USS John D. Ford (DD-228/AG-119) was a Clemson-class destroyer in the United States Navy during World War II. She was named for Rear Admiral John Donaldson Ford.
John D. Ford was laid down 11 November 1919 and launched 2 September 1920 from William Cramp & Sons; sponsored by Miss F. Faith Ford, daughter of Rear Admiral Ford; and commissioned as Ford 30 December 1920.
Service history
After acceptance trials off New England, John D. Ford received Lieutenant Commander C. A. Pownall as commanding officer 16 July 1921. On 17 November, while operating along the eastern seaboard, her name was changed to John D. Ford. After training in the Caribbean, she departed Newport, Rhode Island, 20 June 1922 for permanent duty with the Asiatic Fleet. Sailing via the Mediterranean Sea, the Suez Canal, and the Indian Ocean, she arrived Cavite, Manila Bay, 21 August to begin almost two decades of service in the Far East.
Prior to the outbreak of World War II, Ford operated out of Manila, cruising Asiatic waters from southern China to northern Japan. During April and May 1924, she helped establish temporary air bases on the Japanese Kurile and Hokkaidō Islands in support of the pioneer, global flight between 9 April and 28 September by the United States Army Air Service.
Chinese Civil War
On 6 June she deployed to Shanghai, China, to protect American lives and interests, which were threatened by Chinese civil strife. After renewal of the Chinese Civil War in May 1926, she patrolled the Chinese coast to protect convoys from roving bands of bandits. On 24 March 1927 she supported the evacuation of American and foreign nationals, who were fleeing from mob violence at Nanjing. That event included a naval bombardment of the city.
The ascendancy of the reformed Nationalist government under Chiang Kai-shek in 1928 reduced the intensity of the civil strife. However, Sino-Japanese relations deteriorated, requiring Ford to remain in China. Following Japanese aggression in northern China during July 1937, she evacuated Americans from Beiping as Japanese ships prepared to blockade the Chinese coast. Steaming to Manila 21 November, she operated between the Philippines and southern China on fleet maneuvers. After war broke out in Europe in September 1939, she increased training off the Philippines and commenced Neutrality patrols in the Philippine and South China Seas.
World War II
After the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor 7 December 1941, John D. Ford readied for action at Cavite as a unit of DesDiv 59. Undamaged by the destructive Japanese air raid on Manila Bay 10 December, she sailed southward the same day to patrol the Sulu Sea and Makassar Strait with Task Force 6. She remained in Makassar Strait until 23 December, then she steamed from Balikpapan, Borneo, to Surabaya, Java, arriving the 24th.
As the Japanese pressed southward through the Philippines and into Indonesia, the Allies could hardly hope to contain the Japanese offensive in the East Indies. With too few ships and practically no air support they strove to harass the Japanese forces in an attempt to delay their advance, and to prevent the invasion of Australia. Anxious to strike back at the Japanese, Ford departed Surabaya 11 January 1942 for Kupang, Timor, where she arrived on the 18th to join a destroyer striking force. Two days later the force sailed for Balikpapan to conduct a surprise torpedo attack on Japanese shipping. Arriving off Balikpapan during mid watch 24 January, the four destroyers launched a raid through the Japanese transports while Japanese destroyers steamed about Makassar Strait in search of reported American submarines. For over an hour the destroyers fired torpedoes and shells at the astonished enemy. Before retiring from the first surface action in the Pacific war, they sank four Japanese ships; one of them, the IJA transport Kuretake Maru, fell victim to John D. Ford's torpedoes and was lost along with six crewmen and 272 troops. In the darkness, Ford also fired on the Japanese hospital ship Asahi Maru, causing minor damage. The striking force arrived Surabaya 25 January.