View source for USS Case (DD-370)

{{Short description|Mahan-class destroyer}}
{{other ships|USS Case}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2021}}

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{{Infobox ship image
|Ship image=USS Case DD370 underway.jpg
|Ship caption=''Case'' steaming off [[Mare Island Naval Shipyard|Mare Island]] on 23 November 1943
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{{Infobox ship career
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|Ship country=United States
|Ship flag={{USN flag|1945}}
|Ship name=
|Ship namesake=[[Augustus Case|Augustus Ludlow Case]]
|Ship ordered=
|Ship builder=[[Boston Navy Yard]]
|Ship laid down=
|Ship launched=14 September 1935
|Ship acquired=
|Ship commissioned=15 September 1936
|Ship decommissioned=13 December 1945
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|Ship reinstated=
|Ship honours=
|Ship fate=Sold 31 December 1947
|Ship notes=
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{{Infobox ship characteristics
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|Header caption=
|Ship class={{sclass|Mahan|destroyer}}
|Ship displacement=1,500&nbsp;tons
|Ship length=341&nbsp;ft 4&nbsp;in (104&nbsp;m)
|Ship beam=35&nbsp;ft (10,7&nbsp;m)
|Ship draught=
|Ship draft=9&nbsp;ft 10&nbsp;in (2,8&nbsp;m)
|Ship propulsion=
|Ship speed=37&nbsp;knots
|Ship range=
|Ship complement=158 officers and crew
|Ship sensors=
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|Ship armament=5 x [[5"/38 caliber gun|{{convert|5|in|mm|abbr=on}}]] guns, 12 x [[American 21 inch torpedo|21 inch (533 mm)]] [[torpedo tube]]s
|Ship armour=
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'''USS ''Case'' (DD-370)''' was a {{sclass|Mahan|destroyer}} in the [[United States Navy]] before and during [[World War II]]. She was the second ship named for [[Augustus Case|Augustus Ludlow Case]]. ''Case'' was berthed at [[Pearl Harbor]] when [[Attack on Pearl Harbor|the Japanese struck]] on 7 December 1941, then served in the [[United States Pacific Fleet]] until the end of [[World War II]].

==Construction and commissioning==
''Case'' was [[Ceremonial ship launching|launched]] at the [[Boston Navy Yard]] in [[Boston]], [[Massachusetts]], on 14 September 1935, sponsored by Miss. M. R. Case, and [[Ship commissioning|commissioned]] on 15 September 1936.

==Service history==
''Case'' joined in fleet problems in the [[Hawaii]]an area, and in 1938, served as school ship at [[San Diego, California]]. From this, her home port, she carried [[midshipmen]] on an [[Alaska]]n cruise in summer 1939, and in April 1940 returned to [[Pearl Harbor]] to take part in a fleet problem which found her sailing to [[Midway Atoll|Midway]], [[Johnston Island]], and [[Palmyra Island]]. Between February and April 1941, she cruised to [[Samoa]], [[Tahiti]], and [[Auckland]], New Zealand.

===Pearl Harbor===
''Case'' was in a nest of destroyers at [[Pearl Harbor Navy Yard]] on 7 December 1941 during the [[attack on Pearl Harbor]]. From 7 December until 23 May 1942, ''Case'' escorted convoys passing between the [[United States West Coast]] and Pearl Harbor.

===Patrols===
[[File:USS Case.jpg|thumb|upright|''Case'' at Mare Island on 21 November 1943]]
From 31 May to 7 August 1942, ''Case'' patrolled and carried out the usual varied destroyer assignments off [[Kodiak, Alaska]]. On 7 August, she unleashed her guns in the pre-invasion bombardment of [[Kiska, Alaska|Kiska]] and on an enemy tanker with undetermined results. ''Case'' continued on patrol off [[Adak, Alaska|Adak]] until mid-October, when she escorted shipping to Pearl Harbor, then proceeded to the States for overhaul.

Returning to Pearl Harbor in late November 1942, ''Case'' cleared to escort a convoy to the [[Fiji|Fiji Islands]], arriving 20 December. From Fiji she sailed to Guadalcanal to screen a convoy during its unloading period, and on 1 January 1943, arrived at [[Espiritu Santo]], her base for escort, patrol, and training duty through 23 September. After overhaul at [[San Francisco, California]], ''Case'' returned to Pearl Harbor in December.

For the next eight months, ''Case'' was almost constantly at sea, screening groups of the [[United States Third Fleet|3rd]] and [[United States Fifth Fleet|5th Fleet]]s. From mid-January through mid-March 1944, these strikes were against Japanese bases in the [[Marshall Islands]], supporting the invasion of these islands. [[Palau]] and the western [[Caroline Islands|Carolines]] were the targets 30 March-1 April, and ''Case'' next sailed from [[Majuro]] for the late-April air raids on [[Jayapura|Hollandia]], [[Chuuk Lagoon|Truk]], [[Satawan]], and [[Pohnpei|Ponape]]. A month of local screening and escort duty at Majuro preceded ''Case''{{'}}s assignment to TG 58.4 for the strikes on Japanese airfields in the [[Bonin Islands|Bonins]], designed to neutralize these bases during the invasion of the [[Mariana Islands|Marianas]]. With this group, she screened carriers in the historic [[Battle of the Philippine Sea]] on 19 and 20 June.

===Repairs===
After a repair period at [[Eniwetok]], ''Case'' resumed her operations with TG 58.4, screening for air strikes preparing for the landings on [[Guam]] late in July 1944, and the attacks on the Bonins on 4 and 5 August. Through mid-September, ''Case'' served on inter-island escort duty in the Marianas. In September, she rendezvoused with two submarines carrying allied prisoners of war, many of them wounded, rescued after the sinking of a Japanese transport. Since rough seas prevented the submarines from transferring the wounded to ''Case'', the destroyer put medical officers on board the submarines.

''Case'' participated in the bombardment of [[Marcus Island]] on 9 October 1944 and then joined TG 38.1 for strikes on [[Luzon]] in conjunction with the invasion of [[Leyte (island)|Leyte]] from 18 to 23 October. She returned to [[Ulithi]] 29 October, putting to sea again 8 November for the bombardment of [[Iwo Jima]] on the night of 11/12 November.

Resuming escort duty from Ulithi, ''Case'' was screening [[cruiser]]s bound for [[Saipan]] on 20 November, when she rammed and sank a Japanese midget submarine at the entrance to [[Mugai Channel]]. Immediately, she put back to Ulithi for an inspection of damage incurred in the encounter, but was back in action just two days later, bound for off shore patrol at Saipan until 6 December.

===Iwo Jima===
[[File:USS Case DD370 stern.jpg|thumb|''Case''{{'}}s stern, showing the rear 5-inch guns]]
''Case'' joined in a smashing bombardment of Iwo Jima once more on 24 December 1944, during which she and {{USS|Roe|DD-418|2}} were dispatched to attack a fleeing Japanese transport. A two-hour chase at full speed followed, both destroyers firing as the range closed. At 15:59, the effect of accurate gunfire told as the transport sank, her survivors refusing any assistance from the American destroyers. After repairs at Saipan, she returned to Iwo Jima 24 and 25 January 1945 for antisubmarine patrol during the opening phases of operations ashore. Escort and patrol duty from Saipan occupied her until 19 March, when she began an extended period of [[Antisubmarine warfare|antisubmarine]] patrol, [[air-sea rescue]], and [[radar picket]] duty between Saipan and Iwo Jima until the close of the war in August 1945.

At 13:50 on 31 March 1945, ''Case'' departed her air-sea rescue station to investigate a surface contact reported by a [[Maritime patrol aircraft|patrol aircraft]] at {{coord|29|20|N|136|31|E}}.<ref name=hinmanpp278280>Hinman & Campbell, pp. 278–280.</ref> At 19:51, she sighted a [[submarine]] on the surface in the [[Philippine Sea]] {{convert|425|nmi}} southeast of [[Kagoshima]], [[Kyushu]], [[Japan]] at {{coord|29|14|N|137|18|E}} which did not respond to recognition signals.<ref name=hinmanpp278280/> At 20:09, ''Case'' opened gunfire on the submarine at a range of {{convert|5,500|yd|m|sigfig=2}}.<ref name=hinmanpp278280/> She fired fifteen {{convert|5|in|mm|0|adj=on}} rounds, scoring no hits but straddling the submarine′s [[conning tower]] with her third [[salvo]] as it [[Crash dive|crash-dived]].<ref name=hinmanpp278280/> After the submarine submerged to a depth of {{convert|450|ft|0}}, ''Case'' exchanged recognition signals with it identifying it as friendly, and ''Case'' suspended her attack and headed for Iwo Jima at 20:29.<ref name=hinmanpp278280/> The submarine, {{USS|Spot|SS-413}}, suffered no damage or casualties.<ref name=hinmanpp278280/>

===Surrender of the Bonin Islands===
On 2 September 1945, the Case sailed to [[Chichi Jima]] to accept and supervise the surrender of the Bonins Islands. On 19&nbsp;September 1945, she took departure from Iwo Jima for [[Norfolk, Virginia]], arriving 1&nbsp;November 1945. Here, she was decommissioned 13&nbsp;December 1945, and sold 31&nbsp;December 1947.

==Awards==
''Case'' received seven [[battle star]]s for World War II service.

==References==
===Citations===
{{reflist}}
*{{DANFS|http://www.history.navy.mil/research/histories/ship-histories/danfs/c/case-ii.html}}
===Bibliography===
* [https://books.google.com/books?id=hkupDwAAQBAJ&dq=LApon+raton&pg=PA181 Hinman, Charles R., and Douglas E. Campbell. ''The Submarine Has No Friends: Friendly Fire Incidents Involving U.S. Submarines During World War II''. Syneca Research Group, Inc., 2019.] {{ISBN|978-0-359-76906-3}}.

==External links==
*[http://www.navsource.org/archives/05/370.htm NavSource Photo Index]
*[http://www.destroyerhistory.org/goldplater/usscase.html destroyerhistory.org USS ''Case'']

{{Mahan_class_destroyer}}
{{March 1945 shipwrecks}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Case (Dd-370)}}
[[Category:Mahan-class destroyers]]
[[Category:World War II destroyers of the United States]]
[[Category:Ships built in Boston]]
[[Category:1935 ships]]
[[Category:Ships present during the attack on Pearl Harbor]]
[[Category:Ships of the Aleutian Islands campaign]]
[[Category:Maritime incidents in March 1945]]
[[Category:Friendly fire incidents of World War II]]