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Log Books of the United States Navy, 19th and 20th Centuries USS Edwards General description, specifications and time line |
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USS Edwards during her shakedown 1942 (USNH&HC Photo, click images to enlarge) |
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(Named for Lt.Cdr. Walter A. Edwards, USN, (1886-1928) Medal of Honor recipient)
Type and Characteristics - Destroyer Gleaves-class DD619, built by Federal Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Co.; displacement 1,630 tons; length 348'4"; beam 36'1"; draft 17'5"; speed 37 k.; crew 270; armament 4 × 5 in (130 mm)/38 cal dual purpose guns, 6 × .50 in (12.7 mm) machine guns, 6 × 20 mm (0.79 in) anti-aircraft autocannons, 10 × 21 in (530 mm) torpedo tubes, 6 × depth charge projectors, 2 × depth charge tracks.
Log Period and Areas of Service - 1942-46, Atlantic, Guadalcanal, Aleutians, western Pacific and the Philippines.
Summary of Service
[Note: Edwards (DD-619) earned 14 battle stars during World War II. A more extensive accounting is at DANFS.]
19 July 1942 - Launched and sponsored by Mrs. Edward Brayton, widow of Lieutenant Commander Edwards.
18 September 1942 - Commissioned, Lieutenant Commander W. L. Messmer in command, and served escorting convoys along the east coast and in the Caribbean.
8 November 1942 - Sailed from New York to join TF.18 of the Pacific Fleet.
4 January 1943 - Covered a convoy bound for Guadalcanal.
29 January 1943 - Convoy was attacked by Japanese torpedo bombers, sinking USS Chicago and damaging another destroyer. Edwards rescued 224 of the 1,049 survivors.
15 April 1943 - Set sail for the Aleutians. She saw action in April, May, June and August.
October 1943 - She returned to Espiritu Santo, Vanuatu, supporting several actions.
3 March 1944 - She arrived in the Marshall Islands, screening strikes and patrolling.
12 May 1944 - Edwards' destroyer division formed the Eastern Marshalls Patrol Group.
30 October 1944 - She arrived at San Pedro Bay, Leyte, for patrol. She remained in the Philippines, shepherding supply convoys.
16 September 1945 - She set sail for the states.
11 April 1946 - She was placed out of commission in the Charleston, S.C, Reserve.
Fate - Decommissioned 11 April 1946 and placed in reserve, stricken from the Navy Register on 1 July 1971, sold on 25 May 1973 and broken up for scrap.
Launching, at the Federal Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company shipyard, Kearny, New Jersey, on 19 July 1942 (Courtesy of Donald M. McPherson) |
At Port Newark, New Jersey, on 27 October 1942 or 27 October 1945, with a large crowd on board and nearby for Navy Day ceremonies |
A general note on the sources.