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USS SIGSBEE (DD-502)


Flag Hoist/Radio Call Sign - NWKC

Tactical Voice Radio Call Sign (circa 1945) - COYOTE

CLASS - FLETCHER As Built.
Displacement 2924 Tons (Full), Dimensions, 376' 5"(oa) x 39' 7" x 13' 9" (Max)
Armament 5 x 5"/38AA, 6 x 40mm, 11 x 20mm AA, 10 x 21" tt.(2x5).
Machinery, 60,000 SHP; General Electric Geared Turbines, 2 screws
Speed, 38 Knots, Range 6500 NM@ 15 Knots, Crew 273.
Operational and Building Data
Laid down by Federal Shipbuilding, Kearny NJ June 22 1942.
Launched December 7 1942 and commissioned January 23 1943.
Decommissioned March 31 1947.
Stricken December 1 1974.
Fate Sold July 31 1975 to Consolidated Steel, Brownsville, TX and broken up for scrap.
23 of her crew were lost and remain on duty.

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By
Namesake
Sigsbee 50kCharles D. Sigsbee, born on 16 January 1845 at Albany, N. Y., was appointed acting midshipman on 16 July 1862. He was commissioned rear admiral on 10 August 1903. Sigsbee served aboard Monongahela, Wyoming, and Shenandoah from 1863 to 1869 when he was assigned to duty at the Naval Academy and, in 1871, to the Hydrographic Office. He was in command of various ships from 1873 to 1891 and served as a hydrographer in the Bureau of Navigation from 1893 to 1897. Sigsbee commanded St. Paul in 1898 and Texas until 1900. He assumed command of the South Atlantic Squadron in 1904 and the Second Division, North Atlantic Squadron in 1905. Admiral Sigsbee retired from the Navy in 1907. Photo #: NH 95096. Captain Charles D. Sigsbee, U.S. Navy, Commanding Officer of USS Maine when she was lost on 15 February 1898. Photograph published in Bohemia, 1904, by the International League of Press Clubs, opposite page 26. Courtesy of Larry Franklin, 1983. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.Bill Gonyo
USS Sigsbee (DD-502)
Sigsbee 131kUndated, location unknown.Richard Miller BMCS USNR RET.
Sigsbee 71kUSS Sigsbee (DD-502) on 22 January 1943 at the time of delivery the day before being commissioned. The Sigsbee was configured for two twin 40mm gun mounts, but the mounts have yet to be installed.Rick E. Davis
Sigsbee   Sigsbee   Sigsbee
Commissioning ceremony at Brooklyn Navy Yard, January 23 1943 led by RADM E. J. Marquart.
David Way
Sigsbee 82kUSS Sigsbee (DD-502) on 5 February 1943 at the New York NY after modifications were done. Note that a 20mm gun has been added in front of the bridge on an elevated platform and that Sigsbee’s hull number has been painted on the roof of the #52 mount. USS Cowie (DD-632) is seen in the background.Rick E. Davis
Sigsbee 181kSIGSBEE fueling alongside YORKTOWN as seen out the hangar bay during the Marcus Is Raid, 2 September 1943. NA 80G470541.John Chiquoine
Sigsbee 163kAs above. NA 80G470542.John Chiquoine
Sigsbee 153kAs above. NA 80G470561.John Chiquoine
Sigsbee 174kView of bridge activity and detail as SIGSBEE fuels alongside YORKTOWN. Looking out a hangar bay during the Marcus Island Raid, 2 September 1943. NA 80G470541.John Chiquoine
Sigsbee 166kScene at the three fantail 20mm mounts on USS Sigsbee reportedly from 1944. Photo by Bob Meek. Some of these same sailors would become casualties of the blast that disintegrated her stern, 14 April 1945.John Mastin/John Chiquoine
Sigsbee 243kSigsbee is coming alongside Chenango on June 23 1944. At that time they were screening one of amphibious groups returning to Eniwetok from the first postponed Guam assault. NARA 80G 321648.Robert Hurst/Dave Schroeder/John Mastin
Sigsbee 153kAs seen in late December 1944, during post-overhaul trials from Bethlehem Steel San Francisco.Ed Zajkowski
Sigsbee 111kUSS Sigsbee on 30 December 1944 at San Francisco, CA, after modifications were completed. The circles indicate that she may have just received the five twin 40mm gun mounts standard or had other structural changes made to those locations.Rick E. Davis
Sigsbee 77kDecember 30 1944 at San Francisco.Ed Zajkowski
Sigsbee 113kNew Year's Day, 1945 at Pier 54, San Francisco. Left to right, Sigsbee (DD-502), Ringgold (DD-500), and Shea (DM-30), all are concluding overhauls. Nara 19N80477.John Chiquoine
Sigsbee 203kSIGSBEE alongside HORNET in TG58.1, mid-February 1945. NA 80G317012.John Chiquoine
Sigsbee 215kView of USS Sigsbee from USS Miami as the cruiser approaches and prepares to tow. Sigsbee was severely damaged 14 April 1945 leading carrier TG58.1 picket screen in company of McKee, Dashiell, Hickox, Hunt, Lewis Hancock, and Marshall. NA 80G327447. Work done by Joe Lewis. Dave Schroeder/John Chiquoine
Sigsbee 202kAs above. NA 80G327448. Joe Lewis collection.Dave Schroeder/John Chiquoine
Sigsbee 142kAs above. NA 80G327451. Joe Lewis collection.Dave Schroeder/John Chiquoine
Sigsbee 204kAs above. NA 80G327452. Joe Lewis collection.Dave Schroeder/John Chiquoine
Sigsbee 260kAs above. NA 80G327453. Joe Lewis collection.Dave Schroeder/John Chiquoine
Sigsbee 120kScene of the activity on Sigsbee's focsle as USS Miami is manuevering alongside to rig a tow, 14 April 1945. NA 80G.Dave Schroeder/John Chiquoine
Sigsbee 135kView over the focsle from USS Miami manuevering to pass tow lines, 14 April 1945. NA 80G.Dave Schroeder/John Chiquoine
Sigsbee 104kPainting of the USS Sigsbee DD 502 just before she was hit by a kamikaze off Okinawa on April 14, 1945. An attacking kamikaze, trailing smoke and flames after numerous hits from SIGSBEE's guns, is shown seconds before it struck DD502 on 14 April 1945. This 2009 painting was commissioned by SIGSBEE veteran Billy Roberts, a GM3/c and pointer on starboard 40mm gun #43. His eyewitness account was painted by Wayne Scarpaci. Much attention was given to the exact angle and altitude of the kamikaze as it made its attack and to SIGSBEE'S guns that were trained and firing at the approaching enemy plane.Billy K Roberts, USS Sigsbee/Wayne VanDerVoort
Sigsbee 96kA drawing by Peter Hsu of the USS Sigsbee being attacked by a kamikaze in the action of April 14 1945..Wayne VanDerVoort
Sigsbee 77kView from USS Miami of fleet tug USS Munsee alongside USS Sigsbee, rigging tow gear for the slow, long cruise to Ulithi, 15 April 1945.Dave Schroeder/John Chiquoine
Sigsbee 119kPhoto taken from USS Miami while getting the tow of USS Sigsbee underway, late on 14 April 1945. Photo collected by shipmate Charles Gregg.Dave Schroeder/John Chiquoine
Sigsbee 125kUSS Sigsbee shipmates as seen from USS Dashiell as she came alongside to rig a tow, 14 April 1945.Dave Schroeder/John Chiquoine
Sigsbee 166kUSS Sigsbee shipmates moving around mount 4 and the superstructure deck as her condition stabilized on the afternoon of April 14th.Dave Schroeder/John Chiquoine
Sigsbee 184kUSS Sigsbee shipmates as seen from USS Dashiell as she came alongside to rig a tow, 14 April 1945.Dave Schroeder/John Chiquoine
Sigsbee 188k14 April 1945 after being hit by a kamikaze off Okinawa. View is from USS Dashiell while approaching to render assistance, remove ComDesDiv50 Hop Parish, and rig a tow.CDR Ray Davis/Ed Zajkowski
Sigsbee 95kView of the damaged decks awash, portside main deck aft. Photo by Bob Meek. For further reading see http://sjkids.scottsburg.com/#USS%20SigsbeeDave Schroeder/John Chiquoine
Sigsbee 85kClose view of deck plating peeled up and over barrel of mount 4, starboard. Photo by Bob Meek.Dave Schroeder/John Chiquoine
Sigsbee 145kView of the damaged starboard main deck plate curled over mount 4, seen from mount 5. Photo by Bob Meek. For further reading see http://sjkids.scottsburg.com/#USS%20SigsbeeJohn Mastin/John Chiquoine
Sigsbee 157kView of the damaged decks awash, starboard main deck aft. Lt Morgan and Lt Schultz examining the area. Photo by Bob Meek. For further reading see http://sjkids.scottsburg.com/#USS%20Sigsbee.John Mastin/John Chiquoine
Sigsbee 152kView of the damaged decks awash while being towed, starboard main deck plate curled over mount 4. Photo by Bob Meek. For further reading see http://sjkids.scottsburg.com/#USS%20Sigsbee.John Mastin/John Chiquoine
Sigsbee 41kUSS Sigsbee (DD-502) showing damage to her fantail after being hit by Japanese Kamikaze off Okinawa. Photo from "United States Destroyer Operations in World War II" by Theodore Roscoe.Robert Hurst
Sigsbee 172kView of ARD26 in the harbor at Guam engaged in battle-damage repairs to USS Sigsbee (DD502), May 6-13, 1945. Photo by Robert Meek.John Chiquoine
Sigsbee 211kSigsbee tied alongside Hudson (DD-475) during the week of May 13, 1945 at Guam. A false stern has been fabricated by the floating drydock crew in preparation for the tow to Pearl. E Lopez collection.John Chiquoine
Sigsbee 119kSigsbee (DD-502) on 14 April. Her fantail was blown out and immediately flooded to the extent that water reached the base of mount 55 before it was contained. The weight of the flooded stern has nearly lifted her bow free of the water. Of interest is her small mainmast, which carried typical late-war ECM antennae: the large AS-56/SPR-1 dipoles at the tips of the yardarm with smaller AS-57/SPR-1 double-cones angled below; further down the mast were back-to-back stub antennae for the AS-37/SPT-4, each with small radiating spokes forming a ground-plane. The SPR-1 was a radar detector; the SPT-4 was an active jammer. Photo National Archives and records Administration.Robert Hurst
Sigsbee 111kView of Kamikaze damage being cleared on 14 April 1945. Photo by Bob Meek.John Chiquoine and Billy Roberts
LST-727 304k USS LST-727 moored pierside, berth 11, Navy Yard Pearl Harbor, T.H., 13 or 14 August 1945. USS Sigsbee (DD-502) is outboard and USS Corregidor (CVE-58) is across the berth.
US National Archives photo # 80-G-K-6051, a US Navy photo now in the collections of the US National Archives.
Rick E. Davis and John Chiquoine
Sigsbee 207kView of how the after 20mm gallery was re-built in the Summer of 1945, and re-fitted as twin-mount 20mm.John Chiquoine and Billy Roberts
Sigsbee 69kSnapshot of the ship's bridgewing score chart taken while at Camden, NJ, for Navy Day Activities 27 October 1945. Lloyd Casey collection.John Chiquoine
Sigsbee 303kSigsbee passing under Cooper River bridge, Charleston SC, 3 Nov 1945. John Hines collection. Distributed to crew.John Chiquoine
Sigsbee 154kAs above.John Chiquoine
Sigsbee 192kUSS Sigsbee at Pier H Charleston Navy Yard on December 8 1945, across the pier from USS Harrison.John Chiquoine
Sigsbee 162kSix views of shipboard detail while in a decommissioning nest on the Wando River, SC, 1946 and 1947. Midship quad forties and their directors had been added at Pearl Harbor during Summer 1945, and the forward torpedo tubes removed. Although her squadron nest mates are in various shades of lighter grays she remains in the darker blue.John Chiquoine and Billy Roberts
Sigsbee 164kAs above. Her scoreboard in November 1945.John Chiquoine and Billy Roberts
Sigsbee 170kAs above. Mount 43and 44 directors midships.John Chiquoine and Billy Roberts
Sigsbee 88kAs above.John Chiquoine and Billy Roberts
Sigsbee 174kAs above.John Chiquoine and Billy Roberts
Sigsbee 74kTin Cans in this Wando River nest being de-activated, Feb and Mar 1946. The four nearest in view L to R are USS Murray (DD-576), USS Harrison (DD-573), USS Schroeder (DD-501) and USS Sigsbee (DD-502). B Sulzer collection.John Chiquoine
Sigsbee 108kAs above.John Chiquoine
Peary
0550265
147kWhat remained of USS Sigsbee in the Philly Inactive Ship Facility in 1970. Former crewman Bill Hidler was allowed an on-board escorted tour. She was one of the very last WWII configurations left in the yard in 1974, and Hidler was likely the last original crew to set foot aboard.Dave Schroeder and John Chiquoine
Peary
0550266
138kAs above.Dave Schroeder and John Chiquoine
Peary
0550267
149kAs above.Dave Schroeder and John Chiquoine
Peary
0550268
142kAs above.Dave Schroeder and John Chiquoine
Peary
0550269
108kAs above.Dave Schroeder and John Chiquoine

USS SIGSBEE DD-502 History
View This Vessels DANFS History Entry
(Located On The hazegray Web Site, This Is The Main Archive For The DANFS Online Project.)

Commanding Officers
Thanks to Wolfgang Hechler & Ron Reeves


CDR Benjamin Van Meter Russell    Jan 23 1943 - May 13 1944

CDR Gordon Pai'ea Chung-Hoon    May 13 1944 - Jun 19 1945 (Later RADM)

CDR Harry Allan Barnard Jr.    Jun 19 1945 - 05 Jul 1945

LT James Milton Morgan USNR    05 Jul 1945 - 15 Jul 1945

CDR Harry Allan Barnard Jr.    15 Jul 1945 - Dec 1945

LT Malcolm Young Marshall, Jr. USNR    Dec 1945 - Jan 1946

CDR Harry Allan Barnard Jr.    Jan 1946 - 30 Apr 1946

LCDR Charles Williamson Jenkins    30 Apr 1946 - Sep 1946

LT Fred Cregan Hill     Sep 1946 - 31 Mar 1947


Crew Contact And Reunion Information

Contact Name: Marvin Green
Address: 3836 Colonial, Pkwy., Virginia Beach, VA 23452
Phone: (757)340-6087
E-mail: None

Contact Name: John Maston
E-mail: dd502@insightbb.com


Note About Contacts:

The contact listed, Was the contact at the time for this ship when located. If another person now is the contact, E-mail me and I will update this entry. These contacts are compiled from various sources over a long period of time and may or may not be correct. Every effort has been made to list the newest contact if more than one contact was found.


Additional Resources and Web Sites of Interest
USS Sigsbee Memorial Website
Tin Can Sailors Website
Destroyer History Foundation
Destroyers Online Website
Official U.S.Navy Destroyer Website

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This page was created by Fred Willishaw (ex ARG-4, AS-11 & DD-692) and is maintained by David L. Wright
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Last Updated 31 December 2021