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USS Drayton, a 1500-ton Mahan class destroyer, was built at Bath, Maine. Commissioned at the beginning of September 1936, she visited Europe during her shakedown cruise later in the year and went to the Pacific in June 1937. Upon her arrival in the big ocean, Drayton participated in the search for Amelia Earhart, then settled into a routine of exercises and training along the West Coast and in Hawaiian waters, with occasional visits to the Caribbean for U.S. Fleet maneuvers. In October 1939 her home port was changed from San Diego, California, to Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.
When the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941, Drayton was at sea with the aircraft carrier Lexington. During the first months of the resulting war she escorted shipping to Christmas Island and Fiji and was in the screen of the carrier Enterprise during raids in the central Pacific. The destroyer had a brief overhaul at Mare Island, California, in April 1942 and operated off the West Coast and Hawaii for the next half year. In November she went to the south Pacific to join the ongoing fight for Guadalcanal, participating in the Battle of Tassafaronga at month's end. From then until March 1944 she was busy rolling back Japanese forces in the Solomon Islands, the New Guinea area and in the Bismarcks. In addition to escort duties, she took part in bombardments of shore facilities and in several amphibious assaults.
After Drayton's second wartime overhaul at Mare Island, completed in late June 1944, she trained in Hawaii and performed patrol duties in the Marshall Islands. Returning to New Guinea in October, she was sent to the Philippines to support the Leyte campaign. On 5 December 1944 she was damaged by suicide plane attacks, which killed eight of her crew. From January to April 1945 Drayton was active in the effort to liberate the Philippines, taking part in the Lingayen Gulf invasion and several other landings. She finished her combat service with participation in assaults on Borneo during May, June and July. Early in August, shortly before the fighting ended, Drayton was sent back to the U.S., arriving at New York in mid-September. She was decommissioned in October 1945 and sold for scrapping in December 1946.
USS Drayton was named in honor of Captain Percival Drayton, USN (1812-1865), who performed notable service during the Civil War.
This page features, and provides links to, all the views we have concerning USS Drayton (DD-366).
For more images related to this ship, see:
| 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.
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Photo #: 80-G-466575 USS Drayton (DD-366) Underway at sea, circa 1938. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives. Online Image: 109KB; 740 x 585 pixels Reproductions of this image may also be available through the National Archives photographic reproduction system. |
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Photo #: NH 67725 USS Drayton (DD-366) In port, during the later 1930s. Courtesy of Donald M. McPherson, 1969. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph. Online Image: 61KB; 740 x 490 pixels |
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Photo #: 80-G-K-16472 (Color) USS Drayton (DD-366) Underway at sea, off the U.S. West Coast, circa October 1941. Photographed from a Navy SNJ aircraft, whose starboard wing is in the foreground. Note Drayton's camouflage, which was the source of her contemporary nickname "The Blue Beetle". Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives. Online Image: 61KB; 740 x 510 pixels Reproductions of this image may also be available through the National Archives photographic reproduction system. |
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Photo #: 19-N-29188 USS Drayton (DD-366) Off the Mare Island Navy Yard, California, 14 April 1942. Photograph from the Bureau of Ships Collection in the U.S. National Archives. Online Image: 63KB; 740 x 605 pixels Reproductions of this image may also be available through the National Archives photographic reproduction system. |
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Photo #: 19-N-29189 USS Drayton (DD-366) Off the Mare Island Navy Yard, California, 14 April 1942. Photograph from the Bureau of Ships Collection in the U.S. National Archives. Online Image: 66KB; 740 x 620 pixels Reproductions of this image may also be available through the National Archives photographic reproduction system. |
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Photo #: 19-N-68063 USS Drayton (DD-366) Underway off the Mare Island Navy Yard, California, 28 June 1944. Her camouflage is Measure 31, Design 23d. Photograph from the Bureau of Ships Collection in the U.S. National Archives. Online Image: 69KB; 740 x 620 pixels Reproductions of this image may also be available through the National Archives photographic reproduction system. |
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Photo #: 19-N-68064 USS Drayton (DD-366) Underway off the Mare Island Navy Yard, California, 28 June 1944. Her camouflage is Measure 31, Design 23d. Photograph from the Bureau of Ships Collection in the U.S. National Archives. Online Image: 70KB; 740 x 615 pixels Reproductions of this image may also be available through the National Archives photographic reproduction system. |
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Photo #: 19-N-68066 USS Drayton (DD-366) Underway off the Mare Island Navy Yard, California, 28 June 1944. Her camouflage is Measure 31, Design 23d. Photograph from the Bureau of Ships Collection in the U.S. National Archives. Online Image: 73KB; 740 x 615 pixels Reproductions of this image may also be available through the National Archives photographic reproduction system. |
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Photo #: 19-N-68067 USS Drayton (DD-366) Off the Mare Island Navy Yard, California, 28 June 1944. Note how her camouflage (Measure 31, Design 23d) extends around her bow. Photograph from the Bureau of Ships Collection in the U.S. National Archives. Online Image: 71KB; 740 x 625 pixels Reproductions of this image may also be available through the National Archives photographic reproduction system. |
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Photo #: 19-N-68068 USS Drayton (DD-366) Off the Mare Island Navy Yard, California, 28 June 1944. Note depth charge racks and CS (smoke) generators on the ship's stern. Photograph from the Bureau of Ships Collection in the U.S. National Archives. Online Image: 73KB; 740 x 605 pixels Reproductions of this image may also be available through the National Archives photographic reproduction system. |
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In addition to the views referenced above, the National Archives appears to hold other photographs of USS Drayton (DD-366). The following listing describes 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".
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USS Drayton (DD-366) underway on 26 October 1937, with USS Flusser (DD-368) and Mahan (DD-364) in the background. Port broadside (somewhat toward the bow) surface view. USS Drayton (DD-366) entering San Pedro Harbor, California, June 1942. High aerial view, taken from astern and slightly to port.
The images listed above 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". |
For more images related to this ship, see:
| If you want higher resolution reproductions than the digital images presented here, see: "How to Obtain Photographic Reproductions." |
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Historical Center home page.Page made 27 June 2004