TEXT SIZE: small | normal | large | huge USS O'Brien DD-415 was a Sims class destroyer built at Boston Navy Yard. Laid down on May 31, 1938, she was launched seventeen months later and commissioned on March 2, 1940. O'Brien was attached to the Atlantic Fleet at the time of the attack on Pearl Harbor but was soon sent to the Pacific Fleet where she became the flagship of Destroyer Devision 4. She supported the occupation of Wallis Island in late May before returning to Pearl Harbor O'Brien was serving with Task Force 17 in September of 1942 as reinforcements to the South Pacific Force when the Japanese submarine I-19 raised her periscope and saw the ships of Task Force 17 and 18. At 1145 on September 15, I-19 fired six torpedos; three hit the carrier Wasp, one the battleship North Carolina, and one the bow of O'Brien. O'Brien slowly made her way to Espiritu Santos for temporary repairs by Curtiss AV-4. Afterwards she headed to South to Noumea, where she received further temporary repairs from Argonne AG-31. On October 10, she left Noumea with two other ships for a slow cruise back to Mare Island on the West coast for repair and overhaul. During the trip back inadequate repairs and moderate seas created stress points and the hull begain to fail amidships from the prior damage. Eventually the damage became so severe that the ship had to be abandonned, and she sank around 0800 on October 19, 1942. Documents: Links: Ships Home | Researcher@Large Home |
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