View source for USS Gregory (DD-82)

{{Short description|Wickes-class destroyer}}
{{other ships|USS Gregory}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2021}}

{|{{Infobox ship begin}}
{{Infobox ship image
|Ship image=[[File:USS Gregory (DD-82) at anchor in an unknown port c1919.jpg|300px|USS Gregory (DD-82) at anchor in an unknown port c1919]]
|Ship caption=USS ''Gregory'' (DD-82), circa in 1919
}}
{{Infobox ship career
|Hide header=
|Ship country=United States
|Ship flag={{USN flag|1940}}
|Ship name=USS ''Gregory''
|Ship namesake=
|Ship ordered=
|Ship builder=[[Fore River Shipyard]], [[Quincy, Massachusetts|Quincy]], [[Massachusetts]]
|Ship laid down=25 August 1917
|Ship launched=27 January 1918
|Ship acquired=
|Ship commissioned=1 June 1918
|Ship decommissioned=7 July 1922
|Ship reclassified=[[High-speed transport]], APD-3, 2&nbsp;August&nbsp;1940
}}
{{Infobox ship career
|Hide header=yes
|Ship recommissioned=4 November 1940
|Ship decommissioned=
|Ship in service=
|Ship out of service=
|Ship struck=2 October 1942
|Ship reinstated=
|Ship honors=
|Ship fate=Sunk 5 September 1942
|Ship notes=
}}
{{Infobox ship characteristics
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|Header caption=
|Ship class={{sclass|Wickes|destroyer}}
|Ship displacement=1,191 tons
|Ship length={{convert|314|ft|4|in|m|abbr=on}}
|Ship beam={{convert|30|ft|11|in|m|abbr=on}}
|Ship draft={{convert|9|ft|2|in|m|abbr=on}}
|Ship propulsion=
|Ship speed={{convert|35|kn}}
|Ship range=
|Ship complement=141 officers and enlisted
|Ship sensors=
|Ship EW=
|Ship armament=4 × [[4"/50 caliber gun|4"/50 (102 mm)]] guns, 1 [[3"/23 caliber gun|3"/25 (76 mm)]], 4 × 3 × [[American 21 inch torpedo|21 inch (533 mm)]] [[torpedo tube]]s
|Ship armor=
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|}

'''USS ''Gregory'' (DD-82/APD-3)''' was a {{sclass|Wickes|destroyer}} in the [[United States Navy]] during [[World War I]] and, as '''APD-3''' [[World War II]]. She was named for [[Admiral]] [[Francis Gregory]] USN (1780–1866). She was converted into a [[high-speed transport]] during World War II and was sunk by Japanese warships.

==Construction and commissioning==
''Gregory'' was laid down by the [[Fore River Shipbuilding Company]] at [[Quincy, Massachusetts]], on 25 August 1917, [[Ship naming and launching|launched]] on 27 January 1918 by Mrs. George S. Trevor, great-granddaughter of Admiral Gregory, and [[ship commissioning|commissioned]] on 1 June 1918, [[Commander (United States)|Commander]] [[Arthur P. Fairfield]] in command.

==Service history==

===World War I===
Joining a [[convoy]] at [[New York, New York|New York]], ''Gregory'' sailed for [[Brest, France|Brest]], [[France]], 25 June 1918. She spent the final summer of the war escorting convoys from the French port to various [[Allies of World War I|Allied]] ports in [[United Kingdom|Britain]] and France. As the war neared its close, ''Gregory'' was assigned to the patrol squadron at [[Gibraltar]] 2 November 1918. In addition to patrolling in the [[Atlantic Ocean|Atlantic]] and [[Mediterranean Sea|Mediterranean]], ''Gregory'' carried passengers and supplies to the [[Adriatic]] and aided in the execution of the terms of the [[Armistice of Villa Giusti|Austrian armistice]]. After six months of this duty, the flush-deck destroyer joined naval forces taking part in relief missions to the western Mediterranean 28 April 1919. In company with the [[battleship]] {{USS|Arizona|BB-39|2}}, ''Gregory'' carried supplies and passengers to [[Smyrna]], [[Constantinople]], and [[Batum]]. She then sailed for Gibraltar with the American consul from [[Tiflis]], [[Russia]] and some British army officers. She offloaded her passengers on the rocky fortress; ''Gregory'' sailed for New York reaching the [[United States]] 13 June 1919.

===Inter-War period===
[[File:USS Gregory (APD-3) in early 1942.jpg|thumb|left|''Gregory'' after conversion to a high-speed transport.]]
After brief tours in reserve at [[Tompkinsville, New York]], the [[Brooklyn Navy Yard]], and the [[Philadelphia Navy Yard]]; ''Gregory'' sailed to [[Charleston, South Carolina]], 4 January 1921. A year of local training operations out of the southern port ended 12 April 1922, when ''Gregory'' entered the Philadelphia Navy Yard. She decommissioned 7 July 1922 and went into reserve.

As war broke again over [[Europe]], threatening to involve the United States, ''Gregory'' and three other four-stackers were taken out of mothballs for conversion to high-speed transports. The destroyers were stripped of virtually all their armament to make room for boats, while other important modifications were made for troops and cargo (such as removing two forward boiler rooms and their stacks). ''Gregory'' recommissioned 4 November 1940 as '''APD-3''' and joined {{USS|Little|DD-79|2}}, {{USS|Colhoun|DD-85|2}}, and {{USS|McKean|DD-90|2}} to form Transport Division 12 (TransDiv 12). ''Gregory'' and her sister APDs trained along the East Coast for the following year perfecting landing techniques with various [[United States Marine Corps|Marine]] divisions. None of these ships survived through the Pacific war, as all but ''McKean'' were lost during the [[Solomon Islands campaign]].

===World War II===
On 27 January 1942 she departed Charleston for [[Pearl Harbor]]. Exercises in [[Hawaii]]an waters kept TransDiv 12 in the Pacific through the spring, after which they returned to [[San Diego]] for repairs. They sailed for the Pacific again on 7 June, reaching Pearl Harbor a week later to train for the upcoming [[Battle of Guadalcanal|invasion of Guadalcanal]], America's first offensive effort in the [[Pacific War|Pacific campaign]].

Departing [[Nouméa]] on 31 July 1942, ''Gregory'' joined Task Force 62 (TF 62) (under Admiral [[Frank Jack Fletcher]]) and steamed for [[Guadalcanal]]. After sending her Marines ashore in the first assault waves 7 August, ''Gregory'' and her sister APDs remained in the area. The ships patrolled the waters around the hotly contested islands, waters which were to gain notoriety as "[[Iron Bottom Sound]]", and brought up ammunition & supplies from [[Espiritu Santo]].

On 4 September, ''Gregory'' and ''Little'' were returning to their anchorage at [[Tulagi]] after transferring a [[Marine Raider Battalion]] to [[Savo Island]]. The night was inky-black with a low haze obscuring all landmarks, and the captains decided to remain on patrol rather than risk threading their way through the dangerous channel. As they steamed between Guadalcanal and [[Savo Island]] at {{convert|10|kn}}, {{Ship|Japanese destroyer|Yūdachi|1936|2}}, {{Ship|Japanese destroyer|Hatsuyuki|1928|2}} and {{Ship|Japanese destroyer|Murakumo|1928|2}} entered the Slot undetected to deliver a "[[Tokyo Express]]" package of troops and supplies to Guadalcanal. After completing the delivery, the crews prepared to bombard [[Henderson Field (Guadalcanal)|Henderson Field]] at Lunga Point. At 00:56 on 5 September, ''Gregory'' and ''Little'' saw flashes of gunfire which they assumed came from a Japanese [[submarine]] until [[radar]] showed four targets; apparently a cruiser had joined the three destroyers. While the two outgunned ships were debating whether to close for action or depart quietly and undetected, the decision was taken out of their hands.

[[File:USS Gregory (APD-3) and USS Little (APD-4) underway during practice landings in the Fiji Islands on 30 July 1942.jpg|thumb|''Gregory'' and {{USS|Little|APD-4|6}} on 30 July 1942.]]

A Navy pilot had also seen the gunfire and, assuming it came from a Japanese submarine, dropped a string of five flares almost on top of the two APDs. ''Gregory'' and ''Little'', silhouetted against the blackness, were spotted immediately by the Japanese destroyers, which opened fire at 01:00. ''Gregory'' brought all her guns to bear but was overmatched and less than 3 minutes after the flares had been dropped was dead in the water and beginning to sink. Two boilers had burst and her decks were a mass of flames. Her skipper, [[Lieutenant commander (United States)|Lieutenant Commander]] [[Harry F. Bauer]], himself seriously wounded, gave the word to abandon ship, and ''Gregory''{{'}}s crew took to the water. Bauer ordered two companions to aid another crewman yelling for help and was never seen again; for his conduct, he posthumously received the [[Silver Star]]. The U.S. Navy subsequently named a ship, {{USS|Harry F. Bauer|DD-738|2}}, in recognition of his gallant action.

At 01:23, with all of ''Gregory''{{'}}s and most of ''Little''{{'}}s crew in the water, the Japanese ships began shelling again—aiming not at the crippled ships but at their helpless crews in the water. ''Gregory'' sank stern first some 40 minutes after the firing had begun, and was followed two hours later by ''Little''. [[Fleet admiral (United States)|Fleet Admiral]] [[Chester Nimitz]], in praising the courageous crews after their loss, wrote that "both of these small vessels fought as well as possible against the overwhelming odds ... With little means, they performed duties vital to the success of the campaign." 24 officers and men, including the commanding officer, from ''Gregory'' were killed.<ref>{{cite web |title=Roll of Honour |url=https://www.maritimequest.com/warship_directory/us_navy_pages/destroyers/pages/alpha_pages/g/uss_gregory_dd_82_roll_of_honor.htm |website=maritimequest.com |access-date=21 August 2023}}</ref>

[[Petty Officer First Class]] [[Charles Jackson French|Charles French]] swam 6–8 hours in shark-infested waters near Guadalcanal while towing a life raft with 15 of the ''Gregory''{{'}}s survivors to avoid capture and possible execution by Japanese forces on land.<ref name="ishof">{{cite web |url=https://ishof.org/assets/charles-jackson-french_article.pdf |title=The story of Charles Jackson French |website=ISHOF.com |first=Bruce |last=Wigo |access-date=4 July 2020 |archive-date=20 December 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151220154027/http://www.ishof.org/assets/charles-jackson-french_article.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref>

''Gregory''{{'}}s name was struck from the [[Naval Vessel Register|Navy List]] 2 October 1942.

==Awards==
''Gregory'' received two [[battle star]]s for her World War II service.

==References==
{{Reflist}}
* {{DANFS|http://www.history.navy.mil/research/histories/ship-histories/danfs/g/gregory-i.html}}

==External links==
{{Commons category}}
* [http://www.navsource.org/archives/05/082.htm NavSource photos]
* [https://www.history.navy.mil/content/history/nhhc/search.html?q=USS+Gregory Official photos]

{{Wickes-class destroyer}}
{{Flush-decker high speed transport}}
{{September 1942 shipwrecks}}

{{coord missing|Pacific Ocean}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gregory (Dd-82)}}
[[Category:Wickes-class destroyers]]
[[Category:World War I destroyers of the United States]]
[[Category:World War II amphibious warfare vessels of the United States]]
[[Category:Shipwrecks in Ironbottom Sound]]
[[Category:Ships built in Quincy, Massachusetts]]
[[Category:1918 ships]]
[[Category:Maritime incidents in September 1942]]