USS Rodman (DD-456/ DMS-21)

USS Rodman (DD-456) was a Gleaves class destroyer that served with the Royal Navy, took part in Operation Torch, the Normandy invasion, the invasion of the South of France and at Okinawa, where she was hit by several kamikazes, requiring repairs that ended her war. She remained in US service for ten years after the end of the war, and then served with Taiwan for another twenty years.

The Rodman was named after Admiral Hugh Rodman, who served in the US Navy from 1880 to 1923, commanding the US 6th Battle Squadron when it served with the British Grand Fleet in 1917-18.

The Rodman was laid down by Federal Shipbuilding & Dry Dock Co at Kearny on 16 December 1940, launched on 26 September 1941 when she was sponsored by Admiral Rodman’s grand-niece Mrs Albert K. Stebbins Jr and commissioned on 27 August 1942.

The Rodman was originally classified as a Bristol class ship, which were built with four 5in guns instead of the five installed on the Livermore/ Gleaves class. However after the fifth gun was removed from the those ships all of the Bristol class ships joined the Livermore/ Gleaves class.

1942

After her shakedown cruise the Rodman joined TF 22. She carried out a mix of training and patrol duties from Argentia, and screening and plane guard duties for the carrier Ranger (CV-4), mainly as the carrier helped train naval aviators along the US coast. She also escorted the Ranger as she crossed the Atlantic to carry aircraft from the USAAF 33rd Pursuit Squadron to a position from where they could fly to Accra on the Gold Coast (22 April-28 May 1942).

USS Hambleton (DD-455) and USS Rodman (DD-456) being launched, 1941

This duty ended in June when she was chosen to join the US contribution to the British Home Fleet. She left Newport on1 July to help escort a convoy of seven troop ships on their way to the Firth of Clyde. From there she moved to Scapa Flow, where she joined Task Force 99 and operated with the British Home Fleet.

Initially she was used to help protect the southern left of the Arctic convoys. However these ended after the near destruction of Convoy PQ-17 in early July. The main convoys were postponsed until the following winter, when they would be able to take advantage of the long Arctic night. However this led a number of US and British personnel in Northern Russia and in need of supplies. On 17 August the Tuscaloosa (CA-37), Rodman and two other destroyers left Scapa Flow to carry medical personnel and supplies and men and equipment for Nos.144 and 145 Squadrons, RAF, which were operating Hampden bombers from northern Russia. This small force reached Kola Inlet late on 23 August, dropped off their supplies, picked up stranded merchant sailors, stuck in Russia after the loss of their ships on earlier convoys, then departed on 24 August. On the way back British ships who had joined the formation detected and sank the German minelayer Ulm.

In the aftermath of the battle of Savo Island the US Navy withdrew a number of ships, including the Rodman, back to the US ready to send them to the Pacific. The Rodman left the Firth of Clyde on 1 September and returned to New York.

However her move to the Pacific would be much delayed. Instead she was allocated to the forcings to take part on Operation Torch, the invasion of French North Africa. She sortied with TG 34.2 on 25 October. On 7 November the Santee (CVE-29), Rodman and Emmons left TG 34.2 and formed TU 34.2.3. This was used to screen the Southern Attack Group for the landings around Casablanca. The Rodman screened the Santee during the invasion of 8 November then on to 11 November. She then put into Safi for replenishment, before departed for the US on 13 November.

She was back at Norfolk on 24 November and then moved to Boston. There she underwent a refit in which her ineffective 1.1in AA guns were replaced by a mix of 40mm and 20mm guns.

The work was over towards the end of December when she moved to the Panama Canal to escort a convoy nack to the US East Coast.

In December she steamed to the Panama Canal whence she escorted a convoy back to the U.S. east coast, arriving at Norfolk 7 January 1943.

1943

This convoy reached Norfolk on 7 January 1943. On 8 January the Rodman left Norfolk to escort the Ranger on the first two more aircraft ferry missions, this time heading to Morocco.

In March and April the Rodman operated in the western Atlantic, reaching as far north as Argentia.

USS Rodman (DD-456) newly commissioned, 27 January 1942

In May she returned to the United Kingdom and rejoined the Home Fleet at Scapa Flow, arriving on 18 May. She was used to screen the capital ships in the fleet, including HMS Duke of York, USS South Dakota (BB-57) and USS Alabama (BB-60) during a series of operations designed to try and engage the Tirpitz, which was based in the Norwegian fjords. The Germans refused to rise to the bait.

The Rodman departed for the US in August, and during September carried out patrols from Argentia.

On 3 November she left Norfolk to move to Bermuda, ready to take part in the operation to escort President Roosevelt across the Atlantic on USS Iowa on his way to the Tehran conference with Churchill and Stalin. The Rodman, Ellyson and Emmons replaced the Hall, Halligan and Macomb at sea on the afternoon of 16 November. They then escorted the Presidential party as far as the Straits of Gibraltar, leaving when the fleet passed through the straits on the evening of 19 November. The fleet continued on to Mers-el-Kebir, where the President went on shore for the next stage of the voyage. The Iowa then left the Mediterranean, and the Ellyson, Emmons and Rodman took over escort duties outside the Straits on 21 November.

The Rodman was back in the US by mid-December 1943 and spent the next few months protecting carriers as they trained from Newport and Portland, Maine.
 
1944

This ended on 20 April 1944 when she departed for the Mediterranean with DesRon 10, arriving at Mers-el-Kebir on 1 May.

She joined TG 80.6, a hunter-killer anti-submarine group that operated in the area between the Straits of Gibraltar and Oran.

From 14-17 May the Rodman took part in a large hunt for U-616, after the U-boat sand four merchant ships in two days. On the morning of 17 May the damaged U-boat was forced to surface. Her crew abandoned ship and were rescued. The Rodman was one of eight US destroyers that sahred the credit for the victory.

On the following day the Rodman and her ground departed from North Africa heading for the UK to take part in Operation Overlord. They reached Plymouth on 22 May and the Rodman was allocated to TU 126.2.1.

On 4 June the Rodman left port with Convoy B-1, but poor weather meant that theconvoy returned to port. However it departed again on 5 June, and this time continued on to Normady to take part in the D-Day invasions. The convoy carried reinforcements who landed on Omaha Beach on the afternoon of 6 June. The Rodman was detached from the convoy once it reached Normandy, and joined TG 122.4. From D-Day to 16 June she carried out a mix of fire support missions and patrols in the Baie de la Seine.

She returned to Plymouth from 16-18 June before returning to Normandy. On 19 June the ‘Great Storm’ began to hit the Normandy beaches, destroying Mulberry A on Omaha Beach. By the evening of 20 June it was becoming dangerous for warships to stay near Normandy, and the Rodman joined a sizable fleet that returned to Portland, arriving on 21 June.

On 25 June she was part of the Cherbourg Bombardment Force, and screened the larger ships as they bombarded the powerful coastal gun batteries that protected the port. The naval bombardment achieved limited results, but the city fell to the ground assault soon afterwards, and the German batteries surrendered. The Rodman was back in English waters by the end of 25 June.

On 30 June she put to sea to move to Belfast, from where she departed for the Mediterranean to take part in Operation Dragoon, the invasion of the South of France. She reached Mers-el-Kebir on 11 July. From mid-July into August she operated between Malta, Sicily and Italy.

On 11 August she left Taranto as part of TU 85.12.4. On 15 August this formation reached the Delta assault area, in the Baie de Bougnon. From 0430-0641 the Rodman screened the minesweepers clearing channels to the beaches. She then spent two hours on shore bombardment duties. After the initial invasions were over she was used for fire support duties and as part of the anti-aircraft screen, and supported the mine sweepers operating around Port de Bouc, where she wsa replaced by the Somers. She departed for Palermo on 17 August.

She returned to the south of France on 22 August. On 23 August she fired on shore batteries around Toulon. On 25 August she covered minesweepers operating in the Golfe de Fos and on 26 August in the Baie de Marseilles. The rest of the month was spent on screening and patrol duties, before she departed for Oran on 2 September.

The rest of September and the first half of October were spent escorting reinforcements and supplies to the South of France.

In late October the Rodman and Destroyer Squadron 10 escorted a convoy back to the United States. She then moved from New York to Boston where she was converted into a destroyer minesweeper, ready to serve in the Pacific. She was reclassified as DMS-21 on 16 December and in the following week departed for Norfolk. 

1945

On 1 January 1945 the Rodman and Emmons joined USS Vicksburg (CL-86) at the entrance to Chesapeake Bay. The three ships formed TG 21.12 for the voyage to the Panama Canal, passing through the canal on 5 January. The task group was then dissolved. The Rodman moved north to California, where she took part in minesweeping and gunnery exercises. She moved on to Hawaii for more training, before reaching Ulithi on 12 March.

On 19 March the Rodman departed for Okinawa. On 24-25 March she took part in minesweeping operations off Kerama Retto.

After the landings on 1 April the Rodman remained off Okinawa. On 6 April she was one of the targets of the first major Japanese air attack on the invasion fleet (Kikusui Attack No.1). She started the day on picket duty, before moving to join the Emmons (DMS-22). The two ships were used to cover the smaller minesweepers operating between Iheya Retto and Okinawa. In the middle of the afternoon they came under kamikaze attack. At 1532 the leader of the Japanese formation hit the Rodman’s port bow. His bomb exploded under the ship. Sixteen men onboard were killed and twenty were wounded. However her engines remained intact for the moment. The Emmons began to circle the damaged Rodman to help protect her. The battle continued for another three hours. Marine Corps Corsairs helped fight off some of the attackers, while the Rodman’s gunners claimed six victories. However two more hit the Rodman. One hit the captain’s cabin and caused fires that gutted the superstructure.

Emmons was hit by five and suffered another four near misses, and had to be sunk on the following day.

The Rodman remained afloat, but was badly damaged and had to be towed to safety by the minesweeper USS Density (AM-218). Several of her crew had to be rescued by nearby ships. She underwent temporary repairs at Kerama Retto from 7 April-5 May, before returning to the US for full repairs. She was still out of commission when the Japanese surrendered.

Post-war Service

The Rodman remained in active US service for a decade after the end of the Second World War. Her repairs were completed at Charleston by mid-October 1945 and on 22 October she moved to Casco Bay for refresher training. For the next ten years she spent most of her time operating along the US East Coast, as well as serving with the US 6th Fleet in the Mediterranean three times.

Her first trip to the Mediterranean came in September 1949 and only lasted for two weeks. Her second and third trips (2 June-1 October 1952) and 19 January-17 May 1954) both lasted for five months. 1954 also saw her feature as the fictitious USS Caine in The Caine Mutiny.

On 15 January 1955 she was reclassified as DD-456. On 28 July 1955 she was decommissioned and transferred to Taiwan (Republic of China), where she became the Hsien Yang (DD-16). In 1956 she was involved in two collisions, gaining the nickname of Gong Yang (ram). She ran aground in c. 1969 and was removed from service. In 1976 she featured in another movie, this time being sunk.

Rodman earned five battle stars during World War II, for North Africa, sinking U-616, Normandy, the South of France and Okinawa.

Anyone who served on her between 16 September-1 October 1949 or 2 June-4 October 1952 qualified for the Navy Occupation Service Medal.

U.S. Destroyers: An Illustrated Design History, Norman Friedmann . The standard history of the development of American destroyers, from the earliest torpedo boat destroyers to the post-war fleet, and covering the massive classes of destroyers built for both World Wars. Gives the reader a good understanding of the debates that surrounded each class of destroyer and led to their individual features.

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