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U.S.S. ROWAN

(DD-405)


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DD-405 USS Rowan

USS Rowan was a 1500-ton Benham class destroyer built at Norfolk Navy Yard in Virginia. She was commissioned in September 1939 and performed one shakedown cruise in the Caribbean before being sent to the Pacific in May 1940. After a year, she was sent back to the Atlantic Fleet, where she remained patrolling the seas to increase security due to the looming war with Europe. In late 1941, she escorted a convoy of troops to South Africa and back. Rowan was at sea on this mission when the U.S. formally entered WWII, but promptly returned and was put into escort duty in the Atlantic and Caribbean.

In the summer of 1942, USS Rowan patrolled the shipping route from northern Russia to Iceland, where she engaged with German aircraft before being sent to the invasion of French North Africa. This took place in November 1942. After the operation was complete, she began her duty of escorting convoys from the U.S. to Morocco. 1943 saw USS Rowan doing patrols and shipping escorts in the Mediterranean, as well as the invasion at Salerno. While escorting ships on the night of September 10, 1943, she was hit by a torpedo causing her to sink and lose more than 200 servicemen.

DD-405 Deployments - Major Events

Add a DD-405 Shellback Initiation Add a DD-405 Deployment - Major Event
Month Year to Month Year Deployment / Event
JUN1937-Keel Date: 25 JUN 1937
at Newport News Shipbuilding & Drydock Co. Newport News VA
MAY1938-Launch Date: 5 MAY 1938
SEP1939-Commissioned: 23 SEP 1939
SEP1943-SEP1943Sunk by German E-Boat off of Sicily

DD-405 General Specifications

Class: Benham-class destroyer

Named for: Stephen C. Rowan

Complement: 175 Officers and Enlisted

Displacement: 1850 tons

Length: 340 feet 6 inches

Beam: 35 feet 5 inches

Flank Speed: 37 knots

Final Disposition: Sunk by enemy action 11 September 1943