USS Colhoun DD-85/APD-2

Photograph of the USS COLHOUN APD-2, during under way replenishment, taken from the deck of the HMAS HOBART in early August 1942. Note the USS COLHOUN forward deck crew securing a pair of lines from the HMAS HOBART.

Facts about the USS COLHOUN DD-85/APD-2:

High Speed Transport (ex Wickes Class Destroyer):
Displacement: 1060-1090 tons
Length: 314'4"
Beam: 30'6"
Draft: 8'8"
Speed: 35 knots
Armament: 4 4"/50, 1 3"/23, 6x3 21" torpedo tubes; or 6 3"/50, 1 3"/23, 6x3 21" torpedo tubes
Complement: 149
Geared turbines with twin screws, 26,000 h.p.
Built at Bethlehem, Fore River and commissioned (DD-85) 1918
Converted to High-Speed Transport (APD-2), 1940
Sunk on August 30th, 1942

The History of the USS COLHOUN DD-85/APD-2:

The first USS Colhoun (DD-85) was launched on 21 February 1918 by Fore River Shipbuilding Co., Quincy, Mass. The Destroyer was sponsored by Miss A. Colhoun; commissioned 13 June 1918, Commander B. B. Wygant in command, and reported to the Atlantic Fleet.
From 30 June to 14 September 1918 the USS Colhoun served as convoy escort between New York and European ports. On 10 November 1918 she reported to New London to conduct experiments with sound equipment then under development. On 1 January 1919 she rushed to assist the transport Northern Pacific which was stranded at Fire Island, carrying 194 of her returning troops to Hoboken, N.J.
After operating in the Caribbean and off the east coast, the USS Colhoun was placed in reduced commission at Philadelphia Navy Yard 1 December 1919. Following overhaul at Norfolk Navy Yard and a reserve period at Charleston, S.C., she returned to Philadelphia, where she was decommissioned 28 June 1922.
Towed to Norfolk Navy Yard (5 June 1940) the USS Colhoun underwent conversion to a high-speed transport and was re-commissioned as APD-2 on 11 December 1940. She operated between Norfolk and the Caribbean on training exercises until sailing for Noumea, New Caledonia where she arrived 21 July 1942.
She carried units of the 1st Marine Raider Battalion in the initial assault landings on Guadalcanal on 7 August and continued to serve as both transport and antisubmarine vessel in support of the invasion. The USS COLHOUN returned to Guadalcanal on August 15, 1942 with sister APD's, LITTLE, MCKEAN, and GREGORY with the first supplies to be brought to the United States Marines since the initial landing on August 7, 1942.
At 1400 on 30 August 1942, while the USS Colhoun was on patrol off Guadalcanal, she was struck in a Japanese air raid in a level bombing attack, not a divebombing attack. The first hits wrecked the ship's boats and the after davits and started a diesel fire from the boat wreckage. In a second attack, a succession of hits on the starboard side brought down the foremast, blew two 20mm. guns and one 4" gun off the ship, and damaged the engineering spaces. Two more direct hits killed all the men in the after deckhouse. Tank lighters from Guadalcanal rescued the crew, and the USS Colhoun sank at 09° 24' S., 160° 01' E. Fifty-one (51) men were killed and eighteen (18) were wounded in this action.
The USS Colhoun received one battle star for her participation in World War II.

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