Haynsworth(DD-700) was launched 15
April 1944 by the Federal
Shipbuilding & Drydock Co.,
Kearny, N.J.; sponsored by Mrs.
Haynsworth, widow of Comdr.
Haynsworth; and commissioned 22
June 1944, Comdr. Robert Brodie,
Jr., in command. After shakedown
in the Caribbean Haynsworth
departed
New York
20 September escorting Queen Mary
with Prime Minister Winston
Churchill on board. Rendezvousing
with British escorts, she returned
to
New York
and sailed 26 September via the
Canal Zone
and San Pedro, arriving
Pearl Harbor
20 October. Haynsworth sailed 16
December for Ulithi and joined
Vice Admiral J. S. McCain's Fast
Carrier Task Force 3S for the
final assaults on the Japanese.
During the next 3 months she
operated with the 3d and 5th
Fleets as part of the screen for
the Fast Carrier Task Force; the
primary mission being to conduct
air strikes against strategic
Japanese positions along the China
coast, and Formosa, and to harass
enemy shipping during the landings
at Luzon 9 January 1945. The day
after the invasion was launched,
Task Force 38 moved into the South
China Sea
and conducted raids on the
China coast and
Indochina,
doing much damage to the enemy.
Launching one final raid against
Okinawa, Haynsworth retired to
Ulithi 26 January. She sortied 10
February with Admiral Marc
Mitscher's Fast Carrier Force 58
for strikes against airfields,
factories, and shipping in the
Tokyo area. Heavy fighter sweeps
were launched 16 February to cover
the airfields around Tokyo Bay.
Despite heavy weather with low
ceiling, most of the target areas
were effectively neutralized.
During the afternoon three
Japanese picket boats that had
evaded detection in thick fog were
spotted by Haynsworth and promptly
sunk, taking 12 prisoners. In
addition to damaging aircraft
frame and engine plants, a number
of ships and small craft were
attacked and sunk in Tokyo Bay,
the biggest prize being the
10,600-ton Yamashro Maru. As the
Pacific war approached its climax,
Haynsworth again sailed from
Ulithi for further strikes against
Japan. Massive air attacks were
launched against airfields on
Kyushu and ships in the
Inland Sea
18 and 19 March, indicting heavy
damage on the dwindling Japanese
air and sea power. After
participating in the bombardment
of enemy shore positions on Minami
Daito Shima 28 March, she sailed
for Okinawa. Landings were made on
the Japanese fortress April, with
Task Force 58 providing support,
and Haynsworth frequently aiding
in the destruction of enemy
aircraft during the many attacks,,
when "the fleet had come to stay."
Only after she was crashed by a
kamikaze 6 April did she have to
retire to Mare Island via Ulithi
for repairs. After repairs
Haynsworth had duty at Treasure
Island,
Calif., as a training ship from 17
July to 5 September. After several
months of operations at
Pearl Harbor,
she sailed for the east coast
14 January 1946,
reaching
Boston
26 April for a year in the Reserve
Fleet. Returning to active service
in March 1947, Haynsworth based
her operations from Algiers, La.,
conducting reserve training
cruises in the Gulf and in the
Caribbean until the summer of
1949. Haynsworth sailed
6 September 1949
for her first duty with the 6th
Fleet in the Mediterranean,
returning to
Norfolk
7 February 1950.
She arrived
Charleston
10 days later, decommissioned
there 19 May and joined the
Reserve Fleet. With the expansion
of operations due to the Korean
War, Haynsworth recommissioned at
Charleston
22 September 1950,
Comdr.. Herbert F. Rommel in
command. Following training and
operations along the East Coast
and in the Caribbean she sailed 3
September 1951
for duty in the
Mediterranean. After more
operations on the East Coast and
in the Caribbean, and a Midshipman
cruise to the North Atlantic,
Haynsworth sailed from
Norfolk
2 November 1953
for a round-the-world cruise.
While in the Pacific she was
assigned duty for 4 months in the
Far East
with the 7th Fleet, a vital peace
keeping force in that part of the
world. Haynsworth returned to
Norfolk
4 June 1954
to resume her support of the 6th
fleet. In 1956 with the Suez
crisis still unsettled, Navy units
stood by in the eastern
Mediterranean and evacuated U.S.
nationals from Egypt. Haynsworth
aided the Navy's preparedness in
the event of any conflict. Between
1956 and 1960 she made five
deployments to the Mediterranean,
supporting the Navy's peacekeeping
role and keeping a watchful eye on
the troubled spots of the free
world. In 1959 Haynsworth took
part in the historic "Operation
Inland Seas," commemorating the
opening of the mighty St. Lawrence
Seaway,
steaming up the St. Lawrence to
Montreal.
Late in 1961 while in the
Mediterranean,
Haynsworth delivered emergency
food rations to flood-ravaged
Africa; and on 3 October 1962,
she stood off
Cape Canaveral
as a rescue ship and witnessed the
take off of astronaut Comdr.
Walter Schirra on his historic
six-orbital night. Later that
month, under much more serious
circumstances, she hastened to the
Caribbean and participated in the
naval quarantine of Cuba,
effectively checking the
Communists threat to the security
of the
Western Hemisphere.
In February 1963 Haynsworth
deployed to the Mediterranean, the
Red Sea, and the
Gulf of Aden
for operations with the 6th Fleet.
After returning to Norfolk, she
embarked midshipmen for an
Atlantic cruise from 1 August to
10 September; then underwent
overhaul at New Orleans,
La., and Orange, Tex., before
arriving
Galveston
28 February 1964
to begin duty as a Naval Reserve
training ship. Assigned to Reserve
Destroyer Squadron 34, Haynsworth
since that time has operated out
of
Galveston
while providing valuable on board
training facilities for hundreds
of Naval Reservists. Manned by a
nucleus crew, she has steamed to
ports along the Gulf and Atlantic
coast,, and numerous training
cruises have carried her into the
Caribbean. Into mid-1967 she has
continued to bolster the strength
of the Navy and the Nation through
intense, skilled. and effective
training which maintains the
caliber and readiness of the Naval
Reserve. Haynsworth received three
battle stars for World War II
service. |
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