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U.S. Navy - A Brief History of Destroyers

The Destroyer

A Brief History of U.S. Navy Destroyers
Part II -- World War II (1944-1945)

Sources:
American Naval History, 1984
Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships

All images below are hyperlinked to larger images for better viewing. All images are official Navy photographs.

picture, caption follows Jan. 3, 1944 - USS Turner (DD 648) sank in Ambrose Channel, New York, with 100 sailors on board following an internal explosion .
picture, caption follows June 8, 1944 - Following D-Day, destroyers USS Glennon (DD 620) and USS Meredith (DD 726) sank after hitting German mines off the Normandy coast.
picture, caption follows Oct. 25, 1944 - Destroyers USS Hoel (DD 533), USS Johnston (DD 557), and escort USS Samuel B. Roberts (DE 413) sank during a raid against enemy battleships off the island of Samur. Only 86 of Hoel's complement survived while 253 officers and crew died with their ship.
picture, caption follows Dec. 2-3, 1944 - Destroyers USS Allen M. Sumner (DD 692), USS Cooper(DD 695) and the USS Moale (DD 693) attacked a Japanese convoy landing reinforcements at Ormoc Bay on Leyte. The destroyers were attacked by land bombardment locations but was able to sink the Kuwa, a Japanese destroyer. USS Cooper took a torpedo hit and sank with 191 sailors.
picture, caption follows Dec.18, 1944 - USS Hull (DD 350), USS Monaghan (DD 354), and USS Spence (DD 512) capsized during a typhoon off the Philippine coast. More than 765 men drown as a result of the storm. Adm. Halsey faced a court of inquiry regarding the matter and was found to be principally responsible for failing not to get the ships out of the typhoon path.
picture, caption follows April 6, 1945 - USS Bush (DD 529), USS Colhoun (DD 801) and other vessels sank after Japanese kamikazes attacked them off the coast of Okinawa. Both the Bush and Colhoun shot down several Japanese planes during the attack.
picture, caption follows Apr. 12-13, 1945 - USS Mannert L Abele (DD 733) sank after being attacked by Kamikaze planes while other fighters and torpedo bombers attacked the fleet off Okinawa.
picture, caption follows Apr. 16, 1945 - USS Pringle (DD 477) sank and USS Laffey (DD 724) was heavily damaged by six aircraft and four bombs during a kamikaze attack off of Okinawa. Laffey had all of her gun turrets destroyed and lost 103 men during the attack.
picture, caption follows May 3-4, 1945 - USS Little (DD 803), USS Luce (DD 522) and the USS Morrison (DD 560) sank after a kamikaze attack of 124 planes off of Okinawa. Little received two battle stars for World War II service.