Allied Warships

USS Lewis Hancock (DD 675)

Destroyer of the Fletcher class

Navy	The US Navy
Type	Destroyer
Class	Fletcher
Pennant	DD 675
Built by	Federal Shipbuilding & Drydock Co. (Kearny, New Jersey, U.S.A.)
Ordered	14 Jun 1942
Laid down	31 Mar 1943
Launched	1 Aug 1943
Commissioned	29 Sep 1943
End service	18 Dec 1957
History	Decommissioned 10 January 1946. Recommissioned 19 May 1951. Decommissioned 18 December 1957. Stricken 15 March 1973. Transferred to Brazil 2 August 1967 being renamed Piaui. Piaui was stricken and broken up for scrap in 1989.

Commands listed for USS Lewis Hancock (DD 675)

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	Commander	From	To
1	T/Capt. Charles Huntington Lyman, 3rd, USN	29 Sep 1943	14 Mar 1944
2	T/Cdr. William Marvin Searles, USN	14 Mar 1944	15 May 1945
3	T/Cdr. Richard Edward Babb, USN	15 May 1945	25 Oct 1945

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Notable events involving Lewis Hancock include:

12 Feb 1944
Task Force 58 departed Majuro Atoll for operation HAILSTONE, a raid against the Japanese base at Truk Atoll.

Task Force 58 was made up of the following ships;

Task Group 58.1
Aircraft carriers USS Enterprise (Capt. M.B. Gardner, USN), USS Yorktown (Capt. R.E. Jennings, USN), light carrier USS Belleau Wood (Capt. A.M. Pride, USN), light cruisers Santa Fé (Capt. J. Wright, USN), Mobile (Capt. C.J. Wheeler, USN), Biloxi (Capt. D.M. McGurl, USN), USS Oakland (Capt. W.K. Phillips, USN) and the destroyers USS Clarence K. Bronson (Lt.Cdr. J.C. McGoughran, USN), USS Cotten (Cdr. F.T. Sloat, USN), USS Dortch (Cdr. R.C. Young, USN), USS Gatling (Cdr. A.F. Richardson, USN), USS Healy (Cdr. J.C. Atkeson, USN), USS Cogswell (Cdr. H.T. Deutermann, USN), USS Caperton (Cdr. W.J. Miller, USN), USS Ingersoll (Cdr. A.C. Veasey, USN), USS Knapp (Cdr. F. Virden, USN).

Task Group 58.2
Aircraft carriers USS Essex (Capt. R.A. Ofstie, USN), USS Intrepid (Capt. T.L. Sprague, USN), light carrier USS Cabot (Capt. M.F. Schoeffel, USN), heavy cruisers USS Wichita (Capt J.J. Mahoney, USN), USS Baltimore (Capt. W.C. Calhoun, USN), light cruisers USS San Francisco (Capt. H.E. Overesch, USN), USS San Diego (Capt. L.J. Hudson, USN), destroyers USS Owen (Cdr. R.W. Wood, USN), USS Miller (Cdr. T.H. Kobey, USN), USS The Sullivans (Cdr. K.M. Gentry, USN), USS Stephen Potter (Cdr. C.H. Crichton, USN), USS Hickox (Cdr. W.M. Sweetser, USN), USS Hunt (Cdr. H.A. Knoertzer, USN), USS Lewis Hancock (Cdr. C.H. Lyman, 3rd, USN), USS Stembel (Cdr. W.L. Tagg, USN) and USS Stack (Lt.Cdr. R.E. Wheeler, USN).

Task Group 58.3
Aircraft carrier USS Bunker Hill (Capt. T.P. Jeter, USN), light carriers USS Monterey (Capt. L.T. Hundt, USN), USS Cowpens (Capt. R.P. McConnell, USN), battleships USS North Carolina (Capt. F.P. Thomas, USN), USS Massachusetts (Capt. T.D. Ruddock, Jr., USN), USS South Dakota (Capt. A.E. Smith, USN), USS Alabama (Capt. F.D. Kirtland, USN), USS Iowa (Capt. J.L. McCrea, USN), USS New Jersey (Capt. C.F. Holden, USN), heavy cruisers USS Minneapolis (Capt. R.W. Bates, USN), USS New Orleans (Capt. S.R. Shumaker, USN), destroyers USS Izard (Cdr. E.K. van Swearingen, USN), USS Charrette (Cdr. E.S. Karpe, USN), USS Conner (Cdr. W.E. Kaitner, USN), USS Bell (Cdr. L.C. Petross, USN), USS Burns (Cdr. D.T. Eller, USN), USS Bradford (Cdr. R.L. Morris, USN), USS Brown (Cdr. T.H. Copeman, USN), USS Cowell (Cdr. C.W. Parker, USN), USS Wilson (Lt.Cdr. C.K. Duncan, USN), USS Sterett (Lt.Cdr. F.J.L. Blouin, USN) and USS Lang (Cdr. H. Payson, Jr., USN).

17 Oct 1944
USS Iowa (Capt. A.R. McCann, USN) fuelled the destroyers, USS Halsey Powell (Cdr. S.D.B. Merrill, USN), USS Tingey (Cdr. J.O. Miner, USN), USS Lewis Hancock (Cdr. W.M. Searles, USN) and USS Hickox (Cdr. J.H. Wesson, USN).

25 Oct 1944
USS Iowa (Capt. A.R. McCann, USN) fuelled the destroyers, USS Colahan (Cdr. D.T. Wilber, USN) and USS Tingey (Cdr. J.O. Miner, USN). Upon completion of the fuelling Iowa and other units of the Task Group formed Task Unit 34.5 and proceeded south at high speed (28 knots) towards San Bernardino Strait in the hope of intercepting the enemy force approaching that strait from the southward.

Task Unit 34.5 was made up of battleships USS Iowa (Capt. A.R. McCann, USN), USS New Jersey (Capt. C.F. Holden, USN), light cruisers USS Vincennes (Capt. A.D. Brown, USN), USS Biloxi (Capt. D.M. McGurl, USN), USS Miami (Capt. J.G. Crawford, USN), destroyers USS Miller (Lt.Cdr. D.L. Johnson, USN), USS Owen (Cdr. C.B.Jones, USN), USS Tingey (Cdr. J.O. Miner, USN), USS The Sullivans (Cdr. R.J. Baum, USN) and USS Lewis Hancock (Cdr. W.M. Searles, USN).

26 Oct 1944
USS Iowa (Capt. A.R. McCann, USN) and the Task Group she is part of continued on the south. At 0029 hours the destroyer USS Lewis Hancock (Cdr. W.M. Searles, USN) reported a surface contact. The three light cruisers closed this contact and opened fire on it. The contact turned out to be the Japanese destroyer Nowaki which was sunk by the light cruisers USS Vincennes (Capt. A.D. Brown, USN), USS Miami (Capt. J.G. Crawford, USN), USS Biloxi (Capt. D.M. McGurl, USN) and the destroyers USS Owen (Cdr. C.B.Jones, USN) and USS Miller (Lt.Cdr. D.L. Johnson, USN).

18 Nov 1944
USS Iowa (Capt. A.R. McCann, USN) fuelled the destroyers USS Twining (Cdr. E.K. Wakefield, USN), USS Hunt (Cdr. H.A. Knoertzer, USN), USS Stockham (Cdr. E.P. Holmes, USN) and USS Lewis Hancock (Cdr. W.M. Searles, USN).

17 Dec 1944
USS Iowa (Capt. J.L. Holloway, Jr., USN), topped off two of the destroyers of the Task Group, USS Brush (Cdr. J.E. Edwards, USN) and USS Lewis Hancock (Cdr. W.M. Searles, USN), with fuel.

19 Dec 1944
USS Iowa (Capt. J.L. Holloway, Jr., USN), topped off two of the destroyers of the Task Group, USS Lewis Hancock (Cdr. W.M. Searles, USN) and USS Miller (Lt.Cdr. D.L. Johnson, USN), with fuel. Iowa herself was fuelled by the oiler USS Cache (Lt.Cdr. C.R. Cosgrove, USNR).

22 Dec 1944
USS Iowa (Capt. J.L. Holloway, Jr., USN), topped off one of the destroyers of the Task Group, USS Lewis Hancock (Cdr. W.M. Searles, USN), with fuel. Iowa herself was fuelled by the oiler USS Mascoma (Lt.Cdr. H.P. Timmers, USNR).