Craven
| Country | United States |
| Ship Class | Gridley-class Destroyer |
| Builder | Bethlehem Fore River Shipyard |
| Laid Down | 3 Jun 1935 |
| Launched | 25 Feb 1937 |
| Commissioned | 2 Sep 1937 |
| Decommissioned | 18 Apr 1946 |
| Displacement | 1,860 tons standard; 2,219 tons full |
| Length | 341 feet |
| Beam | 36 feet |
| Draft | 13 feet |
| Machinery | Bethlehem geared turbines with two screws |
| Power Output | 50,000 shaft horsepower |
| Speed | 38 knots |
| Range | 6,500nm at 12 knots |
| Crew | 158 |
| Armament | 4x5in anti-aircraft, 4x0.5in machine guns, 16x21in torpedo tubes |
ww2dbaseLaunched in Feb 1937, Craven conducted her first training in the Caribbean Sea and along the east coast of the United States, then spent some time in San Diego. In the first half of 1939, she participated in a fleet problem in the Caribbean Sea, but after the European War commenced she returned to the Pacific as an anti-submarine destroyer. During the attack on Pearl Harbor, she was out at sea along with carrier Enterprise between Wake and Pearl Harbor. She participated in raids on Japanese-held Marshalls, Gilberts, and Wake islands in Feb 1942, and conducted general convoy duties all across Central and South Pacific, including many missions escorting troop transports to Guadalcanal. On 6 and 7 Aug 1943, she was part of a task force sweeping Vella Gulf which sank three Japanese destroyers and damaged a cruiser. She later screened fleet carriers during landing missions against various Japanese island garrisons. She returned to Pearl Harbor on 11 Oct 1944 and had overhaul and training, then arrived at New York on 26 Jan 1945 for exercises and anti-submarine patrol. In May 1945, she transported government officials to Tangiers, then remained in the Mediterranean Sea for escort and training duties until end of the war. After some time in New York, San Diego, and Pearl Harbor after the war, she was decommissioned in 1946.
ww2dbaseSource: Wikipedia.
Last Major Revision: Sep 2006
Destroyer Craven Interactive Map
Photographs
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Craven Operational Timeline
| 2 Sep 1937 | Craven was commissioned into service. |
| 6 Aug 1943 | In the Battle of Vella Gulf in the Solomon Islands, United States destroyers USS Dunlap, Craven, Maury, Lang, Sterett, and Stack, acting on intelligence gathered from Magic codebreaking intercepts, laid in wait for four Japanese destroyers on a night mission to bring troops to Munda on New Georgia. USS Dunlap, Craven, and Maury opened the attack by launching twenty-four Mark XV torpedoes in one minute. Japanese destroyers Hagikaze, Arashi, and Kawakaze were destroyed, killing 600 sailors and 900 Japanese Army passengers. Destroyer Shigure had a torpedo pass through her rudder but the ship was able to escape in the darkness. |
| 18 Apr 1946 | Craven was decommissioned from service. |
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Visitor Submitted Comments
11 Nov 2022 06:15:56 AM
My dad was an officer on the Craven and memtioned about the Battle of the Vella Gulf. I remember him talking about the one Japanese destroyer escaping. Years later he was reading a book called "Japanese Destroyer Captian" by a Japanese destroyer captian. In the book it was mentioned about the torpedo passing trough the rudder of the Shiguri causing steering issues.
All visitor submitted comments are opinions of those making the submissions and do not reflect views of WW2DB.
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Winston Churchill
20 Sep 2005 08:11:57 AM
Does anyone know anything about the d.o.i?