USS Sicard (DD-346) - World War II

World War II

In May 1937, Sicard entered the Pearl Harbor Navy Yard for conversion to a light minelayer; and, on 20 June, she was reclassified DM-21. Except for a brief trip to the west coast for repairs and training from 20 September to 20 December 1937, Sicard operated in the Hawaiian area through 1941, engaging in division tactics and training exercises, fleet problems and maneuvers, joint Army and Navy exercises, battle, torpedo and mining practice, and reconnaissance missions around Midway and outlying islands. She entered the Pearl Harbor Navy Yard on 21 November 1941 and was under overhaul there when the Japanese attacked on 7 December. The ship had ammunition only for her .30-caliber machine guns but aided in the defense of the base by sending men to help operate the guns of the cruiser New Orleans (CA-32) and the destroyer Cummings (DD-365).

On completion of overhaul on 28 January 1942, Sicard left Pearl Harbor for an antisubmarine patrol station southwest of Oahu, where she escorted ships within her area and searched for hostile submarines. Between 1 and 9 April, she helped lay a large defensive minefield at the French Frigate Shoals, some 500 miles northwest of Oahu; and, between 10 and 18 April, she set up a Marine radio and surveillance station at Eastern Island in the Midway group. On 19 June, Sicard sailed from Pearl Harbor with other light minelayers, picked up mines at Seattle, Washington; and, in July, laid a defensive minefield off Kodiak, Alaska. On her return to Hawaii on 27 July, she resumed her local patrol assignment. She sailed on 16 September for the Aleutian Islands to lay another minefield and conduct more patrols and then proceeded on 22 November to San Francisco for overhaul.

After completion of repairs on 22 December, Sicard participated in amphibious landing exercises off San Diego; and then sailed on 24 April 1943 from San Francisco with a convoy of troop transports for the assault on Attu in the Aleutians. Sicard was to have acted as a landing craft control vessel for the operation; but, on the night before the landing, she collided with the destroyer, Macdonough (DD-351), in a dense fog. Sicard towed McDonough into Adak, and then proceeded to San Francisco for repairs, which lasted to 29 July. She was more fortunate during the Kiska landings and successfully guided the waves of assault boats to the beach there between 15 and 18 August. She performed local patrol and escort duties in the Aleutians, and then escorted a convoy to Pearl Harbor, where she arrived on 15 September.

Sicard left Pearl Harbor on 24 September for a new area of operations, the Southwest Pacific. She escorted ships to Nouméa and Espiritu Santo, and then continued to Purvis Bay where she and her sisters, Gamble (DM-15) and Breese (DM-18), formed a fast mine-laying group. The group sortied on 31 October to plant an offensive minefield off Bougainville Island. Just as the group completed its mission and began to retire early in the morning of 2 November, it was illuminated by parachute flares from enemy aircraft. Soon a friendly cruiser force steamed by at high speed in the opposite direction and opened fire on an invisible enemy. Sicard's group had unknowingly helped bring the opposing forces together for the Battle of Empress Augusta Bay.

Sicard with four other destroyer-minelayers, laid another minefield off Bougainville on 8 November; and, after brief convoy duty, the ship laid a third minefield off the Shortland Islands on 24 November. Between December 1943 and April 1944, she escorted convoys between Espiritu Santo, Guadalcanal, Purvis Bay, Noumea, Fiji, New Zealand, and Kwajalein. On 1 May 1944, she resumed her minelaying role and laid a field off Buka Island in two trips on 2 and 10 May. After additional convoy duty, the ship returned to Alameda, California, on 11 July 1944 for overhaul.

Sicard completed repairs on 20 September and, after refresher training, sailed for Pearl Harbor on 4 October. Following another period of upkeep from 10 October to 16 November, she commenced duty training submarines. She conducted daily exercises with submarines off Oahu until 9 January 1945, and then performed similar duties at Midway until 2 September 1945. During this period, she was reclassified a miscellaneous auxiliary, AG-100, effective 5 June 1945. On completion of training duty, Sicard arrived at the Philadelphia Navy Yard for inactivation on 21 October.