USS Chew (DD-106) was a in the United States Navy during World War I and World War II.
From 1918 to 1922, Chew operated along the East Coast of the United States on patrol and training duties, including escorting a transatlantic voyage of Curtiss NC seaplanes. In 1940, she was recommissioned and operated out of Pearl Harbor. During the 7 December 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor, she brought her guns to bear against aircraft of the Empire of Japan, and two of her men were killed helping to man the battleship . For the remainder of the war, Chew operated out of the port on escort and patrol duties, until she was decommissioned in 1945.
Namesake
Samuel Chew was born circa 1750 in Virginia. A resident of Connecticut, was appointed by the Marine Committee on 17 June 1777 to command the Continental Navy brigantine with which he had much success against British commerce. The brigantine, carrying ten quarter-pounders, fell in with a British Letter-of-Marque (20 guns) on 4 March 1778. In the hand-to-hand struggle which ensued, Captain Chew was killed but his ship managed to break off the battle with its superior opponent and return safely to Boston.
Design and construction
Chew was one of 111 s built by the United States Navy between 1917 and 1919. She, along with seven of her sisters, were constructed at Union Iron Works shipyards in San Francisco, California using specifications and detail designs drawn up by Bethlehem Steel.
She had a standard displacement of an overall length of , a beam of and a draught of . On trials, reached a speed of . She was armed with four 4"/50 caliber guns and twelve torpedo tubes. She had a regular crew complement of 113 officers and enlisted men. She was driven by two Curtis steam turbines powered by four Yarrow boilers.
Specifics on Chews performance are not known, but she was one of the group of Wickes-class destroyers designed by Bethlehem Steel, built from a different design than the 'Liberty type' destroyers constructed from detail designs drawn up by Bath Iron Works, which used Parsons or Westinghouse turbines. The non-'Liberty' type destroyers deteriorated badly in service, and in 1929 all 60 of this group were retired by the Navy. Actual performance of these ships was far below intended specifications especially in fuel economy, with most only able to make at instead of the design standard of at . The class also suffered problems with turning and weight.
Chew was the first and only ship commissioned in the U.S. Navy named for Samuel Chew, who had been a Continental Navy officer killed in the Revolutionary War.
Service history
Chew was launched on 26 May 1918 out of San Francisco, sponsored by F. X. Gygax. She was commissioned on 12 December 1918.
She sailed for the East Coast of the United States on 21 December 1918, and arrived in port at Newport, Rhode Island on 10 January 1919. After brief repairs at port in New York City, New York and refresher training at Guantanamo Bay Naval Base, she cleared New York on 28 April and embarked as an escort during the first transatlantic seaplane flight, made by Curtiss NC-4 aircraft. Following this duty, she visited to the Azores, Gibraltar, Malta, and Constantinople before returning to New York on 5 June. After repairs, she steamed for San Diego, California, leaving New York on 17 September and arriving in San Diego on 12 October. Beginning on 19 November 1919, she was placed in reduced commission, operating only infrequently with Naval reservists of Reserve Division 10 until she was placed out of commission on 1 June 1922.
At a part of the mobilization effort preceding the U.S. entry into World War II, Chew was recommissioned on 14 October 1940, assigned to Defense Force, 14th Naval District. She arrived at Pearl Harbor on 17 December 1940 which she made her home port. She spent the next year conducting patrols and had training duty from Pearl Harbor. She was assigned to Destroyer Division 80, with sister ships , , and .