USS Hughes, a 1570-ton Sims class destroyer, was built at Bath, Maine. Commissioned in September 1939, she was stationed in the Atlantic area prior to the U.S. entry into World War II, operating on training operations, Neutrality Patrols and, during the last part of 1941, "short of war" convoy escort duties in the north Atlantic. Soon after the Pearl Harbor attack, Hughes was transferred to the Pacific, arriving there in late December 1941.
For much of the first part of 1942, Hughes served with the aircraft carrier Yorktown. Though she was absent during the Battle of the Coral Sea in early May, she accompanied Yorktown in the Battle of Midway a month later, stood by the disabled carrier after she had been hit and abandoned, and was present when she sank on 7 June. During much of the Guadalcanal campaign that began in August 1942, Hughes worked with the carriers Hornet and Enterprise, taking part in the Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands in late October and the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal in mid-November 1942.
Hughes left the south Pacific in early 1943 and was sent to the Aleutians. She took part in two bombardments of Kiska Island during July and remained in that northern area until late August. Her next combat operation was the Gilberts invasion, during which she rescued many survivors of the escort carrier Liscombe Bay, sunk off Makin Atoll on 24 November 1943. In January-April 1944, Hughes continued to serve with escort carriers during the amphibious assaults on the Marshall Islands and Hollandia, New Guinea. Continuing operations off New Guinea until mid-September, she supported several more amphibious operations and escorted convoys.
In October 1944, Hughes took part in the invasion of Leyte and subsequent operations in support of the Leyte campaign. While participating in the Ormoc Bay landings in December 1944, she was badly damaged by a Japanese suicide plane and had to return to the United States for repairs. This work was completed in June 1945, and Hughes received a second assignment to the Aleutians, where she remained until fighting ended in August. She was briefly employed on patrol duties off northern Japan until mid-October. Her last active service as as part of the target group during the Bikini Atomic Tests in July 1946. Decommissioned a month later, USS Hughes was sunk as a target in October 1948.
This page features all the views we have concerning USS Hughes (DD-410).
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 97919 USS Hughes (DD-410) Photographed soon after completion, circa 1939-1940. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval History and Heritage Command. Online Image: 71KB; 740 x 530 pixels |
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Photo #: NH 67670 USS Hughes (DD-410) Photographed circa 1939-1940, prior to the rearrangement of her after torpedo tubes. Courtesy of Donald M. McPherson, 1969. U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command Photograph. Online Image: 76KB; 740 x 455 pixels |
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Photo #: NH 97915 USS Hughes (DD-410) Off the Mare Island Navy Yard, California, 1 August 1942. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval History and Heritage Command. Online Image: 60KB; 740 x 610 pixels |
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Photo #: 19-N-32669 USS Hughes (DD-410) Off the Mare Island Navy Yard, California, 1 August 1942. Photograph from the Bureau of Ships Collection in the U.S. National Archives. Online Image: 66KB; 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-32674 USS Hughes (DD-410) Off the Mare Island Navy Yard, California, 1 August 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-32670 USS Hughes (DD-410) At the Mare Island Navy Yard, California, 29 July 1942. Circles mark recent alterations to the ship. Note smokestack, whaleboat and Mark 37 gun director on Hughes; sandbagged equipment and other items on shore. Photograph from the Bureau of Ships Collection in the U.S. National Archives. Online Image: 167KB; 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-32668 USS Hughes (DD-410) At the Mare Island Navy Yard, California, 29 July 1942. Circles mark recent alterations to the ship. Note torpedo tubes, catwalk, and 20mm guns (in a cruciform arrangement) on her superstructure deck; winch and floater nets on the main deck. Photograph from the Bureau of Ships Collection in the U.S. National Archives. Online Image: 156KB; 610 x 765 pixels Reproductions of this image may also be available through the National Archives photographic reproduction system. |
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Photo #: NH 97914 Bombardment of Kiska, 6 July 1943 USS Lansdowne (DD-486), at right, and USS Hughes (DD-410), at left, take stations to commence the bombardment. Photographed from USS Louisville (CA-28). Collection of Vice Admiral Robert C. Giffen. U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command Photograph. Online Image: 92KB; 740 x 595 pixels |
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Photo #: 19-N-84437 USS Killen (DD-593) Close-up view of the ship's port quarter, taken at the Hunter's Point Navy Yard, San Francisco, California, following overhaul and battle damage repairs, 2 April 1945. Circles mark recent alterations to the ship. Note Killen's propeller guard, depth charge racks and "teardrop" depth charges. Ships in the background are USS Allen M. Sumner (DD-692) and USS Hughes (DD-410). Photograph from the Bureau of Ships Collection in the U.S. National Archives. Online Image: 129KB; 740 x 550 pixels Reproductions of this image may also be available through the National Archives photographic reproduction system. |
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NOTES:
If you want higher resolution reproductions than the digital images presented here, see: "How to Obtain Photographic Reproductions." |
Page made 13 March 2002
Coding updated 5 May 2009