USS Thompson (DD-627/DMS-38)

USS Thompson (DD-627/ DMS-38) was a Gleaves class destroyer that supported the D-Day invasion and the invasion of the South of France, was converted into a fast mine sweeper in 1945 then fought in the Korean War.

USS Thompson (DD-627) seen from USS Arkansas (BB-33)

The Thompson was named after Richard Means Thompson, who served in the US Navy from 1864-71, and retained an interest in the Navy and in particular in the Naval Academy, as well as serving as president of the Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers and president of the Navy League.

The Thompson was laid down by the Seattle-Tacoma Shipbuilding Corp at Seattle, Wash on 22 September 1941, launched on 15 July 1942 when she was sponsored by Miss Sara Thompson Ross and commissioned on 10 July 1943.

The Thompson 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.

After shakedown and training on the US West Coast the Thompson left San Diego on 19 August heading east. She reached Norfolk on 1 September, and spent September in more training. On 5 October she escorted the Arkansas (BB-33) into New York, and then joined the screen of the Texas (BB-35) for nine days of shore bombardment and other training.

The Thompson then joined the escort of Convoy TJGS-21, heading from Norfolk to North Africa. The convoy departed on 15 October, and the Thompson was released from escort duty on 31 October and ordered to Casablanca. One week into November she joined DesDev 36 to help escort westbound convoy GUS-20 to New York, arriving on 24 November. The Thompson then underwent voyage repairs in the New York Navy Yard.

On 5 December she left for Casco Bay, and on 7 December she and the Baldwin (DD-624) screened the New Jersey (BB-62) during the battleship’s high speed trial runs and turning trials. On the night of 7-8 December all three ships carried out night illumination and spotting practice, before the New Jersey carried out more speed and turning trials on 8 December.

On 14 December the Thompson left Norfolk to escort Convoy UGS-27, heading for North Africa. On 27 December she carried out a depth charge attack on something described in her log as ‘a questionable target’.

1944

The convoy reached Casablanca on 3 January 1944. The Thompson and the other escorts were then assigned to the returning convoy GUS-27, which reached Norfolk on 24 January 1944.

On 3-7 March she helped escort the cruisers Miami and Quincy from Trinidad to Norfolk. From 18-24 March she made another round trip to Trinidad. She then operated along the US east coast until mid-April.

On 18 April the Thompson, Baldwin, Tuscaloosa (CA-37), Arkansas and Nevada (BB-36) left the US to cross the Atlantic to join the forces being gathered for Operation Overlord. They reached Plymouth on 28 April 1944.

Over the next month the Thompson took part in an intense training programme. On 4 May she took part in Landing Exercise ‘Fabius’. On 9 May she took part in shore bombardment practice at Slapton Sands. On 13 May it was anti-aircraft practice off Ailsa Craig, Scotland. On 16 May it was divisional tactics and more bombardment exercises off the Irish Coast. On 17 April the Thompson with the rest of DesDiv 36 and the battleships Nevada and Texas carried out exercises off the Irish coast. On 19 April the routine was broken by a visit from General Dwight D. Eisenhower. On 20-22 April she took part in anti E-boat exercises, including night exercises with star shells and illumation tactics. More shore bombardment training followed, before she departed for Portland, arriving on 27 April. On 28 April Heinkel He 111s attacked Portland, dropping mines in the harbour. The powerful naval forces present at the time weren’t allowed to open fire, in order to hide their presence from the Germans.

On 5 June the Thompson joined Task Group 124.7, which formed Convoy O-1, heading for Omaha Beach.

On the night of 5-6 June she helped escort the British Minesweeping Flotilla 4 across the Channel. Once that role was over she joined TG 124.9, with the task of supporting the fighting at the western end of Omaha Beach, from Pointe de la Percee, across Dog Beaches to Easy Green Beach. The difficulties of naval gunfire is well illustrated by an early entry in her action report – at 0716 she opened fire at a field gun firing from Pointe de la Percee, and she didn’t cease fire until 0755 when the target was reported as being destroyed, after 40 minutes of naval gunfire. After this initial period of fire the destroyers were under orders to hold their fire, to avoid hitting American troops on the beach.

At some point during the morning the Thompson fired on three "Wurzburg" radar antennae near Charlie beach, destroying them. 

When it became clear that the troops on the beach were struggling, the destroyers opened fire once again. At 1043 she fired on a building behind the beach, which exploded, triggering a series of explosions that ran towards the beach, making her captain suspect an ammo dump had been hit.

The Thompson entered the area off the beaches at 1100. From 1151-1155 she opened fire on a suspected fortified house at East Red Beach, with unknown results. At 1155 320mm rocket launchers were observed from a road junction behind Easy Red beach. The Thompson fired thirty rounds at them between 1155 and 1213 and silenced the target. She then moved west towards the Vierville draw, the exit from Dog Green beach, to help troops stuck there. From 1223-1250 she fired on the houses and other structures commanding Dog Green Exit, with ‘indeterminate’ effect. At 1311 she established contact with her Shore Fire Control Party and was ordered to stand by. She stopped off Dog Green beach.

She reported firing again later in the day. At 1812 she fired at a church concealed in a gully behind Easy Red beach (at St. Laurent). From 1822-27 she fired at a building with a red roof to the right of Vierville church, stopping after it blew up. From 1836-48 she fired on a slot in the Pointe de la Percee cliff face, stopping after it collapsed.

At 1839 she was ordered to swap places with USS Satterlee, which had been supporting the Rangers fighting on Pointe du Hoc, playing a vital role in fighting off a number of German counter-attacks.

At 1930 she received a visual message from the Rangers asking for a boat to evacuate the wounded, and passed the message onto the commander of Task Force 124.

At 1954 she opened fire on the Chateau de M. le Baron, which was believed to be being used as a fortified house. The first salvo was a direct hit and the house destroyed.

At 2030 she fired on a pillbox at the order of her Shore Fire Control Party but without effect. At 2033 she moved her fire to a pillbox on Pointe du Hoc with more impact.

At 2230 the Rangers on Pointe du Hoc communicated the coordinates of seven possible targets so that they could use a simple light code to request a night time bombardment of any of them.

This proved to be a sensible plan. From 0440 on D+1 the Thompson had to respond to a series of calls for fire from the Rangers, until by 0600 she was almost out of ammo and had to be replaced by the Harding. The Thompson had to return to Portland to replenish.

On 8 June the Thompson and Satterlee returned to Omaha Beach. On the evening of 9 June she helped fight off an attack by E-boats. Early on 10 June the Luftwaffe attacked, and the Thompson suffered a near miss at about 0400 and claimed one victory.

At 0100 on 11 June another E-boat attack began. The Thompson fired star-shells, which revealed the E-boats and allowed the British steam gunboats Grey Goose and Grey Wolf to fight them off.

During the afternoon of 11 June the Thompson was ordered back to Portsmouth, and early on 12 June picked up a very high powered party, made up of Admiral Ernest J. King, General Dwight D. Eisenhower, General George C. Marshall, and General Henry H. Arnold. She carried this group across to Omaha Beach, where they lunched with Generals Gerow and Bradley before the Thompson took them back to Portsmouth.

The Thompson continued to operate off Normandy throughout June. At one point she was used to transport Rear Admiral Alan G. Kirk, the Naval Commander, Western Task Forces, on a visit to Cherbourg. She also carried General Eisenhower a second time.

She was then chosen to join the forces being sent to the Mediterranean to support the invasion of the South of France. She left on 24 July, and reached Bizerte on 28 July. She was at Naples on 6 August where she joined the invasion force for Operation Dragoon. She formed part of Convoy SF-1 and served in the screen and on offshore patrols duties from 15-21 August. She spent 28 August-1 September on tender availability before returning to the South of France where she remained on 18 September.

On 18 September she departed for Mers-El-Kebir, at the start of a trip back to the US. She arrived at the start of October and spent the month on yard availability. She spent the rest of 1944 operating along the US east coast.

1945

From 3 January-20 January 1945 the Thompson escorted Convoy UGS-66 from the US to Mers-el-Kebir. On 1 February she left North Africa with Convoy GUS-68, reaching New York on 13 February, then escorting part of the convoy on to Boston. On 15 February she began a ten day spell in the Boston Navy Yard.

From 1-12 March she escorted Convoy UGF-21 to North Africa.

On 7 April she departed the US as part of the escort of Convoy UGS-85, again heading for North Africa.

USS Thompson (DMS-38) in South Carolina, 1945

It was then decided to turn the Thompson into a fast minesweeper for use in the Pacific. On 30 May she was redesignated as DMS-38. The conversion work took from 5-29 June. She then carried out minesweeping exercises in Chesapeake Bay.

On 1 August she left Virginia heading to the Pacific. She reached the Canal Zone on 7 August, and was heading north to California on 14 August when news arrived of the Japanese surrender. She reached San Diego on 18 August.

She crossed the Pacific in September, reaching Pearl Harbor on 8 September, Eniwetok on 21 September and Buckner Bay on 28 September. She arrived at Buckner just in time to take on fuel and get out of the way of a typhoon. She returned just as a second typhoon arrived, hitting Okinawa on 9 October. The Thompson avoided this typhoon, but on 10 October her division (Mine Division 61) formed a scouting line as they returned to Buckner Bay, looking for anyone in the sea in the aftermath.

On 16 October the Thompson and her division left Buckner Bay to head for area ‘Rickshaw’, in the Yellow Sea. They found their first mines on 17 October, floating loose in the ocean and destroyed them with gunfire. The division reached ‘Rickshaw’ on 19 October. On the following day the Thompson swept her first mine, and by the time the area had been cleared on 17 November she had destroyed 64 mines.

The Thompson then spent a brief time on tender availability at Sasebo, Japan, the base of her division. She then moved to Nagoya to become the flagship of the mine sweeping task group operating in that area. In mid-December this was judged to be complete and she returned to Sasebo. However Japanese waters were still dangerous – in mid December the Minevet (AM-371) was sunk by a mine off Tsushima, and the Thompson took part in the search for survivors.

Post-war

The Thompson spent January-February 1946 in Japanese waters. She then moved to Bikini Atoll to help sweep that area of mines before Operation Crossroads, the atomic bomb tests of July 1946. She returned to the US before the tests took place, moving to San Francisco. She spent two months undergoing an overhaul at Mare Island, then was based at San Francisco until late 1946. She spent six months based at San Francisco.

On 10 February 1947 she departed for China, and spent six months serving with American occupation forces in Chinese waters, before departing for the US in early September and arriving at San Diego on 2 October 1947.

At San Diego she was transferred to Destroyers, Pacific Fleet, after the Pacific Fleet Minecraft command was abolished. She served at San Diego until 29 April 1948, the moved to Mare Island for a two month overhaul. She then returned to San Diego and spent the rest of 1948 training along the US west coast.

In January 1949 Thompson and the rest of Destroyer Division 52 departed for China, but these orders were then cancelled, and they were ordered back, returning to San Diego on 4 February. The Thompson and three fell fast minesweepers then formed Mine Squadron One, and were assigned to the General Line School at Monterey, California. The rest of 1949 was split between Monterey and San Diego.

The first three months of 1950 were spent at San Diego. On 6 April 1950 she departed for Pearl Harbor to undertake a three month overhaul.

Korean War

This was interrupted by the North Korean invasion of South Korean, and the start of the Korean War. The overhaul was completed ahead of schedule and the Thompson returned to San Diego on 20 July to begin a period of intense training that lasted into September.

On 2 October 1950 the Thompson and Carmick (DMS-33) were ordered to move from San Diego to the warzone. They departed on 4 October and reached Pearl Harbor five days later. On the following day they left for Midway, but they were then diverted to patrol off Wake Island while President Truman was meeting with General Douglas MacArthur. The Thompson spent three days off Wake then moved on, reaching Sasebo, Japan on 21-22 October.

The Thompson reached Korean waters as UN forces were advancing north across North Korea. In order to try and improve the supply situation the port of Chinnampo (modern Nampo), on the west coast close to Pyongyang. The Thompson and Carmick joined the minesweeping forces under Commander M.N. Archer, which managed to clear the port in two weeks. The Thompson then spent a week patrolling off the port, before returning to Sasebo for repairs and re-supply.

In early November the Chinese communists joined the war, attacking the advancing UN forces as they got close to the Chinese border. The US forces in the west were forced into a massive retreat, and the Thompson had to return to Chinnampo to support the evacuation of UN troops from the port.  She received the Navy Unit Commendation for escorting troop ships out of the tidal port in often dense fog. She was then used as the harbour control vessel at Inchon, but on 27 December she was ordered to move to Sasebo, where the minesweeping force was being regrouped. Soon afterwards Inchon fell to the Communists.

On 30 December the Thompson, Doyle (DMS-34) and Endicott (DMS-35) left Sasebo and spent the next three weeks carrying out minesweeping off the east coast of Korea, to allow other ships to perform fire support missions for the troops fighting on land.

At the end of January 1951 she returned to Sasebo for repairs, including a period in dry dock. In mid-February she was sent to join the forces about to start the lengthy blockade of Wonsan, the major North Korean port on the east coast. She also operated further north along the coast, sweeping seven mines off Songjin (modern Kimch’aek), and later served in the screen of the Missouri (BB-63) and Manchester (CL-83) during shore bombardment duties in the same area. 

Now using Wonsan, Korea, as a base, she operated to the northward, eventually sweeping Kyoto Wan deep, BO miles south of the Manchurian border. While sweeping off the key railway nexus of Songjin, Thompson ran across a new minefield and cut seven mines as she passed through on her sweep. Later, she operated in the screen for Missouri (BB-63) and Manchester (CL-83), while they operated in that area on shore bombardment duties. She destroyed two railway bridges with gunfire at somewhere named as ‘Chuuron Jang’ (modern name unclear), and sank six North Korean boats north of Songjin. After a month of these duties she returned to Sasebo for upkeep.

She returned to the east coast from 1 April-3 November, largely on shore bombardment duties. During this period she targeted communist defences, supply lines and troop concentrations.

On 14 June 1951 she was hit by return fire. She had destroyed another railway bridge near Songjin and her commander had perhaps become overconfident. At the time the Thompson had closed to within 40mm range of the shore and slowed to find targets. Four enemy guns were wheeled out and opened fire, scoring thirteen hits before the Thompson got out of range. One shell hit the bridge and knocked out the ship’s fire control gear. Three men were killed and three wounded. She claimed to have knocked out one enemy gun and damaged another before retiring.

On 3 November 1951 she left Korean waters, and reached San Diego on 20 November. She then moved to Mare Island for an overhaul, followed by a period of post-repair trials. She spent the rest of 1951 and the first half of 1952 in US waters.

On 23 June 1952 she left San Diego heading for Korea. She reached Yokosuka, Japan, on 18 July and joined the forces off Songjin on 11 August 1952. By this point the US forces had enough dedicated mine sweepers, so she was no longer needed in that role, and instead was able to focus on her original destroyer role. However the enemy coast was now much better defended, with more guns, and better accuracy. On 20 August, only her tenth day off the coast, she was hit by Chinese gunfire while operating off Songjin. One shell hit the flying bridge, killing four and wounding nine. The enemy guns were well hidden, giving the Thompson no obvious targets. She withdrew from the coast and passed her casualties over to the Iowa (BB-64).

The Thompson returned to Sasebo on 25 August for repairs. She was back with the forces off Songjin from 13 September-12 October 1952, and was also used to patrol further north along the Korean Coast.

From 3 November-1 December 1952 the Thompson operated with the forces blockading Wonsan. She was fired on by enemy guns at least four times, and was hit once, on 20 November, when she was fired on from three locations at once. She was hit amidships on the starboard side and eventually had to retire to Yokosuka for repairs. She spent Christmas in Japan, but was back off Songjin by 1 January 1953. She made two more visits to Songjin between then and February, when she departed for the US with the Carmick. She reached San Diego on 14 March 1953.

Post-Korea

This ended her active military career. In June 1953 she played the role of USS Caine, in the Columbia Move Studio adaptation of the novel The Caine Mutiny. She was also used as the model for a number for sets built on shore. She took part in two exercises in late September 1953, before on 1 December she reported to the Pacific Reserve Fleet.

She was placed into the reserve on 18 May 1954. On 15 July 1955 she was reclassified as a destroyer and reverted to her DD-627 designation. She was struck off on 1 July 1971 and sold for scrap on 7 August.

The Thompson received three battle stars for the Second World War, for Normandy, the South of France and Pacific Minesweeping. She was awarded seven battlestars and the Navy Unit Commendation for the Korean War. 

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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