Return to Naval Historical Center home page. Return to Online Library listing

DEPARTMENT OF THE NAVY -- NAVAL HISTORICAL CENTER
805 KIDDER BREESE SE -- WASHINGTON NAVY YARD
WASHINGTON DC 20374-5060

Photo # 19-N-20352:  USS Ellet in February 1939

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

USS Ellet (DD-398), 1939-1947

USS Ellet, a 1500-ton Benham class destroyer, was built at Kearny, New Jersey. Commissioned in February 1939, she served off the U.S. east coast and in the Gulf of Mexico for one year on Neutrality Patrols and other operations, then moved to the Pacific. As tensions grew with Japan, Ellet's base was moved to Pearl Harbor, and she took part in efforts to reinforce U.S. positions in the region and otherwise prepare for the possibility of war.

When Japan began the Pacific conflict with the 7 December 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor, Ellet was at sea. She spent the next several months escorting convoys and aircraft carriers. In the latter role, she participated in the Doolittle air raid on Japan in April 1942 and the Battle of Midway in early June. Two months later Ellet played escort, anti-aircraft and bombardment roles during the invasion of Guadalcanal and Tulagi. On 9 August 1942, she rescued survivors of the Battle of Savo Island, and helped scuttle the crippled Australian cruiser Canberra. For much of the rest of 1942 and into 1943, she provided escort services in support of the campaign to hold Guadalcanal. Among her activities was particpation in the Battle of the Eastern Solomons in late August 1942.

After Guadalcanal was secured in February 1943, Ellet mainly operated in the south Pacific until September 1943. Following an overhaul, she returned to the combat zone in February 1944 as part of the Marshall Islands invasion force. The destroyer supported the northern New Guinea offensive during the spring of 1944 and participated in the Marianas operation and associated aircraft carrier raids during June-August. In September, she took part in the seizure of Ulithi Atoll.

Assigned to the Marianas Patrol and Escort Group in late October 1944, Ellet spent the rest of her World War II active service in the central Pacific, primarily on escort and air-sea rescue work. She also shelled Iwo Jima during raids in December 1944 and January 1945. Undergoing overhaul at the Mare Island Navy Yard when the fighting ended in August 1945, Ellet was decommissioned in late October of that year and sold for scrapping in August 1947.

USS Ellet was named in honor of five members of the Ellet family who distinguished themselves during the Civil War: Colonel Charles Ellet, Jr; Brigadier General Alfred W. Ellet; Colonel Charles Rivers Ellet; Lieutenant Colonel John A. Ellet; and Edward C. Ellet.

This page features all our views of USS Ellet (DD-398).


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 #: 19-N-20352

USS Ellet (DD-398)


Going astern in February 1939, probably in the New York City area.

Photograph from the Bureau of Ships Collection in the U.S. National Archives.

Online Image: 76KB; 740 x 460 pixels

Reproductions of this image may also be available through the National Archives photographic reproduction system.

 
Photo #: NH 97894

USS Ellet (DD-398)


Off Kearny, New Jersey, at the time of her delivery to the Navy, circa early 1939.

U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

Online Image: 51KB; 740 x 440 pixels

 
Photo #: NH 67739

USS Ellet (DD-398)


Anchored off New York City on 30 April 1939.
The Palisade Amusement Park is in the right center distance.

Courtesy of Donald M. McPherson, 1969.

U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

Online Image: 60KB; 740 x 450 pixels

 
Photo #: NH 81174

USS Ellet (DD-398)


At anchor in the Hudson River, off New York City, during a naval review in 1939.
USS Benham (DD-397) is in the left center distance.

Donation of Lieutenant Gustave J. Freret, USN (Retired), 1972.

U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

Online Image: 46KB; 740 x 455 pixels

 
Photo #: NH 81175

USS Ellet (DD-398)


Anchored off New York City during a naval review in 1939.
Note the motion picture screen rigged over her stern depth charge racks.

Donation of Lieutenant Gustave J. Freret, USN (Retired), 1972.

U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

Online Image: 55KB; 740 x 460 pixels

 
Photo #: NH 81176

USS Ellet (DD-398)


Underway in New York Harbor, during a 1939 naval review.

Donation of Lieutenant Gustave J. Freret, USN (Retired), 1972.

U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

Online Image: 35KB; 740 x 455 pixels

 


The following photographs were taken from USS Ellet during the Guadalcanal-Tulagi invasion:

Photo #: 80-G-K-385 (Color)

Guadalcanal-Tulagi Operation, 7-9 August 1942

Ships maneuvering between Tulagi and Guadalcanal during the Japanese aerial torpedo attack on 8 August 1942. USS President Jackson (AP-37) is at left. HMAS Australia is in the center distance, with anti-aircraft shells bursting nearby.
Photographed from USS Ellet (DD-398).

Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives.

Online Image: 68KB; 740 x 525 pixels

Reproductions of this image may also be available through the National Archives photographic reproduction system.

 
Photo #: 80-G-19205

Guadalcanal-Tulagi Operation, 7-9 August 1942


Crewmen of USS Ellet (DD-398) look at the floating wreckage of a Japanese Navy Type 1 land attack plane (a type later code named "Betty"), which crashed during the aerial torpedo attack on the Allied invasion force off Tulagi Island on 8 August 1942.

Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives.

Online Image: 136KB; 740 x 560 pixels

Reproductions of this image may also be available through the National Archives photographic reproduction system.

Note: Have YOU seen the original color transparency for this photo?
The very good quality original Kodachrome transparency (bearing photo number 80-G-K-384) apparently "strayed" from National Archives' files sometime between 1972 and 1982. Anybody who could help recover it would perform a fine service for the historical community.

 
Photo #: 80-G-K-383 (Color)

Guadalcanal-Tulagi Operation, 7-9 August 1942

Largely intact floating wreckage of a Japanese Navy Type 1 land attack plane (a type later code named "Betty"), which crashed during the aerial torpedo attack on the Allied invasion force off Tulagi Island on 8 August 1942.
Photographed from USS Ellet (DD-398).

Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives.

Online Image: 146KB; 740 x 600 pixels

Reproductions of this image may also be available through the National Archives photographic reproduction system.

 
Photo #: 80-G-K-386 (Color)

Guadalcanal Landings, August 1942

Ships maneuvering off Tulagi, Solomon Islands, on 9 August 1942. Photographed from USS Ellet (DD-398). USS Chicago (CA-29) is at right, with a destroyer's stern and wake in the foreground.
Column of smoke in the left center distance, beyond the two destroyers, may be from the burning USS George F. Elliott (AP-13).
The original color transparency was a 35mm slide.

Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives.

Online Image: 75KB; 740 x 505 pixels

Reproductions of this image may also be available through the National Archives photographic reproduction system.

 

In addition to the photographs shown above, the following two views, taken during the Guadalcanal-Tulagi invasion, show a destroyer that may be USS Ellet:

  • Photo # NH 97740: Smoke rises from Tulagi Island after it was bombed by U.S. aircraft, 7 August 1942; and
  • Photo # NH 97761: View off Florida Island on 7 August 1942.


    In addition to the images presented above, the National Archives appears to hold other views of USS Ellet (DD-398). 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 #: USN 1027195
    USS Ellet (DD-398) at anchor, with a high bluff in the background, circa 1939. Location may be the Hudson River, off New York City.
    Starboard broadside surface view. Ellet is painted in peacetime light grey, with large numbers on her bow.

  • Photo #: 80-G-31365
    USS Ellet (DD-398) alongside USS Neville (AP-16) to transfer guard mail, during the Guadalcanal-Tulagi operation, 7-9 August 1942.
    Starboard bow view, rather tight on the bow, with Neville's boat davits and other structure taking up much of the lower left quarter of the image. Ellet is painted overall dark grey or grey-blue, with small numbers on her bow.

    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."


    Return to Naval Historical Center home page.

    Page made 26 February 2002