WORLD WAR II DESTROYER REMEMBERED DURING NKY MILITARY REUNION
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Betty Burns
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Pat Frew, Director of Communications
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E-Mail: Pressroom@nkycvb.com | www.nkycvb.com
WORLD WAR II DESTROYER REMEMBERED DURING NKY MILITARY REUNION
Fort Mitchell, KY/September 18, 2006—The 18th Annual Military Reunion of the USS Thatcher DD 514 will be held September 20-23 at the Drawbridge Inn.
A 2050-ton Fletcher class destroyer, was built at Bath, Maine. She was commissioned in February 1943 and, in April and May, served as an escort for trans-Atlantic convoys. In the resulting Battle of Empress Augusta Bay, during the early hours of November 2, Thatcher collided with the USS Spence, suffering enough damage to send her back to the U.S. for repairs and an overhaul.
Thatcher returned to the combat zone in March 1944. She operated with the carriers during raids on Japanese bases in the south and central Pacific and in June took part in the invasion of Saipan. From August to December 1944 the destroyer screened fleet logistics ships as the U.S. offensive moved westward into the Philippines.
In May, 1945, Thatcher was sent to reinforce the hard-pressed U.S. destroyers off Okinawa. While on radar picket duty on May 20 she was badly damaged by a Kamikaze, suffering the loss of 14 of her crew. She was hit again off Okinawa on July 19, but damage and casualties were light. However, she did not arrive back in the United States until after Japan's mid-August decision to surrender. Since the suddenly reduced need for combat ships did not justify the work necessary to repair her, USS Thatcher was decommissioned in November 1945 and soon afterwards stricken from the list of Naval vessels. She was sold for scrap in January 1948.
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