USS Phelps, a 1805-ton Porter class destroyer built at Quincy, Massachusetts, was commissioned in February 1936. She mainly served in the Pacific prior to World War II and remained in that ocean during the first two and a half years of that conflict. Phelps was present in Pearl Harbor when the Japanese began the war with their 7 December 1941 surprise attack. She operated with USS Lexington in the south Pacific early in 1942 and helped to scuttle her after the big aircraft carrier received fatal damage in the Battle of the Coral Sea in early May. A month later, Phelps took part in the Battle of Midway and in August 1942 she screened the carrier Saratoga during the invasion of Guadalcanal and Tulagi and the Battle of the Eastern Solomons.
Following a west coast overhaul, Phelps operated in Alaskan waters, participating in the Attu landings in May 1943. She successfully fought off a Japanese aerial counterattack during that time and later shelled Kiska island. In November 1943 and in January-February 1944, the destroyer provided close-in support during the invasions of Makin Island, in the Gilberts, and of Kwajalein, in the Marshalls. She also helped to sink the Japanese submarine RO-40 near Kwajalein in mid-February. Phelps escorted a refueling group during carrier raids in the central Pacific in March and in June used her guns to bombard Saipan when U.S. forces landed there. On 18 June, while so engaged, she was damaged by Japanese coastal artillery, but continued in action against enemy shore positions and landing craft for several more days.
In mid-1944, Phelps was transferred to the Atlantic. After being refitted with new guns and other improvements, she served for the rest of World War II on convoy escort duties between the U.S. and the Mediterranean. USS Phelps was decommissioned in November 1945 and spent a little over a year in the Reserve Fleet. She was stricken from the Naval Vessel Register in January 1947 and in August was sold for scrapping.
This page features selected views of USS Phelps (DD-360).
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 97947 USS Phelps (DD-360) Running trials off Rockland, Maine, 17 December 1935. This view was taken while she was making 29.56 knots on Run Number 18 North. Note that the ship's battery of eight 5"/38 guns has not yet been installed. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval Historical Center. Online Image: 86KB; 740 x 605 pixels |
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Photo #: 80-G-66124 USS Phelps (DD-360) At Pearl Harbor, circa late May 1942, following the Battle of Coral Sea and shortly before the Battle of Midway. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives. Online Image: 70KB; 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-38910 USS Phelps (DD-360) Off San Francisco, California, 11 December 1942. Photograph from the Bureau of Ships Collection in the U.S. National Archives. Online Image: 72KB; 740 x 605 pixels Reproductions of this image may also be available through the National Archives photographic reproduction system. |
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Photo #: 80-G-276951 USS Phelps (DD-360) Underway at sea, 27 May 1944. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives. Online Image: 93KB; 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-73963 USS Phelps (DD-360) Off the Charleston Navy Yard, South Carolina, about November 1944. She is painted in camouflage Measure 32, Design 3d. Photograph from the Bureau of Ships Collection in the U.S. National Archives. Online Image: 93KB; 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-73964 USS Phelps (DD-360) Off the Charleston Navy Yard, South Carolina, about November 1944. She is painted in camouflage Measure 32, Design 3d. Photograph from the Bureau of Ships Collection in the U.S. National Archives. Online Image: 129KB; 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-87408 USS Phelps (DD-360) Off the New York Navy Yard, 8 August 1945. Photograph from the Bureau of Ships Collection in the U.S. National Archives. Online Image: 125KB; 740 x 610 pixels Reproductions of this image may also be available through the National Archives photographic reproduction system. |
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Photo #: 80-G-332952 USS Phelps (DD-360) Moored at Casco Bay, Maine, 9 August 1945. USS McCall (DD-400) and a frigate (PF) are moored with her. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives. Online Image: 105KB; 740 x 605 pixels Reproductions of this image may also be available through the National Archives photographic reproduction system. |
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Photo #: NH 54527 USS Dobbin (AD-2) Photographed circa 1937, with several destroyers alongside. They include (from left to right): USS Phelps (DD-360), USS Worden (DD-332), USS MacDonough (DD-351), USS Dewey (DD-349) and USS Hull (DD-350). Note that some of these ships' hull numbers are painted close to the waterline, while others are about midway between the boot topping and the weather deck. Courtesy of BMGC Ralph E. Turpin, USN (Retired), 1963. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph. Online Image: 71KB; 740 x 455 pixels |
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Photo #: NH 77096 USS Phelps (DD-360) Underway followed by other destroyers of the Scouting Force, U.S. Fleet, circa 1936. USS Dewey (DD-349) is the next ship astern. Collection of Vice Admiral George C. Dyer, USN (Retired). U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph. Online Image: 112KB; 740 x 600 pixels |
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Photo #: 19-N-38915 USS Phelps (DD-360) Plan view, forward, taken while she was at the Mare Island Navy Yard, California, 24 November 1942. Circles mark recent alterations to the ship. Photograph from the Bureau of Ships Collection in the U.S. National Archives. Online Image: 102KB; 740 x 595 pixels Reproductions of this image may also be available through the National Archives photographic reproduction system. |
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Photo #: 19-N-38914 USS Phelps (DD-360) Plan view, aft, taken while she was at the Mare Island Navy Yard, California, 24 November 1942. Note submarine building ways and cranes in the background. Circles mark recent alterations to the ship. Photograph from the Bureau of Ships Collection in the U.S. National Archives. Online Image: 111KB; 740 x 615 pixels Reproductions of this image may also be available through the National Archives photographic reproduction system. |
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Note: In addition to the views presented above:
If you want higher resolution reproductions than the digital images presented here, see: "How to Obtain Photographic Reproductions." |
Page made 25 April 2002