USS Asheville (PG-21)
 USS Asheville (PG-21), | |
| History | |
|---|---|
 United States
| |
| Name: | Asheville |
| Namesake: | Asheville, North Carolina |
| Builder: | Charleston, S.C. Navy Yard |
| Cost: | $851,145.37 (hull and machinery)[1] |
| Laid down: | 9 June 1918 |
| Launched: | 4 July 1918 |
| Sponsored by: | Miss Alyne J. Reynolds, daughter of Dr. Carl V. Reynolds, MD, a prominent citizen of Asheville |
| Christened: | USS Asheville |
| Commissioned: | 6 July 1920 |
| In service: | |
| Struck: | 8 May 1942 |
| Honors and awards: | 1 battle star |
| Fate: | Sunk by enemy action, 3 March 1942 |
| General characteristics | |
| Type: | Asheville (PG-21)-class gunboat |
| Displacement: | |
| Length: | 241 ft 2 in (73.51 m) |
| Beam: | 41 ft 3 in (12.57 m) |
| Draft: | 12 ft 9 in (3.89 m) |
| Installed power: | 850 shp |
| Propulsion: | 1-shaft Parsons geared turbine |
| Speed: | 12 kn (22 km/h; 14 mph) |
| Range: | 2000 nm |
| Complement: | 159 |
| Armament: |
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USS Asheville (PG-21), launched in 1918, was the lead ship in a class of two United States Navy gunboats. While in service during the early days of America's participation in World War II, she was sunk by Japanese forces on 3 March 1942, south of the island of Java, in what was then the Netherlands East Indies.
Service History
Asheville was launched on 4 July 1918 and commissioned on 6 July 1920. Asheville spent the larger part of her service as a part of the Asiatic Fleet with extensive service in China as a member of the Yangtze Patrol and in the Philippines. From 1929-1931, she was stationed in the Caribbean and Nicaragua during the so-called Banana Wars. She was part of the Asiatic Fleet at the outbreak of World War II. She was on patrol in the Philippines when Pearl Harbor was attacked on 8 December 1941 (7 December in Hawaii). Ordered south by CINCAF to the Dutch East Indies (N.E.I.) in December 1941 with most of the rest of the American surface fleet, Asheville escaped early destruction only by making a tense 12-day, 2,000 mi (1,700 nmi; 3,200 km) voyage to the south coast of Java.
The Japanese victory in the Battle of the Java Sea marked the end of the Asiatic Fleet, and all remaining Allied ships were ordered to retreat to Australia or Ceylon. Hampered by engine troubles and sailing alone, Asheville was discovered on 3 March 1942 by a shipborne scout plane south of Java and overtaken by a Japanese destroyer squadron—consisting of the destroyers Arashi and Nowaki, and the heavy cruiser Maya. As the cruiser stood by, the two Japanese destroyers closed and engaged Asheville at close range with their guns. After an intense 30-minute gun battle, the smoldering hulk of Asheville—her superstructure almost completely shot away—finally sank. After calling to ask if there was an officer among the swimmers, a Japanese destroyer picked up one survivor—F/2c Fred L. Brown from Ft. Wayne, Indiana.[2] In March 1945, Fireman Brown died in a POW camp in the Celebes, N.E.I.. If not for the fact that Brown had told several of his fellow prisoners his story, no one would have ever known what had been the fate of Asheville.
Asheville was one of the few American surface ships lost with no known survivors at the end of the war.
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Awards
Asheville received one battle star for her World War II service.
References
- ↑ "Table 21 - Ships on Navy List June 30, 1919". Congressional Serial Set (U.S. Government Printing Office): 762. 1921.
- ↑ Find a grave
This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships.
External links
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