Destroyer USS Cotten | World War II Database

USS Cotten

Country	United States
Ship Class	Fletcher-class Destroyer
Builder	Federal Shipbuilding and Drydock Company, Kearny, New Jersey, United States
Laid Down	8 Feb 1943
Launched	12 Jun 1943
Commissioned	24 Jul 1943
Decommissioned	15 Jul 1946
Displacement	2050 tons standard
Length	377 feet
Beam	40 feet
Draft	18 feet
Power Output	60000 SHP
Speed	35 knots
Range	6,500nm at 15 knots
Crew	336
Armament	5x5in, 4x40mm anti-aircraft, 4x20mm anti-aircraft, 10x21in torpedo tubes, 6 depth charge projectors,

Contributor: C. Peter Chen

With Lieutenant Commander F. T. Sloat in command, destroyer Cotten departed Norfolk, Virginia, United States on 9 Oct 1943 for Pearl Harbor. Between Nov 1943 and the end of the war, she participated in every major campaign the Americans launched against Japanese positions in the Pacific, including the Gilberts campaign, Marshalls campaign, the attack on Truk, Marianas campaign (including Battle of the Philippine Sea), Philippines campaign (including Battle of the Surigao Strait), and Battle of Iwo Jima. After the war, she remained in Japan as part of the naval occupation force until Dec 1945. She was decommissioned at Charleston, South Carolina, in Jul 1946.

As the pressures in Korea built up, Cotten was recommissioned on 3 Jul 1951 and served a tour of duty in western Pacific. After several tours of duty in the Mediterranean Sea and in the Middle East, she was decommissioned again on 2 may 1960. She was sold 31 July 1975 and broken up for scrap.

Source: Wikipedia.

USS Cotten Operational Timeline