This article was originally written for a college class, but the uncommon subject matter is one I think my readers would find interesting so I am presenting it here with minor changes. To learn more about Emmons I recommend reaching its’ DANFES entry and The Emmons Saga.

Hundreds of American destroyers served in World War II and though they don’t have the immediate name recognition of USS Arizona (BB-39), USS Oklahoma (BB-37) or USS Enterprise (CV-6), their work supporting the fleet was vital to winning the war. They protected ships carrying valuable cargo, and presidents, through dangerous waters by screening for submarines, supported soldiers hitting the beaches at places such as Normandy and provided anti-air defense for the fleet against airborne threats to include kamikazes, often becoming targets themselves. Among the destroyers that did these duties, and among the 71 lost in the war, was USS Emmons whose short career was illustrative of this work undertaken by US Navy destroyers.

(DD-457) At anchor, circa 1942. The ship is painted in Camouflage Measure 12 (Modified) U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command Photograph.

Benson-class destroyer USS Emmons (DD-457) was commissioned on Dec. 5, 1941 in Bath, Maine. It was both the 100^th modern US Navy destroyer built after the 1932 resumption of destroyer construction and last American warship commissioned prior to the attack on Pearl Harbor. The vessel was named for Rear Admiral George Foster Emmons who served in the Civil War.

For most of the first two and a half years of war Emmons conducted the typical destroyer duties of antisubmarine patrols and escorting warships and convoys across the Atlantic though according to Emmons’ third captain, Edward Baxter Billingsley, in his ship’s history The Emmons Saga, Emmons was “spared the monotony, and dangers, of repeated slow convoy runs across the turbulent North Atlantic” of most destroyers by being part of task groups that handled special high priority missions. Emmons most important mission during this time was antisubmarine screening for battleship USS Iowa (BB-61) as it carried President Franklin D. Roosevelt across the Atlantic to meet with Winston Churchill and Joseph Stalin at the Tehran Conference. At this conference the leaders would discuss future war plans including Operation Overlord, the allied landings at Normandy, France.

After a period conducting antisubmarine patrols in the Mediterranean Emmons would be one of the 34 American destroyers in the 7,000 strong Normandy invasion fleet. The fleet’s battleships, cruisers, and destroyers were tasked with pre-landing bombardment and providing fire support against German beach fortifications and targets further inland. Once the first troops hit the beach at 6:30 a.m. the destroyers moved in closer to support them using their main battery of 5” guns and their anti-aircraft armament. According to bridge crewman Tony Esposito they were close enough to see individual Germans moving between bunkers as they dodged Emmons’ gunfire. Emmons was assigned to Omaha Beach’s Fox Green Beach and fired 873 5” rounds and 1,014 rounds of 40mm ammunition that morning. Six American and British destroyers were lost on D-Day or to naval mines in the following days. The US Army leadership on the ground directly credited the navy’s support as a factor in the invasion’s success.

Target of Opportunity by Dwight C. Shepler; 1944.

After wrapping up operations off Normandy, Emmons would provide fire support for the invasion of southern France before returning to Boston in November 1944 to begin the six-week conversion to a high-speed destroyer minesweeper (DMS). Naval planners believed more minesweepers would be necessary for the invasion of the Japanese homelands and the decision was made to convert 25 Benson-class destroyers which would replace combat loss destroyer minesweepers. Once the conversion was complete, Emmons trained in the Atlantic and around Hawaii before being sent to Ulithi in preparation for the invasion of Okinawa.

Unlike D-Day, Emmons would not provide fire support at Okinawa but the converted minesweeper destroyer performed other necessary duties such as minesweeping, anti-submarine patrols and radar picket duty. Radar picket ships provided early warning and defense against incoming enemy aircraft to protect the more valuable capital ships, troop ships and supply vessels supporting the ground battle. Picket ships were isolated from the main fleet and vulnerable to air attack.

Emmons met its end on Apr. 6, 1945 while on picket duty when it was engaged by the first massed kamikaze attack of the Battle of Okinawa, Operation Kikusui No. 1 (Floating Chrysanthemums). That day the Japanese army and navy sent 700 aircraft from Formosa and Kyushu against the Allied invasion fleet. Little more than half were kamikazes which working together would overwhelm the anti-aircraft defenses of individual ships and strike them. The attack on Emmons and her sister ship USS Rodman began at 3:32 p.m., plunging the destroyer minesweepers into a three-hour battle against seemingly endless waves of aircraft.

Kamikaze shot down during Battle of Okinawa, May 14, 1945. (NHHC)

They first struck Rodman which caused Emmons to begin protectively circling the damaged vessel to fend off the airborne attackers. It was then that Emmons took the lion’s share of attention from the Japanese. Well-coordinated attacks came at Rodman and Emmons from multiple directions simultaneously at 5:32 p.m. and in rapid succession Emmons was struck by five kamikazes from bridge to stern and damaged by four more near misses. The series of fatal strikes only took two minutes. The battle continued for an hour as Emmons’ crew struggled to keep the crippled ship afloat. Emmons was sunk by US Navy destroyers the following day to prevent it from potentially falling into enemy hands.

That day 21 American ships were struck, 15 of which were destroyers. Emmons lost 60 crewmembers and had 77 more wounded from its 254-man crew. The ship earned a Navy Unit Commendation for her actions prior to sinking. Its crewmembers earned a Navy Cross, four Silver Star Medals and eight Bronze Star Medals.

Emmons’ wreck was rediscovered in 2001 and is now a popular dive spot. The US Navy’s Commander, Fleet Activities Okinawa named its Emmons Training Center on Camp Shields, Okinawa after the vessel.

Emmons was a destroyer whose history was in its particulars unique but overall still typical of the experiences American destroyers had in World War II. It protected more valuable vessels against submarines and aircraft, whether it be ensuring the safe passage of a president or giving kamikazes a target that wasn’t full of soldiers and war material. Its guns were among those that allowed soldiers to establish beachheads across the world, with Emmons providing the support necessary to begin the liberation of Western Europe. Like many other destroyers Emmons went down fighting. By the numbers, it was one of the 71 destroyers lost in the war and one of the 66 American vessels lost or irreparably damaged by kamikaze attacks.

REFERENCES

Allen, Thomas B. “The Gallant Destroyers of D-Day.” Naval History Magazine 18, No. 3. (June 2004). https://www.usni.org/magazines/naval-history-magazine/2004/june/gallant-destroyers-d-day

Badsey, Stephen. Normandy 1944: Allied landings and breakthrough. Oxford: Osprey, 1990.

Billingsley, Edward Baxter. The Emmons Saga: A History of the USS EMMONS (DD457-DMS22). Lincoln: iUniverse, 2005.

Bryant, Samuel W. The Sea and the States- A Maritime History of the American People. Crowell: New York, 1947. Accessed Aug. 13, 2020. http://www.usmm.org/navylossww2.html

Cox, Samuel J. H-044-2: “Floating Chrysanthemums” – The Naval Battle of Okinawa, Part 1. Accessed Aug. 7, 2020. https://www.history.navy.mil/content/history/nhhc/about-us/leadership/director/directors-corner/h-grams/h-gram-044/h-044-2.html

Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. “Emmons (DD-457).” Accessed Aug. 7, 2020. https://www.history.navy.mil/research/histories/ship-histories/danfs/e/emmons.html

Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. “Rodman (DD-456).” Accessed Aug. 12, 2020. https://www.history.navy.mil/research/histories/ship-histories/danfs/r/rodman.html

McComb, Dave. US Destroyers 1934-45: Pre-war classes. Oxford: Osprey, 2010.

Office of the Historian. “The Tehran Conference.” Accessed Aug. 13, 2020. https://history.state.gov/milestones/1937-1945/tehran-conf

Palacio, John. “USS Emmons Testimonial: Tony Esposito.” Video, 12:38. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XG3-upG1Su4

Stille, Mark.US Navy vs. Kamikazes: 1944-45. Oxford: Osprey, 2016.

U.S. Navy. Battle Experience: Radar Pickets and Methods of Combating Suicide Attacks off Okinawa March-May 1945. Washington, DC: GPO, 1945. Accessed Aug. 15, 2020. https://www.history.navy.mil/research/library/online-reading-room/title-list-alphabetically/b/battle-experience-radar-pickets.html