USS Harwood DD-861
a US Navy destroyer
In this web site honoring the ship, her people and Commander Bruce L. Harwood, you will find many
pictures of the ship and her crew, sea stories about life and cruises on a destroyer, a profile of Commander
Harwood and interesting bits and pieces that never find their way into history books.
The Ship
Photo (c) 1998 G. Harwood
Ensign - USS Harwood DD-861 - Approx. 10" diameter. This plaque was
mounted in the Ward Room (officer's mess) of the USS Harwood when the ship was at
sea, and in the Quarterdeck passage while in port. - It has not been determined
whether this photo is of an original plaque or a replica.
Photo (c) 1951 ? -- [collection of Mort Hyman]
USS Harwood (DD/DDHK/DDE-861)
Photo taken circa 1951? after Hedgehog anti-sub device replaced the Number two 5" gun mount.
The USS Harwood - Description and Summary Chronology:
The USS Harwood was named after Commander Bruce Lawrence Harwood who gave
his life while leading a fire fighting crew and saving the lives of shipmates
aboard the aircraft carrier USS Princeton (CVL-23) when she was mortally wounded
by a 500 pound bomb during the Second Battle of the Philippine Sea on
24 October 1944.
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[From the files of Martyn Stowe]
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Invitation to the Launching of the USS Harwood on 22 May 1945 and a secrecy caveat about the launch date. Two throws by Mrs. Harwood were required to break the champaign bottle on the ship's bow.
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Dr. & Mrs. H.B. Harwood (parents)
and Mrs. Bruce Harwood
standing next to the ship's bow
just prior to launching the
USS Harwood on 22 May 1945. |
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[From the files of Richard G. Bullack]
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USS Harwood (DD-861) Fitting out at San Pedro
Photo circa 1945 -- [courtesy West PAC '68 6]
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"Carpenter Class" (converted from "Gearing Class") Destroyer:
Built by Bethlehem Steel Corporation at San Pedro, California
Launched as USS Harwood DD-861 on 22 May 1945
Commissioned on 28 September 1945
Displacement: 2425 tons
Dimensions (ft.): Length: 390.1; width 40.5; Draught: 18.5
Geared turbines, 2 shafts, S.H.P. 60,000 = 35 kts (crewman reports 25 kts.)
Boilers 4, Oil fuel: 650 tons; Radius (range): 5,800 miles at 15 kts.
Crew complement: 350 (Jane's 1954) but a crewman reports 225
Armament: Six 5-inch/38, four 40 mm, five 21 inch torpedo tubes
Redesignated "Destroyer-Hunter Killer" (DDK-861) after retrofitting in January 1949 with Hedgehog anti-submarine equipment that replaced the Number 2 gun mount.
Redesignated "Destroyer-Escort" (DDE) in March 1950 when DDK and DDE classifications
were merged.
Conversion enabled long and short-range submarine interception to protect convoys.
Sono-buoys, deployed in a diamond pattern over suspected submarine locations,
permitted location, tracking and depth-charging of submarines.
Estimated total of USS Harwood crew members serving during 1944-1971: approximately 4,000
17 December 1971: transferred to Turkish navy and renamed Kocatepe D-354
24 July 1974 - Cyprus conflict: D-354 was erroneously bombed & sunk by Turkish aircraft.
[Sources: former USS Harwood personnel organization and individuals; Janes Fighting
Ships, 1950-51, p.434; 1953-54, p.401; 1961-62, p.339]
From files of Richard G. Bullack]
USS Harwood (DD-861)- Anchored in Yangsi River, Shanghai, China in early 1946. -- Contributed by Richard Bullack, member of first DD-861 crew that put the ship into commission in San Pedro in 1945.
Photo (c) 1964 Richard Leonhardt -- [Courtesy: NavSource.Org/Archives/DD/ -
Used with permission.]
USS Harwood (DD/DDHK/DDE-861)
- Photo taken July 1964 in Chesapeake Bay from the USS Muliphen (AKA-61)
Commanding Officers of the USS Harwood
1945-1946 1st CO: Cdr. Reid P. Fiala - Deceased
1st Exec. Officer LCDR A. J. Wanamaker, Jr.
1946 CDR Robert Neyman
1946-1947 CDR Gordan A. Uehling--Deceased
1947-1949 CDR Robert Sellers--Deceased
1949-1951 Alan George Scgnable, --Deceased
1951-1952 CDR Fred G. Bennett,
1952-1954 CDR Samuel A. Forter
1954-1956 CDR John E. Tuttle --Deceased
1956-1958 CDR Charles W. Smyers, Jr,
1958-1960 CDR Louis E. Voorhees
1960-1962 CDR James Mercerm
1962-1963 CDR Joseph J. Cote--Deceased
1963-1965 CDR Cornelius F. Moul
1965-1966 CDR Whitrock
1966-1968 CDR William S. Guthrie
1968-1970 CDR Clifford D. Hopkins
1970-1971 Last CO: CAPT Robert Marshall
Photo (c) 1960 Glen Heckard -- [Courtesy: NavSource.Org/Archives/DD -
Used with permission.]
USS Harwood (DD/DDHK/DDE-861)
Photo taken in 1960 from the USS Keppler (DD-765). Location unknown.
Cruises of the USS Harwood - An incomplete Chronology
1946 under the command CDR Robert Neyman, the USS HARWOOD visited Tsingtao (CHINA), Pusan (KOREA), Shanghai and Hong Kong before returning to the States via Pearl Harbor.
Circa 1948 - Second China cruise
Circa 1954-57 - Goodwill/Training cruise with USS Thomas and USS Keppler to Columbia, Equado, Chile and Peru. Joined periodically by a US submarine for anti-submarine exercises. Equatorial crossing watch list from this cruise (Fig. __).
7/57 to 12/57 Med cruise..Greece, Italy, Turkey, Gibraltar
1/58 to 3/58 'Operation Springboard' Caribbean
5/58 to 8/58 BNSY 'removed the 40 mm guns'
9/58 to 10/58 GITMO
11/58 to 9/59 Task Force 'Bravo' [ Anti-sub task group] with USS Wasp,
Midshipmen Cruise Quebec & NY City
[Information courtesy of R.W. Armstrong, F. Foley, C.C. Hotaling Jr.]
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USS Harwood (DD-861)
Photo circa 1968 -- [courtesy West PAC '68 6]
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Photo circa 1956 ? -- [collection of Richard W. Armstrong]
