USS ''Watts'' (DD-567) was a of the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

Namesake

Little is known about John Watts other than that he was an American merchant captain at the end of the eighteenth century and the beginning of the nineteenth. Probably born about 1778, location unknown but most likely in

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

, he was captain of the 18-gun, armed merchantman ''Planter'' in 1799. Watts is remembered for an action between ''Planter'' and a 22-gun French

privateer A privateer is a private person or vessel which engages in commerce raiding under a commission of war. Since robbery under arms was a common aspect of seaborne trade, until the early 19th century all merchant ships carried arms. A sovereign o ...

which took place on 10 July 1799 in the eastern Atlantic during the

Quasi-War The Quasi-War was an undeclared war from 1798 to 1800 between the United States and the French First Republic. It was fought almost entirely at sea, primarily in the Caribbean and off the East Coast of the United States, with minor actions in ...

with

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

. During that five-hour engagement, Watts and ''Planters 43-man crew successfully fought off two concerted attacks by the more heavily armed Frenchman and thwarted the privateers' attempt to take the American ship. Watts and his crew received a generous reward for their efforts from Lloyd's Coffee House in London, the forerunner of the world-famous insurance company

Lloyd's of London Lloyd's of London, generally known simply as Lloyd's, is a insurance and reinsurance market located in London, England. Unlike most of its competitors in the industry, it is not an insurance company; rather, Lloyd's is a corporate body gover ...

.Watts presumably continued in merchant service after the adventure with the French privateer, but he never served in the

. John Watts died in 1823, again location unknown.

Construction and commissioning

''Watts'' was laid down on 26 March 1943 at

Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...

, by the Seattle-Tacoma Shipbuilding Corp.; launched on 31 December 1943, sponsored by Mrs. Judith Bundick Gardner; and commissioned on 29 April 1944.

1944

Following two weeks of testing and calibrating equipment in

Puget Sound Puget Sound ( ; ) is a complex estuary, estuarine system of interconnected Marine habitat, marine waterways and basins located on the northwest coast of the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington. As a part of the Salish Sea, the sound ...

, ''Watts'' embarked upon her first voyage on 17 May. She headed for

San Diego San Diego ( , ) is a city on the Pacific coast of Southern California, adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a population of over 1.4 million, it is the List of United States cities by population, eighth-most populous city in t ...

and a month of shakedown training. She returned to Bremerton, Wash. on 26 June and underwent three weeks of post-shakedown availability. On 12 July, she departed Bremerton in company with battleships (BB-41) and ''West Virginia'' (BB-48) bound for San Diego. The destroyer remained at San Diego until the 22d, at which time she put to sea in the screen of a Hawaii-bound

convoy A convoy is a group of vehicles, typically motor vehicles or ships, traveling together for mutual support and protection. Often, a convoy is organized with armed defensive support and can help maintain cohesion within a unit. It may also be used ...

of troop transports. She arrived in

Pearl Harbor Pearl Harbor is an American lagoon harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu. It was often visited by the naval fleet of the United States, before it was acquired from the Hawaiian Kingdom by the U.S. with the signing of the Reci ...

on 29 July and remained only until 3 August when she stood out with Destroyer Division 113 (DesDiv 113) and shaped a course for Aleutian waters. On 8 August, ''Watts'' led her division mates into port at

Adak, Alaska Adak (; , ), formerly Adak Station, is a city located on Adak Island, in the Aleutians West Census Area, Alaska, United States. At the 2020 census, the population was 171, down from 326 in 2010. It is the westernmost municipality in the Unite ...

. During the next seven months, the destroyer operated with the other units of DesDiv 113 as a part of the Navy's North Pacific Force. Since her assignment there came well after America had consolidated her hold on the Aleutians chain, the bulk of ''Watts duties consisted of patrols and supply convoy-escort missions between the various outposts scattered across the fog and snow-bound archipelago. On the other hand, she and her division mates did, on occasion, conduct offensive operations against the

Japanese Empire The Empire of Japan, also known as the Japanese Empire or Imperial Japan, was the Japanese nation state that existed from the Meiji Restoration on January 3, 1868, until the Constitution of Japan took effect on May 3, 1947. From 1910 to ...

—primarily against the northern

Kuril Islands The Kuril Islands or Kurile Islands are a volcanic archipelago administered as part of Sakhalin Oblast in the Russian Far East. The islands stretch approximately northeast from Hokkaido in Japan to Kamchatka Peninsula in Russia, separating the ...

. Her first attempt came after more than two months of operations which might be characterized as routine—as much so as possible in the stormy northern Pacific. On 14 October, she departed Massacre Bay, Attu, for her first bombardment mission with the cruisers and destroyers of the North Pacific Force. Bad weather foiled that mission and the next which began on 24 October. Late in November, however, she departed Attu for her third attempt at bombarding the Kurils. That one proved successful; and, on the night of 23 and 24 November, her guns joined those of the other warships of the force in pounding airfields and installations on Matsuwa To. During the retirement from the Kurils, heavy seas lashed the task force. Fortunately, the same storms which buffeted ''Watts'' and her sister ships kept enemy air power grounded, and the bombardment group arrived safely back at Attu on 25 November. After two weeks of badly needed repairs at

Dutch Harbor Dutch Harbor is a harbor on Amaknak Island in Unalaska, Alaska. It was the location of the Battle of Dutch Harbor in June, 1942 when the Imperial Japanese Navy attacked it just seven months after the attack on Pearl Harbor in Hawaii. To this day, ...

, she returned to Attu on 21 December, following a brief stop at Adak.

1945

On 3 January 1945, the destroyer steamed out of Massacre Bay for another sweep of the waters surrounding the northern Kurils. The climax of that operation came on 5 January when she joined in successful shelling of the Suribachi area of

Paramushiro Paramushir (, , ) is a volcanic island in the northern portion of the Kuril Islands chain in the Sea of Okhotsk in the northwest Pacific Ocean. It is separated from Shumshu by the very narrow Second Kuril Strait in the northeast , from Antsifer ...

. After a brief stop at Attu, ''Watts'' moved on to

with the rest of DesDiv 113. The following month, February, brought two more forays into the waters around the Kurils. However, only the second, which began on 16 February, ended with a bombardment. That one—on the 18th—hit installations in the Kurabi Zaki area of Paramushiro. After a brief return to Attu, ''Watts'' departed the Aleutians on 22 February and headed for Hawaii with ''Jarvis'' (DD-799). The two destroyers reached Pearl Harbor on 1 March and began a fortnight of training and voyage repairs. On the 15th, ''Watts'' stood out of Pearl Harbor and headed back to the Aleutians for less than a month of operations. On 18 April, DesDiv 113 left the northern Pacific for good. From there, ''Watts'' and her division mates headed for Hawaii and three weeks of training in preparation for duty in the recently launched Okinawa invasion. On 5 May, she cleared the Hawaiian Islands and steamed west by way of

Eniwetok Enewetak Atoll (; also spelled Eniwetok Atoll or sometimes Eniewetok; , , or , ; known to the Japanese as Brown Atoll or Brown Island; ) is a large coral atoll of 40 islands in the Pacific Ocean and with its 296 people (as of 2021) forms a legi ...

and

Ulithi Ulithi (, , or ; pronounced roughly as YOU-li-thee) is an atoll in the Caroline Islands of the western Pacific Ocean, about east of Yap, within Yap State. Name The name of the island goes back to Chuukic languages, Proto-Chuukic ''*úlú-diw ...

. On 21 May, when she arrived at

Okinawa most commonly refers to: * Okinawa Prefecture, Japan's southernmost prefecture * Okinawa Island, the largest island of Okinawa Prefecture * Okinawa Islands, an island group including Okinawa itself * Okinawa (city), the second largest city in th ...

, the campaign had been in progress for almost two months, but the

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

still hung on tenaciously. The members of the

Kamikaze , officially , were a part of the Japanese Special Attack Units of military aviators who flew suicide attacks for the Empire of Japan against Allied naval vessels in the closing stages of the Pacific campaign of World War II, intending to d ...

Corps continued to hurl themselves at the ships supporting the troops ashore. ''Watts'' proved to be a lucky ship while on

radar picket A radar picket is a radar-equipped station, ship, submarine, aircraft, or vehicle used to increase the radar detection range around a nation or military (including naval) force to protect it from surprise attack, typically air attack, or from c ...

station. Not only did her guns help to shoot down six aerial attackers, but she suffered only one really close call. A suicide plane almost managed to crash into her port side forward, but accurate 20-millimeter fire splashed him at the last possible instant, only 10 yards off the destroyer's port bow. Mercifully, her stay at Okinawa proved brief. In mid-June, she received orders to join the screen of TF 38 at

Leyte Gulf Leyte Gulf, also known simply as the Leyte, is a gulf in the Eastern Visayan region in the Philippines. The bay is part of the Philippine Sea of the Pacific Ocean, and is bounded by two islands; Samar in the north and Leyte in the west. On the ...

, where she arrived on 17 June. For the remainder of the war, ''Watts'' screened the fast carriers of TF 38 while their planes flew their last series of sorties against the Japanese home islands. Ranging from

Hokkaidō is the second-largest island of Japan and comprises the largest and northernmost prefecture, making up its own region. The Tsugaru Strait separates Hokkaidō from Honshu; the two islands are connected by railway via the Seikan Tunnel. The ...

in the north to

Kyūshū is the third-largest island of Japan's four main islands and the most southerly of the four largest islands (i.e. excluding Okinawa and the other Ryukyu (''Nansei'') Islands). In the past, it has been known as , and . The historical regio ...

in the south, those planes helped to decimate enemy shipping, land communications, and military and manufacturing installations. On 23 July, ''Watts'' made her own personal contribution to the destruction visited upon the enemy when her guns joined in a bombardment of the outpost island,

Chichi Jima is the largest and most populous island in the Japanese archipelago of Bonin or Ogasawara Islands. Chichijima is about north of Iwo Jima. in size, the island is home to about 2,120 people (2021). Connected to the mainland only by a day-long ...

, in the Bonins. The Japanese capitulation on 15 August 1945 found the ship steaming in Japanese waters screening TF 38. A bit under a month later, on 10 September, she entered

Tokyo Bay is a bay located in the southern Kantō region of Japan spanning the coasts of Tokyo, Kanagawa Prefecture, and Chiba Prefecture, on the southern coast of the island of Honshu. Tokyo Bay is connected to the Pacific Ocean by the Uraga Channel. Th ...

to begin participation in the occupation of Japan. She remained on that duty until mid-November; then headed back to the United States. After brief stops at Pearl Harbor and San Diego, the destroyer transited the

Panama Canal The Panama Canal () is an artificial waterway in Panama that connects the Caribbean Sea with the Pacific Ocean. It cuts across the narrowest point of the Isthmus of Panama, and is a Channel (geography), conduit for maritime trade between th ...

on 7 December and headed for Philadelphia, Pa. on the 18th. ''Watts'' arrived at the

Philadelphia Naval Shipyard The Philadelphia Naval Shipyard was the first United States Navy shipyard and was historically important for nearly two centuries. Construction of the original Philadelphia Naval Shipyard began during the American Revolution in 1776 at Front ...

on 23 December and began a three-month inactivation overhaul. In mid-March, she shifted to the

Charleston Naval Shipyard Charleston Naval Shipyard (formerly known as the Charleston Navy Yard) was a U.S. Navy ship building and repair facility located along the west bank of the Cooper River, in North Charleston, South Carolina and part of Naval Base Charleston. ...

, where she was placed out of commission on 12 April 1946.

1951–1957

''Watts'' remained in reserve until—to bolster the Navy during the

Korean War The Korean War (25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953) was an armed conflict on the Korean Peninsula fought between North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea; DPRK) and South Korea (Republic of Korea; ROK) and their allies. North Korea was s ...

—she was recommissioned on 6 July 1951. During the first 42 months of the second phase of her career, ''Watts'' operated with the Destroyer Force, Atlantic Fleet. In the late summer and fall of 1951, the warship was fitted out, conducted shakedown, and made a cruise to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. The spring of 1952 brought a round of exercises, notably "Convex III". That summer, she went into the yard at Philadelphia for overhaul. Refresher training at Guantanamo Bay followed, and then the destroyer resumed normal operations which she continued until the beginning of 1953. On 7 January, she put to sea from Norfolk, Va. for her first deployment with the 6th Fleet in the

Mediterranean Sea The Mediterranean Sea ( ) is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern Eur ...

. That May, after visits to northern European ports, ''Watts'' returned to Norfolk and began operations in the western

Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the Age of Discovery, it was known for se ...

. Her assignment for almost a year centered upon antisubmarine warfare training with the Hunter/Killer Force, Atlantic Fleet. During that time, she made at least one cruise to the West Indies and visited

Kingston, Jamaica Kingston is the Capital (political), capital and largest city of Jamaica, located on the southeastern coast of the island. It faces a natural harbour protected by the Palisadoes, a long spit (landform), sand spit which connects the town of Por ...

, and

San Juan, Puerto Rico San Juan ( , ; Spanish for "Saint John the Baptist, John") is the capital city and most populous Municipalities of Puerto Rico, municipality in the Commonwealth (U.S. insular area), Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, an unincorporated territory of the ...

. Her tour of duty with the Hunter/Killer Force ended on 12 April 1954 when she entered the

Norfolk Naval Shipyard The Norfolk Naval Shipyard, often called the Norfolk Navy Yard and abbreviated as NNSY, is a U.S. Navy facility in Portsmouth, Virginia, for building, remodeling and repairing the Navy's ships. It is the oldest and largest industrial facility ...

for another overhaul. The destroyer completed that yard period on 7 July and conducted refresher training in the vicinity of Guantanamo Bay from late July to mid-September, when she resumed duty out of Norfolk. That assignment continued until December at which time ''Watts'' was reassigned to the

Cruiser A cruiser is a type of warship. Modern cruisers are generally the largest ships in a fleet after aircraft carriers and amphibious assault ships, and can usually perform several operational roles from search-and-destroy to ocean escort to sea ...

-Destroyer Force, Pacific Fleet. After a voyage which took her to Guantanamo Bay and

Havana Havana (; ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center.Long Beach, Calif.—on 28 January 1955. Between January 1955 and December 1957, the destroyer alternated three deployments to the western Pacific with operations out of Long Beach along the western coast of the United States. During each of her tours of duty with the

7th Fleet The Seventh Fleet is a numbered fleet of the United States Navy. It is headquartered at U.S. Fleet Activities Yokosuka, in Yokosuka, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. It is part of the United States Pacific Fleet. At present, it is the largest of th ...

, ''Watts'' divided her time between escort duty with the carriers of TF 77 and assignments with the

Taiwan Strait The Taiwan Strait is a strait separating the island of Taiwan and the Asian continent. The strait is part of the South China Sea and connects to the East China Sea to the north. The narrowest part is wide. Names Former names of the Tai ...

patrol. Overhauls, type training, and refresher training filled her schedule when she returned to the west coast.

1958–1964

In December 1957, the destroyer entered the

Long Beach Naval Shipyard The Long Beach Naval Shipyard (Long Beach NSY or LBNSY), which closed in 1997, was located on Terminal Island between the city of Long Beach and the San Pedro district of Los Angeles, approximately 23 miles south of the Los Angeles Internationa ...

for what was to have been her decommissioning overhaul. In June 1958, however, a reprieve arrived in the form of orders to shift home port to Seattle, Wash., and become a Naval Reserve training ship as the

flagship A flagship is a vessel used by the commanding officer of a group of navy, naval ships, characteristically a flag officer entitled by custom to fly a distinguishing flag. Used more loosely, it is the lead ship in a fleet of vessels, typically ...

of Reserve Escort Squadron 1 (ResCortRon 1). ''Watts'' served with the reserve training program for almost four years, from June 1958 to March 1962. Throughout the entire period, the

Tacoma Tacoma ( ) is the county seat of Pierce County, Washington, United States. A port city, it is situated along Washington's Puget Sound, southwest of Seattle, southwest of Bellevue, northeast of the state capital, Olympia, northwest of Mount ...

area remained her base of operations. She provided a platform upon which naval reservists could reacquaint themselves with the intricacies of and skills necessary to constructive Navy service. During her more than three years of reserve training cruises, she ranged the length of the western coast of the United States from San Diego, Calif. in the south to the Canada–US border. She also cruised farther north to make goodwill calls at Canadian ports such as

Victoria, British Columbia Victoria is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of British Columbia, on the southern tip of Vancouver Island off Canada's Pacific Ocean, Pacific coast. The city has a population of 91,867, and the Gre ...

. During the summer of 1959, she became the first Naval Reserve training ship to participate in a regular Fleet exercise with her reserve crew embarked. In December 1961, the destroyer was undergoing a yard period when the Berlin crisis developed in Europe. Her reserve crew was called to active duty; and, upon completing the overhaul on 8 January 1962, she departed Puget Sound to return to Long Beach. She completed refresher training out of San Diego on 1 March and departed the west coast for a tour of duty with the 7th Fleet in the Orient. During that cruise, she participated in at least one training operation, a combined antiaircraft-antisubmarine exercise, and visited Midway,

Guam Guam ( ; ) is an island that is an Territories of the United States, organized, unincorporated territory of the United States in the Micronesia subregion of the western Pacific Ocean. Guam's capital is Hagåtña, Guam, Hagåtña, and the most ...

, Hong Kong, and

Kobe Kobe ( ; , ), officially , is the capital city of Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan. With a population of around 1.5 million, Kobe is Japan's List of Japanese cities by population, seventh-largest city and the third-largest port city after Port of Toky ...

Sasebo is a core city located in Nagasaki Prefecture, Japan. It is the second-largest city in Nagasaki Prefecture, after its capital, Nagasaki. , the city had an estimated population of 230,873 in 102,670 households, and a population density of 540 per ...

, and

Yokosuka is a city in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. , the city has a population of 373,797, and a population density of . The total area is . Yokosuka is the 11th-most populous city in the Greater Tokyo Area, and the 12th in the Kantō region. The city i ...

, Japan. The easing of tensions in Europe late that spring allowed her to head home at the end of June. The destroyer arrived back in Long Beach on 9 July and, on 16 July, she resumed Naval Reserve training duty at Tacoma. ''Watts'' completed another 30 months training reservists out of the Seattle-Tacoma area. In mid-1963, one of her training cruises took her to Hawaii; but, for the most part, she operated just off the west coast. In December 1964, ''Watts'' was decommissioned and placed in reserve at Bremerton. She remained there for almost a decade. On 1 February 1974, her name was struck from the

Navy list A Navy Directory, Navy List or Naval Register is an official list of naval officers, their ranks and seniority, the ships which they command or to which they are appointed, etc., that is published by the government or naval authorities of a co ...

, and she was sold on 5 September 1974 to General Metals Co., of Tacoma, Wash., for scrapping. ''Watts'' earned three

battle star A service star is a miniature bronze or silver five-pointed star in diameter that is authorized to be worn by members of the eight uniformed services of the United States on medals and ribbons to denote an additional award or service period. T ...

s for her

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

service.

References

External links

*
hazegray.org: USS ''Watts''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Watts (DD-567) World War II destroyers of the United States Cold War destroyers of the United States Ships built in Seattle 1943 ships Fletcher-class destroyers of the United States Navy