USS Tillman, a 1630-ton Gleaves class destroyer built at the Charleston Navy Yard, South Carolina, was commissioned in June 1942. Following shakedown and training off the U.S. eastern seaboard, in November 1942 she escorted the Operation "Torch" convoy across the Atlantic to Morocco, engaged defending French warships and otherwise supported landing operations near Casablanca. Tillman then began regular convoy escort duties in the Atlantic and into the Mediterranean Sea. In July 1943 she took part in the invasion of Sicily, escorting shipping, bombarding enemy positions ashore, and helping to fight off hostile air attacks.
Between the summer of 1943 and the end of 1944 Tillman was employed shepherding Atlantic and Mediterranean convoys. While operating in the latter sea she frequently engaged enemy aircraft, evading a torpedo on 2 September 1943 and, on 6 November of that year, fighting an intense battle with German torpedo planes and Do-217 bombers armed with guided bombs. Her guns shot down two of the bombers and at least two of the bombs, with another missile crashing into the sea nearby. A torpedo explosion in her wake badly shook the ship, but she emerged from the engagement with only minor damage.
In April 1945 Tillman steamed to the Pacific, where she was employed on anti-submarine and air rescue duties in the vicinity of Guam and the Caroline Islands. After Japan's capitulation in early September 1945, the surrender of Yap Island was signed on her deck. The destroyer returned home later in the year, arriving at Charleston, S.C. in mid-December. She spent more than a year preparing for inactivation and was formally placed out of commission in February 1947. Laid up in the Atlantic Reserve Fleet for more than two decades, USS Tillman was stricken from the Naval Vessel Register in June 1970. She was sold for scrapping in May 1972.
USS Tillman was named in honor of U.S. Senator Benjamin R. Tillman (1847-1918), who was Chairman of the Senate Naval Affairs Committee during and before World War I.
This page features, and provides links to, all the views we have concerning USS Tillman (DD-641).
For more images related to this ship, see:
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 Tillman (DD-641). 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 Tillman (DD-641) in 1942, probably in Charleston Harbor, South Carolina. Port broadside surface view, showing the ship underway very slowly. The ship is painted in the mottled patterns of Camouflage Measure 12 (Modified). As 80-G-16148, but port quarter surface view. As 80-G-16148, but port bow aerial view of the ship underway at a moderate speed. As 80-G-16148, but port quarter aerial view of the ship underway at a moderate speed. USS Tillman (DD-641) underway in 1942, probably in Charleston Harbor, South Carolina. Port bow aerial view, showing the ship about to pass under a bridge (a small amount of the bridge structure is visible in the image's lower left). Tillman is painted in Camouflage Measure 12 (Modified).
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". |
For more images related to this ship, see:
If you want higher resolution reproductions than the digital images presented here, see: "How to Obtain Photographic Reproductions." |
Page made 7 September 2006