June 16, 1945 while on radar picket duty off Senaga Shima, Ryukyu Islands the USS Twiggs DD-591 was
torpedoed by a lone Japanese aircraft. The torpedo found one of her magazines which exploded dooming the
ship. The damage from the torpedo was probably sufficient to sink the ship but the Japanese pilot was taking
no chances, he brought the plane around and crashed the ship setting her ablaze. An hour later the Twiggs
was on the bottom and 193 of her crew were taken with her. Fortunately 188 crewmen were pulled from the
water.

One of the dead was the commanding officer, Commander George Phillip. He was awarded the Navy Cross
(posthumously) and the USS George Phillip FFG-12 was named in his honor. The wreck of the Twiggs was
later donated to the Government of the Ryukyu Islands and scrapped.

© 2007 Michael W. Pocock
MaritimeQuest.com

Paul Hamilton DD-590 and Twiggs DD-591 ready for launch at the Charleston Naval Shipyard.