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DEPARTMENT OF THE NAVY -- NAVAL HISTORICAL CENTER
805 KIDDER BREESE SE -- WASHINGTON NAVY YARD
WASHINGTON DC 20374-5060

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

USS Preston (DD-379), 1936-1942

USS Preston, a 1480-ton Mahan class destroyer built at the Mare Island Navy Yard, California, was commissioned in October 1936. She operated in the Pacific through her entire service career, as a unit of the United States Fleet during the 1930s and early 1940s and thereafter as part of the Pacific Fleet. Following the outbreak of war with Japan in December 1941, Preston was employed on patrol and escort duties. At the beginning of June 1942 she steamed from the U.S. west coast to Hawaii and operated in that area until October 1942. She was then transferred to the south Pacific to join the Guadalcanal campaign. Late in October, she participated in the Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands as an escort for U.S. aircraft carriers.

A few weeks later, during the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal, Preston was one of four destroyers attached to a task force built around the battleships Washington (BB-56) and South Dakota (BB-57). Sent into Guadalcanal's Iron Bottom Sound on the night of 14-15 November 1942, the U.S. destroyers engaged a force of Japanese cruisers and destroyers south of Savo Island. In this short and intense action, Preston was fatally damaged by enemy shellfire and quickly sank, with the loss of over one hundred of her crew. However, within a few minutes the U.S. battleships fought other Japanese warships, successfully thwarting a potentially devastating bombardment of U.S. forces on Guadalcanal and thus effectively ending enemy hopes of retaking the island.

USS Preston was named in honor of Lieutenant Samuel W. Preston, USN (1840-1865), who was killed in action during the assault on Fort Fisher, North Carolina, in January 1865.

This page features all our views of USS Preston (DD-379), plus selected views of her construction.

Click on the small photograph to prompt a larger view of the same image.

Photo #: NH 97937 USS Preston (DD-379) Underway at sea during the 1930s, possibly in 1938. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval Historical Center. Online Image: 112KB; 740 x 575 pixels
Photo #: 80-G-1031563 Destroyers underway in San Diego Harbor, California, 1938 Identifiable ships are: USS Drayton (DD-366), at left; USS Preston (DD-379), at right; and USS Perkins (DD-377), in center, partially masked by Preston. Note colored bands painted on these destroyer's after smokestacks, possibly for unit identification purposes. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives. Online Image: 115KB; 740 x 600 pixels Reproductions of this image may also be available through the National Archives photographic reproduction system.
Photo #: 19-N-33052 (cropped) USS Preston (DD-379) At the Mare Island Navy Yard, California, on 15 August 1942. Barge in the far right distance is YF-380. This image is cropped from Photo # 19-N-33052. Photograph from the Bureau of Ships Collection in the U.S. National Archives. Online Image: 104KB; 740 x 465 pixels Reproductions of this image may also be available through the National Archives photographic reproduction system.
Photo #: 19-N-17722 USS Smith (DD-378) (left) and USS Preston (DD-379) Under construction at the Mare Island Navy Yard, California, 1 July 1935. Photograph from the Bureau of Ships Collection in the U.S. National Archives. Online Image: 186KB; 580 x 765 pixels Reproductions of this image may also be available through the National Archives photographic reproduction system.
Photo #: 19-N-16675 USS Preston (DD-379) Ship's Data Plaque, photographed at the Mare Island Navy Yard, California, circa 1937. Photograph from the Bureau of Ships Collection in the U.S. National Archives. Online Image: 171KB; 740 x 490 pixels Reproductions of this image may also be available through the National Archives photographic reproduction system.

The following photographs show USS Preston in the background of views of other ships:

Photo #: 19-N-17716 USS Smith (DD-378) At the Mare Island Navy Yard, California, 21 September 1936, two days after she went into commission. The destroyer astern of Smith is Preston (DD-379), which was still fitting out. Photograph from the Bureau of Ships Collection in the U.S. National Archives. Online Image: 128KB; 580 x 765 pixels Reproductions of this image may also be available through the National Archives photographic reproduction system.
Photo #: 19-N-33050 USS Detroit (CL-8) At the Mare Island Navy Yard, California, 15 August 1942. Note her after 6"/53 guns and men lounging on the fantail. Circles mark recent alterations to the ship. Destroyers in the background include USS Preston (DD-379), at right, and USS Conyngham (DD-371), at left. On the far side of the pier from them are USS Caldwell (DD-605), in the far center distance beyond Preston's bow, and USS Walke (DD-416), at left beyond Conyngham. YOS-1 is in the far right distance. Photograph from the Bureau of Ships Collection in the U.S. National Archives. Online Image: 142KB; 740 x 630 pixels Reproductions of this image may also be available through the National Archives photographic reproduction system.
Photo #: 19-N-33051 USS Detroit (CL-8) Plan view of her port side midships area, taken at the Mare Island Navy Yard, California, 15 August 1942. Note her 3"/50 guns, smokestacks, life rafts and searchlights. Circles mark recent alterations to the ship. USS Preston (DD-379) is in the background. Photograph from the Bureau of Ships Collection in the U.S. National Archives. Online Image: 181KB; 740 x 620 pixels Reproductions of this image may also be available through the National Archives photographic reproduction system.

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Page made 17 April 2002
Link added 14 April 2004