USS Stevens (DD-479) - 1944: Central and South Pacific

1944: Central and South Pacific

Though she had missed out on the first hop of the leapfrog across the Central Pacific, Stevens rejoined the 5th Fleet in time to be part of the second jump. Attached to Task Group 52.8 (TG 52.8), the fire support group, the destroyer participated in Operation Flintlock, the Kwajalein phase of the conquest of the Marshall Islands, in late January and early February 1944. She bombarded the islands before the landings and afterward delivered support gunfire to the Marines until it was no longer necessary.

However, Stevens' tour of duty with the 5th Fleet in the Central Pacific soon ended, for she cleared Kwajalein on 4 February 1944 for the South Pacific area. She stopped at Funafuti, in the Ellice Islands, from 8 to 13 February; then joined Lang (DD-399), Hogan (DD-178), Hamilton (DD-141), and Stansbury (DD-180) to screen Transport Divisions 24 and 26. The convoy divided on the 15th, and the Guadalcanal detachment, consisting of Stevens and Lang screening DuPage (APA-41), Aquarius (AKA-16), and Almaack (AK-27), arrived off Koli Point three days later. On 19 February, Stevens departed Guadalcanal to accompany Almaack to New Caledonia. They reached Nouméa on 22 February. After four days at the French port, the destroyer got underway in company with SS Japara back to the Solomons. On 4 March, she screened the merchantman into Tulagi harbor; fueled at Port Purvis; then took station ahead of SS Mormacwren for a voyage to Efate. The Stevens put into Havannah Harbor on 5 March after parting company with the merchantman, which continued on independently to Auckland, New Zealand.

Following 10 days in the Efate area, the Stevens sortied with Task Force 37 to bombard the Kavieng area of northwestern New Ireland. Until mid-March, an assault upon this area had been assumed to be necessary to complete the circle around the huge Japanese base at Rabaul on New Britain Island and to provide a base for operations north to the Philippines. However, the decision to occupy part of the Admiralty Islands obviated Kavieng as a base; and the planners felt that the air campaign against Rabaul was proceeding so well that it was neutralizing that large Japanese base without the occupation of Kavieng. Consequently, the naval bombardment, during which the Stevens concentrated on the islands of Nusa and Nusalik, was the only phase of the operation carried out, but it was nevertheless highly effective. Samuel Eliot Morison quotes Japanese sources which attest to the "demoralizing" effect of the bombardments, in which Stevens, two escort carriers, and 14 other destroyers joined the battleships New Mexico (BB-40), Mississippi (BB-41), Tennessee (BB-43), and Idaho (BB-42).

The Stevens returned to Efate on 25 March 1944, and she remained there almost two weeks. On 5 April, she got underway with Destroyer Squadron 25 (DesRon 25) to steam up the eastern coast of New Guinea. After stopovers at Milne Bay and Cape Sudest, the destroyers rendezvoused with TG 77.4 off Cape Cretin on 19 April and steamed on to the Hollandia, New Guinea, invasion area. TG 77.4, the second echelon of the Hollandia invasion force, divided on [22 April, and the Stevens screened the western reinforcement group while its troops landed at Tanamerah Bay. She departed from Hollandia on 30 April 1944 and retraced her steps down the east coast of New Guinea, then she headed east to the Solomon Islands, entering Purvis Bay on 10 May.

For almost a month, she remained in the Solomons, escorting convoys, conducting combat training, and resting and resupplying in port. Then, on 4 June 1944, she steamed on a course for the Marshall Islands, reaching Kwajalein on the 8th, patrolling there until the 12th, and then steaming for Eniwetok. She entered that lagoon on 28 June, and stayed there until 17 July, when she departed in the screen of TG 53.3, transporting troops to the Guam assault. The task group arrived off Guam early on the morning of the day of the landings, 21 July 1944; and the Stevens fired on enemy positions as the troops disembarked from the transports and landed on the island. The destroyer continued her fire support role of delivering harassing, interdiction, and call fire in support of the American troops and Marines ashore until her departure on 26 July 1944.

The Stevens returned to Eniwetok on 30 July, and then she steamed for Guadalcanal the following day. Stevens reached Guadalcanal on 5 August, but continued on to Espiritu Santo, which she reached the next day. She departed Espiritu Santo on 14 August and moored in Purvis Bay two days later. On 17 July the Stevens headed for New Guinea. The Stevens arrived at Humboldt Bay on 21 July, and then made a trip to Maffin Bay and back; then, on 7 September, she stood out of Humboldt Bay for Aitape. She joined Task Force 77 at Aitape and, on 10 September, sortied with that task force for Morotai in the East Indies. Five days later, the assault troops stormed ashore on Morotai, to little opposition. The Stevens patrolled while the transports unloaded men and equipment. Late that afternoon, she steamed back towards Humboldt Bay, escorting HMAS Manoora and HMAS Kanimbla. This small convoy reached its destination on 18 September; and the following day, Stevens joined McKee (DD-575) in the screen of another echelon bound for Morotai . Upon her arrival back at Morotai, the Stevens began patrolling as a radar and anti-submarine picket off Kaoe Bay, and serving on night's patrol south of Morotai.

The Stevens remained in the vicinity of Morotai from 23 September until 3 October. During that time, she continued her various patrols; fought off air attacks; and, after 25 September, served as headquarters for the landing craft control officer. On 3 October, she cleared Morotai in company with the Lang (DD-399). The two destroyers put into Humboldt Bay two days later. On 16 October the Stevens got underway in the screen of TG 78.6, Leyte Reinforcement Group One. After a six-day voyage, the convoy arrived in Leyte Gulf, and the Stevens refueled before escorting TG 78.10 back to New Guinea. Between 28 October and 9 December 1944, the Stevens accompanied three more convoys from the New Guinea area to Leyte Gulf.