USS Luce (DD-522)
 | InsertAltTextHere |
InsertCaptionHere | | Career | |
|---|
| Ordered: | |
| Laid down: | 24 August 1942 |
| Launched: | 6 March 1943 |
| Commissioned: | 21 June 1943 |
| Decommissioned: | |
| Struck: | |
| Fate: | Sunk in action, 4 May 1945 |
| General Characteristics |
|---|
| Displacement: | 2,050 tons |
| Length: | 376 ft 6 in (114.7 m) |
| Beam: | 39 ft 4 in (12.1 m) |
| Draft: | 13 ft 9 in (5.4 m) |
| Propulsion: | 60,000 shp (45 MW);
2 propellers |
| Speed: | 36 knots (66 km/h) |
| Range: | 6500 nmi. (12,000 km)
@ 15 kt |
| Complement: | 329 |
| Armament: | 5 × 5 in./38 guns (127 mm),
10 × 40 mm AA guns,
7 × 20 mm AA guns,
8 × 21 in. torpedo tubes,
6 × depth charge projectors,
2 × depth charge tracks |
| Motto: |
USS Luce (DD-522), a
Fletcher-class destroyer, was the second ship of the
United States Navy to be named for Rear Admiral
Stephen B. Luce (
1827–
1917).
Luce was laid down by
Bethlehem Steel Co.,
Staten Island,
N.Y.,
24 August 1942;
launched 6 March 1943, sponsored by Mrs. Stephen B. Luce, Jr., wife of Rear Adm. Stephen B. Luce's grandson; and
commissioned 21 June 1943, Commander D. C. Varian in command.
Luce departed
New York 5 September 1943 and arrived
Bremerton, Wash.,
28 October after visiting
Trinidad and
San Diego en route. She departed
1 November for
Pearl Harbor as plane guard for
Enterprise (CV-6), and conducted gunnery training exercises in the
Hawaiians until
24 November. She then steamed to
Adak Island,
Alaska, and from
30 November 1943 to
8 August 1944 engaged in patrol and
ASW duties off
Attu Island. This duty was interrupted
1 February 1944 when she sailed from
Massacre Bay, Attu, to participate in the 3 to
4 February bombardment of
Paramushiru,
Kurile Islands, with Task Force 94 (TF 94) of the Northern Pacific Force. Completely surprising the enemy, the attack was successful;
Luce destroyed a 2,000-ton enemy freighter in the action. She returned to Attu
4 February and resumed patrol. On
13 June Luce, with TF 94, bombarded
Matsuwa, Kurile Islands, and
26 June attacked Paramushiru a second time. On
8 August the ship departed for
San Francisco and returned to Pearl Harbor
31 August.
As a unit of the Southern Attack Force, TF 79,
Luce sortied from
Manus,
Admiralty Islands,
11 October. During the
assault on Leyte 20 to
23 October, she patrolled outside the
LST-transport areas providing air cover. Between
1 November and
12 December,
Luce sailed from Manus to New Guinea on escort and ASW patrols, and from 12 to
27 December supported the
Huon Gulf,
New Guinea, landing operations. On
27 December she got underway to screen transports for the
Lingayen Gulf attack and landings.
She arrived in the operating area
9 January 1945 screening LSTs and transports of TF 78. She fended off all enemy attackers and succeeded in shooting down one on the 11th. In company with 40 other ships,
Luce departed
11 January and fought her way victoriously to
San Pedro Bay 16 January. The ship patrolled this area until
25 January when she departed for the assault on
San Antonio,
San Felipe area,
Luzon. This operation was unopposed, and
Luce sailed for
Mindoro 30 January. From
2 February to
24 March she escorted resupply convoys between
Subic Bay and San Pedro Bay.
On
24 March she departed
Leyte escorting and screening units of TF 51 which landed heavy
artillery on
Kelse Shima for the support of the
main landings on
Okinawa. She was detached from this duty
1 April and assigned
radar picket duty off
Kerama Retto. About 07:40,
4 May,
Japanese
suicide planes were intercepted by the combat air patrol in the vicinity of
Luce. Two enemy planes avoided the interceptors and attacked her from the portside.
Luce shot down one, but the explosion from the bomb it carried caused a power failure. Unable to bring her guns to bear in time, she was struck in the after section by the second kamikaze. The port engine was knocked out, engineering spaces flooded, and the rudder jammed. At 08:14
Luce took a heavy list to starboard and the order to abandon ship was passed. Moments later she slid beneath the surface in a violent explosion carrying 126 of her 312 officers and men with her.
Luce received five
battle stars for
World War II service.
See
USS Luce for other ships of the same name.
*
history.navy.mil: USS Luce*
navsource.org: USS Luce*
hazegray.org: USS Luce
