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USS Hull (DD-350)

Please see below for item level images and donated collections containing photographs of USS Hull (DD-350)

USS Hull (DD-350) was launched by New York Navy Yard 31 January 1934; sposored by Miss Patricia Louise Platt; and commissioned 11 January 1935, Commander R. S. Wentworth in command.

Following a shakedown cruise which took her to the Azores, Portugal, and the British Isles, USS Hull (DD-350) arrived San Diego via the Panama Canal 19 October 1935. She began her operations with the Pacific Fleet off San Diego, engaging in tactical exercises and training. She returned to Pearl Harbor 26 March, and for 3 months sailed on convoy duty between San Francisco and Pearl Harbor. USS Hull (DD-350) was soon back in the thick of combat, however, as she sailed 7 December for Suyu, Fiji Islands, to prepare for America's first offensive land thrust, the amphibious assault on Guadalcanal. She departed 26 July for the Solomons, and on the day of the landings, 7 August 1942, screened cruisers during shore bombardment and then took up station as antisubmarine protection for the transports.

As the Navy moved in to retake Attu in May, USS Hull (DD-350) continued her patrol duties, and during July and early August she took part in numerous bombardments of Kiska Island. The ship also took part in the landings on Kiska 15 August, only to find that the Japanese had evacuated their last foothold in the Aleutian chain. USS Hull (DD-350) returned to the Central Pacific after the Kiska operation, arriving Pearl Harbor 26 September 1943. She departed with the fleet 3 days later for strikes on Wake Island, and operated with escort carriers during diversionary strikes designed to mask the Navy's real objective, the Gilberts.

During July the destroyer operated with carrier groups off Guam, and after the assault 21 July patrolled off the island. In August USS Hull (DD-350) returned to Seattle, arriving the 25th, and underwent repairs which kept her in the States until 23 October, when she anchored at Pearl Harbor. At about 1100 18 December USS Hull (DD-350) became locked "in irons", in the trough of the mountainous sea and unable to steer. All hands worked feverishly to maintain integrity and keep the ship afloat during the heavy rolls, but finally, in the words of her commander: "The ship remained over on her side at an angle of 80 degrees or more as the water flooded into her upper structures. I remained on the port wing of the bridge until the water flooded up to me, then I stepped off into the water as the ship rolled over on her way down". The typhoon swallowed many of the survivors, but valiant rescue work by USS Tabberer and other ships of the fleet in the days that followed saved the lives of 7 officers and 55 enlisted men.

For a complete history of USS Hull (DD-350) please see its DANFS page.