Photos and the story

Welles

Class	Gleaves class
Type	Destroyer (DD)
Hull	DD-628
Builder	Seattle-Tacoma
Launched	1942-09-07
Commissioned	1943-08-16
Fate	Afloat. Decommissioned 4 February 1946. Struck 10 February 1968 and sold for scrap on 18 July 1969.
Armament (class)	Split-plant sisters of the Bensons. Five 5-inch guns and two funnels.
Command	Coffee, Doyle Murray Captain from 16 August 1943; Relieved on 24 August 1944 Slaughter, John Sim Captain from 24 August 1944; Relieved on 2 January 1946

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 Welles (DD-628) was a Gleaves-class destroyer of the United States Navy. Seattle-Tacoma built her, and she was launched on 7 September 1942.

The Navy commissioned Welles on 16 August 1943. Doyle Murray Coffee took command that day and served as her captain until 24 August 1944.

John Sim Slaughter relieved Coffee on 24 August 1944. On 25 October 1944, with Slaughter in command, Welles screened the battle line at the Battle of Surigao Strait.

Slaughter remained in command until 2 January 1946. Welles survived the war and was decommissioned on 4 February 1946. She was struck on 10 February 1968. On 18 July 1969 the hull was sold for scrap.

The pictures on this page are the originals.