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DEPARTMENT OF THE NAVY -- NAVAL HISTORICAL CENTER
805 KIDDER BREESE SE -- WASHINGTON NAVY YARD
WASHINGTON DC 20374-5060
Online Library of Selected Images:
-- U.S. NAVY SHIPS --
USS Little (Destroyer # 79, later DD-79 and APD-4),
1918-1942
USS Little, a 1060-ton Wickes class destroyer
built at Quincy, Massachusetts, was commissioned in April 1918.
A month later, she crossed the Atlantic to take up wartime convoy
operations out of Brest, France. She continued with this mission
until after the Armistice, returning to the United States at the
end of 1918. Little served along the east coast until November
1919 and, after a year in reserve, resumed active duty in the
same area until July 1922, when she was decommissioned, the beginning
of eighteen years in "red-lead row" at the Philadelphia
Navy Yard.
In 1940, Little was converted to a high-speed transport,
with the new hull number APD-4. She recommissioned in November
1940 and spent more than a year in amphibious exercises in the
Caribbean, off the California coast and along the eastern seaboard.
She was transferred to the Pacific Fleet in early 1942 and was
sent to the south Pacific in July of that year.
On 7-9 August 1942, Little took part in the first major
Allied offensive of the Pacific War, the operation to seize Japanese
facilities on Guadalcanal and Tulagi islands. She remained in
the Southern Solomons area for the next month, providing valuable
transport services to the Marines fighting on Guadalcanal. She
was patrolling off Guadalcanal's Lunga Point with USS Gregory
(APD-3) on the night of 4-5 September 1942 when the two old
ships were attacked by a force of three Japanese destroyers. Overwhelmed
by greatly superior enemy gun power, USS Little was quickly
put out of action and sank soon afterwards.
In July 1992 a expedition searching the sea floor of Iron Bottom
Sound, the historic body of water between Guadalcanal and Tulagi,
found and examined a sunken U.S. Navy high-speed transport some
miles off Lunga Point. While the identity of this ship could not
be conclusively determined, she is either Little or the
virtually identical Gregory.
This page features, and provides links to, all the views
we have concerning USS Little (Destroyer # 79, later DD-79
and APD-4).
For other images related to this ship, see:
USS Little (Destroyer # 79,
later DD-79 and APD-4) -- On Board and Close Up Views.
Click on the small photograph to prompt
a larger view of the same image.
Photo #: NH 63478
USS Little (DD-79)
Running trials in icy waters, 4 March 1918.
U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.
Online Image: 76KB; 740 x 600 pixels |
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Photo #: NH 50022
USS Little (DD-79)
At Boston, Massachusetts, 18 January 1919.
Panoramic photograph, taken by Crosby.
Note mattress splinter shielding hung around her bridge.
Courtesy of the Naval Historical Foundation, Washington, D.C.
Crosby Collection.
U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.
Online Image: 45KB; 740 x 285 pixels |
 |
Photo #: NH 70858
USS Little (DD-79)
Photographed circa 1919-20.
Courtesy of Donald M. McPherson, 1970.
U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.
Online Image: 54KB; 740 x 480 pixels |
 |
Photo #: NH 97784
USS Little (APD-4)
Tied up to a mooring bouy, circa early 1942.
Note her pattern camouflage.
Official U.S. Navy Photograph, from the collections of the
Naval Historical Center.
Online Image: 73KB; 740 x 605 pixels |
 |
Photo #: NH 97785
USS Little (APD-4)
In port, circa early 1942.
Note her pattern camouflage, depth charge racks on her stern
and gravity davits amidships.
Official U.S. Navy Photograph, from the collections of the
Naval Historical Center.
Online Image: 71KB; 740 x 600 pixels |
 |
Photo #: NH 97836
Rehersals for the Guadalcanal-Tulagi Invasion
Two high-speed transports (APD) underway during practice landings
in the Fiji Islands, 30 July 1942, shortly before the invasion
of Guadalcanal and Tulagi.
These ships are USS Gregory (APD-3), at left, and USS
Little (APD-4), in the right center.
Note the light cruiser beyond them, possibly USS San Juan
(CL-54).
Official U.S. Navy Photograph, from the collections of the
Naval Historical Center.
Online Image: 56KB; 740 x 615 pixels |
 |
Photo #: NH 51343
World War I Atlantic Convoy
Photographed from on board USS Little (DD-79) as it approached
the harbor of Brest, France, on 26 October 1918.
A French blimp is patrolling overhead. The transport Mercury
(ID # 3012), in "dazzle" camouflage, is at right and
another U.S. Navy destroyer is in the left distance.
The original print bears U.S. Army Signal Corps markings.
U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.
Online Image: 83KB; 740 x 585 pixels |
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Photo #: NH 41715
Convoy approaching the harbor at Brest, France,
26 October 1918
Photographed from the crow's nest of USS Little (Destroyer
# 79).
A transport and a U.S. Navy destroyer are visible, with a French
blimp overhead.
U.S. Army Signal Corps Photograph, from the collections of
the Naval Historical Center.
Online Image: 77KB; 740 x 585 pixels |
 |
Photo #: NH 43022
Fore River Shipbuilding Company, Quincy, Massachusetts
Ships fitting out at the Fore River shipyard, 19 March 1918.
The six destroyers are Little (DD-79), Kimberly
(DD-80), Sigourney (DD-81), Gregory (DD-82), Colhoun
(DD-85) and Stevens (DD-86), which had builder's hull
numbers 274-277 and 280-281 respectively.
The freighter at right is Katrina Luckenbach, yard hull
# 267, which served as USS Katrina Luckenbach in 1918-19.
Most of the equipment on the pier is for her.
Note the large submarine being built in the background, under
the revolving crane.
U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.
Online Image: 146KB; 740 x 585 pixels |
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Additional images -- The following photographs were
taken from USS Little, but do not show any of her structure:
Photo # NH 46619,
shows USS Mercury (ID #
3012) at sea in 1918;
Photo # NH 93896,
showing USS Zeelandia
(ID # 2507) and USS Madawaska
(ID # 3011) at sea in 1918;
Photo # NH 93897,
showing USS Zeelandia
(ID # 2507) and USS Mercury (ID # 3012) at sea in 1918.
For other images related to this ship, see:
USS Little (Destroyer # 79,
later DD-79 and APD-4) -- On Board and Close Up Views.
Return to Naval
Historical Center home page.
Page made 28 November 2001
New images added 30 January 2006