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USS Somers, first of a class of five 1850-ton destroyers, was built at Kearny, New Jersey. She was commissioned in December 1937 and, beginning in February 1938, made a shakedown cruise in the Gulf of Mexico and along the east coast of South America. Somers' entire career was spent in the Atlantic, conducting normal peacetime operations until September 1939, when outbreak of World War II in Europe caused her reassignment to the U.S. Neutrality Patrol. While on duty in the South Atlantic on 6 November 1941, she took part in the capture of the German blockade runner Odenwald.
Somers remained in the South Atlantic after the United States formally entered the war in December 1941. She was present for the sinking of another German blockade runner, the Annelise Essberger, on 21 November 1942. In January and February 1943 the destroyer escorted the French battleship Richelieu from Africa to the U.S. A third German blockade runner, the Westerland, was intercepted at the beginning of 1944, with Somers' gunfire being partially responsible for sinking the enemy ship.
In May 1944, Somers was reassigned to convoy duty in the North Atlantic and, in June and early July, she escorted shipping across the English Channel to the newly-captured Normandy beachhead. Transferred to the Mediterranean during the next two months, she participated in the August 1944 invasion of Southern France. On 15 August she engaged and sank two German corvettes. Somers also provided gunfire support for the invasion, and was hit by shrapnel during a battle with shore batteries on 22 August.
After leaving the Mediterranean, Somers resumed trans-Atlantic convoy operations that continued until Germany surrendered in May 1945. She engaged in training activities during the following months and was decommissioned in October 1945. USS Somers was sold for scrapping in May 1947.
This page features the only views we have related to USS Somers (DD-381).
| 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.
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Photo #: NH 98021 USS Somers (DD-381) At the Charleston Navy Yard, South Carolina, 16 February 1942. She is wearing Measure 12 (modified) camouflage. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval Historical Center. Online Image: 50KB; 740 x 560 pixels |
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Photo #: NH 98022 USS Somers (DD-381) Underway at sea, circa 1944, with several escort ships (DE) in the distance. Her camouflage is Measure 32, Design 3d. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval Historical Center. Online Image: 109KB; 740 x 625 pixels |
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Photo #: NH 49935 Odenwald Incident, November 1941 USS Omaha (CL-4), in right center, standing by the German blockade runner Odenwald, which has a U.S. boarding party on board, in the South Atlantic, 6 November 1941. Photographed from USS Somers (DD-381). U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph. Online Image: 71KB; 740 x 610 pixels |
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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 31 July 2002