Daily Event for October 28


October 28, 1935: The USS Shaw DD-373 was launched. The Shaw is the ship in the famous photo of the Pearl Harbor attack which can be seen exploding. Twenty four of her crew  were killed in the attack by the Japanese but fortunately the order to abandon was given just five minuets before her magazines exploded. Even though there was a great amount of damage done to her the need for warships was greater. The explosion that ripped the ship apart was not her end but her beginning.

She was repaired at San Francisco and was sent to the Pacific where she earned eleven battle stars including; Santa Cruz Islands, Guadalcanal (3rd strike), Saipan, Leyte, Luzon and several others. On her first visit to the Pacific war she rescued the crew of the Porter DD-356 which had been torpedoed by the I-12 while rescuing the crew of a downed US aircraft. Shaw dispatched the Porter to the bottom with several rounds of gunfire.

On Jan. 10, 1943 her hull and propellers were severely damaged when she grounded on Sournois Reef in New Caledonia, she was stuck fast there until Jan. 15. After temporary repairs were made she sailed for Pearl Harbor where she was laid up until September. Dispatched again to the Pacific this time Japanese aircraft damaged the ship and killed three of her crew. The Shaw once again returned to the USA for repairs, this time at Hunters Point, California. There was still a war to fight and Shaw went back to action departing California on May 1, 1944. Back in the Pacific the Shaw was damaged for the last time, not by enemy action but by a rock. The Shaw returned to the USA and would not see combat again. Repairs were finished on Aug. 20, 1945 and Shaw sailed for Philadelphia where she was decommissioned on Oct. 2, 1945. The little destroyer that would not quit was finally scrapped in July 1946.

© 2005 Michael W. Pocock
MaritimeQuest.com


USS Shaw DD-373 exploding at Pearl Harbor

Pearl Harbor Attack In Color