USS Neosho (AO 23)
A quite successful design when compared to other pre-WWII destroyers. Making use of the good points of the preceeding Mahan and Gridley classes and fixing some of the problems found in the earlier designs made these very fine ships.
Specifications
Sims Class Destroyers
Name Builder LD LCH COM STATUS
DD.409 Sims Bath Iron Works, Bath Me Jul.15/37 Apr.8/39 Aug.1/39 sunk May.7/42 at Battle Of Coral Sea
DD.410 Hughes Bath Iron Works, Bath Me Sep.15/37 Jun.17/39 Sep.21/39 used at Bikini A-Bomb tests Jul./46 DECOM Aug.28/46 stricken Nov.26/48 sunk as target Oct.16/48
DD.411 Anderson Federal Shipbuilding Nov.15/37 Feb.4/39 May.19/39 sunk Jul.1/46 at Bikini Atoll A-Bomb tests
DD.412 Hammann Federal Shipbuilding Jan.17/38 Feb.4/39 Aug.11/39 sunk Jun.6/42 at Midway by Japanese sub I-168 while escorting CV-5 Yorktown
DD.413 Mustin Newport News Shipbuilding Dec.20/37 Dec.8/38 Sep.15/39 used at Bikini A-Bomb tests Jul./46 DECOM Aug.29/46 scuttled Apr.18/48 off Kwajalein stricken Apr.30/48
DD.414 Russell Newport News Shipbuilding Dec.20/37 Dec.8/38 Nov.3/39 DECOM Nov.15/45 stricken Nov.28/45 scrapped ./47
DD.415 O'Brien Boston Navy Yard May.31/38 Oct.20/39 Mar.2/40 torpedoed Sep.15/42 by IJN sub I-15 sank Oct.19/43 due to damage
DD.416 Walke Boston Navy Yard May.31/38 Oct.20/39 Apr.27/40 sunk Nov.15/42 at Second Battle Of Guadalcanal
DD.417 Morris Norfolk Navy Yard Jun.7/38 Jun.1/39 Mar.5/40 DECOM Nov.9/45 stricken Nov.28/45 scrapped ./47
DD.418 Roe Charleston Navy Yard Apr.23/38 Jun.21/39 Jan.5/40 DECOM Oct.30/45 stricken Nov.16/45 scrapped ./47
DD.419 Wainwright Norfolk Navy Yard Jun.7/38 Jun.1/39 Apr.15/40 used at Bikini A-Bomb tests Jul./46 DECOM Aug.28/46 sunk as target Jul.5/48 stricken Jul.13/48
DD.420 Buck Philadelphia Navy Yard Apr.6/38 May.22/39 May.15/40 sunk Oct.9/43 Off Salerno by German U-616
Dimensions
Length(O/A) 347'
Length(W/L) 341'
Beam 35'
Draft 10'
Displacement
Full Load 1,900 tons
Standard 1,570 tons
Propulsion
Boilers 4 Bureau Express
Turbines 2 Parsons geared
Horsepower 44,000
Shafts 2
Range N/A
Max Speed 34+ knts
Armament
Main Gun 4 x 5"/38 cal in 4 single turrets
2 forward 2 aft
AAW 5-10 x 20mm Oerlikons added /41-42
4-10 x .50 cal HMG
Torpedoes 4-8 x 21" tubes
Complement
Design 180-220
DD 412 Hammann sinks after being torpedoed by IJN sub I-168
DD 415 O'Brien being hit by a torpedo September 14,1942
DD 419 Wainwright refueling from HMS Norfolk in the Arctic
DD 409 - Launch - April 8, 1939
AO-48 USS Neosho
Kennebec class Fleet Oiler:
Displacement: 21,077 tons
Length: 502'
Beam: 58'
Draft: 31'
Speed: 17 knots (max); 13 knots (econ)
Armament: 1 5"/38 DP, 4 3"/50 DP, 4x2 40mm, 4x2 20mm
Complement: 243
Capacity: 134,000 barrels
Geared turbine engines, single screw, 12,000 hp
Maritime Commission T2 (MC-SO) type
Built at Bethlehem, Sparrows Pt. and commissioned 16 Sep 1942
The second Neosho (AO-48) was laid down under Maritime Commission contract by Federal Shipbuilding and Drydock Co., Kearny, N.J., 22 June 1938, launched 29 April 1939; sponsored by Mrs. Emory S. Land, wife of Rear Adm. Emory S. Land (Ret.), Chairman of the Maritime Commission, and commissioned 7 August 1939, Comdr. W. E..A. Mullan in command.
Conversion at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard completed 7 July 1941, Neosho immediately began the vital task of ferrying aviation fuel from west coast ports to Pearl Harbor. On such a mission she arrived in Pearl Harbor 6 December, discharged a full cargo to the Naval Air Station on Ford Island, and prepared for the return passage. Next morning, the Japanese surprise attack found Neosho alert to danger, her captain, Comdr. John S. Phillips, got her underway and maneuvered safely through the Japanese fire, concentrated on the battleships moored at Ford Island, to a safer area of the harbor. Her guns fired throughout the attack, splashing one enemy plane and driving off others. Three of her men were wounded by a strafing attacker.
For the next five months, Neosho sailed with the carriers or independently, since hard-pressed escort ships could not always be spared to guard even so precious a ship and cargo. Late in April, as the Japanese threatened a southward move against Australia and New Zealand by attempting to advance their bases in the southwest Pacific, Neosho joined TF 17. At all costs the sealanes to the dominions must be kept open, and they must be protected against attack and possible invasion. Neosho was to be part of the cost.
As the American and Japanese fleets sought each other out in the opening maneuvers of the climactic Battle of the Coral Sea on 6 May, Neosho fueled Yorktown (CV-5) and Astoria (CA-34), then retired from the carrier force with a lone escort, Sims (DD-409). Next day at 1000, Japanese aircraft spotted the two ships, and believing them to be a carrier and her escort, launched the first of two attacks which sank Sims and left Neosho, victim of 7 direct hits and a suicide dive by one of the bombers, ablaze aft and in danger of breaking in two. She had shot down at least 3 of the attackers.
Superb seamanship and skilled damage control work kept Neosho afloat for the next four days. The sorely stricken ship was first located by an RAAF aircraft, then an American PBY. At 1300, 11 May, Henley (DD-391) arrived to rescue the 123 survivors and to sink by gunfire, the ship they had so valiantly kept alive against impossible odds. With Henley came word that the American fleet had succeeded in turning the Japanese back, marking the end of their southward expansion in World War II.
Neosho received 2 battle stars for World War II service.
Chief Water Tender Oscar Verner Peterson, USN
Photographed circa the later 1930s.
He was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for heroism in attempting to save USS Neosho (AO-23) after she was bombed during the Battle of Coral Sea, 7 May 1942.
USS Peterson (DE-152) was named in his honor.
Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the U.S. National Archives.