World War II Service
Mullany was originally Beatty (DD-528) but was renamed on 28 May 1941. Laid down 15 January 1942 by Bethlehem Steel Co., Union Plant, San Francisco, Calif., she was launched 10 October 1942, sponsored by Mrs. Elton W. Grenfell; and commissioned 23 April 1943, Commander Baron J. Mullaney in command.
After shakedown and training off San Diego and escort duty in the Aleutians, Mullany joined the 7th Fleet in the southwest Pacific in December 1943. Her first action came 2 to 4 March 1944 when she protected minesweepers clearing the approaches to Seeadler Harbor, Admiralty Islands, prior to the amphibious landings on Los Negros, the island forming the northeastern side of the harbor. Attracting Japanese gunfire, Mullany silenced the Japanese harbor defenses with 5 inch fire, enabling the minesweepers to complete their vital mission. For the next 2 days Mullany fired to support American troops fighting ashore.
Screening 7th Fleet flagship USS Wasatch (AGC-9) during the invasion of Leyte Gulf, Mullany fired to help drive off nine separate enemy air attacks from 20 to 29 October, then sailed for overhaul at San Francisco. After training near Hawaii in January 1945, she joined Task Force 54 (TF 54) for the invasion of Iwo Jima, to which she escorted troop transports. After firing in the preinvasion bombardment, she supported troops landing and fighting ashore, hitting caves and machinegun nests on Mount Suribachi 19 February.
An antisubmarine picket guarding the Okinawa invasion force 6 April 1945, Mullany opened fire on a Japanese kamikaze plane at 17:45. A few seconds later the fighter was smoking from numerous hits, but somehow managed to stay together. Skipper Comdr. Albert O. Momm ordered the ship to turn out of the kamikaze's path, but couldn't get out of the way in time. The plane slammed into the after deckhouse. Before damage control parties could remove all the wounded from the twisted metal and exploding ammunition, the ship's depth charges exploded. In the next 20 minutes three more enemy aircraft attacked stricken Mullany. Her forward gunners downed two and drove the other away.
An hour later, Momm received a report that the bulkhead of one of the aft magazines was hot and an explosion was apparently imminent. Many of the ship's officers had seen the disastrous consequences of a magazine explosion, and at 18:29 Momm gave the order to abandon ship. USS Gherardi (DMS-30) stood by to take on survivors while her rescue and assistance team continued to spray water on Mullany. The USS Execute (AM-232) rescued 70 members of the Mullany crew from the water. The Execute then came alongside and helped fight the fires. In the next hours USS Purdy (DD-734) came alongside the burning ship and extinguished the flames. Since the expected explosion had been prevented by punctured fuel and water tanks flooding the compartments above the hot magazine, Commander Momm took a skeleton crew back aboard at 23:00. After the fires were extinguished the Execute attempted a tow using her sweep gear. At first the Mullany was in tow at low speed. With an increase in speed the sweep cable snapped and the tow attempt was discontinued. The Mullany crew then succeeded in lighting off one boiler, and Mullany limped off on one shaft for Pearl Harbor and San Francisco, arriving 29 May. Courage and determination had saved their ship, but 21 of her crew were killed, nine missing, and 36 wounded.
Completely repaired, Mullany put to sea 25 September for the Panama Canal and duty with the Atlantic Fleet, until decommissioning 14 February 1946 to join the Reserve Fleet at Charleston, South Carolina
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