USS Mahan (DD-364) - History 1936-1944

History 1936-1944

Within two months after she was commissioned, Mahan shoved-off for the Caribbean and South American ports, combining her initial training and shakedown cruise with a goodwill tour. Mahan remained in the Atlantic area till July 1937; then headed to the southern California coast for fleet training, before steaming to her new station at Pearl Harbor. Mahan visited the West Coast periodically through December 1941, and also engaged in training exercises and patrols in the Hawaiian waters.

When the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941, Mahan was at sea with carrier USS Lexington (CV-2), in the company of Task Force 12. Lexington was transporting Marine aircraft to Midway Island. When news of the attack on Pearl Harbor reached the Task Force, planes from the carrier were quickly launched to search for the Japanese fleet. Mahan was also part of this initial post-attack effort. With no sightings, they returned to Pearl Harbor days later.

Late in December 1941, Mahan carried reinforcements to the Marine detachment at Johnston Island and evacuated civilians to Hawaii. (Johnston Island, located roughly 750 nautical miles (860 miles or 1,390 km) west of Hawaii, was a link in the Navy's supply chain during the war.) For the next few months, Mahan conducted screening assignments for inter-island and transoceanic convoys between Hawaii and the West Coast. On 24 February she was transferred to the patrol station off Canton Island, where the Navy Air Transport Service used its airstrip as a stopover point. During the latter part of March, Mahan got underway to the West Coast for overhaul, docking at the Mare Island Naval Shipyard on 18 April 1942.

August 1942 found Mahan back on patrol duty in the Hawaiian waters; by mid-October she steamed south to join the campaign to hold Guadalcanal. En route with destroyer USS Lamson (DD-367), the destroyers coordinated an attack on Japanese patrol boats, and sunk two of them near the Gilbert Islands. During the Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands on 27 October, Mahan knocked down four enemy aircraft as part of the USS Enterprise (CV-6) screen with USS South Dakota (BB-57). Later, a major mishap occurred: a submarine contact caused Mahan and South Dakota to change course and they collided. Both ships were damaged, with Mahan sustaining serious destruction to her bow. Temporary repairs were made to her at Noumea, New Caledonia; then Mahan proceeded to Pearl Harbor for permanent repairs.

Once repaired, Mahan returned to the South Pacific on 9 January 1943, escorting convoys between New Hebrides, New Caledonia, and the Fiji Islands. Most of March was spent on patrol duty off New Caledonia. The following month, Mahan made one escort trip to Guadalcanal and returned to New Caledonia without incident. By early May, she was in the Australian waters: doing convoy duty, operating with Australian Naval Forces, and escorting Aussie troopships. Moving on to New Guinea in early July, she was based at Milne Bay. For the next few months, Mahan participated in the bombardment of Finschhafen and the landings at Lae.

During October and November 1943, Mahan’s base of operations changed to Buna, Papua New Guinea. She continued to patrol the area, but in early November went alongside USS Dobbin (AD-3), a destroyer tender, for a nine-day overhaul. Then on 15 December, Mahan took part in the first landings on New Britain; the 26th she provided fire support for the landings at Cape Gloucester, New Georgia. After a short respite in Sydney, Australia, escort duties between New Guinea and New Britain followed. In late February 1944, Mahan was involved in the invasion and the seizure of Los Negros Island in the Admiralty Islands, her last action before going alongside a destroyer tender for 36 hours of repair.

With almost two years in the Pacific, the veteran destroyer was ordered to San Francisco, California, for overhaul: mooring again at the Mare Island Naval Shipyard on 17 April 1944. Mahan left the yard in early July for Pearl Harbor, and took part in exercises there until 15 August. Steaming via Eniwetok, Jaluit, Guam, Saipan, and Ulithi, she returned to New Guinea on 20 October, and began escorting convoys between Hollandia (Jayapura) and Leyte. By the end of November 1944, Mahan was doing anti-submarine patrol assignments off Leyte in the Philippine, Islands.