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DEPARTMENT OF THE NAVY -- NAVAL HISTORICAL CENTER
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WASHINGTON DC 20374-5060

Photo # NH 103756:  USS Benham underway at sea, circa 1959

Online Library of Selected Images:
-- U.S. NAVY SHIPS --

USS Benham (DD-796), 1943-1960

USS Benham, a 2050-ton modified Fletcher class destroyer built at Staten Island, New York, was commissioned in December 1943. Following shakedown in the western Atlantic, the new destroyer transited the Panama Canal in March 1944 and steamed westwards to join the war against Japan. She entered combat during the Saipan invasion in June, helping to shoot down two enemy aircraft that were attacking her escort carrier task force. In July 1944 Benham participated in the invasion of Tinian and later used her guns to support ground forces in action on Guam. In September and October she escorted the fast aircraft carriers of Task Force 38 during strikes throughout the western Pacific during the Palaus invasion and in preparation for the invasion of Leyte.

Benham was next in combat in November and December 1944, when her task force operated in support of the Leyte campaign and the Mindanao landings. She suffered damage during a severe typhoon in mid-December, but was ready for action late in that month and took part in carrier strikes on Formosa and in the South China sea area in January 1945. During the next two months her task force attacked targets in southern Japan and on Iwo Jima. In March she participated in two inconclusive anti-submarine actions. Benham was off Okinawa during the intense suicide plane attacks of April and May, receiving light damage when a Kamikaze exploded nearby on 17 April. She again took part in raids on the Japanese home islands during June and July 1945 and was present in Tokyo Bay when Japan formally surrendered on 2 September.

Returning to the U.S. later in 1945, Benham stayed on the West Coast until placed out of commission at San Diego, California, in October 1946. She was recommissioned in March 1951, during the defense buildup brought on by the Korean War. She soon steamed to the East Coast for modernization, then became part of the Atlantic Fleet. She deployed twice to European and Mediterranean waters in 1952-1953 and in 1954 made a westward round-the-World cruise that included service with the Seventh Fleet in the Far East. In late 1956 and early 1957 Benham was back in the Mediterranean in the wake of the Suez crisis. The rest of the decade saw her visit South America, northern Europe and the Mediterranean, the latter during the mid-1958 Middle Eastern crisis. In June 1960 USS Benham decommissioned and later in the year was transferred to Peru. Renamed Villar, she was a unit of that Nation's navy until 1980, when she was scrapped.

USS Benham was named in honor of Rear Admiral Andrew E.K. Benham, USN, (1832-1905).

This page features the only views we have concerning USS Benham (DD-796).


If you want higher resolution reproductions than the digital images presented here, see: "How to Obtain Photographic Reproductions."

Click on the small photograph to prompt a larger view of the same image.

Photo #: NH 103756

USS Benham
(DD-796)

Underway at sea, circa 1959.

Official U.S. Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval Historical Center.

Online Image: 76KB; 740 x 615 pixels

 
Photo #: NH 87840

Villar

(Peruvian Destroyer, formerly USS Benham, DD-796)

Ship's crew salutes the flag of Peru as the ship is placed in commission, probably on 15 December 1960, the day she was transferred from the U.S. Navy.

Courtesy of Dr. Robert L. Scheina.

Official U.S. Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval Historical Center.

Online Image: 81KB; 580 x 765 pixels

 
Photo #: NH 67235-KN (Color)

USS Benham (DD-796)

Jacket patch of a ship's insignia used in about 1960.

Courtesy of Captain G.F. Swainson, USN, 1969.

U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

Online Image: 170KB; 650 x 675 pixels

 


In addition to the images presented above, the National Archives appears to hold several other views of USS Benham (DD-796). The following list features some of these images:

The images listed below are NOT in the Naval Historical Center's collections.
DO NOT try to obtain them using the procedures described in our page "How to Obtain Photographic Reproductions".



  • Photo #: 80-G-211196
    USS Benham (DD-796) underway in the New York City area, 8 January 1944. Photographed from an aircraft based as Naval Air Station, New York
    Port bow high aerial view. The ship is painted in Camouflage Design 2C, in Measure 31 or Measure 32 colors.

  • Photo #: 80-G-243385
    USS Benham (DD-796) at sea, en route to the Marianas for the Saipan invasion, 12 June 1944. Photographed from USS Gambier Bay (CVE-73)
    Port bow surface view. The ship is painted in the same camouflage as seen in 80-G-211196.


  • Photo #: USN 1045260
    USS Benham (DD-796) in San Diego Harbor, California, in 1951, soon after recommissioning. This image was received by the Naval Photographic Center in December 1959, but was definitely taken in 1951.
    Port broadside (somewhat toward the bow) surface view. The ship is still in her World War II configuration, with a pole foremast and five 5"/38 guns.


  • Photo #: USN 1045261
    USS Benham (DD-796) underway during the 1950s. This image was received by the Naval Photographic Center in December 1959, but was probably taken some years earlier.
    Starboard broadside (somewhat toward the bow) low aerial view. The ship has been modernized, with a tripod foremast, new radar antennas, four 5"/38 guns and a secondary battery of 3"/50 guns.

  • Photo #: 80-G-645929
    USS Benham (DD-796) comes alongside USS Regulus (AF-57) for fresh provisions, during replenishment at sea exercises, 11 August 1954
    Port bow surface view. Taken from on board Regulus. The latter's deck is in the foreground, with supplies in slings awaiting transfer. Her underway replenishment gear partially obscures Benham.

  • Photo #: USN 1078488
    USS Benham (DD-796) in a harbor, June 1954.
    Starboard bow (rather toward the broadside) surface view.

  • Photo #: USN 1046376
    USS Benham (DD-796) at anchor in Aranci Bay, Sardinia, 2 December 1959. Photographed by Trozal, of USS Essex (CVA-9).
    Starboard bow (rather toward the broadside) low aerial view. Four other destroyers are anchored in the background.


    Reproductions of these images should be available through the National Archives photographic reproduction system for pictures not held by the Naval Historical Center.

    The images listed in this box are NOT in the Naval Historical Center's collections. DO NOT try to obtain them using the procedures described in our page "How to Obtain Photographic Reproductions".


  • If you want higher resolution reproductions than the digital images presented here, see: "How to Obtain Photographic Reproductions."


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    Page made 31 August 2006