M14 Forum

GARRARD · January 25th, 2012, 05:47 PM

Quote:

MOUNT PLEASANT, S.C. (AP) — With the blare of air horns, cheers and a champagne toast, "The Ship That Would Not Die" returned Wednesday to its home at a maritime museum on Charleston Harbor on the South Carolina coast.

Just after sunrise, the World War II destroyer USS Laffey was towed slowly down the Cooper River to the Patriots Point Naval and Maritime Museum. It was moved more than two years ago to a dry dock so its hull could be repaired at a cost of about $9 million.

A group of about 50 people, including more than a dozen former crew members, gathered on the flight deck of another World War II vessel, the aircraft carrier USS Yorktown, to welcome the Laffey home.

"This means a lot of years of fighting to get her saved again," said Sonny Walker of Abingdon, Md., who served on the Laffey in the early 1960s. "This is the third time. The Germans tried to sink her. The Japanese tried to sink her and then she tried to sink herself sitting here. She's whipped them all and she's back again."

The Laffey, built at Maine's Bath Iron Works in 1943, got its nickname as "The Ship That Would Not Die" when it was on picket duty off Okinawa in March 1945. About 50 Japanese planes attacked and about half got through to the Laffey. The ship suffered 103 casualties when it was hit by four bombs and five kamikaze planes.

The Laffey is also the only surviving American World War II destroyer that saw action in the Atlantic, where it was part of the D-Day invasion. Now designated a national historic landmark, it was decommissioned in 1975 and brought to Patriots Point in 1981.

http://news.yahoo.com/wwii-destroyer...165711422.html

MARINES84-88 · January 25th, 2012, 05:50 PM

Go navy

ppcshooter1 · January 25th, 2012, 05:53 PM

Very cool!

Marty

Seventh Fleet · January 25th, 2012, 06:09 PM

I well remember reading about the exploits of the USS Laffey DD-724. She did some great work in WW2 and it's a miracle that she survived her ordeal in the Pacific. She will make a grand museum ship.

7th

sixplus1 · January 25th, 2012, 07:56 PM

Woo Hoo! A survivor!

My late father survived the sinking of the William D. Porter DD579 while on picket duty off Okinawa, after which he was out of a job for a while.

dprice3844444 · January 25th, 2012, 08:25 PM

pop was g2 and landed on okinawa

Bravo 26 · January 25th, 2012, 08:28 PM

Nice!!!

gotta go see Her in person. She ( the Laffey) kicked ass all over Europe then gave the japs a taste when she was done with Adolf's boys. one TOUGH ole girl!!

IC2(SS)19Z50C5 · January 25th, 2012, 11:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Seventh Fleet

USS Laffey DD-724, it's a miracle that she survived her ordeal in the Pacific. 7th

Quote:

Originally Posted by sixplus1

Woo Hoo! A survivor!
My late father survived the sinking of the William D. Porter DD579 while on picket duty off Okinawa, after which he was out of a job for a while.

Exactly!!! Both are well documented in Theodore Roscoe’s United States Destroyer Operations in WWII,.

IC2(SS)19Z50C5 · March 4th, 2012, 10:56 AM

Here is another must see if you are ever traveling on Interstate 10 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

http://usskidd.com/

Named after Rear Admiral Isaac Campbell Kidd, Sr., one of the first American naval heroes of World War II. RADM Kidd was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for his bravery during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. He was killed aboard his flagship the U.S.S. ARIZONA (BB-39). At the time, RADM Kidd was Commander Battleship Division ONE and Chief of Staff and Aide to Commander Battleships, Battle Force Pacific Fleet.

The KIDD survived a kamikaze attack which killed every man in the forward fire room. She is a prime example of the FLETCHER class of Tin Cans, the class which won WWII. Destroyers then and now, “The Hunting Dogs of the Sea”, from James D. Hornfischer’s, “ The Last Stand of The Tin Can Sailors”

Seventh Fleet · March 4th, 2012, 05:58 PM

Yep going on board the USS Kidd is definitely on my bucket list when my bride retires in a couple of years. We'll go to Mobile and make a last pilgrimage to the USS Alabama and then the next day cut across I-10 to Baton Rouge and spend the day on board the Kidd...

7th