“John Shaw was born at Mt. Mellick, Queens County, Ireland, in 1773. In 1790, he came to the United States, settled in Philadelphia and entered the merchant marine.”
“Appointed lieutenant in the United States Navy in 1798, he (later) assumed command of the schooner Enterprise in which, during the next year, he captured seven armed French vessels and recaptured several American merchantmen.”
“During the Barbary Wars, Shaw commanded the frigate John Adams in the Mediterranean under Commodore Rodgers from May to November 1804. During the War of 1812, he also commanded the frigate United States. Captain Shaw died at Philadelphia 17 September 1823.” (Destroyer History)
An iconic image of the attack on Pearl Harbor, December 7, 1941, shows the USS Shaw, named after John Shaw. “Shaw (DD-373) was laid down on 1 October 1934 at the United States Navy Yard, Philadelphia, Pa.; launched on 28 October 1935; sponsored by Miss Dorothy L. Tinker; and commissioned on 18 September 1936, Lt. Comdr. E.A. Mitchell in command.”
“Following commissioning, Shaw remained at Philadelphia until April 1937 when she crossed the Atlantic on her shakedown cruise. … Shaw conducted training exercises in the Atlantic for the remainder of the year. She then transited to the Pacific and underwent overhaul at Mare Island from 8 January to 4 April 1939.”
“Shaw remained on the west coast until April 1940 participating in various exercises and providing services to carriers and submarines operating in the area.”
“In April she sailed for Hawaii where she participated in Fleet Problem XXI, an eight phased operation for the defense of the Hawaiian area. She remained in the Hawaiian area until November when she returned to the west coast for overhaul.”
“Back in the Hawaiian area by mid-February 1941, Shaw operated in those waters until November when she entered the Navy Yard at Pearl Harbor for repairs, drydocking in YFD-2. … On 7 December, Shaw was still drydocked.” (Destroyer History)
(USS Shaw was in the old New Orleans floating drydock (YFD2) at the Navy Yard, Pearl Harbor, on the morning of December 7, 1941. The weather was clear, with scattered clouds.”
“Three bombs struck the ship between 0755 and 0915. … The subsequent fire can be ascribed to ruptured oil tanks. The first two … bombs apparently struck the machine gun platform … and penetrated the gun shelter platform, forecastle and main decks. They perhaps exploded in the crew’s mess room on the first platform deck.”
“It appears that all three hits were made at about the same time. Fire broke out at once. Twenty minutes later the forward magazines blew up. This explosion severed the bow at about frame 65 with the exception of some bottom structure.”
“The dock was deliberately flooded to prevent more damage to it. As it sank, the bow of Shaw toppled over to starboard and went down with the dock. The Yard tug Sotoyomo was also in the dock and sank with it.” (Destroyer History)
“The USS Shaw lost 24 crewmen during the Pearl Harbor attack. Temporary repairs were made at Pearl Harbor, with the installation of a new bow and remaining repairs completed in San Francisco in June of 1943.”
“Returning to active duty for the remainder of World War II, the Shaw saw action at Guadalcanal, New Guinea and the Philippines.” (WWII Headquarters)
“Shaw arrived in San Francisco on 19 May. Repairs and alterations took her into August. The work was accomplished on the 20th. She then departed for the east coast.”
“On arrival at Philadelphia, she was routed to New York for deactivation. Decommissioned on 2 October 1945, her name was struck from the Navy list two days later. Her hulk was scrapped in July 1946. Shaw earned eleven battle stars during World War II.” (Destroyer History)
In the attack on Pearl Harbor nineteen US Navy ships, including 8 battleships were destroyed or damaged; there were 2,403 people killed and 1,178 wounded. Among the deceased were 2,008 Navy personnel, 109 Marine, 218 Army and 68 civilians. (navy-mil)
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