World War II Database

Contributor: C. Peter Chen

ww2dbaseHenley, with Lieutenant Commander H. Y. McCown in command, had her shakedown cruise in the Pacific Ocean and off Hawaii. She joined the Pacific Battle Force, Destroyer Division 11, at San Diego, California, United States on 12 Sep 1938. She arrived at Pearl Harbor in Apr 1941. When the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor on 7 Dec 1941, Henley was moored in Bast Loch. Earlier that morning, a new sailor called general quarters by mistake, but the mistake allowed Henley to be ready to defend against the Japanese attack immediately; in fact, she was the first destroyer to fire against Japanese aircraft. She maneuvered in Pearl Harbor in search of Japanese submarine while her guns continued to fire at aircraft, downing a dive bomber with her 0.50-caliber machine guns while sharing credit for another. After the attack, she was sent with the task force meant to reinforce Wake Island, but was recalled due to the completion of Japanese conquest. After escorting Saratoga from the west coast of the United States to bring in replacement aircraft, she carried out convoy and anti-submarine duty primarily in Australian waters until 22 Jul 1942, when she was sent to Guadalcanal to escort transports. On 7 Aug, she patrolled in the Solomon Islands and was attacked by aircraft; she shot down two that day. Between 29 Aug and Sep 1943, she served in Australian and New Guinea waters on plane guard, convoy, and anti-submarine duties.

ww2dbaseOn 21 Sep 1943, Henley was a member of the protective screen for an Australian beachhead at Finschafen, New Guinea. She was attacked by 10 Japanese torpedo bombers on that day, downing three and sharing credit for another three during a 30-minute engagement. On 3 Oct, Japanese submarine RO-108 spotted her off Finschafen, and launched torpedoes. Henley's captain spotted two torpedoes and called for emergency maneuvers, narrowly escaping them. A third torpedo, however, was spotted too late, and struck her on the port side, erupting the number 1 fire room in an explosion and breaking her keel. On 1829, after a complete evacuation, the ship sank stern first. Out of the 258 aboard, 15 were lost.

Destroyer Henley Interactive Map

Photographs

Henley Operational Timeline

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2.  David Stubblebine says:
29 May 2017 03:30:28 PM

Steve Cole (above):
There is not a crew list specific to 7 Dec 1941 but there is the regular quarterly Muster List for 30 Dec 1941 that is 6 pages long. Oddly, there is also a 6-page mid-month Muster List dated 15 Dec 1941. Both are available from the National Archives for a nominal copying fee or at Fold3.com for a more substantial subscription fee.