USS Waldron (DD-699), an , was the only ship of the United States Navy to be named for John C. Waldron, a U.S. Naval aviator who led a squadron of torpedo bombers in World War II.
Construction and commissioning
Waldron was laid down on 16 November 1943 at Kearny, New Jersey, by the Federal Shipbuilding & Drydock Co.; launched on 26 March 1944; sponsored by Miss Nancy Waldron; and commissioned at the New York Navy Yard on 7 June 1944.
United States service history
World War II: 1944
Waldron conducted shakedown in the vicinity of Bermuda during the early summer of 1944. She conducted post-shakedown availability at New York from 22 July until 6 August and then headed back to the Bermuda area for further training. The destroyer returned to New York in mid-September but got underway again on 26 September. Steaming via the Delaware capes, the warship arrived at the Panama Canal on 1 October. She transited the canal that same day and reported for duty with the Pacific Fleet. She departed Balboa on 4 October, stopped at San Pedro, California, from 12 to 14 October, and arrived at Pearl Harbor on 20 October. She remained in the Hawaiian Islands until 17 December, at which time she got underway for the western Pacific. She arrived at Ulithi lagoon on 28 December and reported for duty in the screen of the Fast Carrier Task Force (TF-38/58).
World War II: 1945
Waldron spent her entire World War II service with the fast aircraft carriers. She departed Ulithi with TF 38 on 30 December and protected the carriers while they launched their planes against enemy installations on 3 and 4 January 1945. On 6–7 January, her charges' aircraft pummeled targets on the island of Luzon. Both raids were part of the preparations for the amphibious assault on Luzon carried out at Lingayen Gulf on 9 January. While the troops stormed ashore there, however, Waldron and the carriers had returned north to suppress enemy air power on Formosa during the actual assault. That same day, she steamed through Bashi Channel into the South China Sea with TF 38 to begin a series of raids on Japan's inner defenses. First on the agenda came Cam Ranh Bay in Indochina, where Admiral Halsey hoped to find battleships and . Unknown to the American fleet, however, was the fact that the two Japanese warships had moved south to safer waters at Singapore. The raids went forward anyhow on 12 January, and the naval aviators still managed to rack up a stupendous score: 44 ships sunk, 15 of which were Japanese combatants and the remainder being merchant ships. After fueling on 13 January, TF 38, with Waldron still in the screen, carried out air attacks on Hainan Island and on Hong Kong. The following day, the planes of TF 38 returned to Formosa for antishipping sweeps and attacks on the Formosa airfields.
On 16 January, the carriers launched their planes against Hainan and Hong Kong once more. Late on 20 January, Waldron the antimine and antisubmarine patrol—led TF 38 out of the South China Sea through Balintang Channel and into the Philippine Sea. The destroyer and her charges returned to their base at Ulithi on the 26th after conducting strikes on Formosa and on Okinawa.
Waldron remained at Ulithi until 10 February at which time she got underway again with TF 58, this time to support the assault on Iwo Jima scheduled for the 19th. As a part of that support, the carriers planned to carry out the first carrier-based air strikes on Japan since the Doolittle Raid of 1942. On 16 and 17 February, the carriers of TF 58 sent their aircraft aloft for raids on the Tokyo area of Honshū. The task force then began its retirement to Iwo Jima, there to provide air support for the following day's invasion.
On the night of 17 and 18 February, Waldrons task group encountered several small Japanese patrol craft. One of the craft attacked with her 3-inch guns, killing three of the destroyer's crewmen. Due to darkness and the proximity of Dortch and , Waldron could not bring her battery to bear. Instead, she laid on a course for the enemy craft and charged her at . At about 0509 on 18 February, Waldron rammed the Japanese picket boat amidships and cut her neatly in two. About four hours later, the destroyer received orders detaching her from TF 58 to head for Saipan and repairs to her bow.