Photos and the story

La Vallette

Class	Fletcher class
Type	Destroyer (DD)
Hull	DD-448
Launched	1942-06-21
Commissioned	1942-08-12
Fate	Afloat. Survived the war.
Armament (class)	Five single 5-inch guns, two funnels, and two sets of torpedo tubes.
Command	Henderson, Harry Havelock Captain, 12 August 1942 – 19 June 1943 Thompson, Wells Captain, 1944 – 1 August 1945 Gibson, Edward Isham Captain, 1 August 1945 – 1 October 1945

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.

USS La Vallette (DD-448) was a Fletcher-class destroyer of the United States Navy. She was launched on 21 June 1942 and commissioned on 12 August 1942. Harry Havelock Henderson was her captain from the day of commissioning until 19 June 1943.

The Battle of Vella Lavella was fought on 6 October 1943. La Vallette arrived at Vella Lavella after the fight and found the destroyer Chevalier abandoned.

The wounded were taken off. On 7 October 1943 La Vallette scuttled the abandoned Chevalier with a torpedo, and the ship sank. Wells Thompson Mar commanded La Vallette in 1944 and remained captain until 1 August 1945. Edward Isham Gibson took command on 1 August 1945 and served until 1 October 1945. La Vallette survived the war.

The pictures on this page are the originals.