USS Young (DD-580) - 1945

1945

The USS Young's first amphibious assault came during the invasion of Luzon in January 1945. During the main landing on the 9th, she served as a unit of the screen for the landing craft of Attack Group "Baker" and covered part of the landings at Lingayen Gulf itself. The assault went off practically unopposed, in an example of the new Japanese tactics of fighting an amphibious force inland with conventional infantry tactics rather than trying to smash the landing at the beach. Since the American troops encountered no real resistance until they had advanced inland well beyond the range of destroyer guns, the Young and her accompanying warships had little to do at Lingayen Gulf.

That pattern repeated itself at Zambales later in the month when the Young, in reconnoitering the landing area, encountered a small boat embarking a Filippino guerrilla lieutenant who informed the destroyer that the area had already been secured by his forces. The Zambales landing went off without a shot being fired.

During operations around Subic and Manila Bays, the warship joined the USS Nicholas (DD-449) in destroying two Japanese 17-foot (5.2 m) suicide boats sent in from Corregidor to break up the Mariveles occupation force on 14 February. Two days later, she participated in the reduction and capture of the source of those boats—Corregidor. She bombarded "The Rock" before the assault and then helped silence enemy batteries on Caballo Island when they opened up on the landing craft. Later that morning, she threaded her way through mine-infested waters to provide gunfire support for the troops taking the island fortress.

During the following weeks, the USS Young conducted patrols out of Subic Bay. In April, she supported one of the U.S. Army's landings on Mindanao, but that operation, thanks to strong Moro guerrilla activity, proved to be another walkover. She continued her patrol operations in the Philippines until the end of the third week in May at which time she received orders to return to the United States for repairs. Steaming via Eniwetok Atoll and Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, she arrived in San Francisco Bay on 12 June and began a 47-day overhaul at the Mare Island Navy Yard.

Late in July, the USS Young completed her post-overhaul trials and, early in August, she headed back toward Pearl Harbor. However, by the time of her arrival, hostilities had already ceased. Instead of continuing westwards, she began operations in the Hawaiian Islands area as escort and plane guard for the aircraft carrier USS Saratoga (CV-3). On 25 September, she departed Hawaii in company with various units of the U.S. 3rd Fleet en route to the East Coast for the 1945 Navy Day celebration. On 27 October, the Young arrived in New York City, where President Harry Truman reviewed the assembled ships.

The Young remained in New York until 1 November when she steamed towards Charleston, South Carolina, where she was placed in reserve on 31 January 1946. Finally decommissioned sometime in January 1947, the destroyer remained in reserve until 1 May 1968, at which time her name was stricken from the Navy list. On 6 March 1970, the USS Young was sunk as a target off the mid-Atlantic coast.

The USS Young (DD-580) earned five battle stars during World War II.

See USS Young for other ships of the same name.