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DEPARTMENT OF THE NAVY -- NAVAL HISTORICAL CENTER
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WASHINGTON DC 20374-5060

Photo # NH 97940:  USS Southard underway on 20 April 1932

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

USS Southard (DD-207, later DMS-10), 1919-1946

USS Southard, a 1190-ton Clemson class destroyer, was built at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Commissioned in September 1919, she served briefly along the U.S. east coast before deploying to the Mediterranean. In late 1920 or early 1921, Southard steamed through the Suez Canal and onward to the Far East, where she remained until August 1922. She then crossed the Pacific to the U.S. west coast, where she was placed in reserve early in 1923.

Southard returned to active service in January 1930 and served for the rest of the decade with the U.S. Fleet, mainly in the Pacific but with brief visits to the Atlantic. As the international situation worsened in 1940, the now-elderly destroyer was converted to a high-speed minesweeper, receiving the new hull number DMS-10 in October of that year. She was serving in Hawaiian waters when Japan began the great Pacific War on 7 December 1941.

After spending the War's first seven months operating in the Hawaiian area and escorting convoys between Hawaii and the west coast, Southard went to the south Pacific in July 1942 and a month later took part in the invasion of Guadalcanal and Tulagi. For the rest of 1942, she was assigned to convoy duty in support of the Guadalcanal campaign. Following overhaul, the fast minesweeper returned to the war zone in mid-1943 to resume her shipping protection mission. Later in the year she participated in the Bougainville campaign.

With time out for a west coast refit in June and July 1944, Southard was active in the southern and western Pacific until early 1945. She was employed in minesweeping and other duties during the invasions of the Palaus in September 1944, Leyte in October and Luzon in January 1945. A Japanese suicide plane struck her amidships while she was sweeping mines on 6 January 1945, during the Lingayen Gulf operation. The resulting damage was repaired in Hawaii between February and May. Southard spent the rest of the War in vicinity of Okinawa. In September and October 1945, soon after Japan's surrender, she was twice battered by typhoons and driven aground. Written off as a total loss, USS Southard was formally decommissioned in early December 1945. Her wreck was destroyed in mid-January 1946.

USS Southard was named in honor of Samuel L. Southard (1787-1842), who served as Secretary of the Navy in 1823-1829.

This page features selected views of USS Southard (DD-207, later DMS-10).


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 97940

USS Southard (DD-207)


Underway on 20 April 1932.

Official U.S. Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval Historical Center.

Online Image: 122KB; 740 x 605 pixels

 
Photo #: NH 97941

USS Southard (DD-207)


In Alaskan waters, during the 1930s.

Official U.S. Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval Historical Center.

Online Image: 89KB; 740 x 610 pixels

 
Photo #: NH 97942

USS Southard (DMS-10)


Off the Mare Island Navy Yard, California, 9 June 1942.

Official U.S. Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval Historical Center.

Online Image: 80KB; 740 x 625 pixels

 
Photo #: NH 97943

USS Southard (DMS-10)


Off the Mare Island Navy Yard, California, 9 June 1942.

Official U.S. Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval Historical Center.

Online Image: 83KB; 740 x 615 pixels

 
Photo #: 19-N-30507

USS Southard (DMS-10)


Photographed from dead ahead, off the Mare Island Navy Yard, California, 10 June 1942.
The actual date of the photo may be 9 June 1942.

Photograph from the Bureau of Ships Collection in the U.S. National Archives.

Online Image: 70KB; 590 x 765 pixels

Reproductions of this image may also be available through the National Archives photographic reproduction system.

 
Photo #: 19-N-30508

USS Southard (DMS-10)


Photographed from directly astern, off the Mare Island Navy Yard, California, 10 June 1942.
The actual date of the photo may be 9 June 1942.
Note details of her conversion to a fast minesweeper: squared-off triangular transom, with her name visible; sweep gear and davits on the stern; depth charge tracks angled out over the propeller guards; .50 caliber anti-aircraft machineguns at the rear of her after deckhouse.

Photograph from the Bureau of Ships Collection in the U.S. National Archives.

Online Image: 74KB; 590 x 765 pixels

Reproductions of this image may also be available through the National Archives photographic reproduction system.

 
Photo #: NH 97944

USS Southard (DMS-10)


Off San Francisco, California, 27 May 1943, after overhaul.

Official U.S. Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval Historical Center.

Online Image: 78KB; 740 x 600 pixels

 
Photo #: NH 49821

USS Southard (DMS-10)


Off San Francisco, California, 27 May 1943, after overhaul.

Official U.S. Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval Historical Center.

Online Image: 61KB; 740 x 620 pixels

 
Photo #: 80-G-455906

Balboa Harbor, Panama Canal Zone


Aerial photograph taken 23 April 1934, with U.S. Fleet cruisers and destroyers moored together.
Most of the ships present are identified in Photo # 80-G-455906 (extended caption).

Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives.

Online Image: 298KB; 1200 x 970 pixels

Reproductions of this image may also be available through the National Archives photographic reproduction system.

 
Photo #: NH 84588

Destroyer Division 18 (DesDiv 18) Commanding Officers


Photographed circa the last part of 1935, possibly on board USS Southard (DD-207), which was DesDiv18 flagship at the time.
Those present are (left to right, seated):
Lieutenant Commander Dennis L. Ryan, Commanding Officer, USS Chandler (DD-206);
Commander Carleton H. Wright, Commander DesDiv 18; and
Lieutenant Commander William J. Morcott, Commanding Officer, USS Southard.
(left to right, standing):
Lieutenant Commander Earl E. Stone, Commanding Officer, USS Long (DD-209); and
Lieutenant Commander Elmer E. DuVall, Jr., Commanding Officer, USS Hovey (DD-208).

U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

Online Image: 110KB; 595 x 765 pixels

 
Photo #: 19-N-30506

USS Southard (DMS-10)


At the Mare Island Navy Yard, California, 9 June 1942.
Note that she still retains her original four smokestacks and 4"/50 guns.
A former sister ship, still fitted as a destroyer, is alongside, at left.

Photograph from the Bureau of Ships Collection in the U.S. National Archives.

Online Image: 130KB; 600 x 765 pixels

Reproductions of this image may also be available through the National Archives photographic reproduction system.

 
Photo #: 19-N-30509

USS Southard (DMS-10)


At the Mare Island Navy Yard, California, 9 June 1942.
Note that she still retains her original 4"/50 guns. Other items visible include her whaleboat and gig, engine room hatches, reels for minesweeping cables, .50 caliber anti-aircraft machineguns mounted on the rear corners of her after deckhouse, depth charge tracks and minesweeping gear on her stern.
A former sister ship, still fitted as a destroyer, is alongside, with 20mm anti-aircraft machineguns and torpedo tubes visible.

Photograph from the Bureau of Ships Collection in the U.S. National Archives.

Online Image: 148KB; 740 x 615 pixels

Reproductions of this image may also be available through the National Archives photographic reproduction system.

 


If you want higher resolution reproductions than the digital images presented here, see: "How to Obtain Photographic Reproductions."


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Page made 19 April 2002