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USS Cummings (DD-365)

Please see below for item level images and donated collections containing photographs of USS Cummings (DD-365)

USS Cummings (DD-365) was launched 11 December 1935 by United Shipyards, Inc., New York; sponsored by Mrs. W. W. Mills, niece of Lieutenant Commander Cummings; and commissioned 25 November 1936, Commander C. P. Cecil in command.

Departing New York 29 September 1937, USS Cummings (DD-365) arrived at San Diego 28 October to join the Battle Force. She participated in the fleet problem in Hawaiian waters in April 1938 and a Presidential Fleet Review at San Francisco in July. USS Cummings (DD-365) was based at Pearl Harbor from 26 April 1940. When the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941, USS Cummings (DD-365) weathered bombs which fell ahead and astern, receiving only minor casualties from fragments, and sortied on patrol almost immediately. From 19 December 1941 to 4 May 1942 USS Cummings (DD-365) escorted convoys between Pearl Harbor and San Francisco, then sailed between Suva, Fiji Islands, and Auckland, New Zealand., from 9 June to 13 August on similar duty.

Arriving at San Francisco 7 July 1944, USS Cummings (DD-365) sailed 21 July to escort President F. D. Roosevelt embarked in Baltimore (CA-68) to Pearl Harbor, Adak, and Juneau. Departing Seattle 13 August 1944, USS Cummings (DD-365) joined TG 12.5 at Pearl Harbor for an air strike and shore bombardment of Wake Island on 3 September. She took part in the bombardment of Iwo Jima on 11 and 12 November, then returned to Saipan 21 November for local duty.

USS Cummings (DD-365) was stationed off Iwo Jima, occasionally escorting convoys to Saipan and Guam until the end of the war. Her duties included local convoy escort and control duty, and the important air-sea rescue work that accompanied the intensified strikes on Okinawa and the Japanese home islands. She supervised the occupation of Haha Jima on 9 September, then sailed from Iwo Jima 19 September for San Pedro, Calif., Tampa, Fla., and Norfolk. USS Cummings (DD-365) was decommissioned 14 December 1945 and sold 17 July 1947.

For a complete history of USS Cummings (DD-365) please see its DANFS page.