Allied Warships

USS Owen (DD 536)

Destroyer of the Fletcher class

Navy	The US Navy
Type	Destroyer
Class	Fletcher
Pennant	DD 536
Built by	Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corp., (San Francisco, California, U.S.A.)
Ordered	9 Sep 1940
Laid down	17 Sep 1942
Launched	21 Mar 1943
Commissioned	20 Sep 1943
End service	27 May 1958
History	Decommissioned 10 December 1946. Recommissioned 17 August 1951. Decommissioned 27 May 1958. Stricken 15 April 1973. Sold 27 November 1973 and broken up for scrap.

Commands listed for USS Owen (DD 536)

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	Commander	From	To
1	T/Cdr. Robert Winthrop Wood, USN	20 Sep 1943	1 Oct 1944
2	T/Cdr. Carlton Benton Jones, USN	1 Oct 1944	10 Dec 1946

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Notable events involving Owen include:

12 Feb 1944
Task Force 58 departed Majuro Atoll for operation HAILSTONE, a raid against the Japanese base at Truk Atoll.

Task Force 58 was made up of the following ships;

Task Group 58.1
Aircraft carriers USS Enterprise (Capt. M.B. Gardner, USN), USS Yorktown (Capt. R.E. Jennings, USN), light carrier USS Belleau Wood (Capt. A.M. Pride, USN), light cruisers Santa Fé (Capt. J. Wright, USN), Mobile (Capt. C.J. Wheeler, USN), Biloxi (Capt. D.M. McGurl, USN), USS Oakland (Capt. W.K. Phillips, USN) and the destroyers USS Clarence K. Bronson (Lt.Cdr. J.C. McGoughran, USN), USS Cotten (Cdr. F.T. Sloat, USN), USS Dortch (Cdr. R.C. Young, USN), USS Gatling (Cdr. A.F. Richardson, USN), USS Healy (Cdr. J.C. Atkeson, USN), USS Cogswell (Cdr. H.T. Deutermann, USN), USS Caperton (Cdr. W.J. Miller, USN), USS Ingersoll (Cdr. A.C. Veasey, USN), USS Knapp (Cdr. F. Virden, USN).

Task Group 58.2
Aircraft carriers USS Essex (Capt. R.A. Ofstie, USN), USS Intrepid (Capt. T.L. Sprague, USN), light carrier USS Cabot (Capt. M.F. Schoeffel, USN), heavy cruisers USS Wichita (Capt J.J. Mahoney, USN), USS Baltimore (Capt. W.C. Calhoun, USN), light cruisers USS San Francisco (Capt. H.E. Overesch, USN), USS San Diego (Capt. L.J. Hudson, USN), destroyers USS Owen (Cdr. R.W. Wood, USN), USS Miller (Cdr. T.H. Kobey, USN), USS The Sullivans (Cdr. K.M. Gentry, USN), USS Stephen Potter (Cdr. C.H. Crichton, USN), USS Hickox (Cdr. W.M. Sweetser, USN), USS Hunt (Cdr. H.A. Knoertzer, USN), USS Lewis Hancock (Cdr. C.H. Lyman, 3rd, USN), USS Stembel (Cdr. W.L. Tagg, USN) and USS Stack (Lt.Cdr. R.E. Wheeler, USN).

Task Group 58.3
Aircraft carrier USS Bunker Hill (Capt. T.P. Jeter, USN), light carriers USS Monterey (Capt. L.T. Hundt, USN), USS Cowpens (Capt. R.P. McConnell, USN), battleships USS North Carolina (Capt. F.P. Thomas, USN), USS Massachusetts (Capt. T.D. Ruddock, Jr., USN), USS South Dakota (Capt. A.E. Smith, USN), USS Alabama (Capt. F.D. Kirtland, USN), USS Iowa (Capt. J.L. McCrea, USN), USS New Jersey (Capt. C.F. Holden, USN), heavy cruisers USS Minneapolis (Capt. R.W. Bates, USN), USS New Orleans (Capt. S.R. Shumaker, USN), destroyers USS Izard (Cdr. E.K. van Swearingen, USN), USS Charrette (Cdr. E.S. Karpe, USN), USS Conner (Cdr. W.E. Kaitner, USN), USS Bell (Cdr. L.C. Petross, USN), USS Burns (Cdr. D.T. Eller, USN), USS Bradford (Cdr. R.L. Morris, USN), USS Brown (Cdr. T.H. Copeman, USN), USS Cowell (Cdr. C.W. Parker, USN), USS Wilson (Lt.Cdr. C.K. Duncan, USN), USS Sterett (Lt.Cdr. F.J.L. Blouin, USN) and USS Lang (Cdr. H. Payson, Jr., USN).

28 Jul 1944
USS Iowa (Capt. J.L. McCrea, USN) topped off four of the destroyers of the Task Group, USS Hickox (Lt.Cdr. J.H. Wesson, USN), USS Dortch (Cdr. R.C. Young, USN), USS Hunt (Cdr. H.A. Knoertzer, USN) and USS Owen (Cdr. R.W. Wood, USN), with fuel.

25 Oct 1944
USS Iowa (Capt. A.R. McCann, USN) fuelled the destroyers, USS Colahan (Cdr. D.T. Wilber, USN) and USS Tingey (Cdr. J.O. Miner, USN). Upon completion of the fuelling Iowa and other units of the Task Group formed Task Unit 34.5 and proceeded south at high speed (28 knots) towards San Bernardino Strait in the hope of intercepting the enemy force approaching that strait from the southward.

Task Unit 34.5 was made up of battleships USS Iowa (Capt. A.R. McCann, USN), USS New Jersey (Capt. C.F. Holden, USN), light cruisers USS Vincennes (Capt. A.D. Brown, USN), USS Biloxi (Capt. D.M. McGurl, USN), USS Miami (Capt. J.G. Crawford, USN), destroyers USS Miller (Lt.Cdr. D.L. Johnson, USN), USS Owen (Cdr. C.B.Jones, USN), USS Tingey (Cdr. J.O. Miner, USN), USS The Sullivans (Cdr. R.J. Baum, USN) and USS Lewis Hancock (Cdr. W.M. Searles, USN).

26 Oct 1944
USS Iowa (Capt. A.R. McCann, USN) and the Task Group she is part of continued on the south. At 0029 hours the destroyer USS Lewis Hancock (Cdr. W.M. Searles, USN) reported a surface contact. The three light cruisers closed this contact and opened fire on it. The contact turned out to be the Japanese destroyer Nowaki which was sunk by the light cruisers USS Vincennes (Capt. A.D. Brown, USN), USS Miami (Capt. J.G. Crawford, USN), USS Biloxi (Capt. D.M. McGurl, USN) and the destroyers USS Owen (Cdr. C.B.Jones, USN) and USS Miller (Lt.Cdr. D.L. Johnson, USN).

23 Dec 1944
USS Iowa (Capt. J.L. Holloway, Jr., USN) developed excessive vibration in no.3 shaft. Course was set for Ulithi for inspection of the damage. Iowa was escorted by the destroyers USS Owen (Cdr. C.B.Jones, USN) and USS Tingey (Cdr. J.O. Miner, USN) towards Ulithi.