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NavSource Online: Mine Warfare Vessel Photo Archive

Lindsey (MMD 32)
ex-DM-32
ex-DD-771



Call sign:
November - Hotel - Juliet - Whiskey
Allen M. Sumner Class Destroyer/Robert H. Smith Class Light Minelayer:

  • Laid down 12 September 1943 as Lindsey (DD-771) by the Bethlehem Steel Co., San Pedro, CA.
  • Launched 5 May 1944
  • Reclassified as a Light Minelayer, DM-32, 19 July 1944
  • Commissioned USS Lindsey (DM-32), 20 August 1944
  • Decommissioned 26 May 1946 at Charleston, SC and laid up in the Atlantic Reserve Fleet, Philadelphia Group
    Naval Vessel Register of 1 January 1949 lists plan for decommissioning and placing in reserve as January 1947
  • Reclassified as a Fast Minelayer, MMD-32, 1 January 1969
  • Struck from the Navy Register 1 October 1970
  • Disposed of as a target 1 May 1972.

    Specifications:

  • Displacement 2,380 t.(lt), 3370 t.(fl)
  • Length 376' 6"
  • Beam 40' 10"
  • Draft 18' 10"
  • Speed 34 kts.
  • Complement 363
  • Armament: Three twin 5"/38 dual purpose gun mounts, six twin 40mm gun mounts, eleven 20mm guns, two .50 cal. machine guns, two depth charge tracks and four depth charge projectors
  • Propulsion: Four Babcock and Wilcox boilers, two 60,000 shp General Electric Corp. geared turbines, two shafts.
    Click on thumbnail
    for full size Image    		 Size Image Description Source
    Lindsey 92k Lieutenant (Junior Grade) Eugene E. Lindsey, USN (1905-1942). Photographed circa 1929. He completed flight training in that year.
    Naval Historical Center photo NH 84903    		 Bill Gonyo
    Lindsey 73k Photo courtesy of:
    H. G. Nelson
    311 Granby St.
    Norfolk 10, VA
    U.S. Navy photo    		 John N. Egeland, Jr.
    Lindsey 250k 2 September 1944
    Bethlehem Steel Co., San Pedro, CA
    Port mine track and gear completion
    U.S. Navy photo    		 Pieter Bakels
    Lindsey 569k 2 September 1944
    San Pedro, CA
    Port mine track and turntable.
    National Archives photo from the Bureau of Ships Collection    		 Ed Zajkowski
    Lindsey 93k 2 September 1944
    Bethlehem Steel Co., San Pedro, CA
    Topside views of completion
    U.S. Navy photo    		 Pieter Bakels
    Lindsey 109k
    Lindsey 83k
    Lindsey 92k 5 September 1944
    Off San Pedro, CA
    National Archives photo 19-N-73159    		 Joe Radigan
    Lindsey 256k Starboard bow view of Lindsey at San Pedro, CA on 5 September 1944. The ship has been configured in Measure 32/11A camouflage scheme, with the colors being dull black, ocean gray and light gray
    National Archives photo 19-LCM-DM32-1, courtesy of C. Lee Johnson, Ships of the U.S. Navy in WWII “Dazzle” Camouflage    		 Mike Green
    Lindsey 89k Aerial photo of Lindsey taken on 6 September 1944, by an unidentified aircraft
    National Archives photo 80-G-248133, courtesy of C. Lee Johnson, Ships of the U.S. Navy in WWII “Dazzle” Camouflage
    Lindsey 132k The Lindsey was hit while leading a mine sweeping unit off Okinawa by two Kamikazes on 12 April 1945. She made it back to the states and with a new bow she rejoined the fleet Bob Daly/PC-1181
    Lindsey 110k Extensive damage suffered by Lindsey to her forward hull and superstructure, The result of two Kamikaze striking the ship off Okinawa 12 April 1945. The photograph was taken at Kerama Retto anchorage 14 April 1945
    National Archives photo 80-G-330108    		 Naval Historical Center
    Lindsey 103k Damages received from being hit by two Kamikaze hits on 12 April 1945.
    Photo from "United States Destroyer Operations of World War II", by Theodore Roscoe    		 Robert Hurst
    Lindsey 135k Dry-docked in USS ARD-26 at Kerama Retto in April, 1945 before being towed to Guam for the installation of a temporary bow.
    Photo from Navy Department Library: Destroyer Gunfire, Bomb and Kamikaze Damage Report; War Damage Report No. 51    		 Mike Green
    Lindsey 74k c. April 1945
    Starboard side view looking forward showing the heavy damage incurred from the bow back to mount 51 after two kamikaze hits. Her forecastle deck was bent upwards at a 45 degree angle by the force of the explosion. Note the 20mm Oerlikon gun mount contorted on it's mounting, the end of the barrel bent
    Australian War Memorial photo 306565
    Lindsey 232k 9 May 1945
    Guam
    Outboard of USS Seid (DE 256) and USS Quiros (IX 140)
    National Archives photos 80-G-319309, 80-G-319310, and 80-G-319311    		 John Chiquoine
    Lindsey 203k
    Lindsey 274k
    Lindsey 129k Crew of one of the ship's port forward 20mm guns pose by their weapon, at Guam, circa 16 June 1945. They had stuck to their post until knocked off their feet by the force of a second explosion, when Lindsey was struck by two Kamikaze planes off Okinawa on 12 April 1945. Note severely damaged plating in the vicinity. The men are (left to right): CM3c Edwin K. Kayden; GM3c Balanor Easebio; Y2c Chester F. Fluharty; S1c Fred M. Gorges; S1c Robert F. Zelenka
    National Archives photo 80-G-344369 in the Naval Historical Center    		 Bill Gonyo
    Lindsey 48k 27 September 1945
    Guam
    After being fitted with a new stub bow
    National Archives photo from "Fire From The Sky" by Robert C. Stern    		 Robert Hurst
    Gwin 111k Gwin (DM 33) is identifiable in the westernmost nest in the Philadelphia Reserve Fleet Reserve Basin in 1962. Obscured to her starboard are Schroeder [DD 501], Sigsbee [DD 502], and Lindsey. None will get to sea again
    Photo from Wirephoto in the Temple Digital Library    		 John Chiquoine
    Photo added 16 June 2020
    Commanding Officers
    01CDR Thomas Edward Chambers, USN - USNA Class of 1932
    Awarded the Silver Star (1945) - Retired as Captain    		20 August 1944 - 18 October 1945
    02LCDR Willard Young Howell, USN - USNA Class of 1939
    Awarded the Silver Star (1942) and two Bronze Stars with Combat V (1945/1953) - Retired as Captain    		18 October 1945 - 25 May 1946
    Courtesy of Wolfgang Hechler, Ron Reeves and Joe Radigan
    View the Lindsey (MMD 32)
    DANFS history entry located on the Naval History and Heritage Command website
    Additional Resources and Web Sites of Interest
    NavSource Destroyer Pages, USS Lindsey (DD-771)
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