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USS Mullany (DD-528)
Encyclopedia
USS Mullany (DD-528), a Fletcher-class
destroyer
, was the second ship of the United States Navy
to be named for Rear Admiral James Robert Madison Mullany
(1818–1887).
Co., Union Plant, San Francisco, Calif., she was launched
10 October 1942, sponsored by Mrs. Elton W. Grenfell; and commissioned
23 April 1943, Commander Baron J. Mullaney in command.
After shakedown and training off San Diego and escort duty in the Aleutians, Mullany joined the 7th Fleet in the southwest Pacific in December 1943. Her first action came 2 to 4 March 1944 when she protected minesweeper
s clearing the approaches to Seeadler Harbor
, Admiralty Island
s, prior to the amphibious landings on Los Negros
, the island forming the northeastern side of the harbor. Attracting Japan
ese gunfire, Mullany silenced the Japanese harbor defenses with 5 inch fire, enabling the minesweepers to complete their vital mission. For the next 2 days Mullany fired to support American troops fighting ashore.
Screening 7th Fleet flagship
during the invasion of Leyte Gulf
, Mullany fired to help drive off nine separate enemy air attacks from 20 to 29 October, then sailed for overhaul at San Francisco. After training near Hawaii
in January 1945, she joined Task Force 54 (TF 54) for the invasion of Iwo Jima
, to which she escorted troop transports. After firing in the preinvasion bombardment, she supported troops landing and fighting ashore, hitting caves and machinegun nests on Mount Suribachi 19 February.
An antisubmarine
picket guarding the Okinawa invasion
force 6 April 1945, Mullany opened fire on a Japanese kamikaze
plane at 17:45. A few seconds later the fighter was smoking from numerous hits, but somehow managed to stay together. Skipper Comdr. Albert O. Momm ordered the ship to turn out of the kamikaze's path, but couldn't get out of the way in time. The plane slammed into the after deckhouse. Before damage control parties could remove all the wounded from the twisted metal and exploding ammunition, the ship's depth charge
s exploded. In the next 20 minutes three more enemy aircraft attacked stricken Mullany. Her forward gunners downed two and drove the other away.
An hour later, Momm received a report that the bulkhead of one of the aft magazines was hot and an explosion was apparently imminent. Many of the ship's officers had seen the disastrous consequences of a magazine explosion, and at 18:29 Momm gave the order to abandon ship. stood by to take on survivors while her rescue and assistance team continued to spray water on Mullany. The rescued 70 members of the Mullany crew from the water. The Execute then came alongside and helped fight the fires. In the next hours came alongside the burning ship and extinguished the flames. Since the expected explosion had been prevented by punctured fuel and water tanks flooding the compartments above the hot magazine, Commander Momm took a skeleton crew back aboard at 23:00. After the fires were extinguished the Execute attempted a tow using her sweep gear. At first the Mullany was in tow at low speed. With an increase in speed the sweep cable snapped and the tow attempt was discontinued. The Mullany crew then succeeded in lighting off one boiler, and Mullany limped off on one shaft for Pearl Harbor
and San Francisco, arriving 29 May. Courage and determination had saved their ship, but 21 of her crew were killed, nine missing, and 36 wounded.
Completely repaired, Mullany put to sea 25 September for the Panama Canal
and duty with the Atlantic Fleet
, until decommissioning 14 February 1946 to join the Reserve Fleet
at Charleston, South Carolina
With her squadron, Destroyer Squadron 18 (DesRon 18), Mullany departed Newport, R.I.
1 December 1954 for San Diego, where the squadron was redesignated DesRon 21 for service in the Pacific Fleet. In the next 10 years, Mullany served eight times in the western Pacific with the 7th Fleet, joining in patrol and training operations essential to the protection of freedom in Asia
.
in 1965, as well as serving as harbor defense ship at Da Nang
. On 6 July 1965, Mullany's five-inch guns were fired in anger for the first time since Okinawa. This time it was in support of the U.S. 7th Marine Regiment
landing at Qui Nhon
. The following year she returned to the coast of Vietnam to seek out and destroy craft moving enemy supplies. From 20 to 30 November 1966, she destroyed 28 enemy watercraft and damaged 26 others with her 5 inch guns. She screened until sailing for San Diego in March 1967. Following an overhaul at Long Beach
, Mullany spent the remainder of the year conducting refresher training and local operations off the coast of California.
In February 1968, she once again deployed to the Western Pacific. On 9 July 1968, Mullany left Vietnamese waters for the last time. During 137 days at sea, she had steamed 46,468 miles, nearly twice around the earth. Over a career that spanned 25 years, she would have circumnavigated the globe more than 40 times. After a visit to Auckland, New Zealand, she returned to San Diego in September.
Based in Long Beach, Mullany spent the next two years steaming up and down the West Coast as a reserve training ship.
By 1971, Mullany was the oldest destroyer on active service. She was decommissioned and stricken from the Naval Vessel Register
6 October 1971, and sold to the Republic of China
for $150,000, plus $3,000, "administrative charges."
6 October 1971, the ship was renamed Chiang Yang.
Chaing Yang was stricken 16 July 1999.
Chaing Yang was sunk as an artificial reef on 1 November 2001.
Fletcher class destroyer
The Fletcher class were a class of destroyers built by the United States during World War II. The class was designed in 1939 as a result of dissatisfaction with the earlier destroyer leader types...
destroyer
Destroyer
In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast and maneuverable yet long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy or battle group and defend them against smaller, powerful, short-range attackers. Destroyers, originally called torpedo-boat destroyers in 1892, evolved from...
, was the second ship of the United States Navy
United States Navy
The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...
to be named for Rear Admiral James Robert Madison Mullany
James Robert Madison Mullany
James Robert Madison Mullany was a rear admiral of the United States Navy, who served during the American Civil War.-Biography:Mullany was the son of Colonel James R. Mullany and Maria Burger...
(1818–1887).
World War II service
Mullany was originally Beatty (DD-528) but was renamed on 28 May 1941. Laid down 15 January 1942 by Bethlehem SteelBethlehem Steel
The Bethlehem Steel Corporation , based in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, was once the second-largest steel producer in the United States, after Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania-based U.S. Steel. After a decline in the U.S...
Co., Union Plant, San Francisco, Calif., she was launched
Ship naming and launching
The ceremonies involved in naming and launching naval ships are based in traditions thousands of years old.-Methods of launch:There are three principal methods of conveying a new ship from building site to water, only two of which are called "launching." The oldest, most familiar, and most widely...
10 October 1942, sponsored by Mrs. Elton W. Grenfell; and commissioned
Ship commissioning
Ship commissioning is the act or ceremony of placing a ship in active service, and may be regarded as a particular application of the general concepts and practices of project commissioning. The term is most commonly applied to the placing of a warship in active duty with its country's military...
23 April 1943, Commander Baron J. Mullaney in command.
After shakedown and training off San Diego and escort duty in the Aleutians, Mullany joined the 7th Fleet in the southwest Pacific in December 1943. Her first action came 2 to 4 March 1944 when she protected minesweeper
Minesweeper (ship)
A minesweeper is a small naval warship designed to counter the threat posed by naval mines. Minesweepers generally detect then neutralize mines in advance of other naval operations.-History:...
s clearing the approaches to Seeadler Harbor
Seeadler Harbor
Seeadler Harbor, also known as Port Seeadler, is located on Manus Island, Admiralty Islands, Papua New Guinea and played an important role in World War II...
, Admiralty Island
Admiralty Island
Admiralty Island is an island in the Alexander Archipelago in Southeast Alaska, at . It is 145 km long and 56 km wide with an area of 4,264.1 km² , making it the seventh largest island in the United States and the 132nd largest island in the world. It is one of the...
s, prior to the amphibious landings on Los Negros
Los Negros
Los Negros was a criminal organization that was once the armed wing of the Sinaloa Cartel and after a switch of alliances, became the armed wing of the Beltrán Leyva Cartel. On 2010 it went independent and had been contesting the control of the Beltrán Leyva Cartel. It was then the criminal...
, the island forming the northeastern side of the harbor. Attracting Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
ese gunfire, Mullany silenced the Japanese harbor defenses with 5 inch fire, enabling the minesweepers to complete their vital mission. For the next 2 days Mullany fired to support American troops fighting ashore.
Screening 7th Fleet flagship
Flagship
A flagship is a vessel used by the commanding officer of a group of naval ships, reflecting the custom of its commander, characteristically a flag officer, flying a distinguishing flag...
during the invasion of Leyte Gulf
Battle of Leyte
The Battle of Leyte in the Pacific campaign of World War II was the invasion and conquest of the island of Leyte in the Philippines by American and Filipino guerrilla forces under the command of General Douglas MacArthur, who fought against the Imperial Japanese Army in the Philippines led by...
, Mullany fired to help drive off nine separate enemy air attacks from 20 to 29 October, then sailed for overhaul at San Francisco. After training near Hawaii
Hawaii
Hawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states , and is the only U.S. state made up entirely of islands. It is the northernmost island group in Polynesia, occupying most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of...
in January 1945, she joined Task Force 54 (TF 54) for the invasion of Iwo Jima
Battle of Iwo Jima
The Battle of Iwo Jima , or Operation Detachment, was a major battle in which the United States fought for and captured the island of Iwo Jima from the Empire of Japan. The U.S...
, to which she escorted troop transports. After firing in the preinvasion bombardment, she supported troops landing and fighting ashore, hitting caves and machinegun nests on Mount Suribachi 19 February.
An antisubmarine
Submarine
A submarine is a watercraft capable of independent operation below the surface of the water. It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability...
picket guarding the Okinawa invasion
Battle of Okinawa
The Battle of Okinawa, codenamed Operation Iceberg, was fought on the Ryukyu Islands of Okinawa and was the largest amphibious assault in the Pacific War of World War II. The 82-day-long battle lasted from early April until mid-June 1945...
force 6 April 1945, Mullany opened fire on a Japanese kamikaze
Kamikaze
The were suicide attacks by military aviators from the Empire of Japan against Allied naval vessels in the closing stages of the Pacific campaign of World War II, designed to destroy as many warships as possible....
plane at 17:45. A few seconds later the fighter was smoking from numerous hits, but somehow managed to stay together. Skipper Comdr. Albert O. Momm ordered the ship to turn out of the kamikaze's path, but couldn't get out of the way in time. The plane slammed into the after deckhouse. Before damage control parties could remove all the wounded from the twisted metal and exploding ammunition, the ship's depth charge
Depth charge
A depth charge is an anti-submarine warfare weapon intended to destroy or cripple a target submarine by the shock of exploding near it. Most use explosives and a fuze set to go off at a preselected depth in the ocean. Depth charges can be dropped by either surface ships, patrol aircraft, or from...
s exploded. In the next 20 minutes three more enemy aircraft attacked stricken Mullany. Her forward gunners downed two and drove the other away.
An hour later, Momm received a report that the bulkhead of one of the aft magazines was hot and an explosion was apparently imminent. Many of the ship's officers had seen the disastrous consequences of a magazine explosion, and at 18:29 Momm gave the order to abandon ship. stood by to take on survivors while her rescue and assistance team continued to spray water on Mullany. The rescued 70 members of the Mullany crew from the water. The Execute then came alongside and helped fight the fires. In the next hours came alongside the burning ship and extinguished the flames. Since the expected explosion had been prevented by punctured fuel and water tanks flooding the compartments above the hot magazine, Commander Momm took a skeleton crew back aboard at 23:00. After the fires were extinguished the Execute attempted a tow using her sweep gear. At first the Mullany was in tow at low speed. With an increase in speed the sweep cable snapped and the tow attempt was discontinued. The Mullany crew then succeeded in lighting off one boiler, and Mullany limped off on one shaft for Pearl Harbor
Pearl Harbor
Pearl Harbor, known to Hawaiians as Puuloa, is a lagoon harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu. Much of the harbor and surrounding lands is a United States Navy deep-water naval base. It is also the headquarters of the U.S. Pacific Fleet...
and San Francisco, arriving 29 May. Courage and determination had saved their ship, but 21 of her crew were killed, nine missing, and 36 wounded.
Completely repaired, Mullany put to sea 25 September for the Panama Canal
Panama Canal
The Panama Canal is a ship canal in Panama that joins the Atlantic Ocean and the Pacific Ocean and is a key conduit for international maritime trade. Built from 1904 to 1914, the canal has seen annual traffic rise from about 1,000 ships early on to 14,702 vessels measuring a total of 309.6...
and duty with the Atlantic Fleet
U.S. Atlantic Fleet
The United States Fleet Forces Command is an Atlantic Ocean theater-level component command of the United States Navy that provides naval resources that are under the operational control of the United States Northern Command...
, until decommissioning 14 February 1946 to join the Reserve Fleet
Reserve fleet
A reserve fleet is a collection of naval vessels of all types that are fully equipped for service but are not currently needed, and thus partially or fully decommissioned. A reserve fleet is informally said to be "in mothballs" or "mothballed"; an equivalent expression in unofficial modern U.S....
at Charleston, South Carolina
Charleston, South Carolina
Charleston is the second largest city in the U.S. state of South Carolina. It was made the county seat of Charleston County in 1901 when Charleston County was founded. The city's original name was Charles Towne in 1670, and it moved to its present location from a location on the west bank of the...
Post World War II service
Recommissioned 8 March 1951, Mullany rejoined the Atlantic Fleet and by January 1954 had made three deployments to the Mediterranean to join in the peace-keeping missions of the 6th Fleet.With her squadron, Destroyer Squadron 18 (DesRon 18), Mullany departed Newport, R.I.
Naval Station Newport
The Naval Station Newport is a United States Navy base located in the towns of Newport and Middletown, Rhode Island. Naval Station Newport is home to the Naval War College and the Naval Justice School...
1 December 1954 for San Diego, where the squadron was redesignated DesRon 21 for service in the Pacific Fleet. In the next 10 years, Mullany served eight times in the western Pacific with the 7th Fleet, joining in patrol and training operations essential to the protection of freedom in Asia
Asia
Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...
.
Vietnam War
Veteran Mullany returned to combat during her ninth cruise to the coast of Asia, screening carrier in flight operations off VietnamVietnam
Vietnam – sometimes spelled Viet Nam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam – is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea –...
in 1965, as well as serving as harbor defense ship at Da Nang
Da Nang
Đà Nẵng , occasionally Danang, is a major port city in the South Central Coast of Vietnam, on the coast of the South China Sea at the mouth of the Han River. It is the commercial and educational center of Central Vietnam; its well-sheltered, easily accessible port and its location on the path of...
. On 6 July 1965, Mullany's five-inch guns were fired in anger for the first time since Okinawa. This time it was in support of the U.S. 7th Marine Regiment
U.S. 7th Marine Regiment
The 7th Marine Regiment is an infantry regiment of the United States Marine Corps based at Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center Twentynine Palms, California...
landing at Qui Nhon
Qui Nhon
Qui Nhơn , also Quy Nhơn, is a coastal city in Binh Dinh province in central Vietnam. It is composed of 16 wards and five communes with a total of 286 km². Quy Nhon is the capital of Bình Định province. As of 2009 its population was 280,900. Historically, the commercial activities of the city...
. The following year she returned to the coast of Vietnam to seek out and destroy craft moving enemy supplies. From 20 to 30 November 1966, she destroyed 28 enemy watercraft and damaged 26 others with her 5 inch guns. She screened until sailing for San Diego in March 1967. Following an overhaul at Long Beach
Long Beach Naval Shipyard
thumb|right|300px|Long Beach Naval Shipyard in 1993The Long Beach Naval Shipyard, which closed in 1997, was located at Terminal Island between the city of Long Beach and the San Pedro district of Los Angeles and approximately 23 miles south of the Los Angeles International Airport.The Long Beach...
, Mullany spent the remainder of the year conducting refresher training and local operations off the coast of California.
In February 1968, she once again deployed to the Western Pacific. On 9 July 1968, Mullany left Vietnamese waters for the last time. During 137 days at sea, she had steamed 46,468 miles, nearly twice around the earth. Over a career that spanned 25 years, she would have circumnavigated the globe more than 40 times. After a visit to Auckland, New Zealand, she returned to San Diego in September.
Based in Long Beach, Mullany spent the next two years steaming up and down the West Coast as a reserve training ship.
By 1971, Mullany was the oldest destroyer on active service. She was decommissioned and stricken from the Naval Vessel Register
Naval Vessel Register
The Naval Vessel Register is the official inventory of ships and service craft in custody of or titled by the United States Navy. It contains information on ships and service craft that make up the official inventory of the Navy from the time a vessel is authorized through its life cycle and...
6 October 1971, and sold to the Republic of China
Republic of China
The Republic of China , commonly known as Taiwan , is a unitary sovereign state located in East Asia. Originally based in mainland China, the Republic of China currently governs the island of Taiwan , which forms over 99% of its current territory, as well as Penghu, Kinmen, Matsu and other minor...
for $150,000, plus $3,000, "administrative charges."
Chiang Yang
Transferred to the Republic of China NavyRepublic of China Navy
The Republic of China Navy is the maritime branch of the Armed forces of the Republic of China . The ROC Navy's primary mission is to defend ROC territories and the sea lanes that surround Taiwan against a blockade, attack, or possible invasion by forces of the People's Republic of China...
6 October 1971, the ship was renamed Chiang Yang.
Chaing Yang was stricken 16 July 1999.
Chaing Yang was sunk as an artificial reef on 1 November 2001.