USS Sterett, a 1500-ton Benham class destroyer built at the Charleston Navy Yard, South Carolina, was commissioned in August 1939. She served in the western Atlantic and Caribbean area until May 1940, then transited the Panama Canal to take station in the Pacific. After July 1940, Sterett operated in the vicinity of Hawaii. She was transferred back to the Atlantic in June 1941 and was active on neutrality patrol and "short of war" undertakings until the United States formally entered World War II in December 1941. From then until June 1942, Sterett escorted Atlantic convoys, took part in exercises and accompanied the aircraft carrier Wasp during her tour with the British Home Fleet at Scapa Flow and in the Mediterranean Sea.
Sterett arrived back in the Pacific in June 1942, and was soon en route to Fiji to take part in the Allies' first major offensive against the Japanese. In August and September, she escorted Wasp, the small carrier Long Island and supply ship convoys during the invasion of Guadalcanal and Tulagi and the subsequent campaign to hold Guadalcanal against fierce enemy attempts to take it back. The destroyer engaged Japanese aircraft and bombarded their shore positions on several occasions, and on 13 November 1942 played a prominent role in the brutal first night action of the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal.
Badly battered by enemy gunfire in that battle, Sterett was under repair until February 1943, when she steamed back to the south Pacific to join the forces preparing to force their way up the Solomon Islands chain toward Rabaul. In addition to regular escort duties, she participated in the Battle of Vella Gulf on 6-7 August 1943, an action in which U.S. destroyers finally demonstrated mastery over their Japanese counterparts in a night fight with torpedoes and gunfire. During November and December, Sterett took part in the invasion of Bougainville and protected aircraft carriers during strikes on Rabaul and Nauru.
In the first seven months of 1944, Sterett's missions included participation in the Marshalls campaign in January and February and subsequent carrier raids in the central Pacific, the Emirau landing in March, and the seizure of the Marianas in June and July. Following an overhaul in the U.S., she arrived in Philippines waters in late 1944, in time to see combat against "kamikaze" attacks while escorting shipping to Mindoro. In January-March 1945, she was engaged in patrol and convoy service in the south and central Pacific, then joined in the assault on the Ryukyu Islands. While on radar picket duty off Okinawa on 9 April, she was hit by a suicide plane that left a large hole near the waterline forward on her starboard side.
Repairs and training occupied Sterett for the rest of the Pacific War. In October, more than a month after the Japanese surrender, she passed through the Panama Canal en route to the U.S. east coast. USS Sterett decommissioned at New York in early November 1945 and was sold for scrapping in August 1947.
This page features selected views of USS Sterett (DD-407).
If you want higher resolution reproductions than the digital images presented here, see: "How to Obtain Photographic Reproductions." |
Click on the small photograph to prompt a larger view of the same image.
Photo #: NH 60324 USS Sterett (DD-407) Off the Charleston Navy Yard, South Carolina, 13 September 1939. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph. Online Image: 92KB; 740 x 565 pixels |
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Photo #: 80-G-12237 USS Sterett (DD-407) At sea, en route to Norfolk, Virginia, from Scapa Flow on 26 May 1942. Photographed from a USS Wasp (CV-7) aircraft. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives. Online Image: 81KB; 740 x 605 pixels Reproductions of this image may also be available through the National Archives photographic reproduction system. |
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Photo #: 19-N-40926 USS Sterett (DD-407) Off the Mare Island Navy Yard, California, 6 February 1943. Photograph from the Bureau of Ships Collection in the U.S. National Archives. Online Image: 64KB; 740 x 605 pixels Reproductions of this image may also be available through the National Archives photographic reproduction system. |
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Photo #: 80-G-321653 USS Sterett (DD-407) Underway at sea, circa 1943. Photographed from a USS Chenango (CVE-28) aircraft. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives. Online Image: 117KB; 740 x 605 pixels Reproductions of this image may also be available through the National Archives photographic reproduction system. |
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Photo #: 80-G-204459 USS Sterett (DD-407) Photographed from USS Saratoga (CV-3) on 27 November 1943. Note aircraft drop tanks on her fantail. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives. Online Image: 101KB; 740 x 605 pixels Reproductions of this image may also be available through the National Archives photographic reproduction system. |
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Photo #: 80-G-301647 USS Sterett (DD-407) In the South China Sea, January 1945. Taken by a USS Marcus Island (CVE-77) photographer. Sterett is wearing Measure 31, Design 11d camouflage. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives. Online Image: 113KB; 740 x 605 pixels Reproductions of this image may also be available through the National Archives photographic reproduction system. |
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Photo #: 80-G-64755 USS Sterett (DD-407) Stops to investigate the wreckage of a SBN-1 aircraft that crashed during Torpedo Squadron Eight (VT-8) carrier qualifications on USS Long Island (AVG-1), 12 November 1941. The plane, some of whose wreckage is floating in the center foreground, was Bureau # 1534. The pilot, Ensign John H. Langdon, USNR, was killed in the accident. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives. Online Image: 131KB; 740 x 600 pixels Reproductions of this image may also be available through the National Archives photographic reproduction system. |
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Photo #: 19-N-40931 USS Sterett (DD-407) After portion of the ship, photographed from a crane at the Mare Island Navy Yard, California, 6 February 1943, at the end of an overhaul. Circles mark recent alterations, including the installation of 40mm guns on her after deckhouse. Note the photographer's shoes in lower left. Photograph from the Bureau of Ships Collection in the U.S. National Archives. Online Image: 154KB; 605 x 765 pixels Reproductions of this image may also be available through the National Archives photographic reproduction system. |
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Photo #: 19-N-40932 USS Sterett (DD-407) Forward portion of the ship, photographed from a crane at the Mare Island Navy Yard, California, 6 February 1943, at the end of an overhaul. Circles mark recent alterations. Note: SC & SG radar antennas on the foremast; Mk.33 gun director atop the pilothouse; motor whaleboat; planking on the mast and forward superstructure to provide working platforms for shipyard workers. Photograph from the Bureau of Ships Collection in the U.S. National Archives. Online Image: 140KB; 740 x 625 pixels Reproductions of this image may also be available through the National Archives photographic reproduction system. |
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Photo #: NH 98062 USS Sterett (DD-407) Kamikaze damage to the ship's starboard side, received off Okinawa on 9 April 1945. Photographed at Kerama Retto, Ryukyu Islands, on 11 April 1945. Collection of Lieutenant David Longmaid, USNR. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph. Online Image: 119KB; 740 x 605 pixels |
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Photo #: 80-G-8862 USS Sterett (DD-407) Launching, at the Charleston Navy Yard, South Carolina, 27 October 1938. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives. Online Image: 112KB; 740 x 550 pixels Reproductions of this image may also be available through the National Archives photographic reproduction system. |
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If you want higher resolution reproductions than the digital images presented here, see: "How to Obtain Photographic Reproductions." |
Page made 1 February 2002
New image added 6 September 2002