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

Photo # NH 97851:  USS Henley operating at sea, circa 1938

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

USS Henley (DD-391), 1937-1943

USS Henley, a 1500-ton Bagley class destroyer, was built at the Mare Island Navy Yard, California. Commissioned in August 1937, she operated with the U.S. Fleet in the Pacific during the remainder of that decade and into the early 1940s, taking part in training and other operations. Her base was shifted to Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, in April 1941, as tensions intensified in the Pacific, and she was moored there on 7 December 1941 when the Japanese attacked. Getting underway soon after the raid commenced, she engaged enemy aircraft and submarines inside and outside the harbor. During the following weeks, Henley took part in the abortive Wake Island relief expedition and was employed in antisubmarine patrols and escort duties between the U.S. west coast, Hawaii, and the south Pacific. During the Battle of the Coral Sea in May 1942, she rescued survivors of the disabled oiler Neosho.

In early August 1942, Henley helped escort the invasion force during the landings on Guadalcanal and Tulagi. She participated in the early weeks of the campaign to hold Guadalcanal, but thereafter operated off Australia and New Guinea. She was part of a surface action group assigned to protect the Allied lodgement at Milne Bay, New Guinea, during the last several months of 1942 and assisted with the occupation of Trobriand Islands in June 1943. During the landings at Finschafen, New Guinea, in late September, Henley escorted the invasion force and helped to protect the beachhead against Japanese aerial counterattacks. On the night of 3 October 1943, during an anti-submarine sweep near Finschafen, USS Henley was torpedoed by the Japanese submarine RO-108 and soon sank, with the loss of several of her crewmen.

This page features nearly all our views of USS Henley (DD-391).


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-18032

USS Henley (DD-391)


At the Mare Island Navy Yard, California, 1 October 1937.
Note that she is fitted with her Mark 33 gun director at this time, shortly after commissioning.

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

Online Image: 93KB; 605 x 715 pixels

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

 
Photo #: 19-N-18031

USS Henley (DD-391)


At the Mare Island Navy Yard, California, 1 October 1937.

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

Online Image: 108KB; 610 x 715 pixels

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

 
Photo #: 19-N-17365

USS Henley (DD-391)


In San Pablo Bay, near the Mare Island Navy Yard, California, 5 October 1937.

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

Online Image: 98KB; 740 x 570 pixels

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

 
Photo #: 19-N-17364

USS Henley (DD-391)


In San Pablo Bay, near the Mare Island Navy Yard, California, 5 October 1937.

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

Online Image: 66KB; 740 x 555 pixels

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

 
Photo #: 19-N-17363

USS Henley (DD-391)


In San Pablo Bay, near the Mare Island Navy Yard, California, 5 October 1937.

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

Online Image: 76KB; 740 x 565 pixels

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

 
Photo #: NH 97851

USS Henley (DD-391)


Operating at sea, circa 1938.
Note that the ship's Mk.33 gun director has been removed.

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

Online Image: 84KB; 740 x 605 pixels

 
Photo #: NH 97850

USS Henley (DD-391)


In San Diego harbor, California, circa 1938.
Note that the ship's Mk.33 gun director has been removed.

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

Online Image: 100KB; 740 x 600 pixels

 
Photo #: NH 74271

USS Henley (DD-391)


Operating at sea with USS Zane (DD-337), 2 May 1938.
Note that Henley's Mark 33 gun director is not installed.

U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

Online Image: 99KB; 740 x 615 pixels

 
Photo #: 19-N-28723

USS Henley (DD-391)


At the Mare Island Navy Yard, California, 25 February 1942, with her forward 5"/38 guns pointed on opposite sides of the ship.

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

Online Image: 95KB; 580 x 715 pixels

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

 
Photo #: 19-N-28724

USS Henley (DD-391)


Off the Mare Island Navy Yard, California, 26 February 1942.

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

Online Image: 54KB; 740 x 590 pixels

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

 
Photo #: 19-N-18021

USS Henley (DD-391)
, at right,
and
USS Pompano (SS-181), at left

Under construction at the Mare Island Navy Yard, California, 16 April 1936.

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

Online Image: 174KB; 635 x 715 pixels

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

 
Photo #: 19-N-18028

USS Henley (DD-391)


Ready for launching, at the Mare Island Navy Yard, California, 12 January 1937.
USS Preston (DD-379) is partially visible through the crane rails, at right.
Sign on the overhead crane states: "Capacity ... Main Hoist-80000 lbs ... Aux. Hoist-15000 lbs".

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

Online Image: 109KB; 740 x 580 pixels

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

 

Note: In addition to the views presented above:

  • Photo # NH 83109, a chart of ship locations during the 7 December 1941 Pearl Harbor attack, locates USS Henley in the upper center part of the image.


    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 10 February 2002
    New image added 19 July 2003