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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 Thatcher (DD-514), 1943-1948

USS Thatcher, a 2050-ton Fletcher class destroyer, was built at Bath, Maine. She was commissioned in February 1943 and, in April and May, served as an escort for trans-Atlantic convoys. Transferred to the Pacific in June, Thatcher operated with the fast aircraft carriers during their late August raid on Marcus Island. She then went to the south Pacific, where she participated in the assault on Bougainville at the beginning of November 1943. In the resulting Battle of Empress Augusta Bay, during the early hours of 2 November, Thatcher collided with USS Spence, suffering enough damage to send her back to the U.S. for repairs and an overhaul.

Thatcher returned to the combat zone in March 1944. She operated with the carriers during raids on Japanese bases in the south and central Pacific and in June took part in the invasion of Saipan. On 12 June she sank a small Japanese freighter and later in the month shelled enemy positions on Rota and Guam. From August to December 1944 the destroyer screened fleet logistics ships as the U.S. offensive moved westward into the Philippines.

Assigned to carrier escort service in December, Thatcher successfully weathered a powerful typhoon and participated in raids around the South China Sea before returning to logistics support work. During February and March 1945 she served with the Seventh Fleet during operations off Luzon and landings on Panay. In May Thatcher was sent to reinforce the hard-pressed U.S. destroyers off Okinawa. While on radar picket duty on 20 May she was badly damaged by a Kamikaze, suffering the loss of 14 of her crew. She was hit again off Okinawa on 19 July, but damage and casualties were light. However, she did not arrive back in the United States until after Japan's mid-August decision to surrender. Since the suddenly reduced need for combat ships did not justify the work necesary to repair her, USS Thatcher was decommissioned in November 1945 and soon afterwards stricken from the list of Naval vessels. She was sold for scrapping in January 1948.

USS Thatcher was named in honor of Rear Admiral Henry K. Thatcher, USN (1806-1880), who commanded the West Gulf Blockading Squadron at the end of the Civil War.

This page features all the views we have related to USS Thatcher (DD-514), 1943-1948.

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

Photo #: NH 99259 USS Thatcher (DD-514) Underway in Boston harbor, Massachusetts, 28 February 1943. Note 20mm guns amidships and forward using the photographing aircraft as an opportunity for tracking practice. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval Historical Center. Online Image: 97KB; 740 x 610 pixels
Photo #: NH 99260 USS Thatcher (DD-514) Off the Mare Island Navy Yard, California, 24 July 1943. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval Historical Center. Online Image: 80KB; 740 x 615 pixels
Photo #: NH 99261 USS Thatcher (DD-514) Off the Mare Island Navy Yard, California, 24 July 1943. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval Historical Center. Online Image: 92KB; 740 x 615 pixels
Photo #: NH 99262 USS Thatcher (DD-514) In San Francisco Bay, California, 7 February 1944. Her camouflage is Measure 31, Design 2C. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval Historical Center. Online Image: 81KB; 740 x 615 pixels
Photo #: NH 99263 USS Thatcher (DD-514) In San Francisco Bay, California, 7 February 1944, accompanied by many seagulls. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval Historical Center. Online Image: 74KB; 740 x 610 pixels
Photo #: NH 59674 "DesRon 23" An illustrated poem relating Destroyer Squadron 23's exploits and attitudes during the Central Solomon's campaign of late 1943 and early 1944, when Captain Arleigh A. Burke was the Squadron's Commodore. Copied from "The Thatcher's War with Japan", published by the crew of USS Thatcher (DD-514). Courtesy of John T. Fallon, 1961. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph. Online Image: 112KB; 580 x 765 pixels
Photo #: 80-G-77174 USS Thatcher (DD-514) Launching, at the Bath Iron Works, Bath, Maine, 6 December 1942. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives. Online Image: 111KB; 595 x 765 pixels Reproductions of this image may also be available through the National Archives photographic reproduction system.

In addition to the images presented above, the National Archives appears to hold at least one other view of USS Thatcher (DD-514). The following list features this image:

The image listed below is NOT in the Naval Historical Center's collections.
DO NOT try to obtain it using the procedures described in our page "How to Obtain Photographic Reproductions".

Photo #: 80-G-165498 USS Thatcher (DD-514) steaming at sea, circa 1943-1944. Port broadside surface view, take from about the height of Thatcher's gun director. Her five-inch guns are pointing in different directions, probably "at the ready" for defense against air attack. Note: This photograph has been retouched by wartime censors to remove radar antennas atop the ship's foremast and gun director. The same image, uncensored, may have Photo # 80-G-470546. Reproductions of this image should be available through the National Archives photographic reproduction system for pictures not held by the Naval Historical Center. The image listed in this box is NOT in the Naval Historical Center's collections. DO NOT try to obtain it using the procedures described in our page "How to Obtain Photographic Reproductions".

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Page made 24 January 2004