a mix of patrol duties and training exercises.
On D-Day the Baldwin was allocated to Red and Fox beaches at the eastern end of Omaha Beach, to support the 1st Infantry Division. Between 0619 and 0637 she fired her forward two guns on targets near the beach to support the incoming troops. At one point she got to only 1,800 yards from the beach, rather closer than had been planned at this stage.
The destroyers then stopped firing for some time, in order to avoid hitting American troops. At about 0820 she was 3,000 yards offshore when she was hit by two shells from a shore battery east of Port-en-Bessin. This was judged to have been either 88mm or 105mm fire. One shell hit the port whaleboat. The second hit on the forecastle blowing a small hole in the main deck and damaging the hydraulics for gun no.1, temporarily stopping automatic fire. From 0822-0839 she fired on a casemated gun east of Port-en-Bessin, at least temporarily putting it out of action. At 1025 she fired another 64 rounds as a Port-en-Bessin strong point. At 1104 she entered the area off East Red Beach to engage snipers targeting troops on the beach. At 1200 she fired at targets on Fox Green beach, probably a German machine gun in a pit at the top of the cliffs. She then moved off to the east.
At 1740 two landing craft came along and transferred six wounded men onboard for treatment. They remained on the Baldwin until 2025 when they were transferred onto another landing craft to be moved to a hospital ship.
At 1913 she fired one four gun salvo at the damaged church spire of Colleville, but was then ordered to cease fire by the army.
At 2045 she answered a request for emergency fire support hitting a German troop concentration at a range of 6,200 yards. The attack was guided by the shore fire control party and was judged to have been successful.
At 1930 on 8 June the Baldwin moved out to the screen as she was running low on ammunition.
On the night of 8-9 June the Baldwin, Frankford (DD-497) and Hambleton were engaged by ten E-boats sent out from Cherbourg. They were detected by the Hambleton’s radar early on 9 June and driven off after a four hour gun battle. The Baldwin was credited with sinking one E-boat, but the Germans sank LST-314 and LST-376.
The Baldwin remained off the coast of France until 15 July when she returned to England.
After only three days she left Plymouth to escort a fifty ship strong convoy to North Africa, reaching Bizerta on 28 July. She then spend a short spell operating in the western Mediterranean, between Oran, Algeria and Naples.
On 13 August she left Castellamare Bay, Italy, with the Madison and Carmick and the destroyer escorts Haines (DE-792) and Marsh (DE-699) heading for the south of France. She arrived off Saint-Tropez early on 15 August, D-Day for Operation Dragoon.
For most of the next month she served with the Antisubmarine and Convoy Control Group (TG 80.6) when was used to screen convoys moving between Oran and the South of France.
On 23 September she left Oran to return to the United States, arriving at New York on 3 October. After her return she operated in US Coastal Waters.
1945
On 21 January 1945 the Baldwin put to sea to help escort the Quincy as she carried President Roosevelt across the Atlantic on the first stage of his voyage to the ‘Big Three’ conference at Yalta. The Baldwin’s group took over the escort 300 miles south of the Azores on the afternoon of 28 January. On 29 January she briefly believed she had detected a U-boat on sonar, but then decided the contact was fish.
While some of the trans-Atlantic escorts dropped off in the Western Mediterranean the Baldwin continued all the way to the Suez Canal and was present when the President visited USS Quincy (CA-71) on 9-10 February 1945 to meet with King Ibn Saud of Saudi Arabia. She then moved to Alexandria, where on 15 February Roosevelt met some of his senior officers and later Churchill. She then escorted the Presidential fleet as it moved west, before finally being detached on 18 February to head to Oran. She then rejoined the convoy on the evening of the same day for the first stage of the return trip across the Atlantic.
On 27 February the Baldwin returned to New York and began another four months of operations along US coastal waters. She was also used to escort the Bon Homme Richard (CV-31) to the Panama Canal and to screen the Boxer (CV-21) and Card (CVE-11).
On 24 June she and the Nelson (DD-623) left New York heading for the Pacific. On their way they visited Guantanamo Bay, Balboa in the Canal Zone and San Diego. They reached Pearl Harbor on 12 August. In mid September she joined Task Force 55 at Okinawa, ready to take part in the occupation of Sasebo, Japan. She tool part in the occupation of Japan from 20 September-2 October.
Post-War
From 7 October to the end of 1945 the Baldwin supported the minesweepers operating along the coasts of Korea and China. She returned to the US in January 1946 and spent the spring of 1946 operating along the US East Coast.
She was placed out of commission and into the reserve at Charleston on 20 June 1946. In January 1961 she was moved to Boston. In April it was decided to move her to Philadelphia, but after fifteen years in the reserves she needed towing. On the afternoon of 16 April 1961 the tow line broke and she ran aground two miles to the south-west of Montauk Point, Long Island, ending up almost parallel to the beach.
Between them the rescue and salvage ship Recovery (ARS-43) and ocean tug USS Luiseno (ATF-156) were able to pull the destroyer off the beach, but there was no point repairing the elderly destroyer. Instead she was struck off on 1 June 1961 and scuttled by gunfire from the two ships that had salvaged her on 6 June 1961, not far out to sea.
Baldwin earned three battle stars for her World War II service, for the Normandy invasion, the South of France and Pacific Minesweeping. Anyone who served on her between 12 September and 29 December 1945 qualified for the Navy Occupation Service Medal (Asia and China).
Displacement (standard) |
1,630t design |
Displacement (loaded) |
2,395t |
Top Speed |
35kts design |
Engine |
2-shaft Westinghouse turbines |
Range |
6500nm at 12kt design |
Length |
348ft 3in |
Width |
36ft 1in |
Armaments |
Five 5in/38 guns |
Crew complement |
208 |
Laid down |
19 July 1941 |
Launched |
14 June 1942 |
Commissioned |
30 April 1943 |
Struck off |
1 June 1961 |
Scuttled |
5 June 1961 |