USS Worden, a 1410-ton Farragut class destroyer built at the Puget Sound Navy Yard, was commissioned in January 1935. She made her shakedown cruise to Central America, then went to the Atlantic for several months before returning to the Pacific in mid-year. The destroyer operated out of San Diego, California, between 1935 and 1939, steaming at various times as far north as Alaska and as far south as Peru. She also took part in fleet exercises in the Caribbean, Hawaiian waters and off the U.S. west coast. In October 1939, after World War II began in Europe, Worden's base was shifted to Pearl Harbor, where she became part of the U.S. Fleet's Hawaiian Detachment.
Worden was moored at Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941 when Japan's surprise attack on that base opened the Pacific War. She was able to get to sea a few hours after the attack began, and in the following weeks participated in the abortive Wake Island relief expedition. She was employed on patrol and escort duties during the first part of 1942, making two round-trip voyages to the south Pacific between February and May. In early June, Worden screened U.S. aircraft carriers during the Battle of Midway. The next month she went back to the south Pacific, where she operated with USS Saratoga during the invasion of Guadalcanal and Tulagi in early August 1942 and in the Battle of the Eastern Solomons later in that month.
After a west coast overhaul in October and November 1942, Worden was sent to Alaskan waters, arriving there on the first day of 1943. Less than two weeks later, while covering preliminary landings on Amchitka Island on 12 January, she went aground. Attempts to pull her off failed and Worden, battered between waves and rocks, was soon reduced to a broken wreck.
USS Worden was named in honor of Rear Admiral John L. Worden (1818-1897), who commanded USS Monitor during her historic battle with CSS Virginia on 9 March 1862.
This page features and provides links to all the views we have related to USS Worden (DD-352).
For additional views related to this ship, see:
If you want higher resolution reproductions than the digital images presented here, see: "How to Obtain Photographic Reproductions." |
Click on the small photograph to prompt a larger view of the same image.
Photo #: 80-G-466073 USS Worden (DD-352) Underway in harbor, September 1935. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives. Online Image: 55KB; 740 x 605 pixels Reproductions of this image may also be available through the National Archives photographic reproduction system. |
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Photo #: NH 97952 USS Worden (DD-352) At anchor, circa the later 1930s Official U.S. Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval Historical Center. Online Image: 74KB; 740 x 610 pixels |
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Photo #: 19-N-36983 USS Warden (DD-352) Off the Mare Island Navy Yard, California, 21 November 1942. Note barrage balloons aloft in the distance. Photograph from the Bureau of Ships Collection in the U.S. National Archives. Online Image: 70KB; 740 x 600 pixels Reproductions of this image may also be available through the National Archives photographic reproduction system. |
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Photo #: 19-N-36989 USS Warden (DD-352) At the Mare Island Navy Yard, California, 21 November 1942. USS St. Louis (CL-49) is in the background. Circles mark recent shipyard alterations to Warden. Photograph from the Bureau of Ships Collection in the U.S. National Archives. Online Image: 134KB; 580 x 765 pixels Reproductions of this image may also be available through the National Archives photographic reproduction system. |
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Photo #: NH 68450 Destroyer Squadron Twenty (DesRon 20) Five of the squadron's ships moored together, circa 1936. The destroyers are (from left to right): USS Dewey (DD-349), USS Farragut (DD-348), USS Worden (DD-352), USS Hull (DD-350) and USS Aylwin (DD-355). U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph. Online Image: 92KB; 740 x 435 pixels |
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Photo #: NH 54527 USS Dobbin (AD-2) Photographed circa 1937, with several destroyers alongside. They include (from left to right): USS Phelps (DD-360), USS Worden (DD-332), USS MacDonough (DD-351), USS Dewey (DD-349) and USS Hull (DD-350). Note that some of these ships' hull numbers are painted close to the waterline, while others are about midway between the boot topping and the weather deck. Courtesy of BMGC Ralph E. Turpin, USN (Retired), 1963. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph. Online Image: 71KB; 740 x 455 pixels |
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Note: In addition to the views presented above:
For additional views related to USS Worden, see:
If you want higher resolution reproductions than the digital images presented here, see: "How to Obtain Photographic Reproductions." |
Page made 1 May 2002
Links added 28 January 2005