Allied Warships

USS Kearny (DD 432)

Destroyer of the Benson / Gleaves class

Navy	The US Navy
Type	Destroyer
Class	Benson / Gleaves
Pennant	DD 432
Built by	Federal Shipbuilding & Drydock Co. (Kearny, New Jersey, U.S.A.)
Ordered	17 Aug 1938
Laid down	1 Mar 1939
Launched	9 Mar 1940
Commissioned	13 Sep 1940
End service	7 Mar 1946
History	Decommissioned 7 March 1946. Stricken 1 June 1971. Sold 6 October 1972 and broken up for scrap. Hit by U-boat Damaged on 17 Oct 1941 by U-568 (Preuss).
U-boat Attack	See our U-boat attack entry for the USS Kearny

Commands listed for USS Kearny (DD 432)

Please note that we're still working on this section
and that we only list Commanding Officers for the duration of the Second World War.

	Commander	From	To
1	Lt.Cdr. Anthony Leo Danis, USN	13 Sep 1940	25 Nov 1941
2	Lt.Cdr. Adolph Henry Oswald, USN	25 Nov 1941	4 Dec 1942 (1)
3	T/Cdr. Lindsey Williamson, USN	4 Dec 1942	1 Oct 1944
4	T/Cdr. Frank Knowles Bladsell Wheeler, USN	1 Oct 1944	7 Mar 1946 (1)

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Notable events involving Kearny include:

17 Oct 1941
The USS Kearny (DD 432) (Lt.Cdr. Anthony Leo Danis, USN) was part of the Escort Group 4.1.4 (detached from convoy ON-24) and escorted SC-48 southwest of Iceland. At 04.15 hours on 17 October 1941, the destroyer was hit by one of four torpedoes fired by U-568. The torpedo struck on starboard side, killing eleven men and wounded 22 others including the commanding officer. The vessel steamed at 10 knots under escort by the American destroyer USS Greer (DD 145) to Hvalfjordur, Iceland, arriving on 19 October. After temporary repairs alongside the American repair ship USS Vulcan (AR 5) she left Iceland on 24 December for Boston for permanent repairs, which were completed until March 1942.

16 Jul 1942
USS Kearny picks up 123 survivors of the American merchant Fairport that was torpedoed and sunk by German U-boat U-161 about 500 nautical miles north of St.Thomas, Virgin Islands in position 27°10'N, 64°33'W.