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USS WADLEIGH (DD-689)


Flag Hoist/Radio Call Sign - NTEI

CLASS - FLETCHER As Built.
Displacement 2924 Tons (Full), Dimensions, 376' 5"(oa) x 39' 7" x 13' 9" (Max)
Armament 5 x 5"/38AA, 10 x 40mm, 7 x 20mm AA, 10 x 21" tt.(2x5).
Machinery, 60,000 SHP; Westinghouse Turbines, 2 screws
Speed, 38 Knots, Range 6500 NM@ 15 Knots, Crew 273.
Operational and Building Data
Laid down by Bath Iron Works, Bath ME April 5 1943.
Launched August 7 1943 and commissioned October 19 1943.
Decommissioned June 20 1946 and recommissioned October 3 1951.
Decommissioned June 28 1962.
Stricken September 1 1975.
To Chile July 26 1972, renamed Blanco Encalada.
Fate Stricken and scrapped in 1983.

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Size Image Description Contributed
By
Wadleigh 80kPhoto #: NH 41904. Rear Admiral George H. Wadleigh, USN portrait photograph, taken circa 1902. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.Tony Cowart
Wadleigh 77kArtist's conception of the Wadleigh by the renowned graphic illustrator John Barrett with the text written by naval author and historian Robert F. Sumrall. Their company Navy Yard Associates offers prints of most destroyers, destroyer escorts, submarines and aircraft carriers in various configurations during the ship's lifetime. The prints can be customized with ship's patches, your photograph, your bio, etc. If you decide to purchase artwork from them please indicate that you heard about their work from NavSource.Navy Yard Associates
Wadleigh 53kUndated postcard Copyright © Marine Photos, San Diego, CA.Mike Smolinski
Wadleigh 57kUndated, USS Wadleigh (DD-689) exploding mines in Kossol Passage, Palau. Photos taken from "United States Destroyer Operations in World War II" by Theodore Roscoe.Robert Hurst
Wadleigh 60kUndated, location unknown.Richard Miller BMCS USNR RET.
Wadleigh 76kUndated, Ponta Delgada, Azores Islands. USS Remey (DD-688), USS Wadleigh (DD-689) and USS Damato (DD-871).Carlos Manuel Estrela
Wadleigh 72kUSS Wadleigh (DD-689) Launching, at the Bath Iron Works shipyard, Bath, Maine, 7 August 1943. Photographed by Douglas. Courtesy of Quentin Ludgin, 1969. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.Fred Weiss
Wadleigh 317kUSS Wadleigh (DD 689) Mine Damage Diagram from mine explosion occurring 23 September 1944. Source: Structural Repairs in Forward Areas During World War II, Bureau of Ships Navy Department, December, 1949, Plate No. 19.Mike Green
Wadleigh 187kUSS Wadleigh (DD 689) Mine Damage Hull Patch Diagram from mine explosion occurring 23 September 1944. Source: Structural Repairs in Forward Areas During World War II, Bureau of Ships Navy Department, December, 1949, Plate No. 23.Mike Green
Wadleigh 83kUSS Wadleigh (DD 689) in dry dock USS ARD-16 in November 1944. Photo shows starboard side looking forward at hole in shell, starboard side . Note divers patch above bilge keel. Plating is bent sharply inboard at end of reduction gear foundation. Source: Structural Repairs in Forward Areas During World War II, Bureau of Ships Navy Department, December, 1949, Photo No. 35.Mike Green
Wadleigh 79kUSS Wadleigh (DD 689) in dry dock USS ARD-16 in November 1944. showing divers patch over crack in shell plating, frame 111, port side. Source: Structural Repairs in Forward Areas During World War II, Bureau of Ships Navy Department, December, 1949, Photo No. 37.Mike Green
Wadleigh 93kUSS Wadleigh (DD 689) in dry dock USS ARD-16 in November 1944. Photo shows patch over crack on port side. Note external flat bar stiffeners on B & C strakes. Source: Structural Repairs in Forward Areas During World War II, Bureau of Ships Navy Department, December, 1949, Photo No. 48,Mike Green
Wadleigh 77kEnsign Dorothy Swallen, and Ensign Dora Eggleston At the Mare Island Navy Yard, California, circa late 1944. Both were Navy Nurses stationed at the Mare Island Naval Hospital. USS Wadleigh (DD-689) is in the background. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives.Fred Weiss
Wadleigh 108kUSS Wadleigh (DD-689) At the Mare Island Navy Yard, California, 10 April 1945. Note the men working on her foredeck, some of whom are watching the photographer. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval Historical Center.Fred Weiss
Wadleigh 126kUSS Wadleigh (DD-689) At the Mare Island Navy Yard, California, 10 April 1945. Circles mark recent alterations to the ship. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval Historical Center.Fred Weiss
Wadleigh 111kUSS Wadleigh (DD-689) Off the Mare Island Navy Yard, California, 11 April 1945. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval Historical Center.Fred Weiss
Wadleigh 103kUSS Wadleigh (DD-689) Off the Mare Island Navy Yard, California, 11 April 1945. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval Historical Center.Fred Weiss
Wadleigh 116kUSS Wadleigh (DD-689) Off the Mare Island Navy Yard, California, 11 April 1945. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval Historical Center.Fred Weiss
Wadleigh 115kCirca 1946, location unknown.Cliff Coffey
Wadleigh 275kMap of the Wadleigh's deployments in World War II from October 1943 until January 1946.Cliff Coffey
Wadleigh 80kCirca 1946, location unknown.Cliff Coffey
Wadleigh 234kCrew photo circa 1946, location unknown.Cliff Coffey
Wadleigh   Wadleigh   Wadleigh   Wadleigh
Wadleigh   Wadleigh   Wadleigh   Wadleigh
Wadleigh   Wadleigh   Wadleigh   Wadleigh
Wadleigh
Circa 1951-1955, the collection of shipmate John Berwick.
Dylan Berwick
Wadleigh 160kUSS Wadleigh (DD-689) Underway, circa 1951, soon after she was recommissioned during the Korean War. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval Historical Center.Fred Weiss
Wadleigh 181kUSS Wadleigh (DD-689) Underway, circa 1951, soon after she was recommissioned. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval Historical Center.Fred Weiss
Wadleigh 64kUSS Wadleigh (DD-689) Underway, date and location unknown (probably 1950s).Dave Wright
Wadleigh 92kUSS Barry (DD-933) (center) and USS Wadleigh (DD-689) (left distance) Pass astern of USS Des Moines (CA-134), Sixth Fleet flagship, while the latter was at anchor off Rhodes, Greece, in mid-June 1958. Note fire control radar on one of Des Moines' 3"/50 gun mounts, at right, and the U.S. Ensign flying at top left. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval Historical Center.Fred Weiss
Wadleigh 76kNewport, RI 1958.Marc Piché
Wadleigh 203kCirca 1959-1961 in drydock in Boston.John Romppainen
Wadleigh 147kCirca 1960 Ship's band performing on the fantail.John Romppainen
Wadleigh 135kAs above.John Romppainen
Wadleigh 164kCirca 1961 in Karachi, Pakistan.John Romppainen
Wadleigh 141kUSS Wadleigh (DD-689) Jacket patch of the ship's insignia used in 1960s. Courtesy of Captain G.F. Swainson, USN, 1970. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.Fred Weiss
On Chilean Service
Wadleigh 19kBlanco Encalada - Manuel Blanco Encalada (Buenos Aires, 21 April 1790 — Santiago, 5 September 1876), was an Argentine-born Chilean military who took part in the wars of independence of Chile, Peru, and against the Peruvian-Bolivian Confederation. During the "Patria Vieja" (Old Homeland) he was a captain in the patriotic army under the command of Carrera and during the "Patria Nueva" (New Homeland) he joined as an officer in the "United Army Liberator of Chile."Francisco Javier Santos Vazquez
Wadleigh 62kUndated, location unknown.Robert Hurst
Wadleigh 100kChilean sailors manning the rails on board the destroyer Blanco Encalada DD 14 (ex-USS Wadleigh, DD-689), circa 1963, location unknown. Photo Chilean Navy, Official.Robert Hurst
Wadleigh 50kCirca 1966, location unknown.Robert Hurst
Wadleigh 73kAs the Chilean Blanco Encalada, in the gulf of Penas 47º 20'S, 75ºW, November 1969. Ricardo is near the spotlight.Ricardo Rivera
Wadleigh 157kBlanca Encalada (DD-14, ex-USS Wadleigh) underway in 1970, location unknown. Chilean Navy OfficialRobert Hurst
Wadleigh 50kAs the Blanco Encalada, depth charge test firing between Talcahuano and Valparaíso, December 3 1970.Ricardo Rivera
Wadleigh 73kAs the Chilean Blanco Encalada, depth charge test firing between Talcahuano and Valparaíso, December 3 1970.Ricardo Rivera
Wadleigh 110kAs the Chilean Blanco Encalada, in dry dock Nº2 at Talcahuano, Chile in 1970.Ricardo Rivera

USS WADLEIGH DD-689 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 Walter Coulter Winn    Oct 19 1943 - Feb 16 1945 (Later RADM)

CDR Robert Cameron Morton    Feb 16 1945 - Jun 20 1946

(Decommissioned Jun 20 1946 - Oct 3 1951)

CDR Robert Henry Pauli    Oct 3 1951 - 1953

CDR William Milner Carpenter    1953 - 1955

CDR Alfred Darragh Garvin    1955 - Sep 25 1957

CDR Wells Rood Bill Jr.    Sep 25 1957 - May 1959

CDR Joseph Bowen Sullivan    May 1959 - 1961

LCDR Donald Walter Kiley    1961 - 1962

LCDR Laurens Dorsey    1962 - Jun 28 1962


Crew Contact And Reunion Information

Contact Name: Ronald L. Ledoux
Address:
Phone:
E-mail: ronclaldx@charter.net


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
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 19 November 2017