(Ensign John R. Monaghan, died in Samoa 1899 defending wounded.)

Type and Characteristics - Destroyer, Farragut-class, Boston Navy Yard; launched 9 January 1935; commissioned 19 April 1935, Comdr. R. R. Thompson in command; Displacement 1,500 tons; Length 341'3"; Beam 34'3"; Draft 8'10"; Speed 36.5 knots; 4 Yarrow boilers, 2 Parsons geared steam turbines; Armament as built: 5 x 5"(127mm)/38cal DP (5x1), 8 x 21" (533 mm) T Tubes (2x4), 4 x .50cal (12.7mm) MG AA (4x1); Armament after 1943: 1 x Mk 33 Gun Fire Control System, 4 × 5" (127mm)/38cal DP (4x1), 8 × 21" (533 mm) T Tubes (2x4), 5 x Oerlikon 20 mm AA (5x1), 2 x Mk 51 Gun Directors, 4 x Bofors 40 mm AA (2x2), 2 x Depth Charge stern racks; Complement 100.

Log Period and Areas of Service - 1935-1944, North Atlantic and Pacific Fleets, participating in Pearl Harbor attack and the Aleutians Campaign.

Summary of Service

19 April 1935 - Monaghan was commissioned, Comdr. R. R. Thompson in command; she spent the next few years training the officers and men of the Navy, primarily in the North Atlantic.

7 December 1941 - She was ready duty destroyer in Pearl Harbor at the time of the Japanese attack, firing at the planes and ramming and sinking a midget submarine. She patrolled off shore for the next week, then proceeded to Wake Island. Patrol and scouting operations out of Pearl Harbor were followed by convoy duty to the west coast and back.

15 April 1942 - She joined Task Force 11 sailing to the South Pacific, going into action in the Coral Sea on May 7th. She returned to Pearl Harbor with Task Force 16. Then Monaghan sailed to participate in the Battle of Midway.

13 June 1942 - Monaghan was sent north to the Aleutian Islands. Damaged by collision in the heavy northern fog, Monaghan was repaired at Dutch Harbor and Pearl Harbor, then escorted a convoy to the west coast en route a Mare Island repair period.

17 November 1942 - She returned to the South Pacific at Fiji where she bent her propellers on an underwater obstruction, and had to return to Pearl Harbor on her port screw, hastily replaced, for permanent repairs.

21 February 1943 - She returned to the Aleutian Islands, where she joined Task Group 16.69, a scouting force.

26 March 1943 - This group engaged the Japanese in the Battle of the Komandorski Islands, driving the Japanese away. Patrol and occasional shore bombardment missions throughout the Aleutians, along with escort missions, continued through the summer.

22 June 1943 - She engaged in a submarine chase, resulting in ramming the I-7 Japanese submarine and destroying it, her bow was damaged but no crew were injured.

13 November 1943 - She arrived in the Gilbert Islands with three new escort carriers. She then returned to the west coast on escort duty, then rejoined the escort carriers after extensive exercises out of San Diego to prepare for the invasion of the Marshalls.

7 February 1944 - She entered the battle to retake each island at a time from Japan as part of the antisubmarine screen protecting the carriers.

25 July 1944 - She sailed for Pearl Harbor, an overhaul at Puget Sound, and training off California and Hawaii.

11 November 1944 - She sailed to join the escort for three fleet oilers bound for a rendezvous with Task Force 38 off central Luzon.

17 December 1944 - Typhoon "Cobra" hit, claiming 790 lives in the 3rd Fleet, and sank Spence, Hull, and Monaghan. Six men survived the Monaghan sinking, reportedly rescued by USS Brown and/or Tabberer.

Fate – Sunk by Typhoon "Cobra" along with USS Spence and Hull 17 December 1944 in the Pacific near the Philippines.

Links: DANFS, Wikipedia Aleutian Islands Campaign

USS Monaghan 1939

USS Monaghan (DD 354) and USS Dale (DD 353) coming out of a smoke screen during Fleet Problem XX, held in February 1939 in the Caribbean and off the Northeast coast of South America.

USS Monaghan Atwar

Monaghan as she ties up at an unknown Aleutian port showing damage received after ramming and sinking a Japanese sub. Photo by Monaghan crew.

USS Monaghan 1944

Monaghan in camouflage, Puget Sound Navy Yard, 26 September 1944.

A general note on the sources.