USS ''Brooks'' (DD-232/APD-10) was a ''Clemson''-class United States Navy

destroyer In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast, maneuverable, long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy, or carrier battle group and defend them against a wide range of general threats. They were conceived i ...

who served primarily in Europe and the Atlantic, the Adriatic, and both the Pacific and Caribbean after WWI. Between 1931 and 1939 she was placed out of commission. She was recommissioned in 1939 and served in the Atlantic until 1941, switching to the Pacific Theatre during

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 ...

where she was badly damaged at the Battle of Lingayen Gulf in January 1945. She was named for

Lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a Junior officer, junior commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations, as well as fire services, emergency medical services, Security agency, security services ...

John Brooks, Jr.

Construction and commissioning

''Brooks'' was launched 24 April 1919 by

New York Shipbuilding Company The New York Shipbuilding Corporation (or New York Ship for short) was an American shipbuilding company that operated from 1899 to 1968, ultimately completing more than 500 vessels for the U.S. Navy, the United States Merchant Marine, the United ...

, sponsored by Mrs. George S. Keyes, grandniece of Lieutenant Brooks, and commissioned 18 June 1920.

Service history

''Brooks'' left

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

for European waters 26 August 1920. She was first assigned to the Baltic Patrol for a short time and then the Naval Forces in the

Adriatic Sea The Adriatic Sea () is a body of water separating the Italian Peninsula from the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula. The Adriatic is the northernmost arm of the Mediterranean Sea, extending from the Strait of Otranto (where it connects to the Ionian Se ...

. She joined the United States Naval Forces in Turkish waters in June 1921. Brooks departed for the United States 26 September 1921 and arrived at New York City 19 October. She was then assigned to the

Scouting Fleet The Scouting Fleet is an important part of the U.S. Navy, established in 1922 as part of the reorganization of the Navy after World War I. It is one of the four core units of the newly formed "American Fleet", which together with the battle Fleet ...

, U. S. Fleet, and participated in fleet maneuvers in the

Caribbean The Caribbean ( , ; ; ; ) is a region in the middle of the Americas centered around the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, mostly overlapping with the West Indies. Bordered by North America to the north, Central America ...

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 ...

, and

Pacific The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is bounded by the cont ...

until placed out of commission in reserve at

Philadelphia Navy Yard 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 ...

20 January 1931. ''Brooks'' was recommissioned at Philadelphia Navy Yard 18 June 1932, and assigned to the Scouting Force, participating in fleet operations on both coasts until going out of commission in reserve at Philadelphia on 2 September 1938. She was recommissioned 25 April 1939 and assigned to the

Neutrality Patrol On September 3, 1939, the British and French declarations of war on Germany initiated the Battle of the Atlantic. The United States Navy Chief of Naval Operations (CNO) established a combined air and ship patrol of the United States Atlantic co ...

on the Atlantic coast, where she remained until she joined the Local Defense Force, 13th Naval District, in November 1940. ''Brooks'' was operating with this force when the United States entered

World War II

As a patrol and escort ship, ''Brooks'' operated between

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

Washington Washington most commonly refers to: * George Washington (1732–1799), the first president of the United States * Washington (state), a state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A ...

, and

Alaska Alaska ( ) is a non-contiguous U.S. state on the northwest extremity of North America. Part of the Western United States region, it is one of the two non-contiguous U.S. states, alongside Hawaii. Alaska is also considered to be the north ...

during the first year of World War II. On 20 September 1942, she arrived 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 ...

, to commence conversion to a high-speed transport. On 1 December 1942, her classification was changed to APD-10 and she was assigned to the South Pacific.

WWII Pacific stations

She served as a transport and minesweeper during the Lae,

New Guinea New Guinea (; Hiri Motu: ''Niu Gini''; , fossilized , also known as Papua or historically ) is the List of islands by area, world's second-largest island, with an area of . Located in Melanesia in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, the island is ...

, landings (4–14 September 1943);

Finschhafen Finschhafen is a town east of Lae on the Huon Peninsula in Morobe Province of Papua New Guinea. The town is commonly misspelt as Finschafen or Finschaven. During World War II, the town was also referred to as Fitch Haven in the logs of some U. ...

, New Guinea, landings (22 and 29–30 September); Cape Gloucester,

New Britain New Britain () is the largest island in the Bismarck Archipelago, part of the Islands Region of Papua New Guinea. It is separated from New Guinea by a northwest corner of the Solomon Sea (or with an island hop of Umboi Island, Umboi the Dampie ...

, assault (26 and 28–29 December);

Saidor Saidor is a village located in Saidor ward of Rai Coast Rural LLG, Madang Province, on the north coast of Papua New Guinea. It is also the administrative centre of the Rai Coast District of Madang Province in Papua New Guinea. The village was the ...

, New Guinea, landings (2 January-17 February 1944);

Admiralty Islands The Admiralty Islands are an archipelago group of 40 islands in the Bismarck Archipelago, to the north of New Guinea in the South Pacific Ocean. These are also sometimes called the Manus Islands, after the largest island. These rainforest-cov ...

landings (29 February-5 March and 19 March); Hollandia, New Guinea, assault (22–28 April); capture of

Saipan Saipan () is the largest island and capital of the Northern Mariana Islands, an unincorporated Territories of the United States, territory of the United States in the western Pacific Ocean. According to 2020 estimates by the United States Cens ...

(14–22 June);

Leyte Leyte ( ) is an island in the Visayas group of islands in the Philippines. It is eighth-largest and sixth-most populous island in the Philippines, with a total population of 2,626,970 as of 2020 census. Since the accessibility of land has been ...

occupation (18 November-4 December);

Mindoro Mindoro is the seventh largest and eighth-most populous island in the Philippines. With a total land area of 10,571 km2 ( 4,082 sq.mi ), it has a population of 1,408,454, as of the 2020 census. It is located off the southwestern coast of ...

invasion (12–18 December); and the

Lingayen Gulf Lingayen Gulf is a large gulf on northwestern Luzon in the Philippines, stretching . It is framed by the provinces of Pangasinan and La Union and sits between the Zambales Mountains and the Cordillera Central (Luzon), Cordillera Central. The Agno ...

landings (3–6 January 1945).

Fate

At 1252 on 6 January 1945, the worst day for the Navy during the costly Invasion of Lingayen Gulf, a Japanese ''

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 ...

'' crashed into ''Brooks'' port side, causing extensive damage and starting a fire amidships. The main and auxiliary steam lines were severed, the fire main was broken, and the sea valve to the condenser was pierced, causing the forward engine room to flood. Three of ''Brooks'' crew were killed and 11 wounded. A number of ''Brooks's'' abandoned survivors, were rescued by the adjacent ''

HMAS Warramunga (I44) HMAS ''Warramunga'' (I44/D123) was a destroyer of the Royal Australian Navy (RAN). Built during World War II, the destroyer entered service in late 1942. She was initially assigned to convoy escort duties, but was assigned to the joint Austral ...

'' and later transferred to her sister ship the '' USS Hovey,'' a minesweeper staged in Minesweeping Unit 1 for the Lingayen invasion, as was ''Brooks''. Five more of

Brooks's Brooks's is a gentlemen's club in St James's Street, London. It is one of the oldest and most exclusive gentlemen's clubs in the world. History In January 1762, a private society was established at 50 Pall Mall by Messrs. Boothby and James ...

crew were killed when the ''US Hovey'' was sunk by an aerial torpedo at 455 on the following morning of 7 January. The badly damaged ''Brooks'' was towed to

San Pedro, California San Pedro ( ; ) is a neighborhood located within the South Bay (Los Angeles County), South Bay and Los Angeles Harbor Region, Harbor region of the city of Los Angeles, California, United States. Formerly a separate city, it consolidated with Los ...

, Watch Hill and decommissioned there on 2 August 1945. ''Brooks'' was sold 30 January 1946.

Awards

''Brooks'' received the

Navy Unit Commendation The Navy Unit Commendation (NUC) is a United States Navy and United States Coast Guard unit award that was established by order of the Secretary of the Navy James Forrestal on 18 December 1944. History Navy A navy, naval force, military m ...

and six

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 service. As of 2015, no other U.S. Navy ships have been named ''Brooks''.

Former crew

* Sherman A. Minton, World War II * Kenneth J. Clark, World War II

References

Citations

External links

*
Roll of Honor
{{DEFAULTSORT:Brooks Clemson-class destroyers World War II destroyers of the United States World War II amphibious warfare vessels of the United States World War II auxiliary ships of the United States Ships built by New York Shipbuilding Corporation 1919 ships Ships of the Aleutian Islands campaign Maritime incidents in January 1945