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NavSource Online: Mine Warfare Vessel Photo Archive

Macomb (DD 458)
ex-DMS-23
ex-DD-458



Call sign:
Nan - Uncle - Dog - Sugar


Macomb served the Navies of the United States, Japan and the Republic of China

Gleaves Class Destroyer/Ellyson Class Highspeed Minesweeper:

  • Laid down 3 September 1940 by Bath Iron Works Corp., Bath, Maine
  • Launched 23 September 1941
  • Commissioned USS Macomb (DD-458), 26 January 1942
  • Reclassified and converted to a Highspeed Minesweeper, DMS-23, 15 November 1944
  • Reclassified back to a Destroyer, DD-458, 4 April 1954
  • Decommissioned and transferred to Japan 19 October 1954 as Hatakaze (DD-182)
  • Returned to U.S. Navy custody 3 December 1969
  • Transferred to Taiwan 6 August 1970 as Hsien Yang (DD 1016)
  • Decommissioned in 1974 for use as a dockside training ship, cannibalization and scrap.

    Specifications:

  • Displacement 1,630 t.(lt), 2,575 t.(fl)
  • Length 348' 3"
  • Beam 36' 1"
  • Draft 13' 9"
  • Speed 37.4 kts.
  • Complement 272
  • Armament: Three 5"/38 dual purpose gun mounts and two quad 40mm mounts
  • Propulsion: Four Babcock and Wilcox boilers, two 50,000shp Westinghouse geared turbines, De Laval double reduction gear, two shafts.
    Click on thumbnail
    for full size image
    Size Image Description Source
    RADM David B. Macomb, USN
    Macomb 107k Rear Adm. David B. Macomb

    Macomb (DD 458) was named in honor of two cousins. Commodore William H. Macomb, born 6 June 1819 in Michigan, served with distinction during the Civil War. He took part in the riverine warfare along the Mississippi, commanded Shamrock in the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron, headed the naval force which captured Plymouth, N.C., and led an expedition up the Roanoke River in North Carolina. For his gallantry in action with the North Atlantic Squadron, he was advanced several numbers in his grade. Commodore Macomb died on 12 August 1872 in Philadelphia.

    Commodore Macomb’s first cousin, Rear Adm. David B. Macomb, born near Tallahassee, Fla., 27 February 1827, entered the Navy as third assistant engineer in 1849. Prior to the Civil War, he served with the Ringgold Expedition which explored the North Pacific and the China and Japanese Seas; and he accompanied Commodore Perry’s fleet to Japan, 1853-55. After the start of hostilities in 1861, he took part in the blockade of Charleston, S.C., and of Pensacola, Fla., then at Boston helped build monitors Nahant and Canonicus. He subsequently served on the latter with the James River Fleet and the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron. He contributed several inventions to the Navy including the Macomb Bilge Strainer and the hydraulic lift used in the turrets of ironclads. He retired in 1889 and died 27 January 1911 in New York City
    Photo of Rear Adm. David B. Macomb from the Archives of the Naval Historical Foundation

    Bill Gonyo
    USS Macomb (DMS 23)
    Macomb 73k 14 April 1942
    Off Boston, MA
    National Archives photo BS 29130 from the Bureau of Ships Collection
    Joe Radigan
    Macomb 156k At Charleston, SC on 20 December 1944, wearing camouflage 32a/29D. The colors are haze gray and ocean gray. Note the contrast between ocean gray and haze gray
    National Archives photos 19-LCM-DMS23-1 and BS 76030 from the Bureau of Ships Collection
    Ships of the U.S. Navy in WWII “Dazzle” Camouflage
    Macomb 245k
    Macomb 93k At sea following World War II
    Courtesy of Donald M. McPherson, 1974
    Naval History and Heritage Command photo NH 81009
    Robert Hurst
    Macomb 198k U.S. Navy photo Original photo: Tommy Trampp
    Replacement photo: Steve Drawdy
    Macomb 355k Moored inboard of Fitch (DMS 25) Steve Drawdy
    Macomb 67k c. 1945 EMCS James Diamond
    Macomb 62k c. 1946-1947
    Macomb 67k c. 1952-1953 Original photo: EMCS James Diamond
    Replacement photo: Robert Hurst
    Macomb 39k c. 1953 James Young RM2, USN/EMCS James Diamond
    Hsien Yang (DD 1016)
    Macomb 63k Hsien Yang (DD 1016) alongside an unidentified LST
    U.S. Navy photo
    Joe Radigan

    Commanding Officers
    01LCDR William Howard Duvall, USN - USNA Class of 1924
    Awarded the Legion of Merit (1946)
    26 January 1942 - 10 January 1943
    02LCDR Jerry Curtis South, USN - USNA Class of 193110 January 1943 - 2 March 1944
    03LCDR George Hutchinson, USN - USNA Class of 19352 March 1944 - 7 December 1944
    04LCDR Alton Louis Clifford "Red" Waldron, USN - USNA Class of 1939
    Awarded the Silver Star (1945) and the Legion off Merit (1943) - Retired as Captain
    7 December 1944 - 1946
    05LCDR Thomas Andrew Turner, USN - USNA Class of 1941
    Awarded the Silver Star (1945) - Retired as Captain
    1946 - 1947
    06LCDR Robert Stephen Guy, USN1 January 1948 -1 February 1948
    07LCDR Robert Elwin Cutts, USN - USNA Class of 1938
    Awarded the Silver Star - Retired as Captain
    1 February 1948 - 1 June 1948
    08LCDR William John Caspari, USN - USNA Class of 1940September 1949 - September 1950
    09LCDR John Leroy Hutchinson, USNOctober 1951 - October 1953
    Courtesy of Wolfgang Hechler, Ron Reeves and Joe Radigan

    View the Macomb (DMS 23)
    DANFS history entry located on the Naval History and Heritage Command website
    Additional Resources and Web Sites of Interest
    NavSource Destroyer Pages, USS Macomb (DD-458)
    Back To The Main Photo Index Back To the Mine Warfare Ship Photo Index Back to the Highspeed Minesweeper (DMS) Photo Index

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