Kearny depa rred Reykj avik on C hristmas D ay in com p any with Task Force 19 for permanent repairs ar Bosron Navy Yard. In April 1942 rh e destroye r rerurn ed ro the fl eet, where sh e served with distin crion in borh rh e Arlantic and Pacific unti l he r deco mmiss io ning in 1946. Less rhan two weeks afrer th e Kearny arrac k, USS Salinas (A0- 19), an old armed ta nker first co mmiss ioned in 1921 , was proceedin g from Iceland to N ewfoundland wirh co nvoy ON-28. Salinas had discharged he r ca rgo of perroleum products in Reuben J am es was one of the 273 Clemson-class destroyers built for the US Navy between 191 7 and 1922. Properly known as flush-deckers because oftheir unbroken main deck, these Iceland and was remrning in ballasr rid ing ships were commonly called four-p ipers for their typical four smokestacks. The Clemson class light in rh e water. Tankers we re normally had a length ofapproximately 3 14 feet, with a narrow beam ofslightly over 31 feet. Normal srarion ed d ee p in th e middle of co nvoys for displacement was about 1, 190 tons, resulting in a relatively shallow draft of under 10 feet. max imum prorecrio n, bur because Salinas Design speed ofthese destroyers was 35 knots and they carried a peacetime crew ofsix officers was steaming with sea wate r ballasr, she was and 89 men. Standard armament includedfour 4-inch guns, one 3-inch gun and twelve 2 f- srarion ed as th e last ship in the outboard port column , th e dan gerous "windy co rinch torpedo tubes arranged in four triple mounts. ner. " Jusr after 0500 in the ea rl y morning arrack U-boars in rhe Arlanri c. ships were a significanr improvemenr over of 3 0 Ocrober, Salinas was stru ck on her Unril his ill-fared invasion of Russia in rh e WWI-era four-pipers. po rt side by two to rpedoes fired by U- 106. June 194 1, Adolf Hider had rri ed ro keep a Afre r jo inin g convoy SC-48 , Kearny Prompt action by Salinas's watch team , ri ghr leash o n his imparienr U-boar fo rces and th e other fo ur escorts beca me engaged who fl ooded her cargo tanks with fl amerega rdin g arracks o n America n ships. T he in a barrl e aga inst the wolf pack. In pitch smorherin g ca rbo n d iox ide, prevented a German Navy was under stricr o rders ro darkn ess jusr afrer midnighr o n rhe morn- disas rrous fire , and Salinas d amage conrrol avo id incidenrs ar sea wirh rhem. Afre r rh e ing of 17 Ocrober, Kearny became mo- parties worked ex pedit iously and compeRussian campaign was launched , Hid er menraril y silhouerred againsr rh e roaring tenrl y to sho re bu lkh eads and stop flood becam e even more anxious ro delay Ameri- fire from a ro rp edo ed ranker. A lurking ing. By 0 53 0 Salinas stopped serr lin g in the ca n inrerve nrio ns. Afrer Roosevelt issued Ge rman subm arin e, identity sti ll d ebared ocean, but U- 106 returned on the surface his "shoor o n sighr" orders in September, but probably U-568, taking advantage of to sink the crippled tanker. T he subm arine howeve r, H irler racirly loosened his resrri c- this m o mentary illuminatio n, fired rhree laun ched two mo re to rpedo es thar passed rions on German U-boats. While nor di - torpedoes. T he middl e o ne in th e spread j usr ahead of Salinas, whi ch fired in reprisal recrly au rhori zi ng arracks on American ships, struck Kearny amidships o n her starboard ar U- 106 with her five-inch gun aft. Fo urhe ro lerated accidenral U-boat atracks on side, direcr o n rh e forwa rd fire room. Seven piper dest roye r USS D upont (DD- 152) unidenrifi ed vessels in the Germa n wa r men o n warch rhere beca me rh e first Ameri- rh en arrived on the scene and forc ed the zo ne. H e believed rhat ro do orherwise ca ns ro di e in co m bar under their own flag German U- boar ro submerge until Salinas. wo uld mean a weakening of the sea wa r durin g WWI I. Prom pt and effici enr action regained engine power. Ar 0955 Salinas againsr Great Britain, but he refrained from by Kearny's damage co nrrol tea ms saved bega n ro stea m independenrl y roward St. making bell ige renr pronoun cemenrs or is- the ship from sinking. They immediately J ohn 's, Newfo und land , about 700 mil es ro suing provocari ve orders. shored up the weakened bulkh ead between the west. The plucky tanker arrived there on Th e "shoor-o n-s ighr" directive soon th e engine room and forward fire room. 3 November, aft:er exhibiting co mmendable res ul red in an escalation of th e undeclared With in minutes th ey had power resrored damage control perfor mance by her brave, naval wa r ar sea. On 15 Ocrober 194 1 ro rhe port engin e, permitring Kearny ro but inexperienced , crew. Ir was wirh in thi s framework that rh e easrbound co nvoy SC-48, co nsisting of 49 steam slowly away from the co nvoy toward merchanr ships guard ed by o nly four Ca- the west. By the time Kearny limped into ill-fared destroyer USS Reuben Jam es was nadi an co rve rres, came under devas tating port at Reykj av ik harbo r in Iceland just escorting convoy H X- 156 roward Iceland attack by a Ge rman submar in e wolf pack. afre r dawn on 19 Ocrober, casualties among in rhe early morning of 3 1 Ocrober, on ly F ive Amer ica n d es rro ye rs, escorrin g rh e crew rora led 11 dead and 22 wo unded . one d ay after Salinas had been torpedoed wes rbound co nvoy ON-24 nearl y400 miles Damage contro l efforts by Kearny' screw and survived. Pursuin g convoy H X- 156 away, were derached ro assisr SC-48. Among drew admirarion from observers, particu- was U-552, commanded by Lieutenant rhese fi ve was USS Kearny (DD-432) , a larly British nava l officers, who were amazed Erich Topp. Both U-552 and Topp were modern d estroye r jusr pur inro service rh e rhar the desrroye r survived after suffering a barrl e-hardened vetera ns. It was rh e eighth previous year. Kearny was among the first torpedo hir a midships. Afrer receiving a war parrol for th e submarin e and rhe fifof 44 destroye rs in rh e Livermore class remporary hull patch from the newly com - reenth for hier skipper, a daring co mmander co mmiss ion ed durin g 194 0-43. These miss ioned repair ship USS Vulcan (AR-5 ), and one olf rhe few experienced U -boar
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SEA HISlTORY 87, WINTER 1998-99