USS Lamson, a 1500-ton Mahan class destroyer built at Bath, Maine, was commissioned in October 1936. She went to the Pacific in June 1937 and served in that ocean for the rest of her career. Initially based at San Diego, California, Lamson was transferred to Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, in October 1939 and spent the next two years operating out of that advanced fleet base. She was patrolling at sea on 7 December 1941, when Japan's surprise attack on Pearl Harbor opened the Pacific War.
In January 1942 Lamson steamed to the south Pacific to begin patrol and escort duties. Though these were her primary missions during 1942 and 1943, she also took part in other combat operations, among them an attack on Japanese picket boats in October 1942, the Battle of Tassafaronga at the end of November, and bombardment and other invasion support operations along the New Guinea shore from mid-1943 into early 1944.
Following a shipyard overhaul at Mare Island, California, Lamson returned to the combat zone in August 1944. Following patrol and escort service in the central Pacific, she joined the Seventh Fleet in late October and was soon occupied in escorting shipping to Leyte, in the Philippines, where U.S. and Japanese forces were engaged in heavy fighting. On 7 December 1944, while supporting landings at Ormoc Bay, Lamson was damaged by a suicide plane. Twenty-five of her crew lost their lives in this attack, but the ship was able to return to the U.S. for repairs and modifications.
When this work was completed, Lamson went to the central Pacific, where she conducted patrol and air-sea rescue work from May 1945 until the war's end. In early September she took part in the surrender of the Bonin Islands, then spent nearly two months supporting the occupation of Japan. The destroyer arrived back on the West Coast late in November 1945 and was generally inactive during the following months. She was then assigned to target duty in connection with the upcoming Operation "Crossroads" atomic bomb tests at Bikini, in the Marshall Islands. USS Lamson was sunk as a result of the "Able Day" detonation at the beginning of July 1946.
This page features, and provides links to, all the views we have concerning USS Lamson (DD-367).
For other 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.
Photo #: NH 66390 USS Lamson (DD-367) Anchored off Yorktown, Virginia, on 19 April 1939. Courtesy of the Mariners Museum, Newport News, Virginia. Ted Stone Collection. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph. Online Image: 57KB; 740 x 605 pixels |
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Photo #: 19-N-68010 USS Lamson (DD-367) Off the Mare Island Navy Yard, California, 24 May 1944. She is wearing Camouflage Measure 31, Design 23d. Photograph from the Bureau of Ships Collection in the U.S. National Archives. Online Image: 66KB; 740 x 610 pixels Reproductions of this image may also be available through the National Archives photographic reproduction system. |
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Photo #: 19-N-68011 USS Lamson (DD-367) Off the Mare Island Navy Yard, California, 24 May 1944. She is wearing Camouflage Measure 31, Design 23d. Photograph from the Bureau of Ships Collection in the U.S. National Archives. Online Image: 69KB; 740 x 610 pixels Reproductions of this image may also be available through the National Archives photographic reproduction system. |
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Photo #: NH 99265 USS Lamson (DD-367) Off the Mare Island Navy Yard, California, 24 May 1944. Note her Measure 31, Design 23d camouflage. Another destroyer with the same camouflage design is in the left center background. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval Historical Center. Online Image: 79KB; 740 x 610 pixels |
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Photo #: NH 99268 USS Lamson (DD-367) Off the Mare Island Navy Yard, California, 24 May 1944. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval Historical Center. Online Image: 68KB; 740 x 610 pixels |
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Photo #: 19-N-80819 USS Lamson (DD-367) Off the Puget Sound Navy Yard, Bremerton, Washington, 2 April 1945. Note that her waist torpedo tubes have been removed and a pair of 40mm quad gun mounts fitted to increase the ship's anti-aircraft firepower. Photograph from the Bureau of Ships Collection in the U.S. National Archives. Online Image: 74KB; 740 x 610 pixels Reproductions of this image may also be available through the National Archives photographic reproduction system. |
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Photo #: 19-N-68018 USS Lamson (DD-367) At the Mare Island Navy Yard, California, 29 May 1944. Note men handling a skiff by the lifelines just aft of Lamson's K-Gun depth charge projectors; provisions piled on deck; 40mm and 5"/38 guns; after control station; torpedo crane (lower left), and tank wagon on the pier. White outlines mark recent alterations to the ship. Photograph from the Bureau of Ships Collection in the U.S. National Archives. Online Image: 145KB; 740 x 610 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 at least one other photograph of USS Lamson (DD-367). The following listing describes this image:
The image listed below is NOT in the
Naval Historical Center's collections.
DO NOT try to obtain it using the procedures described in our
page "How to Obtain Photographic Reproductions".
USS Lamson (DD-367) steaming at sea near USS Lexington (CV-2) on 5 July 1937, during the search for aviator Amelia Earhart. Starboard bow surface view. Lamson is followed, at a distance, by USS Drayton (DD-366). Reproductions of this image should be available through the National Archives photographic reproduction system for pictures not held by the Naval Historical Center. The image listed above is NOT in the Naval Historical Center's collections. DO NOT try to obtain it using the procedures described in our page "How to Obtain Photographic Reproductions". |
For other images related to this ship, see:
If you want higher resolution reproductions than the digital images presented here, see: "How to Obtain Photographic Reproductions." |
Page made 30 April 2004
Page divided 27 June 2004