From her beginning USS Ward was a ship of destiny. Long before she fired the first US shots of WWII, WARD set records and took part in historical events beyond what would be expected of a "mere" destroyer. A ship can be a beautiful thing, with a place in the hearts of those who have sailed on her for the rest of their lives. WARD deeply touched all who walked and worked her decks and continues to affect them to this day.

Building 

Sixty-fourth ship of the Wickes class, WARD was built in the Mare Island shipyard in California and set a record for building time that still stands today. Six ships of her class had already slid down the ways at Mare Island when work on WARD began. Build time had decreased with each ship, but Master Shipbuilder J.T. Moroney wanted a record that would stand and cement Mare Island's reputation as a prime shipyard. So he decided Ward would be built in thirty days.

Moroney decided to do something different with this destroyer, and built many of the assemblies that would be used ahead of time; this later became a standard practice the world over when modular, prefabricated methods gained popularity. WARD's keel was laid at Mare Island's Ways number 2 on May 15 and eighteen rivetting teams working three shifts began to race towards the goal around the clock.

A sign reading "30 days or bust" was hung from the work structure and posters exhorting "Mare Island expects every man to do his damndest" and "Uncle Sam needs this destroyer" displayed prominantly. Above the list of men who were building the Navy's newest destroyer was a statement that any of them caught loafing would be branded a slacker.

The builders of Mare Island were not slackers, in fact WARD was launched on June 1, 1918 at 8:19 PM; seventeen and a half days after the first of over nearly 275,000 rivets was driven into her hull. Just over two months after her May 15th start date, the USS WARD was a commissioned Warship in the US Navy.

This record was such an event that nearly the entire city of Vallejo turned out, and many visitors from the surrounding countryside filled the streets and hills opposite the Navy Yard as well. After her christening by Dorothy Hall WARD, the granddaughter of her namesake Commander James WARD the crowds moved to the city of Vallejo where there were speeches, a parade, and dances in the streets past midnight. Special lead ingots were created and given to men of the shipyard who had wrought this industrial miracle.

Following her launching the WARD was outfitted with the remainder of the equipment that had not been installed was fitted to the ship, including most of her superstructures, smokestacks, and weapons. Her structure and equipment complete, she went out for sea trials, which she passed with flying colors by recording a top speed of over thirty seven knots. On July 24th, 1918 the USS WARD was commissioned as destroyer number 139 in the US Navy, Commander Milton S. Davis commanding.

WWI/Post War 

The WARD was transferred back to the West coast in July of 1919 and spent the remainder of the year traveling up and down the West Coast, stopping in cities such as San Diego, San Pedro, San Luis Obispo, Monterey, San Francisco, Eureka, Portland, and Seattle. In September the WARD was part of the fleet that was officially reviewed by President Woodrow Wilson in Seattle. She underwent slight modifications while on the Pacific; her aft 4" gun was moved from the main deck to on top of the aft superstructure.

1920 was spent on the west coast, with the WARD gaining her official designation of DD-139 in July of that year with the Navy-wide assignment of hull numbers. The WARD remained in service until July 21, 1921, when she was placed in reserve with many of her sister ships in San Diego at what was known as "Red Lead Row." She would spend the next nineteen floating quietly with her sister ships.

Reactivation 

As part of the build up, the old Clemson destroyers began to be reactivated, some for convoy duty in the Atlantic, some for Britain as part of the Lend-Lease arrangement, and others to augment forces in the Pacific, who had a large ocean to patrol and few ships to do it with. The USS WARD was reactivated on January 15, 1941 and crewed by Naval reserve sailors recently called to duty from Minnesota.

These sailors had trained on the great lakes aboard the USS Paducah and arrived in San Diego on January 19, 1941. For a week her new crew spent time outfitting and learning their new ship. Equipment that was broken or had been removed during her nineteen year slumber had to be replaced. Sailors had to become familiar with all the machinery she had on board and how to maintain and operate it. Stores needed to be taken aboard to make ready for the trip across the Pacific. On February 10th, 1941 the WARD and her crew left for Hawaii on where she was to join DESDIV 80, a four-destroyer unit whose job was to patrol the approaches and entrance to Pearl Harbor for Japanese Submarines. The US Navy considered this an important as it was thought that Pearl Harbor was so well defended that the only way Japan could successfully attack the US fleet would be by submarine.

December 7th 

In late November escalating tensions and aggressive Japanese behavior led the US Government to issue a "War Warning" to certain US Forces. Admiral Kimmel, (CINCPAC) was one of those notified, and in response the Inshore Patrol command was given the order to attack unknown submarines found within the approach zones to Pearl.

On December 5th Lieutenant William Outerbridge took command from Lieutenant Commander Hunter Wood Jr, who had commanded the WARD since her reactivation. The next day, the WARD left her anchorage at berth X-5 for a weekend patrol of the approaches to the Harbor. Originally the USS Chew (Seen HERE moored with the WARD in July of that year) was slated for duty but a mechanical difficulty forced her to return to base and the WARD was sent out in her place. Like other days before her, December 6th passed by eventlessly and she patrolled into the night. No one knew of the Japanese forces approaching from the North or the submarines that lay in wait around the islands. Between 0042 and 0333 that night, as the WARD quietly made her figure 8's at the mouth to the channel, one of five japanese submarine mother ships launched what has been identified as Midget A, whose mission was to sneak into Pearl Harbor and attack the warships inside or attack them as they came out the channel.

Early the next morning two mine sweepers, the USS Condor AMC-14 and the USS Crossbill AMC-9 headed out from the harbor to begin their daily sweep for mines. At 0342 a crew member of the Condor spotted a suspicious object in the water about 150 feet away. He and another crew member watched it for a couple minutes before deciding it was a submarine conning tower and veering the ship away to avoid a collision. By this point it was after 0400, and the WARD received a blinker signal from the Condor stating "Have sighted submerged submarine on westerly course, speed 9 knots."

General Quarters was called and the WARD raced to the scene but nothing was found. This was partially due to the fact that Condor's transmission indicated the submarine was heading in a westerly direction, where in fact the sub had turned in a westerly direction to avoid the Condor. Additionally, due to the Condor's mine sweeping equipment, which streamed out behind the ship, the WARD was limited in where she could search. By the time the confusion was settled over an hour and a half had passed since the initial contact and there was no point in searching further. The WARD had already secured from General Quarters at 0430 after a half hour of fruitless searching.

Things remained quiet until the USS Antares AKS-3 hove into view; she was a supply ship with a 500-ton steel barge in tow. The Antares was steaming in from Palmyra to meet the tug USS Keosanqua to transfer her tow to her. The Keosanqua was running late, however, the Antares slowed down to wait for the tug's arrival, making a slow turn towards the harbor entrance.

About that time a lookout on the WARD, Seaman Ambrose Domagall, spotted a suspicious object near the Antares. The bridge crew examine the object but held different opinions as to what and where it was. Lt JG Goepner, who was the Officer of the Deck (OOD), ordered the WARD to come to starboard to close in on the object for a better look. As she closed in the crew could see that the object was small and moving towards the harbor at a fast rate. Lt Outerbridge was called from his makeshift bunk in the chartroom just as a message came in from the Antares stating that they'd seen a suspicious object in their wake.

The OOD quickly explained what was happening, and Outerbridge quickly called for General Quarter again. "General Quarters! General Quarters! All hands man your battle stations. Man all guns. Prepare depth charges. Prepare to ram," rang out over the ship's PA system. The USS WARD again leapt into action. About this time a PBY-5 from VP-14 arrived overhead and spotted the midget submarine. Thinking it was a US sub in distress and seeing the WARD charging in, the aircraft dropped two smoke floats to mark the position. The ship turned to a course of 125 true to intercept the submersible and increased her speed up to 20 knots. Outerbridge had second thoughts about ramming the submarine with an old, thin-skinned destroyer however and changed course quickly to 110 to head off the submarine and give her depth charges a perfect plot.

At 0645 the first shots of the Pacific War were fired by the number one gun as the midget sub was taken under fire. The course change that the captain had just ordered caused the ship to roll and bounce faster than the old guns on the destroyer could compensate for and the first round sailed just over the conning tower of the submarine. The WARD's speed had her past the submarine before the gun crew could fire again. By this time however the number three gun crew on the starboard side of the ship had a perfect shot and opened fire. This round flew true and hit the small submersible at the base of the conning tower. Midget A heeled over with a jagged hole in her sail before righting herself and beginning to submerge.

As the submarine wallowed deeper in the water the WARD passed close and with four blasts from the ship's whistle, dropped four depth charges directly in the path of the wounded submarine. The depth charges were set to explode at only one-hundred feet and they soon exploded, surrounding the wounded midget sub in circles of foamed water and falling spray. The depth charges had sealed Midget A's fate; her bow popped to the surface before she quickly disappeared from view and began her final dive to the bottom over 1,300 feet below.

Things were still happening fast. Three minutes after she'd fired her first shot the crew of the WARD spotted a motorized sampam in the restricted area, a place it should not be in. Scared because of the gunfire and depth charges, the Sampam started running, not even coming to a halt when ordered to do so via bullhorn. Lt. Outerbridge ordered a gunner's mate to fire a couple of rifle shots across her bow in warning and the sampam quickly came to a halt, her captain wildly waving a white flag in surrender.

At 0652, over an hour before the air attack began, Lt. Outerbridge radioed 14th Naval District headquarters the following message, "We have dropped depth charges upon subs operating in the defensive sea area," but this message did not seem to convey the severity of the situation to Outerbridge, so two minutes later her transmitted, "We have attacked, fired upon, and dropped depth charges on a submarine operating in defensive sea areas." Contrary to what some people have stated the WARD never claimed she had sunk a submarine, however the PBY-5 that was flying overhead did; she had dropped two depth charges on the submarine after the WARD did and radioed, "Sunk one submarine one mile south of Pearl Harbor." Due to slow message channels and a reluctance to believe the report no warning was passed to the rest of the fleet slumbering in the harbor. The WARD then notified the Coast guard of the sampam she had in two and requesting they send out a boat to take it in. Lacking any further orders, the WARD continued to patrol; at 0703 her SONAR operator reported a positive contact and the WARD once again turned and increased speed, dropping five depth charges on the contact at 0705. The only result, however, was a large black bubble that rose to the surface.

Ward continued to patrol sound of gunfire and explosions began to cross the water. Initially the crew thought it was blasting for a new road connecting the harbor and Honolulu, but soon a Japanese Val dive bomber flew by and dropped a bomb that missed the WARD by only 300 yards. Immediately the ship began a series of racetrack figure 8 turns and began to bring all of her boilers on line for maximum speed and maneuverability. The WARD was in a bad spot; her 3" guns were designed for surface to surface engagements and could not elevate high enough or more fast enough to effectively fight against aircraft. She had another 3" gun, but it was mainly for shooting star shells at night, most of which turned out to be defective anyway. Lastly, her .30 cal water cooled machine guns soon jammed after her water filled jackets clogged from salt-water build up. Thankfully she was never directly targeted again.

She patrolled the rest of the morning, and came in quickly to the West Lock in the afternoon to take on more depth charges. Later that night, she and some other naval ships were ordered to race at high speed to a point where an incoming invasion fleet was reported to be. There was no such force and the task force returned early the next morning. Returning to her station, she patrolled the approaches to Pearl Harbor for the next three days, dropping over 170 depth charges in attacks on suspected submarines. In fact, WARD dropped so many depth charges that her supply of them was rationed. It should be noted that WARD was one of the few ships in the offshore patrol that had SONAR, which was still new and producing many false positives for operators who had been rushed through the training.

Post Attack 

WARD spent most of December at sea, patrolling around the entrance to Pearl Harbor. Although many suspicious sonar contacts were made and depth charges dropped, no Japanese subs were reported as lost near the Hawaiian islands at this time and all of her contacts proved to be false. On the 23rd of December WARD was relieved at the entrance by squadron mate CHEW and her crew turned her towards the harbor entrance. She soon docked at a berth in the navy yard and spent the rest of the day taking on provisions (including some very welcome ice cream) and crew members.

WARD's last bit of excitement for 1941 came on Christmas Eve. A Yard work crew was welding plates over portholes on WARD's bow when the heat caused caused uniforms of one of the sailor's lockers to smolder and then burst into flames. WARD's fire watch was on the alert, however, and quickly extinguished the blaze before any further harm happened.

For the next year WARD and her crew helped protect Hawaii and the area and maritime traffic nearby. She also had work done to improve her effectiveness, surface and air search radars were installed and her internal communications gear was improved so that the bridge could talk to the engine room by voice rather than just engine telegraph. In June of 1942 two of her four torpedo launchers were removed and soon replaced by four K-guns, which allowed WARD to throw depth charges out to the side as well as from the rear to improve the pattern and effectiveness of her bombs.

The WARD remained stationed in the Hawaiian islands, escorting inter-island maritime traffic and passenger liners leaving Honolulu as well as more submarine patrols. On January 2 she and the USS Allen attacked a contact and a submarine was seen to surface but no mention of a kill exists in Naval records. Captain Outerbridge left the WARD for the USS O'Brien in September of 1941 and was relieved by Lieutenant Commander R. H. Wilkinson, who himself would leave a few months later. There were more changes for WARD and her crew coming in the future.

The WARD had been recommissioned due to a shortage of naval vessels but soon the ramped up production lines caught up and the WARD was not needed for standard destroyer duties. But with the tide turning, thoughts turned to how the US Navy would get soldiers to the battles that would be necessary to rid the Pacific of the Imperial Japanese. It had been proposed earlier that some of the older destroyers might make good fast transports for small units of amphibious forces and the WARD was one of the old four-stack destroyers selected for conversion.

Originally sent to San Diego for conversion, the WARD and her crew were ordered to Puget Sound Naval Yard in Bremerton instead, after work had already started. Replacing a smokestack they had removed, the WARD steamed for Bremerton, arriving on Christmas Eve, 1942. She then began conversion to an APD, or Auxiliary Personnel Destroyer (later changed to Armed Personnel Destroyer).

While undergoing conversion Captain Wilkenson received new orders, and was relieved and a new captain piped aboard. On January 8th, 1943 Lieutenant (j.g.) L. G. Benson became captain of WARD temporarily. One week later, on January 15th, Frederick W. Lemley became Captain of the WARD. He would remain so for almost two years. Lemly was a firm believer of drills, and soon had the sailors drilling while their ship was converted.

The list of work necessary to enable WARD to carry 150 soldiers and their officers was long, and was lengthened with a list of other improvements that would be made. The biggest change to the WARD during her conversion was the removal of her forward boilers and smokestacks. The space was turned into a two-deck bunking area for deployable troops and a small operating room; WARD being the only APD to have an operating room installed. Underneath this, diesel oil fuel tanks were installed to carry fuel for her new landing craft. Her remaining two stacks were shortened by some five feet in height to reduce her profile and make her harder to see from the periscope of a Japanese submarine.

The large number of soldiers was a huge burden for the ship to bear; it more than doubled the number of men on board. Extra food had to be carried to feed all of these soldiers, and other necessities such as water and even air had to be added as well. Two one-half ton refrigeration units were installed to cool three new store rooms, and extra blowers were installed in the troop spaces to make them livable, albeit still hot in the south pacific. A necessity that could be a luxury at times for WARD's crew was the installation of a 8,000 gallon-per-day water distillation plant. When soldiers were embarked it provided just enough water for everyone, but after they had gone the sailors extra water for themselves, resulting in longer showers than what the rest of the Navy could expect.

The forward superstructure was reworked as well. The bridge area was redesigned and enclosed, offering more protection from weather and allowing a small radar shack to be installed. Inside this shack were screens for the two new surface and air-seach radars that had been installed on a new mast. The shipyard had to be careful, however. Plans had been made to build a new emergency radio-room just forward of the galley deckhouse, but these were dropped when it was determined that this would have made WARD exceedingly top-heavy. Weight and balance of the ship were factors in every modification that was made, a critical eye cast on any change that might make the ship unsafe.

Her two remaining torpedo launchers were removed and replaced with davits for new landing craft; four LCPRs (Landing Craft Personnel, Ramped). In order to power all the new machinery being installed a larger generator was installed. This 5 KVA electrical generator was from another Pearl Harbor veteran; the battleship Nevada, and had been removed when she visited the Puget Sound Navy Yard for rebuilding and modernization after the attack.

Another big change was to WARD's weapons. Her old 4" guns were ineffective against aircraft and were replaced with 3-inch/50 multi-purpose guns; 20-millimeter Oerlikons anti-aircraft weapons replaced the ineffective water-cooled machine guns, and two more K-guns were added behind the aft superstructure to further improve her anti-submarine capacity.

Other work included removing paint from her interior spaces to help combat fire and the sealing off of the portholes on her hull; these same windows had proved to be the undoing of some of the ships during the Pearl Harbor attack when flooding from torpedoes caused the ships to sink enough that the portholes that had been left open for ventilation in the warm tropical nights became new sources to compromise watertight integrity. Once the work had been completed her designation was changed from DD-139 to APD-16 and she left Bremerton for the South Pacific under Captain Lieutenant (j.g.) L. G. Benson.

Arriving in Pearl harbor in February of 1943, her navy blue paint was removed and replaced with a measure MS 31L scheme (Dark Pattern System, Landing Craft) camouflage consisting of haze green, navy green, and brown on all vertical surfaces (the hull and bulkheads) and ocean green, deck green, and brown on all horizontal surfaces (decks).

Solomon Island Campaign -Guadalcanal to Bougainville 

Things were still very much in doubt at this stage; US forces were moping up Guadalcanal but needed constant resupply and the missions to provide the material for war fighting were themselves fraught with peril. A force of Japanese ships the Americans called the Tokyo Express had tried to resupply Japanese forces on the island and their presence was a worry to US Naval forces in the area. The small flotilla of US destroyers could not afford to be caught by the newer and more numerous Japanese forces and had to quickly drop off supplies and leave the area before they were discovered and destroyed. During some runs to Guadalcanal the WARD and her sister ships had to dump supplies offshore and hope that the currents would wash them ashore, in some cases coming as close to 100 yards off the beach at speed while rolling barrels over the side.

Additionally, with the loss of Guadalcanal the Japanese forces began "Operation I" which attempted to destroy US forward bases in Papua New Guinea to prevent expansion in the Pacific. Starting April 7th, 1943, large formations of Japanese aircraft ventured out from their bases at Rabaul looking for US shipping. The WARD and her crew happened to be in the area in question that day in Tulagi Harbor. A flash message came through that 76 Val dive bombers covered by 110 Zero fighters were inbound and at 1510 the USS WARD went to General Quarters. The WARD's proven gunners were given credit for three Japanese aircraft shot down that day, although in actuality there were only 36 Vals in the air. The WARD was lucky; two ships had been sunk and two others damaged in the fighting. The WARD however, had taken no damage and suffered no injuries. This stretch of ocean is today known as "Iron Bottom Sound" due to the large number of ships that were sunk there during the conquest of Guadalcanal and the months following.

Following this the USS WARD and three other destroyers escorted five merchant ships back to Espiritu Santo. Once there the WARD underwent a "Tender Overhaul" while tied up next to a tender ship designed to help ships perform heavy maintenance away from ports and machine shops. Immediately following this short break her crew helped members of the 4th Marine Battalion's famous 1st Marine Raider Regiment aboard for training exercises. Once these night time landing exercises were completed she and her crew returned to their anti-submarine patrol duties.

She remained in the Guadalcanal area for a while longer performing various duties. On June 16 the WARD and her crew were once again under attack from the air. The WARD claimed four aircraft that day, once again with no men wounded or killed. Seven days later the WARD was part of a force of destroyers protecting a convoy of cargo ships steaming from Guadalcanal to Espiritu Santo. The japanese submarine RO-105 managed to slip by the convoys escorts and launch torpedoes that hit and sank two ships, the AK-72 USS Aludra and AK-78 USS Deimos off of San Cristobal Island.

WARD may have taken part in "Operation Toenails," the invasion of New Georgia as part of Task Unit 31.1.2 on 29 June, 1943. Records at this point are unclear what part she played however.

As WARD was steaming from New Georgia on June 30 a lone PT boat approached in the heavy seas. Her captain was looking to borrow a bilge pump for another PT boat who's hull had had a patch torn off by the rough waters and was in danger of sinking. A spare was brought up and carefully passed over while the two wallowed in the waves. The pump was transferred without damage to either ship, although the PT boat did have a torpedo knocked loose as it was pulling away. The captain of the PT boat was John F. Kennedy, later to become the thirty-fifth president of the United States. His boat, PT-109 made it back to the other boat and WARD's donated single-cylinder pump was able to help keep the damaged PT boat afloat until a tender reached it for repair and towing.

Marines of the 4th Marine Raider battalion were embarked on WARD on July 7th, at Tetere, Guadalcanal. The Raiders were to help reinforce allied forces bogged down in the invasion of New Georgia. WARD and three other APD's at the recently taken Enogai, New Georgia before dawn on July 18th. The Marines were landed without incident and WARD was soon steaming back to Tulagi with sick and wounded Marines from the campaign to capture Enogai.

At this point I have a month gap in WARD's history.

The next action the WARD took part in was on August 15th at Vella Lavella. Following their loss at Guadalcanal the Japanese had spent crucial time and effort reinforcing the island of Kolombangara, turning it into a strongly defended garrison of 10,000 Japanese soldiers. Rather than root them out and suffer massive loses, the allies simply bypassed the island and the WARD, as part of group Ryan ("Advanced transport Group;" seven APD's) landed troops at Barakoma on the island of Vella Lavella instead, effectively cutting the japanese off and making their forces irrelevant. The landing itself was unopposed and the unloading went smoothly but soon thereafter japanese aircraft were overhead and there were air raids almost continuously for the remainder of the day.

WARD began the Month of October anchored with squadron mate USS Crosby, departing the morning of October 4th at 0815 At this point the Allies began the next phase of their island hopping campaign. The airfield at Rabaul was proving to be a dangerous thorn in their side; many aircraft attacks on the fleet originating there; including the seven aircraft WARD was credited with shooting down earlier. A direct assault on Rabaul would be too costly, so it was decided to disrupt Japanese operations in the area and prevent resupply of the aair baseand surrounding units and bases. Always on the front lines, the WARD and her crew would once again be in the thick of it.

WARD first sailed to Guadalcanal where she picked up soldiers from the 8th New Zealand Infantry Brigade and headed back to Purvis Bay to assemble with the rest of the task force . Departing at 0600 October 26th, she sailed for Mono island of the Treasury Islands, carrying the New Zealanders troops on their first amphibious assault since the disastrous World War One landing at Gallipoli in 1915. The WARD's four LCPR's were in the first assault wave and went in guns blazing. Return fire from pillbox-emplaced machine guns was heavy and one Australian officer was badly wounded and had to be carried ashore by his troops. Two LST's were damaged by shore-based heavy mortars but the WARD and her crew were once again unharmed. The WARD's small operating room and LCDR Cooper, her medical officer, were busy that day when her boats returned with wounded soldiers from the campaign. But because of this action the Allies gained a forward base for the invasion of Bougainville and a radar facility built on the north end of Mono island to allow for warning of incoming Japanese aircraft.

Later that day the WARD left Blanche Harbor and transported casualties to Purvis Bay, Florida Islands . After off loading the wounded, WARD and her crew welcomed aboard members of the 2nd Parachute Battalion, 1st Marine Amphibious Corps, lead by Lt. Col. Victor Krulak and aided by a native guide. The next mission would be a very special and dangerous one; Lt. Col Krulak and his men had to be snuck onto Choiseul Island without the Japanese knowing. At 0030 the next morning, October 28, one of the boats with the native guide and 21 marines left on a nighttime recon, exhausts muffled by running it underwater. With some help from "Lt. Pete" (the native guide) and skill full work by the Coxswain in the dark the LCPR made a quiet approach to the proposed landing beach which proved satisfactory. A signal was sent from a directional red lamp and the WARD loaded the rest of her boats. Further landing of troops was uneventful and natives hid the Marines and evidence of their landing as WARD made a hasty retreat in the dark, having completed two landings in less than twenty four hours.

For the next week the Marines operated on the island, harassing troops and destroying supplies. The men the WARD dropped off were only a diversion however, meant to prevent forces from being present on the island of Bougainville a couple of weeks later. WARD and crew arrived safely back Purvis Bay at 1508 later that day and stayed in port until 0530, November 4th, when she left with USS Dent for patrol duties . Returning at 0620 on November 8th, WARD moored just for one day, before heading out the next morning at 0910 for a short trip outside the harbor. She was at anchor again the next morning.

The next action WARD and her crew saw was at Cape Torokina at the north side of Empress Augusta Bay, Bougainville in November of 1943. Attached to Task Force 31.6, WARD's boats landed US Marines reinforcements needed in the campaign to secure the local area. Although WARD's action on the 17th was not the first assault in the area, it was no cake walk. The night before the landing another ship in WARD's group, the USS McKean, opened fire on a scouting japanese aircraft. A second aircraft pinpointed the McKean and hit her with a torpedo, exploding her aft magazine and setting the ship afire from ruptured oil lines. WARD and the rest of the APD's were forced to keep moving and leave McKean behind by the fires that attracted more aircraft; their cargo of troops and supplies were too value to risk.

The beach had already been taken by the time WARD arrived but that didn't stop Japanese dive bombers from making runs on the beachhead as the troops and ammunition were put ashore. WARD's shipboard doctor was again busy, sent to the beach to help with the numerous wounded. With a flash report of Japanese ships moving in from the north WARD was ordered to evacuate and dash for safety. During the high-speed wwithdrawalfrom the area the bearings on her steam turbine burnt out and WARD lay dead in the water for several hours while temporary repairs could be made. She headed to Russell Island and anchored there on the 18th while permanent repairs were made.

Conjecture: at one point WARD left a battle so quickly that her #1 boat and coxswain were left behind, rejoining the ship a month later. This was in support of the 2nd Marine Raider Battalion and as far as I'm able to figure out this is one of the two times WARD carried members of this elite unit, the other being the landing at Choiseul. I believe the landing at Bougainville was the landing that James Snead and the #1 boat were left behind.

Further confusion: The USS Denver Deck Logs published here lists the WARD as being berthed at Purvis Bay the entire time. I have two other sources (one here) that contradict this and coincide with the above paragraphs but I'm putting this out until I solve which source is correct.

Because of this landing and the establishment of an airfield nearby, the Japanese air base at Rabaul was effectively neutralized and prevented from operating against allied forces over a large area. Bougainville was the last stronghold the japanese had in the area and it's neutralization prevented future air attacks and resupply of japanese forces across a wide swath of the Solomon Islands. With Bougainville secured, Transport Division 22, including the WARD and her crew was transferred from Admiral Halsey's 3rd Fleet to a new command and a new campaign, the taking of Papua New Guinea. Before joining the campaign however, the crew was given a rare break. WARD was ordered to Sydney Australia, arriving December 3rd and remained there for ten days.

New Guinea Campaign 

Fig 2. New Guinea Actions:

WARD and her crew arrived at Milne Bay, New Guinea, on December 17th, 1943, for duty with Task Force (TF) 76, part of the 7th Amphibious Force (known as "MacAurthur's Navy"). First, there were landing exercises with two companies from the 3rd Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment on December 22nd and 23rd. On the 24th, Companies I and M (totalling 140 officers and men) of the same Regiment were embarked for the invasion of Cape Gloucester, which took place on the 26th of that month. Operating as part of the eight-ship TU 76.1.21, the WARD disembarked her passengers off of beach Yellow One at 0653; her boats returning from an uncontested landing by 0845.

Following recovery of her Higgins-built LCPR's she sailed for Buna, New Guinea, arriving later that same day. The WARD and her crew next embarked around 200 Marines of Company B, 1st Battalion, 5th Marines and returned to Cape Gloucester on December 29th. Company B was disembarked at 0655, with all her boats returning by 0815. After this landing her part in the Cape Gloucester landing was over and she once again returned to Buna.

Following this the WARD sailed to Finschhafen or Goodenough Island where she picked up Company L, 126th Army Infantry Regiment, 32nd Division. The WARD set sail early for the invasion of Saidor at Cape Sudest, New Guinea at 0601 on January 1 of 1944 and arrived after a 175 mile journey at 0615 the next day. The weather was bad enough that there was no air cover, so the destroyers covering the small task force had to pump out an immense volume of softening fire. Once again WARD's LCPR's went in guns blazing, and once again none of her crew was hurt. The shore bombardment ended exactly one minute before the boats were due to hit shore. Due to surprise and the high volume of fire the landing went off virtually unopposed and WARD and her crew were soon able to retire to Buna.

It had been three years since WARD's original crew had reactivated her. During that time she had fired the first US shots of World War II, participated in six invasion landings, and shot down seven aircraft. Only sixteen of her original crew was still with the ship. Not one sailor from the WARD had been killed or wounded during that entire time.

Following the Saidor landing WARD and her crew were sent back to Espiritu Santo for the remainder of January where they carried out local cargo and personnel movement operations. Things picked up in February, first with a practice landing of both US Marines and New Zealand Army soldiers at the mouth of the Juno river at Vella Lavella, and then with the invasion of Nissan Island on February 15th.

WARD sortied late the night before and all night, arriving off the coast of the small atoll early the morning of the 15th. WARD's boats cast off at 0512 and headed for "Blue Beach" inside the lagoon. To reach their assigned assault area the boats had to pass single-file through a narrow entrance that was the only route to the few beaches suitable for landing. Thankfully the Japanese defenders had not occupied this strategic ambush site and the landing was almost completely unopposed. Six japanese aircraft did try and bomb the task force but were quickly fought off by Army fighters and heavy gunfire from the ships below. Following the return of her boats WARD raised anchor and headed for the Russell Islands where she picked up members of the "Sea Bee" 33rd Navy Construction Battalion.

Arriving back at Nissan Island, WARD was in the process of transferring all the Seabees and supplies to shore when she struck an uncharted object near the island. Her sonar dome and port propeller were damaged, knocking out the equipment and producing bad vibrations. There was great hope in the crew for a trip to a large port with a shipyard to repair the damage (and liberty!) but to their disappointment repairs were effected on the floating drydock ARD-5 (which served the US Navy until 1997!). WARD's own LCVP's acted as tugs to move her within the floating drydock, and she was soon high and dry and under repair. A new propeller was soon installed and the destroyer headed back out to war.

Following the repairs, WARD went took part in the invasion of Emirau Island on March 20. WARD and crew transported members of B Company, 1st Battalion, 4th Marines to the undefended beaches and transferred 208 Marines and their 22 tons of cargo in four hours. Once free of her cargo, WARD joined the anti-submarine patrol protecting those ships that were still unloading. WARD was heading back to Purvis bay soon, refueling along the way. She dropped anchor in Purvis bay on March 23rd and her crew spent the remainder of the month performing repair and upkeep upon their now twenty-six year old ship.

In early April WARD embarked members of the 163d Army Regimental Combat Team and conducted practice landings at Cape Cretin. Practice complete, WARD carried these troops for a landing at Aitape , leaving on the 18th of April and arriving early on the morning of the 22nd. At 0430 WARD and crew went to general quarters and at 0537 landing operations commenced. The landing had been preeceded by a dis-information campaign and the Japanese had fortified other locations, allowing the landing to go off without any opposition.

WARD left the landing area just over an hour after going to general quarters and headed for Tumleo Island, where further landings were to be made the next day. WARD took up position in a fire support station and proceeded to shell the island with near over-age ammunition for a half hour. At one point what appeared to be a beached landing craft was taken under fire, but it was soon found to be a small reef. It was discovered afterwards that the japanese had abandoned the island before the assault and the only enemy casualty was a forgotten cow, which was a source of mirth for one crewmember who was reported to have skipped around the deck singing "Ask the skipper, he knows how, went to war and killed a cow!"

Following their fire-support mission WARD was given screening duties and patrolled off of the transport area. A wounded man from one of the landing craft was ttransferredby WARD to USS Kilty (APD-15) but otherwise the patrol was eevent less After the recovery of her LCPR boats WARD escorted reinforcements heading in to Aitape for the remainder of the day. The next day was a continuation of the first, with WARD's boats transferring soldiers from the USS Ormeby (APA-49) to shore while WARD herself provided fire-support for the troops on shore.

WARD's next assignment was to escort transports headed to Saidor from Buna and she headed down the New Guinea coast, stopping overnight at Cape Cretin on the 25th and reaching Buna the next day. WARD screened for Japanese submarines as the convoy headed back up the coast and arrived safely at Saidor. There was no rest for ship or crew; she was needed at Aitape again and headed off for the beach head. Once there, she once again patrolled for submarines before refueling. Following this the Henry T. Allen (AP-30) and Australian transports Kanimbla, Manoora, and Westralia were placed in her charge and she escorted them to Humboldt Bay.

May and most of June was spent running antisubmarine patrols between Humboldt Bay and in the New Guinea. On the 24th of June WARD arrived at Manus for an overhaul alongside the tender USS Dobbin AD-3. After eleven days the work was done and WARD departed for Cape Cretin on July 4th. When she arrived she traded LCPR's with the USS Schley APD-14 which was due to head to Australia soon for overhaul. Following the transfer, WARD headed for Milne Bay and carried out local transport duties for the New Georgia area for most of the remainder of the month. Her last duty in this capacity was as a picket ship and navigational guide for a convoy headed northwest up the New Guinea coast from Milne Bay to Maffin bay.

Following a practice landing just east of the recently captured Toem, New Guinea, WARD and Companies "E" and "F" of the 1st Army Infantry Regiment, 6th Division, departed Maffin Bay on July 26th, 1944 and headed west to take part in Operation Globe Trotter, the landing at Cape Sansapor. Arriving in the transport area at 0626 on the morning of July 30th, WARD launcher her boats full of Army soldiers and stood by while the boats moved to shore. Resistance was minimal and disorganized, and WARD's boats were soon back undamaged and WARD herself steaming east on a course to Humboldt Bay. The landings at Cape Sansapor were the last of WARD's involvement in the campaign to take New Guinea from the Japanese.

East Indies Campaign 

The sailors naturally enjoyed the much needed liberty, and repairs were finished in good order. Departing on the 22nd of August, WARD steamed for Milne Bay along with four other APD's, the Herbert, Schley, Crosby and Kilty. At one point all five ships had to reduce speed while an emergency appendectomy was performed on a sailor on the Schley, but the operation was soon completed and the ships increased speed again and arrived at Milne bay by the morning of August 27.

  On the 10th of September WARD set sail for Morotai Island, halfway between New Guinea and the Philippines, with 157 soldiers from the 6th Army. Five days later the task force had assembled and arrived at their target; the landings happened with light opposition. WARD, after embarking and launching her boats screened a flotilla of LCI (Landing Craft, Infantry) and then provided anti-submarine patrols to the task force. The taking of Morotai gave the allies an important airfield that they could use to provide fighter protection for ships and bases for bombers to use to strike Japanese bases and shipping.

On September 19th, WARD rescued Army Air Corps P-38 pilot 1st Lt. Edgar Scott after seeing his plane crash. Lt. Scott was picked up by WARD's #1 landing craft and saved from death at sea. Following the recovery of landing craft #1 WARD headed for Humbolt Bay, arriving on the 22nd. Lt Scott was dropped off there and began to make his way back to his unit as WARD tied up to the USS Dobbin once again to have work done on one of her reduction gears which had gone bad. Repairs would take the rest of the month. Sadly, WARD would not be around to save Lt. Scott later in February of 1945 when he was once again forced down in water which proved too rough for an immediate rescue, and he disappeared and was never seen again.

Even though there was a war on, WARDs crew rotated on and off the ship as they were trasnsferred from one duty to another, or were sent back to Pearl Harbor or the mainland to attend specialized school. New sailors attached to WARD were faced with the daunting prospect of finding a ship which was almost constantly on the move. One of WARD's crew, Ensign Guy Thompson related how he was sent to Hollandia to join the ship, but once he was there the base operations and intelligence offices were of no help; they had no idea where his ship was! Ensign Thompson checked every morning but the status was never the same. Far from being in a tropical paradise, it was raining every day and there was nothing to occupy his time. Finally he hit upon the idea of following the mail; Finish piece about Guy having to track down WARD here.

Philippine Islands Campaign 

When he had evacuated Corrigador in 1942 the Army's General MacAurther had sworn, "I shall return!" The allies were now working to realize that statement. Far from being a symbollic return from taken lands; the taking of the philippines was a strategic move. By occupying the Philippines the US and allies would be able to block Japanese oil shipments from the Dutch East Indies. These were the main sources of oil for the japanese war machine, and cutting off the flow would cripple her ability to fight and defend herself. WARD would once again be on the front line of this action.

On the first day of October WARD picked up stores and 147 men of the Army's 6th Ranger Battalion at Cape Cretin for the upcoming invasion of the Philippine Islands. Although she had her troops embarked, other ships did not and it was not until twelve days later that the task force was complete and WARD could pull her anchor from the water. She steamed west, up the coast to Humboldt Bay and from there turned North West to Dinagat island. WARD and her Rangers were part of an advanced task force tasked with taking some of the smaller islands near Leyte to prevent the Japanese from using them to interfere with the rest of the invasion. Although danger was waiting for them on the island, it was elsewhere as well, for they skirted the edge of a typhoon on the way. Winds were gusting to 90MPH near the center of the typhoon but were a considerably less 30 knots where WARD and Task Group 78.4 were seaming. Still, the winds and heavy surf churned up by the storm made refueling difficult, and it was only the high seamanship of the crew of WARD that prevented damage or disaster when she refueld from a tanker on the 15th.

Reaching the North east coast of their target early on the morning of the 17th, they were soon at general quarters after a japanese reconnaissance plane dropped a flare around 0600, bathing the entire convoy in light. The task force took evasive action and made preparations to launch their craft the same time two of the destroyers began to bombard the shore with their 5" guns. The sun began to rise on a stormy pacific morning.

This was not to be an easy landing; the waters off Dinagat island had no protection from weather and were strong in currents and winds from the the typhoon, pushing boats and ships around. Several times WARD's anchor nearly drug, which would have pushed her right onto the beach if they had slipped. WARD at least had the luxury of staying at anchor; not so her landing craft, which had to take the Rangers through coral and pounding surf, with the wind at their backs only increasing the waves and danger. To add insult to injury, there were so many Rangers aboard that all of their supplies had to go in a seprate, second landing, requiring WARD's boats to brave enemy fire more than once.

WARD's four boats loaded the Ranger's Company E in the treacherous consitions and carried to shore at 0900 while Company F waited for boats from the USS Schley, which arrived at 0924. Following their first run in to shore the four LCPR's moved over to the British minelayer Ariadene, which was serving as a temporary transport for this landing even though she had no boats. The XXXX soldiers loaded on and were soon on their way through the pounding waves to shore.

WARDs boats were not enjoying a monopoly on action. During the landing operations japanese aircraft had threatened the fleet of ships but WARD herself was not targetted and the combined anti-aircraft fire soon drove them off. Then a fire broke out in the forward crew compartment under the #1 gun and this ship had to switch from general quarters to fire quarters. The fire was put out before there was any serious damage but the fire did cause disruption while supplies for the Rangers were being loaded.

The weather was worsening, but WARDs sailors doggedly continued their tasks. At 1101 two of WARD's LCPRs headed for the beach with the last of the supplies for the soldiers ashore. Wind and waves were bad enough that the landing craft were having a hard time getting off the beach. Number three boat barely managed to make it off the beach at full power, but was able to pass a line to the number one boat and help it off the beach with a tow. That left boats two and four stuck on the beach, with the promised soldiers to help unload all the ammunition and supplies nowhere to be found.

By this time the weather was so bad that boat three could not reach WARD and instead was lifted aboard WARD's squadron mate SCHLEY. WARD's in turn hoisted aboard one of SCHLEY's boats which could not reach her due to the weather as well as the rescued number one boat. With the very real possibility of an anchor dragging and WARD being pushed ashore the decision was made to weigh anchor and move farther out to sea

One of the boats radioed WARD and requested permission for the two to dig in for the night. Permission was denied; those on WARD felt they could get the boats off the shore and did not want to leave any of their sailors behind. The Boat Officer, Ensign Guy Thompson, was present on the beach however and had a better grasp on the local situation and more to lose. He ordered the men from WARD plus the crew of a LCPR from SCHLEY that was also stranded to dig in for the night. They finished just before 1600 hours, the same time the Army commander on scene said his soldiers would start shooting anything moving on the beach immediately and would ask questions later.

WARD radioed at that point that she could not help them off the beach and that permission to dig in was granted! By that time the sailors had dug a foxhole near some logs for protection. A beach cabana it was not; they had moved up two buckets (to use for cooking morning coffee and other necessarry functions), some emergency rations, a couple of the .30 caliber machine guns the boats were armed with (lashed to the logs with rope as no beach mounts were carried), and a case of canned peaches that had been stashed aboard one of the boats. WARD left the area to move out of range of Japanese aircraft, leaving the two boat crews to a long night on a recently-taken enemy beach, armed only with the machine guns from the boats and the personal .45 of the Boat Officer.

While the boat crews settled in for the night WARD helped screen a mine sweeping operation. The weather was so rough that the mine sweepers could cut the cables holding mines under the surface but once they floated to the surface, the gunners had a hard time shooting them to detonate their explosives before they hit a ship. WARD, consequently, had to steam through a rough sea full of floating mines while her gunners too tried to destroy the floating mines.

By the next morning the weather had cleared into a beautiful tropical day. WARD returned and sent a work party to shore to help the stranded sailors.

break 'cause this is still being written.

The safe arrival of the Rangers was fortuitous for many reasons. The men of Company F would later take part in a daring raid that freed more than five hundred survivors of the Bataan Death March who had been prisoners since 1942. Had WARD not delivered the Rangers in full strength they may have not been able to perform this mission and many brave men could have died.

Following the landing at Dinagat WARD headed back to New Guinea. During this time her sailors continued to drill, and it was during one such drill that WARD suffered the only death in her career. During a collision drill some sailors who were not part of the drill were relaxing on deck and sat on one of WARD's life-lines. The line had become worn with use and parted, and two of the sailors fell into the ocean. The crew of the WARD immediately changed from a collision drill to man overboard. All of her LCPR's were manned and two were lowered to rescue the men, but a boat from the USS Herbert APD-22, which had been steaming astern of WARD at the time arrived first and rescued one of the sailors.

In the meantime though, the other sailor slipped below the surface. He was soon spotted in the clear waters of the Pacific, but so was a large shark. Before any of the boats could move above him or sailors jump in to rescue him, the shark hit the sailor and it was all over.

<<Unfinished Section>>

Loss 

WARD and the ships of Task Group 78.3 steamed through the night disturbed only by far off flares and Japanese Reconnaissance aircraft which did not see them even as the passed close overhead. WARDs crew was still tense however, as new flares or aircraft were sighted with alarming regularity. In the five hours between 1AM and 6AM there were ten flare sightings, three anti-aircraft fire ssightings and one close pass by Japanese aircraft.

Despite the effort by Japanese forces to find and attack the WARD, she delivered her charges successfully. Troops were loaded and boats launched by 0626 on the morning of December 7th, 1944, three years to the day after the attack on Pearl Harbor. WARD's four LCPR's reached the beach at 0713 and dropped their ramps on a good beach with no enemy opposition. By 0755 all her boats had been hoisted aboard and WARD was steaming to take position on anti-submarine pickett, protecting the other ships of the task force.

Nearby was the USS Mahan, already on patrol. Shortly after WARD's arrival though a report came of a Japanese convoy in the area and Mahan was ordered to investigate, leaving WARD to patrol her sector alone. At 0940 a group of nine Japanese aircraft were seen about 5 miles away and 5,000 feet high. They were too far away to be identified so WARD went to top speed and began circling as a precaution, which proved to be wise when they were soon identified. They were taken under fire with 20mm and .50 cal anti-aircraft fire but were so far away no hits were seen and no evidence of damage was apparent. The aircraft continued on and passed out of sight.

Shortly after this however, the Mahan was spotted under attack; a furious battle was taking place in the sky. The Mahan was too far away to tell visually what was happening but it appeared that the aircraft WARD had fired at were now over the embattled Mahan along with several enemy fighters that had appeared. Several Japanese aircraft were observed to hit the water; Mahan herself was credited with three and P-38 interceptors brought down several more but it was not enough; Mahan was hit by three aircraft that deliberately crashed into her and set ablaze. Worse for the WARD, the surviving bombers were heading for her.

WARD had changed from a circling defense to a fishtailing course, swinging back and forth at top speed in a manner designed to make it hard for attacking aircraft to set up on accurate attack runs. Three of the remaining twin-engined bombers took the challenge and dove in on WARD from 3,000 feet. The lead aircraft came in guns firing, ignoring the 3" and 20mm fire WARD was throwing back. Down she dove at what was estimated later to be a 45° dive, building up speed to become a harder target. WARD's guns, although improved from those she had carried at the beginning of the war, were too light in power or too slow in firing rate to have enough effect, and the plane, although hit, continued her plunge.

Leveling off, she flew for WARD's port side like an arrow. Men manning the port anti-aircraft guns kept firing despite the horror of seeing a large enemy airplane heading straight for them. With a crash the kamikaze hit just above the waterline at the rear of the galley superstructure and tore into the twenty-six year old hull. Parts of the aircraft tore through the ship doing mortal damage. A second later the second plane crashed off the starboard bow, missing Ward completely. An instant later the third plane also missed and crashed into the water off of WARD's stern.

The speed of the first aircraft was so great that one engine passed completely through the ship and exited out the other side. The ship, already heeling to starboard from the tight turn to port, reeled over even farther. The wreckage tore into both the troop spaces and the fireroom. Gasoline from the plane had sprayed through the troop compartment and ignited, creating a thick smoke that began to pour from WARD's sides. The damage wrought would prove fatal to WARD. Part of the plane had penetrated the fire room, which was normally pressurized. The sudden breach caused the pressure to drop and a flare-back to erupt from inside the boilers, sending a jet of flame into the fire room.

WARD's "black gang" had been trained not to stand behind the fire doors of the boilers and this training saved them from fatal injuries, but the loss of pressure also disrupted the boilers airflow and steam pressure began to fall. Electrical power to the ship failed as breakers tripped. WARD began to slow as the pressure fell and then dropped off completely, leaving WARD dead and coasting in the still waters.

The boat officer, Ensign Thompson, had been on the bridge at the time of the crash and turned to the commodore, who had also been on the bridge during the attack. Saluting, he stated he was going aft to lower some of the boats to help fight the fire. The Commander concurred and Ensign Thompson quickly moved from the bridge down to the well deck and aft through the galley deckhouse; the only one of WARD's crew to traverse this area after she was hit.

Despite the damage WARD had been lucky. The pilot had been aiming for the bridge, and the fishtailing maneuvers caused the planes to miss that critical target. None of her magazines had been hit, and there was no serios damage below the waterline. Incredibly, no one had been killed by the impact and explosion either. The ships doctor, who's normal position was in the medical bay below the troop area, had averted death by leaving the area after no wounded soldiers had returned from the landing. In hitting the troop space just above the waterline, the Kamikaze had hit the one area of WARD that was uninhabitted. Ten feet in either direction or up and men would have died.

Sailors on the rear of the ship had not heard the order to abandon ship and responded as they had been trained, rushing in to put out the fires and try and save their ship. One of the sailors rushed to the galley deckhouse with a fifteen pound fire extinguisher and another with a four-foot applicator used to spray the fire while the sailor stood farther away, but it was no good. The fire was too large for such portable extinguishers; and without power or steam the portable extinguishers were all WARD had.

Ensign Thompson had succeeded in having the forward two LCPRs lowered, but the aft two were jammed up against the metal reventer bars that normally prevented unwated lowerings. Normally the davits could lift the boats up to clear the jam, but without power this was an impossibility. The boats moved forward to the holes in the hull and began trying to fight the fire with portable billy pumps they had on board. (???? or evacuate sailors?)

The canvas sun shade that had been hanging over the welll deck just aft of the bridge was trapping the smoke, making it difficult to see. Then it caught fire and further endangered the crew, so BM1c Fenton cut it away and tossed the floater nets stored on top of the awning into the water to aid crew members who had jumped into the water after the hit. Still, the fire grew worse and 20mm rounds stored in the galle deckhouse began to cook off from the heat.

Nearby ships began to arrive to render assistance. The Sumner-class destroyer O'BRIEN, recently assigned to the Pacific Fleet after taking part in the Normandy invasion moved in off of WARD's port side and began to spray water on the fire. The Minesweeper's SAUNTER and SCOUT also approached, with the SAUNTER moving up WARD's starboard side towards the fire. The smoke was so thick that the sailors from the other ships had a hard time seeing where to direct the water. Even when they got close enough to the fire, the dense smoke pouring out of the holes in her sides made it impossible to see what the conditions inside the troop compartment were like.

It was beginning to become apparent that sailors still on WARD were more in danger from ammunition than fire; the order had been given to flood the magazines but without power or steam there was no way to tell if they had all been flooded. Captain Farwell, thinking about the safety of his crew, reluctantly gave the order to abandon ship at 1024. 66 survivors were picked up by AM-296 Scout. Others went to USS Crosby and O'Brien.

Sunk at 10°51'N, 124°33'E on Wednesday, December 7th, 1944
She had received one battle star as a destroyer (DD) and another eight as a fast attack transport (APD).

One of the gunners had been shaken by the site of a large, twin engined plane heading straight at him at high speed as he continued. Two of the ensigns conspired to aid him

Since that Day.... 

During WARD's conversion from DD to APD, her old four-inch guns had been removed. Special attention was given to the number three gun, even before WARD arrived at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard arrangements had been made to save WARD's "Honor Gun" for special use. In the 1950's the gun was located in the Washington Navy Yard, where it was in storage while waiting to be donated to the Smithsonian Museum. Members of the First Shot Naval Vets managed to convince the Minnesota Governor, Senator, and 1958 state centennial committee to put their weight behind having the gun brought to Minnesota and put on display.

The gun given to the state and was installed in time for a special ceremony on May 9th, 1958. A local newspaper was able to take a picture of the gun with all of the crew members who had manned it during WARD's action against the midget sub.

Although WARD protected her sailors during wartime, she has not been able to save them from the passing of time. Their numbers decrease as the years pass, yet still they meet, to talk and keep the memory of shipmates alive. I hope that this website helps keep their deeds and valor alive; for the world would surely be a different place today if not for the sailors of that gallant US Navy destroyer, USS Ward, DD_139/APD-16.

Sources:

Special Thanks to:
Crew members of the WARD and US Navy Sailors everywhere! Ken Hackler, Historian
David Aiken, Historian
Dick Klobuchar, Historian
Guy Thompson, WARD Officer
John Fitzgerald, Archivist, National Archives and Records Administration
The ShipCamouflage.com message Board.