USS Walke, a 1570-ton Sims class destroyer built at the Boston Navy Yard, Massachusetts, was commissioned in April 1940. The following summer, she cruised to Brazil and Argentina, then spent the rest of 1940 and nearly all of 1941 in the Caribbean and North Atlantic, taking part in tests, making Neutrality Patrols and conducting "short of war" operations between the U.S. east coast and Iceland.
In December 1941, soon after the U.S. entered World War II, Walke went to the Pacific to join in the fight against Japan. She accompanied the aircraft carrier Yorktown during some of her early combat actions in the central and south Pacific. During the Battle of Coral Sea in early May, she operated with the Support Group of cruisers and destroyers that endured attacks by both Japanese and U.S. land-based bombers, fortunately without significant damage to the ships.
Following an overhaul, Walke returned to the south Pacific in September 1942 to support the ongoing Guadalcanal Campaign. Following two months of escort duties, she was attached to Rear Admiral Willis A. Lee's battleship task force and sent on a mission to stop the Japanese from bombarding the U.S. airfield on Guadalcanal. In the resulting second major surface action of the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal, on 15 November 1942, USS Walke was sunk by Japanese torpedoes and gunfire, with the loss of more than a third of her crew.
USS Walke was named in honor of Rear Admiral Henry A. Walke (1809-1896), a important figure in the Civil War's Western Rivers campaigns.
This page features our only views of USS Walke (DD-416).
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 97912 USS Walke (DD-416) Photographed soon after completion, circa 1940. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval Historical Center. Online Image: 92KB; 740 x 550 pixels |
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Photo #: NH 97911 USS Walke (DD-416) Off the Mare Island Navy Yard, California, 24 August 1942. Note her camouflage. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval Historical Center. Online Image: 53KB; 740 x 600 pixels |
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Photo #: 19-N-33273 USS Walke (DD-416) At the Mare Island Navy Yard, California, 24 August 1942, at the end of her last overhaul. Circles mark recent alterations to the ship. Note the anti-torpedo net in the upper right background. Photograph from the Bureau of Ships Collection in the U.S. National Archives. Online Image: 140KB; 740 x 615 pixels Reproductions of this image may also be available through the National Archives photographic reproduction system. |
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Photo #: 19-N-33274 USS Walke (DD-416) At the Mare Island Navy Yard, California, 24 August 1942, at the end of her last overhaul. Circles mark recent alterations to the ship. Note the depth charge racks and smoke tanks on Walke's stern, her after 5"/38 gun mounts, and busses in the distance. Photograph from the Bureau of Ships Collection in the U.S. National Archives. Online Image: 133KB; 740 x 620 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 6 March 2002
Links added and captions corrected 31 December 2004