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USS Dale first found in USS Helena CL-50 War Diary for 10 August 1942,
Class and type: Farragut-class destroyer
The fourth USS Dale (DD-353) was Farragut-class destroyer in the United States Navy during World War II.
At the commencement of the raid on Pearl Harbor, T.H., at 0750, December 7, 1941, the Dale was moored
At 0820 it was reported to the senior officer in the nest, Lieutenant Commander W.P. BURFORD, U.S.N., commanding
1114, the U.S.S. Worden (Commander Destroyer Squadron ONE) sortied. The Dale formed on the Worden as third ship in
There were no casualties on board and no damage was caused by the Japanese. The Japanese plane shot down by the Dale
From 14 December 1941 to 17 March 1942, Dale screened Lexington and Yorktown, covering the strikes on the Salamaua–Lae
Underway in April 1938
Name: Dale (DD-353)
Namesake: Richard Dale
Builder: Brooklyn Navy Yard
Laid down: 10 February 1934
Launched: 23 January 1935
Commissioned: 17 June 1935
Decommissioned: 16 October 1945
Struck: 1 November 1945
Fate: 20 December 1946, Sold
Displacement: 1,500 tons
Length: 341 ft 3 in (104.01 m)
Beam: 34 ft 3 in (10.44 m)
Draught: 16 ft 4 in (4.98 m)
Speed: 36 knots (67 km/h)
Complement: 160 officers and enlisted
Dale received 14 battle stars for World War II service. She was named for Richard Dale.
Dale launched 23 January 1935 by Brooklyn Navy Yard; sponsored by Mrs. E. C. Dale; and commissioned
17 June 1935, Commander W. A. Corn in command. Dale was decommissioned 16 October 1945 and sold
20 December 1946.
with ships of Destroyer Division TWO at Berth X-14, Pearl Harbor, T.H. The order of ships in the nest from
starboard to port was as follows: USS Aylwin, Farragut, Dale, Monaghan. The ship's head was 030. Boiler
number three was in use for auxiliary purposes. The Officer-of-the-deck, Ensign F.M. RADEL, U.S.N., acting
Commanding Officer, saw the first plane attack the U.S.S. Utah from Westward. General Quarters was
immediately sounded and orders given to set material condition Afirm and to light off all boilers. At 0810 fire
was opened on Japanese planes using the after .50 caliber machine guns, followed shortly thereafter by the
after five inch A.A. guns. The presence of the ships on either side of the Dale prevented the use of all forward guns.
The forward 24" searchlight made it impossible to bring the director to bear in the direction of the level bombing
attacks on the battleships. The 5" guns operated in local control with very poor results, the shots bursting well
behind and short of the targets, a squadron of level bombers flying at about 10,000 feet above the battleships on
alternately northerly and southerly courses. 0815, an enemy dive bomber attacking the U.S.S. Raleigh from
westward came under severe machine gun fire from all the ships in the nest, nosed down and crashed into the harbor.
U.S.S. Monaghan that the Dale was ready to get underway. While backing clear a torpedo apparently aimed at the
USS Raleigh passed under the bow of the Dale and exploded on Ford Island. 0844, stopped while the U.S.S. Monaghan
dropped depth charges on Japanese submarine close aboard the starboard side of the U.S.S. Curtiss. Changed
speed to 25 knots and proceeded out of harbor ahead of U.S.S. Monaghan. Until the Dale neared the submarine
net she did not come under the direct fire of the planes. Apparently the Japanese wished to sink a ship in the entrance,
thereby blocking the harbor, as the Dale came under severe dive bombing and machine gun attacks near the entrance.
Machine gun fire from the ship served to keep the attackers from approaching too closely, although there were several
close misses, which caused no damage. The bombs buried themselves in the bottom of the channel before exploding.
At 0907, cleared the entrance buoys and by stopping the port engine and coming hard left rudder, caused a flight of three
Japanese dive bombers to overshoot their mark. As they went by the starboard side close to the water, machine gun fire
from the Dale struck the leading plane causing it to burst into flame and to crash into the water on the outer starboard side
of the restricted area. The remaining two planes made a very half-hearted attempt to attack again but were driven off by
machine gun fire. 0911, the Dale established offshore patrol in sector one. Due to repeated airplane attacks the ship was
forced to make frequent changes of course and to run at high speed, thereby rendering the sound gear inoperative. 0927,
changed speed to 12 knots, patrolling sector one. High speed wakes and depth charging from other destroyers in the vicinity
rendered the sound gear practically useless.
column. After investigating the falsely reported presence of the three enemy transports off BARBERS POINT, formed inner
anti-submarine screen on the U.S.S. Detroit, Phoenix, St. Louis, and Astoria. The Dale was assigned station nine. The Task
Force speed was 25 knots. At 1410, the L.P. pinion bearings on the reduction gear of the port engine failed. An attempt was
made to stay with the assigned task force as the maximum speed obtainable with one engine was 22 knots. The Dale fell
steadily behind. The starboard engine began heating excessively, forcing a further reduction of speed to 10 knots. Retired
to the southward at 1654. Stopped at 1930 and lay to until 0500 the following morning attempting repairs. Rendezvoused
with Task Force at dawn but as full repairs to the engine were impossible without the assistance of the tender, the Dale could
not maintain her assigned screening station. Under orders of Commander Destroyers, Battle Force, the Dale established
off shore patrol in sector one until the entrance of Task Group 8.4 on Monday, December 8, 1941.
off the entrance buoys was observed to the Commanding Officer. Two other planes, both dive bombers, were claimed by
members of the crew to have been shot down by the Dale.
campaign area of New Guinea on 10 March. Dale returned to Pearl Harbor on escort and training duty until 11 May when she
departed for Mare Island and an overhaul. On 5 June she sailed from San Francisco, with others, to back up the task forces
engaged in the Battle of Midway from 6 July to 17 August. She was assigned to convoy duty between Viti Levu, Fijis, and Efate
and Espiritu Santo, New Hebrides, in preparation for the assault on Guadalcanal. She covered the landings, escorted transports
loaded with reinforcements to the bitterly contested island from 18 August to 21 September, then sailed to Pearl Harbor for escort
and training duty until 10 November. She sailed to screen battleships Washington and South Dakota into Pearl Harbor, continuing
with South Dakota to San Francisco.