USS Carpenter (DD/DDK/DDE-825) was a of the United States Navy, named for Lieutenant Commander Donald M. Carpenter (1894–1940).
Construction and design Carpenter was laid down on 30 July 1945 at Consolidated Steel Corporation, Orange, Texas; launched on 30 December 1945, and sponsored by Mrs. Donald M. Carpenter, widow of the ship's namesake. Work ceased on the ship, however, when the contract for her construction was cancelled on 30 January 1946, resumed on 21 February, but stopped again on 21 October when the hull was transferred to Algiers Naval Station, Louisiana. The US Navy had a need for advanced anti-submarine ships to develop tactics for use against fast submarines such as the German Type XXI submarine, as the Soviet Union was expected to soon build submarines of similar capability, so the chief of naval operations decided to complete four of the incomplete Gearings as experiential escorts – two of which, Carpenter and , would be advanced "submarine killers", to act as substitutes for large, purpose-built anti-submarine ships such as , while two more, and , would be completed as simpler escort destroyers.
Carpenter was long overall, with a beam of and a draft of . Displacement was light, standard and full load. Two geared steam turbines rated at gave a speed of . As completed, Carpenters anti-submarine armament consisted of two Weapon Alpha anti-submarine rocket launchers, a trainable Hedgehog anti-submarine mortar, four torpedo tubes, and depth charges. Antiaircraft armament consisted of two twin guns, initially 50 caliber guns and later 70 caliber Mark 26 guns.
Carpenter subclass
The Carpenter class, or more accurately the first ship of the DDK subclass of eight modified Gearing-class destroyers served as an interim substitute to the planned specialized "sub-killer cruisers" such as , Carpenters modifications emphasized electronic equipment and anti-submarine warfare weaponry over the standard destroyer anti-aircraft and torpedo armament. Designed to counter Soviet high-speed, snorkel-equipped, diesel submarines similar to the German World War II-era Type XXIs, Carpenter was equipped with a trainable Hedgehog mortar, two Weapon Alpha antisubmarine rocket launchers, antisubmarine torpedoes, and depth charges, in addition to torpedo countermeasure equipment, towed decoys and an improved sonar system.
Service history Towed to Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company on 6 November 1947 for completion as a Carpenter-subclass hunter-killer antisubmarine destroyer (DDK), Carpenter was commissioned at the Norfolk Naval Shipyard, Virginia, on 15 December 1949. While Carpenter fitted out at Norfolk, the ship's designation was changed to DDE (escort destroyer) on 4 March 1950. Like her three sister ships, Basilone, Epperson, and Robert A. Owens, Carpenter conducted a shakedown cruise and intensive Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW) training at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, later that spring. On 26 June, the destroyer got underway for the Pacific Ocean, transited the Panama Canal on 1 July, and arrived at her new homeport, Pearl Harbor, Territory of Hawaii, on 13 July.
Despite the outbreak of war in Korea in June 1950, the emphasis of U.S. naval construction programs gravitated towards research platforms and the development of prototype systems rather than perfecting mass-production designs. Carpenter thus became a test bed for Norfolk, herself an experimental ASW warship, and was assigned to the anti-submarine hunter-killer force out of Pearl Harbor.
Carpenter began her first cruise to the Korean War zone on 4 February 1952, when she departed Pearl Harbor for duty in the Western Pacific. After arrival in Yokosuka, Japan, the destroyer conducted a hunter-killer training exercise off Okinawa before reporting to Task Force 77 (TF 77) on 3 March. Operating with the Fast Carrier Force, she spent the next month screening aircraft carriers and honing her ASW skills, missions interspersed with two trips to Wonsan harbor to pick up downed pilots for transportation back to the task force.
After completing a Formosa Straits patrol in April, Carpenter joined TF 95.1, the United Nations Blockading and Escort Force operating in the Yellow Sea. While attached to a carrier group, which included British, Australian, and Canadian warships, Carpenter screened the aircraft carriers during flight operations and carried out several shore bombardment missions, including one against Ch’o Do Island.
Returning to Pearl Harbor for a refit, the destroyer conducted a series of local training operations off Hawaii in July and August following the completion of those repairs and alterations. Then, in September, she departed for Eniwetok Atoll to participate in two atmospheric thermonuclear tests in Operation Ivy. During those evolutions, Carpenter conducted ASW patrols to keep Soviet submarines from observing the tests in between her duties as plane guard for the carrier , whose planes flew patrol and reconnaissance missions in the region. With both detonations complete by 16 November, Carpenter received her radiological clearance inspection and departed the next day, arriving at Pearl Harbor on 24 November.
1953–1959 Resuming local operations in Hawaii, she remained there until May 1953, when Carpenter steamed to the Far East for operations with TF 77. After rendezvous with light cruiser in early June, the destroyer proceeded to North Korea for a shore bombardment mission against gun positions in Hŭngnam harbor on 12 June. Although 12 rounds of 75 mm fire from shore batteries fell near Carpenter, she suffered neither hits nor casualties.
Following a tender availability in Sasebo, Japan, the destroyer spent the next month screening the fast carriers. After returning to Yokosuka for a short refit on 29 July, Carpenter departed 11 August for a Formosa patrol. This evolution included screen operations with the carrier and battleship and radar tracking of numerous Chinese communist aircraft contacts. Returning to Kobe, Japan, on 6 September, the destroyer spent the next two months conducting ASW and screening operations in Korean waters.
Departing Yokosuka on 30 October, Carpenter sailed to Pearl Harbor for an extensive refit. Minor repairs, tactical drills, and crew training occupied the ship until the summer of 1954, when she returned to the Western Pacific. In September, during the Quemoy and Matsu crisis between Communist China and the Nationalists on Formosa, Carpenter patrolled the Taiwan Straits for 13 tense days before the crisis passed. The destroyer remained in the region for the next three months, screening Boxer, conducting various hunter-killer ASW exercises, and patrolling the Formosa Straits. In January 1955, in line with the mutual defense treaty between Taiwan and the United States, Carpenter helped convoy Nationalist forces as they evacuated the Tachen Islands.
After returning to Hawaii that spring, Carpenter resumed her regular routine of local operations and ASW exercises out of Pearl Harbor. Her fourth cruise began on 4 January 1956, when the destroyer set sail for the Western Pacific. Operating out of Yokosuka, the destroyer conducted extensive ASW training with ships of the 7th Fleet, visited ports in the Philippines and Hong Kong, and operated with units of the Royal Australian Navy.
Returning to Pearl Harbor on 9 June, the destroyer underwent an extensive overhaul, followed by the now familiar pattern of local operations, crew training, and constant ASW exercises. In a change of pace the following spring, Carpenter departed Hawaii on 15 March 1957 for a series of goodwill port visits throughout the South Pacific. The destroyer stopped at American Samoa, Manus in the Admiralty Islands, and Sydney, Australia, before returning to Hawaii on 28 August. Later that fall, Carpenter underwent an overhaul and received two of the new 3-inch/70 "quick-firing" antiaircraft gun mounts for testing and evaluation.
The destroyer continued this pattern of deployments for the next three years: local operations out of Pearl Harbor followed by a deployment and operations with a hunter-killer ASW group out of Japan, and then return for repairs. Her sixth Far East deployment lasted from April to September 1958, followed by training and an overhaul until March 1959. Six weeks underway training followed before another deployment in July, during which Carpenter operated in a hunter-killer ASW with the carriers and , before returning home in December.
1960–1964
In light of concerns over the threat posed by nuclear-powered Soviet submarines, Carpenter spent much of the spring of 1960 conducting ASW training and practicing aircraft carrier screening. During those evolutions, she operated with such carriers as , , and . Later in June, the warship operated in a plane guard role during Operation Cosmos – President Dwight D. Eisenhower's trip to the Far East – before conducting a six-week midshipman cruise ending on 26 July. Following a month-long tender availability alongside the destroyer tender , the destroyer spent much of September in dry dock for hull repairs.
Departing on 17 October for her eighth Far East tour, Carpenter joined 7th Fleet's hunter-killer ASW group and conducted operations with Hornet, Hancock, and . Later that winter, as North Vietnamese and Pathet Lao troops attempted to overthrow the pro-Western Royal Laotian government, Carpenter deployed as part of the multi-carrier task force sent to the South China Sea to deter further Communist guerrilla attacks on pro-American forces in Laos.
Following her return to Pearl Harbor on 26 April 1961, Carpenter entered Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard on 22 May for ASW modernization. Emerging from the yard in August with a new helicopter flight deck and a side-scanning AN/SQS-26 sonar to improve her submarine detection capabilities, she spent the rest of the year conducting refresher training and local operations designed to test her newly installed equipment.
On 29 January 1962, Carpenter commenced exercise "Prairie Wolf" with diesel submarines and . This evolution tested the destroyer's sonar tracking abilities and ASW rocket weapons system. Other exercises over the next several months included electronic countermeasures, gunnery, sonar, and radar calibration tests, as well as practice ASW torpedo shots. The routine was broken only by occasional plane-guard operations with Hancock, an evaluation of her SQS-32 sonar capabilities against the nuclear-powered submarine , and on 20 February, service as contingency recovery ship during John Glenn's Mercury Friendship 7 orbital flight.
Following a dual-ship "hold down" exercise by Carpenter and against the conventionally powered submarine on 23 May, the destroyer moved back to Pearl Harbor for three weeks of repairs alongside Bryce Canyon. She then conducted more ASW exercises, helicopter replenishment, and plane-guard training in preparation for another 7th Fleet deployment. During one ASW exercise, Carpenter forced to surface owing to battery drain. On 29 June, the destroyer's hull designation was changed to DD-825.
Departing Hawaii on 2 July 1962, the destroyer arrived at Yokosuka 10 days later. After a short period alongside the destroyer tender , she began ASW exercises and screening operations for Hornet. Several barrier patrol exercises, including one with Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force destroyers and , lasted through September. Other evolutions included torpedo-firing exercises, electronic intercept tracking, and plane-guard services in the Sea of Japan. In October, Carpenter conducted a convoy-protection exercise off Okinawa, encountering several shadowing Soviet whaling ships in the process. She then visited Sasebo, Hong Kong and Subic Bay before returning to Hawaii, reaching Pearl Harbor on 17 December.