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DEPARTMENT OF THE NAVY -- NAVAL HISTORICAL CENTER
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Photo # NH 97781:  USS Gregory in 1942, after conversion to a fast transport

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

USS Gregory (DD-82, later APD-3), 1918-1942

USS Gregory, a 1060-ton Wickes class destroyer, was built at Quincy, Massachusetts. Commissioned in June 1918, she escorted convoys between France and England until early November 1918, then patrolled out of Gibraltar. During the months after the 11 November Armistice, Gregory operated in the Mediterranean and Black Seas supporting diplomatic and relief efforts. She was intermittently active after her return to the U.S. in June 1919 and was formally decommissioned at the Philadelphia Navy Yard in July 1922.

After nearly two decades in reserve, Gregory was recalled to active duty and converted to a high speed transport. Recommissioned with the new hull number APD-3 in November 1940, she conducted amphibious warfare training in the Atlantic and Caribbean into early 1942, then was transferred to the Pacific. She took part in exercises in Hawaiian waters and off the west coast until mid-1942.

Gregory next was ordered to the south Pacific, where the Allies' first major offensive against the Japanese was being prepared. On 7 August 1942, she landed Marines during the invasion of Guadalcanal and Tulagi, in the southern Solomon Islands. For the next month, she provided transport and other support services in the area. On the night of 4-5 September 1942, while patrolling off Guadalcanal's Lunga Point in company with USS Little (APD-4), she encountered a greatly superior force of Japanese destroyers. In a brief, intense and very-one sided battle, Gregory was riddled with enemy gunfire and soon sank.

In July 1992, nearly fifty years after her loss, a sunken U.S. Navy high-speed transport was discovered and briefly examined on the sea floor some miles off Lunga Point. Though its specific indentity could not be determined, this ship is either USS Gregory or her sister, USS Little.

This page features all the views we have of USS Gregory (DD-82, later APD-3).


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 84722

USS Gregory (DD-82)


In a European port, circa 1919.
Note single-engine seaplane flying overhead.

U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

Online Image: 49KB; 690 x 630 pixels

 
Photo #: NH 97781

USS Gregory (APD-3)


Photographed in port, circa early 1942, while painted in pattern camouflage.

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

Online Image: 74KB; 740 x 600 pixels

 
Photo #: NH 97782

USS Gregory (APD-3)


Photographed in port, circa early 1942.

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

Online Image: 56KB; 740 x 595 pixels

 
Photo #: NH 97783

USS Gregory (APD-3)


Photographed in port, circa early 1942.
Note what appears to be an old side-wheel ferryboat by the shore in the left distance.

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

Online Image: 83KB; 740 x 595 pixels

 
Photo #: NH 97836

Rehersals for the Guadalcanal-Tulagi Invasion


Two high-speed transports (APD) underway during practice landings in the Fiji Islands, 30 July 1942, shortly before the invasion of Guadalcanal and Tulagi.
These ships are USS Gregory (APD-3), at left, and USS Little (APD-4), in the right center.
Note the light cruiser beyond them, possibly USS San Juan (CL-54).

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

Online Image: 56KB; 740 x 615 pixels

 
Photo #: NH 43019

Fore River Shipbuilding Company, Quincy, Massachusetts


Destroyer hulls on the building ways, 1 October 1917. Those closest to the camera are the future USS Colhoun (DD-85) and Stevens (DD-86), which had builder's numbers 280 and 281. The ships on the left are probably the future USS Sigourney (DD-81) and Gregory (DD-82).

U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

Online Image: 168KB; 580 x 765 pixels

 
Photo #: NH 43022

Fore River Shipbuilding Company, Quincy, Massachusetts


Ships fitting out at the Fore River shipyard, 19 March 1918. The six destroyers are Little (DD-79), Kimberly (DD-80), Sigourney (DD-81), Gregory (DD-82), Colhoun (DD-85) and Stevens (DD-86), which had builder's hull numbers 274-277 and 280-281 respectively.
The freighter at right is Katrina Luckenbach, yard hull # 267, which served as USS Katrina Luckenbach in 1918-19. Most of the equipment on the pier is for her.
Note the large submarine being built in the background, under the revolving crane.

U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

Online Image: 146KB; 740 x 585 pixels

 


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


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Page made 28 November 2001
New image added 23 January 2002