U.S.S. SHAW

DD-373 USS Shaw

USS Shaw was built at Philadelphia Navy Yard in Pennsylvania. She was commissioned in September of 1936 and immediately headed for a trans-Atlantic shakedown in 1937. In 1938, she headed for South America and then onward to the Pacific. Through the rest of the 30s and into 1941, she operated on the West Coast and off Hawaii. Shaw was in drydock when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor. She was set afire by enemy bombs, her bow was severed and her bridge was wrecked.

The USS Shaw had one advantage: her midship and stern positions were still intact. She underwent temporary repairs in 1942 and then headed to Mare Island for an overhaul and permanent repairs. Shaw then returned to the Pacific for training and convoy escort services. She was sent on to the South Pacific in October of that year, participating in the Battle of Santa Cruz and the Guadalcanal Campaign. USS Shaw was involved in many other operations and invasions in the South Pacific during the remainder of the war, as well as another major overhaul right before the war’s end. Due to her age, USS Shaw could not be retained. She was decommissioned in October 1945 and then sold for scrapping in July 1946.