They were the heroic men and ships of the Navy’s most decorated destroyer squadron.
Commander Donald J. MacDonald gained valuable experience in London during the German aerial blitz of that city. He utilized what he learned in commanding the USS O’Bannon, earning two Navy Crosses and three Silver Stars for his exemplary leadership. (National Archives)
The USS O’Bannon (DD-450) became one of the Pacific war’s most heralded destroyers. The ship and crew participated in numerous operations from late 1942 until the war’s end, miraculously emerging without suffering a single casualty. In honor of their superb work in the Solomons for more than a year, MacDonald and the crew earned a Presidential Unit Citation. She is seen here in July 1943 retrieving a pilot while her squadron sister ship, USS Chevalier (DD-451), operates in the background. (National Archives)
The USS Nicholas (DD-449), here pictured while conducting trials off the coast of Maine in spring 1942, was one of the first Fletcher-class destroyers to reach the Solomons. She earned a Presidential Unit Citation in July 1943 for rescuing survivors of the cruiser USS Helena (CL-50). (National Archives)
The USS Fletcher (DD-445), operating with O’Bannon and Nicholas, helped Admiral William F. Halsey’s overtaxed forces hold off the Japanese in the Solomons until help arrived. (National Archives)
Admiral William F. Halsey’s affection for destroyers lasted his entire career. Deficient in aircraft carriers and battleships, in late 1942 and early 1943 the aggressive commander relied on O’Bannon, Nicholas, Fletcher, and other tin cans to check the Japanese and turn the tide in the Solomons. (National Archives)
One of the first promises Halsey (left) made when he assumed command in the South Pacific was to rush ships, including O’Bannon, Nicholas, and Fletcher, and reinforcements to Major General Alexander A. Vandegrift (right), the commander of the Marines battling on Guadalcanal. (U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command)
Rear Admiral Daniel J. Callaghan sacrificed his life while commanding O’Bannon, Fletcher, and other surface units during the momentous Naval Battle of Guadalcanal in mid-November 1942. (National Archives)
Captain Francis X. McInerney, the first commodore to lead Destroyer Squadron 21 into action, sits next to Lieutenant Commander Andrew J. Hill of the Nicholas on the bridge of that destroyer. (National Archives)
Taken from the Fletcher, this April 1943 photograph shows ships in Tulagi Harbor across Ironbottom Sound from Guadalcanal, which along with nearby Purvis Bay served as a home base for the ships of Destroyer Squadron 21 in 1943. (U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command)
The USS Fletcher at anchor in Purvis Bay in March 1943. Combined with Tulagi, the sheltered harbors provided brief respites from the destroyers’ frequent runs up the Slot. (U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command)
Taken from the Nicholas, this August 1943 photograph shows three Desron 21 destroyers—O’Bannon in the lead, followed by Chevalier and Taylor—en route to Tulagi from a run up the Slot. (U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command)
The USS Taylor (DD-468) arrived in the Solomons in January 1943, after which the ship and crew participated in operations leading to the war’s final day in Tokyo Bay. (U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command)
Also arriving in the Solomons in January 1943, the USS Jenkins (DD-447) remained in the Pacific until striking a mine off Tarakan Island in April 1945. (U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command)
Another January 1943 arrival to the Solomons, the USS Radford (DD-446) received a Presidential Unit Citation for rescuing survivors of the cruiser USS Helena (CL-50) in Kula Gulf in July 1943. She also operated off New Guinea and the Philippines before leaving for the United States after being damaged by a mine off Corregidor in February 1945. (U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command)
The final January 1943 arrival in the Solomons, the USS Strong (DD-467) mounted numerous missions up the Slot with her squadron mates before being sunk in July 1943. (National Archives)
The USS Chevalier (DD-451) had only been in the Solomons a brief time when the ship participated in the Battle of Rennell Island. She remained with Desron 21 until October 1943, when a Japanese torpedo sank the ship. (National Archives)
The 1943 runs up the Slot placed Desron 21 destroyers in frequent contact with the Japanese. Their missions included antisubmarine patrols, escorting supply and troop ships, antiaircraft engagements, and bombardments of Japanese land positions. This photograph, taken from the USS Nicholas, shows U.S. cruisers and destroyers hitting targets at Vila airfield on Kolombangara Island in May 1943. (National Archives)
The USS De Haven (DD-469) had the briefest time in the Solomons, being sunk by Japanese air attacks less than two months after she arrived. In this photograph, taken the day before she was sunk, the ship is steaming north of Savo Island. (National Archives)
Desron 21 destroyers often headed into the Slot together on various missions. This July 1943 photograph, taken from O’Bannon, shows Nicholas being followed by Jenkins and Radford as the four destroyers escort the cruisers St. Louis (CL-49) and Honolulu (CL-48). (National Archives)
The Nicholas earned a Presidential Unit Citation for rescuing survivors of the USS Helena (CL-50) after the July 5–6, 1943, Battle of Kula Gulf. Men from the cruiser, heavily coated with oil, received clothing and food from the Nicholas crew. (National Archives)
Hugh Miller’s outstanding play for the University of Alabama football squad helped lead them to a national title. He is shown here in a photograph taken during his high school days. (Courtesy of Fitzhugh Miller)
Lieutenant Hugh Miller poses for a photograph following his lengthy island ordeal. He still sports the beard he grew while stranded on Arundel Island. (Courtesy of Fitzhugh Miller)
Eleanor Roosevelt, who was then on a lengthy tour of Pacific bases, congratulates Hugh Miller (middle) after awarding him his Navy Cross. Admiral Halsey looks on. (Courtesy of Fitzhugh Miller)
Lieutenant Hugh Miller’s odyssey while stranded on a Pacific island with Japanese forces became the subject of a popular postwar comic book. (From Government Comics Collection, University of Nebraska’s Image and Multimedia Collections)
Seaman 2/c Jacob Thomas Chesnutt Jr. of the Fletcher with Yeoman Ray Allen at Fiji in 1943. Chesnutt’s diary illuminated much of what the ship and crew experienced in the Solomons and after. (From the Thomas Chesnutt Collection)
Crew from the Nicholas captured two Japanese survivors, here wearing United States Navy uniforms after their rescue from the light cruiser Jintsu, sunk in the July 1943 Battle of Kolombangara. Most Japanese preferred to swim away from American efforts to pluck them from the waters. (National Archives)
The major surface engagements in Kula Gulf saw Desron 21 destroyers using their main batteries against Japanese cruisers and destroyers. The Nicholas fires her guns in this August 1943 encounter. (National Archives)
Commander MacDonald’s gray-flecked hair shows the effects of serving for more than one year in the Solomons. One of the most decorated naval heroes of the war, he capably guided O’Bannon through many actions. (National Archives)
Commander MacDonald (left) shakes the hand of Captain Thomas J. Ryan, Desron 21 Commander, as MacDonald receives a Navy Cross for his actions in the Slot. (National Archives)
MacDonald’s successor as skipper of O’Bannon, Commander R. W. Smith (left), receives congratulations from Rear Admiral Daniel E. Barbey after the O’Bannon was awarded a Presidential Unit Citation. (National Archives)
Desron 21’s operations off the coast of New Guinea mainly centered on supporting the landing waves and support ships during the assault and providing gunfire support to land forces afterward. In this photograph, ships bombard Japanese positions at Humboldt Bay, New Guinea, on April 22, 1944, as landing craft take infantry shoreward. (National Archives)
Desron 21’s operations in the Philippines mirrored much of what the squadron conducted off New Guinea, but with the added peril of fending off kamikaze aircraft. During the squadron’s activities at Mindoro
on December 15, 1944, the same day that kamikazes barely missed hitting Doc Ransom’s La Vallette and Orvill Raines’s Howorth, other suicide aircraft smashed into LSTs, as pictured here. (National Archives)
The January 1945 landings at Lingayen Gulf attracted more kamikazes. In this photo, a suicide plane approaches the cruiser USS Louisville (CA-28) with a nearby destroyer providing antiaircraft fire. In the Philippines, Desron 21 crews had to be continuously on watch, as kamikazes could appear at any moment. (National Archives)
The USS Hopewell (DD-681), which joined Desron 21 in October 1943 as a replacement for the sunken Strong, was herself damaged while supporting operations off Corregidor on February 14, 1945. Smoke billows amidships after a hit that day from a Japanese shore battery shell. (U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command)
Damage to the USS Hopewell (DD-681), caused by a Japanese shore battery shell, is seen in the numerous holes puncturing the destroyer. (U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command)
The USS La Vallette (DD-448) arrived in the South Pacific in January 1943. After engaging in much action along New Guinea and the Philippines, the ship was damaged by a mine on February 14, 1945, while operating off Corregidor. (U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command)
Lieutenant Dow H. “Doc” Ransom Jr., ship’s doctor aboard La Vallette, was beloved by his shipmates during the war and by his civilian patients afterward. His sense of humor and dedicated care made him one of the most popular members aboard the destroyer. (From the Dow Ransom Collection)
Crew from the La Vallette dip Doc Ransom into the water as he transfers from one ship to his destroyer via a breeches buoy. Ransom enjoyed the prank pulled on him by the enlisted, who knew the officer would view the moment as the fun event it was meant to be. (From the Dow Ransom Collection)
Elmer Charles Bigelow’s actions off Corregidor on February 14, 1945, helped save Fletcher from sustaining irreparable damage. In sacrificing his life to extinguish fires that threatened to ignite an ammunition magazine explosion, Bigelow was awarded a posthumous Medal of Honor. (U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command)
Orvill Raines encountered kamikazes in the Philippines and at Okinawa aboard the USS Howorth (DD-592). (Courtesy of Meredith McComb, Destroyer History Foundation)
With crew of the Nicholas watching from on deck, the Japanese destroyer Hatsuzakura brings out naval officers and harbor pilots to conduct Halsey’s Third Fleet into Sagami Wan, just outside Tokyo Bay. (National Archives)
Two Nicholas officers confiscate a sword brought aboard the ship by a Japanese naval officer assigned to help pilot the Third Fleet into Sagami Wan. (National Archives)
Various ships of Halsey’s Third Fleet, including O’Bannon, Nicholas, and Taylor, are anchored in Sagami Wan shortly before the surrender ceremonies. In the background, the sun sets behind Mount Fuji. (National Archives)
Members of the Japanese delegation come aboard the Nicholas prior to the surrender ceremonies. (National Archives)
Nicholas officers inspect briefcases brought aboard the destroyer by Japanese officers assigned to the surrender delegation. (National Archives)
At age seventeen, Seaman 1/c Robert Whisler was the youngest member of the crew aboard O’Bannon. (From the Robert Whisler Collection)
Robert Whisler in 2015, in his Gladwin, Michigan, home enjoying retirement with his wife, Lucille. (From the Robert Whisler Collection)
CHRONOLOGY
1942
September: O’Bannon, Nicholas, and Fletcher arrive in the South Pacific
November: North Africa landings
November 12–15: Naval Battle of Guadalcanal
November 12, 1942–January 19, 1943: Seizure of Guadalcanal
November 30–December 1: Battle of Tassafaronga
December: De Haven arrives in the South Pacific
1943
January: Taylor, Jenkins, Radford, La Vallette, and Strong arrive in the South Pacific
January: The Cactus Striking Force is formed
January 29–30: Battle of Rennell Island
February: Chevalier arrives in the South Pacific
February 1: De Haven is sunk
March 10: Destroyer Squadron 21 is formed
July 5–6: Battle of Kula Gulf
July 5: Strong is sunk
July 5–August 16: Lieutenant Hugh B. Miller wages his one-man battle with the Japanese
July 12–13: Battle of Kolombangara
August 6: Battle of Vella Gulf
August 15–16: Battle off Horaniu
August 31: Marcus Island raid
October: Hopewell arrives in the South Pacific
October 6: Battle of Vella Lavella
October 6: Chevalier is sunk
November: Operations off the Gilbert Islands
1944
January–March: Operations off the Marshall Islands
April 22: Landings at Aitape
May–June: Operations off Biak
July 2: Landings at Noemfoor
July 27: Landings at Sansapor
August: Howorth arrives in the South Pacific
September 15: Landings at Morotai
October: Operations at Leyte Gulf
December 6–9: Landings at Ormoc
December 12–15: Landings at Mindoro
1945
January 8–9: Landings at Lingayen Gulf
February 13–15: Operations at Corregidor
February 14: La Vallette and Radford are damaged off Corregidor
February–March: Operations off Iwo Jima
April–May: Operations off Borneo
April–June: Operations off Okinawa
April 6: Howorth is damaged by kamikazes
June 18: Jenkins is damaged
July–August: Operations off Japan
August 27: Desron 21 destroyers lead Halsey’s fleet into Tokyo Bay
September 2: Desron 21 destroyers participate in the surrender ceremonies
APPENDIX I
BATTLE STARS AWARDED
BATTLE STARS
O’Bannon
17
Nicholas
16
Fletcher
15
Taylor
15
Jenkins
13
Radford
12
La Vallette
10
Hopewell
9
Howorth
5
Chevalier
3
Strong
2
De Haven
1
CAMPAIGNS EARNING THE BATTLE STARS
USS O’Bannon
1942
Naval Battle of Guadalcanal, November 12–15, 1942
Seizure of Guadalcanal, November 12, 1942–January 19, 1943
1943
Rennell Island, January 29–30, 1943
Actions in the southern Solomons, March–June 1943
Antisubmarine actions, April 4, 1943
New Georgia operations, including the Battles of Kula Gulf, July–October 1943
1944
Hollandia operations, April–May 1944
Escort and antisubmarine operations with Task Group 30.4, May–June 1944
Western New Guinea landings, June–September 1944
Leyte operations, October–December 1944
Luzon operations, December 1944–January 1945
1945
Antisubmarine actions, January 31, 1945
Operations in the southern Philippines, February–March 1945
Manila Bay operations, April 1945
Borneo operations, April–May 1945
Okinawa operations, May–June 1945
Operations off Japan, July–August 1945
USS Nicholas
1942
Seizure of Guadalcanal, November 12, 1942–January 19, 1943
1943
Actions in the southern Solomons, March–June 1943
New Georgia operations, including the Battles of Ku
la Gulf, July–October 1943
Gilbert Islands assault, November 1943
1944
Antisubmarine actions, February 17, 1944
Hollandia operations, April–May 1944
Escort and antisubmarine operations with Task Group 30.4, May–June 1944
Western New Guinea landings, June–September 1944
Leyte operations, October–December 1944
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