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USS Mustin, a 1570-ton Sims class destroyer, was built at Newport News, Virginia. She was commissioned in September 1939 and spent more than two years in the Atlantic, taking part in Neutrality Patrol operations and the more bellicose activities that marked the months preceeding the German declaration of war on 8 December 1941. In early 1942 the urgent needs of the war with Japan caused Mustin to be sent to the Pacific. During the next several months, she escorted convoys from the U.S. to Hawaii, to the south Pacific and to Midway. In August, she accompanied USS Hornet as that aircraft carrier steamed southeastwards to participate in what was to be a long and hard fight to hold Guadalcanal. Mustin generally remained with Hornet until that ship was sunk in the Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands in late October. After that, the destroyer remained active in the Guadalcanal campaign, screening heavy ships, escorting supply vessels and bombarding the Japanese ashore.
After the enemy evacuated Guadalcanal in February 1943, Mustin spent a few more months in the region. She then went north to join in the Aleutians campaign, where she took part in the landings on Attu in May and Kiska in August. During late 1943 and early 1944, the destroyer participated in the campaigns to seize bases in the Gilbert and Marshall Islands. She served with Task Force 58 during its Central Pacific raids in March and April 1944 and became part of the Seventh Fleet soon afterwards. While in the southwest Pacific, Mustin supported the advance across the top of New Guinea, the invasion of Morotai and the Leyte operation.
In January and February 1945, Mustin took part in the invasion of Luzon and other elements of the recapture of the Philippines. She served off Okinawa during April and May, during the hard battle to take that island in the face of desperate resistance ashore and suicide plane attacks at sea. After the fighting ended, Mustin helped with the occupation of Japan. She briefly visited the west coast in late 1945, then went to Hawaii to prepare for target duty in connection with the July 1946 atomic bomb tests at Bikini Atoll. Contaminated by radiation after that experience, USS Mustin was formally decommissioned in August, without leaving the Marshall Islands. She was destroyed as a gunfire target in April 1948.
This page features all the views we have concerning USS Mustin (DD-413).
| If you want higher resolution reproductions than the digital images presented here, see: "How to Obtain Photographic Reproductions." |
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Photo #: 80-G-1671 Curtiss SBC-3 scout bomber, of Scouting Squadron Six (VS-6) from USS Enterprise (CV-6) Flies low past USS Mustin (DD-413), during exercises on 26 May 1940. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives. Online Image: 125KB; 740 x 600 pixels Reproductions of this image may also be available through the National Archives photographic reproduction system. |
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Photo #: 80-G-10124 USS Mustin (DD-413) At Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, 14 June 1942. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives. Online Image: 70KB; 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-26590 (cropped) Charleston Navy Yard, South Carolina Destroyers fitting out and refitting alongside the Navy Yard piers in January 1942. These ships are (from left to right): USS Tillman (DD-641), commissioned 9 June 1942; probably USS Beatty (DD-640), commissioned 7 May 1942; probably USS Hobson (DD-464), commissioned 22 January 1942; USS Anderson (DD-411); USS Hammann (DD-412); and USS Mustin (DD-413). Note that the three incomplete ships at left are painted in Measure 12 camouflage, while those refitting (at right) wear Camouflage Measure 12 (Modified). This image is cropped from Photo # 19-N-26590, which shows USS Morris (DD-417). Note (in the left foreground, atop her Mark 37 gun director) the bracket for the antenna of an FD radar. Photograph from the Bureau of Ships Collection in the U.S. National Archives. Online Image: 138KB; 1200 x 510 pixels Reproductions of this image may also be available through the National Archives photographic reproduction system. |
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| If you want higher resolution reproductions than the digital images presented here, see: "How to Obtain Photographic Reproductions." |
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Historical Center home page.Page made 21 January 2002
New image added 8 September 2006