USS Stockton, a 1630-ton Gleaves class destroyer built at Kearny, New Jersey, was commissioned in January 1943. For the next year she was employed in the Atlantic war zone, escorting convoys between the East Coast and North Africa. In late January 1944 Stockton began a voyage to the south Pacific, where she participated in the Admiralties campaign during February and March and in operations along the northern shore of New Guinea from April into August. During September 1944 the destroyer supported the invasion of Peleliu, then steamed back to the U.S. for overhaul.
Returning to the western Pacific in February 1945, Stockton screened escort aircraft carriers during the Iwo Jima operation in that month and the next. For the rest of World War II she escorted logistics support ships as they supported the Pacific Fleet's campaigns against Okinawa and Japanese home islands. Following occupation service in September and October 1945, Stockton voyaged back to the U.S. by way of the Indian Ocean and the South Atlantic. She was decommissioned at Charleston, South Carolina, in mid-May 1946. Following two and a half decades in the Atlantic Reserve Fleet, USS Stockton was stricken from the Naval Vessel Register at the beginning of July 1971. She was sold for scrapping in May 1973.
USS Stockton was named in honor of Captain Robert F. Stockton (1795-1866), an important figure in the 19th Century Navy and in contemporary politics.
This page features the only views we have concerning USS Stockton(DD-646).
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.
In addition to the images presented above, the National Archives appears to hold other views of USS Stockton (DD-646). The following list features some of these images:
The images listed below are NOT in
the Naval Historical Center's collections.
DO NOT try to obtain them using the procedures described in our
page "How to Obtain Photographic Reproductions."
USS Stockton (DD-646) sliding down the building ways during her launching, at the Federal Shipbuilding and Drydock Company shipyard, Kearny, New Jersey, 11 November 1942. Nearly bow-on view, slightly to port. USS Stockton (DD-646) underway off Madagascar during her voyage from the Pacific to the U.S. by way of the Cape of Good Hope in late 1945. Photographed from California (BB-44). The photo was received by the Naval Photographic Center on 13 June 1946. Port bow surface view, with several crewmen standing on the ship's forecastle. Stockton appears to be coming alongside California. Reproductions of these images should be available through the National Archives photographic reproduction system for pictures not held by the Naval Historical Center. The images listed in this box are NOT in the Naval Historical Center's collections. DO NOT try to obtain them using the procedures described in our page "How to Obtain Photographic Reproductions." |
If you want higher resolution reproductions than the digital images presented here, see: "How to Obtain Photographic Reproductions." |
Page made 7 October 2004