Pacific ships

Photos and the story

Duncan

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ClassGleaves class
TypeDestroyer (DD)
HullDD-485
BuilderFederal, Kearny
Launched1942-02-20
Commissioned1942-04-16
FateSunk. 12 October 1942 at Cape Esperance, about six miles north of Savo Island. This is DD-485. McCalla took off 195 men.
Armament (class)Split-plant sisters of the Bensons. Five 5-inch guns and two funnels.

Laid down, displacement, length, beam, draft, speed, and complement are not stored for each hull, so this table leaves them out.

The armament line is the class drawing, not a measurement of this hull.

Duncan
U.S. Navy photo NH 90495. USS Duncan (DD-485) underway in the South Pacific on 7 October 1942 (NH 90495).jpg. Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

USS Duncan (DD-485) was a Gleaves-class destroyer of the United States Navy. Federal at Kearny built her, and she was launched on 20 February 1942.

The Navy commissioned Duncan on 16 April 1942. She served as a destroyer from that spring date until the Battle of Cape Esperance in October.

On 11 October 1942 she fought in the Battle of Cape Esperance. In that action she closed the Japanese column alone, making the approach by herself. Gunfire from both sides struck her as she closed. That gunfire is what sank the ship.

She sank on 12 October 1942, the day after the battle, at Cape Esperance, about six miles north of Savo Island.

McCalla took off 195 men. With the ship sunk that day, the service of Duncan (DD-485) came to an end.

The pictures on this page are the originals.