Pacific ships
USS Radford (DD-446)

USN · DD

Afloat

Fletcher-class destroyer. At Kula Gulf she was astern of the cruisers. After Helena sank, she stayed with Nicholas and the two of them took off more than 700 men. Before dawn the pair also fired on Mochizuki. Accounts disagree on whether that destroyer was hit. On 25 November 1943, west of Makin, she depth-charged the submarine I-19. That boat was lost with all hands.

ClassFletcher class
TypeDestroyer (DD)
HullDD-446
Launched1942-05-03
Commissioned1942-07-22
FateAfloat. Survived the war. Sold for scrap October 1970
Armament (class)Five single 5-inch guns, two funnels, and two sets of torpedo tubes.
Command

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.

U.S. Navy. USS Radford (DD-446) steaming into Tulagi Harbour with 468 survivors form USS Helena (CL-50), 6 July 1943.jpg. Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

The pictures on this page are the originals.

Command

Battle of Kula Gulf

1943-07-06 · astern, then rescued Helena's men with Nicholas

Battle of Kolombangara

1943-07-13 · in the van; not sunk

Loss of I-19

1943-11-25 · depth-charged I-19. Not sunk

Shot and shell

sunk · depth chargeIJN I-19
Radford depth-charged I-19 on 25 November 1943, about 50 miles west of Makin. I-19 was lost with all hands.

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