Allied Warships

USS Somers (DD 381)

Destroyer of the Somers class

USS Somers during the war

Navy	The US Navy
Type	Destroyer
Class	Somers
Pennant	DD 381
Built by	Federal Shipbuilding & Drydock Co. (Kearny, New Jersey, U.S.A.)
Ordered
Laid down	27 Jun 1935
Launched	13 Mar 1937
Commissioned	1 Dec 1937
End service
History	Decommissioned 13 October 1945. Stricken 28 January 1947. Sold on 16 May 1947 and broken up for scrap by Boston Metals, Baltimore, Maryland.

Commands listed for USS Somers (DD 381)

Please note that we're still working on this section
and that we only list Commanding Officers for the duration of the Second World War.

	Commander	From	To
1	Cdr. James Edward Maher, USN	1 Dec 1937	late 1939
2	Cdr. Jeffrey Caswell Metzel, Jr., USN	late 1939	early 1942 (1)
3	Lt.Cdr. Arthur Crosby Wood, USN	early 1942	26 Feb 1943
4	T/Cdr. William Christopher Hughes, Jr., USN	26 Feb 1943	25 Oct 1944 (1)
5	Edward Michael Luby, USN	25 Oct 1944	13 Oct 1945

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Notable events involving Somers include:

20 May 1942
USS R-12 (Lt. E.E. Shelby, USN) participated in A/S exercises of St. Thomas together with USS Davis (Lt.Cdr. M.R. Peterson, USN) and USS Somers (Lt.Cdr. A.C. Wood, USN).

18 Jul 1942

Convoy WS 21P.

This convoy was assembled off Oversay on 18 July 1942.

The convoy was made up of the following troop transports;
Duchess of Atholl (British, 20119 GRT, built 1928), Duchess of York (British, 20021 GRT, built 1929), Empress of Japan (British, 26032 GRT, built 1930), Oronsay (British, 20043 GRT, built 1925) and Windsor Castle (British, 19141 GRT, built 1922).

On assembly of Oversay the convoy was escorted by the light cruiser HMS Orion (Capt. G.C.P. Menzies, RN) and the destroyers HMAS Nepal (Cdr. F.B. Morris, RAN), HrMs Tjerk Hiddes (Lt.Cdr. W.J. Kruys, RNethN), HMS Buxton (Lt.Cdr.(Retd.) W.A. Moens, RN) and HMS Georgetown (Lt.Cdr. P.G. MacIver, RNR).

Around 0800O/20, HMS Buxton parted company with the convoy.

Around 2300O/20, HMAS Nepal parted company to proceed to Ponta Delgada, Azores, to fuel. She rejoined the convoy around 0150O/22.

Around 0800O/22, HrMs Tjerk Hiddes parted company with the convoy to proceed to Ponta Delgada, Azores, to fuel. She rejoined the convoy around 0800O/23.

Around 0730Z/25, the destroyer HMS Vimy (Lt.Cdr. H.G.D. de Chair, RN) joined the convoy.

The convoy arrived at Freetown on 27 July 1942.

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The convoy departed Freetown in the same composition on 1 August 1942. It was now escorted by the light cruiser HMS Orion, destroyers HMAS Nepal, HrMs Tjerk Hiddes, HMS Boreas (Lt.Cdr. E.L. Jones, DSC, RN) and the minesweeper / sloop Commandant Duboc.

In the morning of 5 August 1942, the American convoy AS 4 joined the convoy. This convoy was made up of the following transports;
American Manufacturer (American, 6678 GRT, built 1941), Empire Oriole (British, 6535 GRT, built 1941), Exhibitor (American, 6736 GRT, built 1940), Hawaiian Shipper (American, 7775 GRT, built 1941), Mormacdale (American, 6976 GRT, built 1942), Santa Cruz (American, 6925 GRT, built 1941), Seatrain Texas (American, 8108 GRT, built 1940), Tarn (Norwegian, 6850 GRT, built 1933) and Zaandam (Dutch, 19141 GRT, built 1922).

On this convoy joining the American escort, made up of the light cruiser Omaha (Capt. T.E. Chandler, USN), AA cruiser Juneau (Capt. L.K. Swenson, USN) and the destroyers USS Somers (T/Cdr. A.C. Wood, USN) and USS Davis (T/Cdr. M.R. Peterson, USN) then parted company.

At 0900Z/6, HMAS Nepal and HrMs Tjerk Hiddes parted company with the convoy and joined the RFA tanker Rapidol (2648 GRT, built 1917) and her escort, the corvette HMS Snowdrop (Lt. P.A. Tinne, RNVR). The destroyers fuelled from the Rapidol in the early hours of 7 August 1942 when off St. Helena. They rejoined the convoy around 1900A/10.

HMS Boreas also parted company on 6 August 1942. She was also to fuel from the Rapidol.

The convoy arrived at Capetown on 12 August 1942.

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The convoy, now made up of the Duchess of Atholl, Duchess of York, Empire Oriole, Empress of Japan, Exhibitor, Hawaiian Shipper, Oronsay, Tarn, Windsor Castle and Zaandam.

The convoy was now escorted by the heavy cruiser HMS Shropshire (Capt. J.T. Borrett, OBE, RN) and the destroyer HMS Duncan (Capt. H.St.L. Nicolson, DSO, RN).

Around 1700BC/19, the light cruiser HMS Orion and the destroyers HMAS Nepal and HrMs Tjerk Hiddes joined the convoy. HMS Shropshire then parted company. HMS Duncan had already parted company with the convoy earlier in the day.

Around 1645C/24, HMAS Nepal and HrMs Tjerk Hiddes parted company with the convoy to proceed to Kilindini.

The convoy was dispersed off Aden on 29 August 1942. (2)

21 May 1945
From 21 to 23 May 1945, HMS Sheffield (Capt. J.W.M. Eaton, DSO, DSC, RN) conducted trials and exercises in the Gulf of Maine. She was escorted by the destroyers USS Somers (T/Lt.Cdr. E.M. Luby, USN) and USS Davis (T/Lt.Cdr. T.D. Cunningham, USN). (3)