World War II Database

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ww2dbaseCommissioned with Commander C. F. Chillingworth in command, Renshaw took her shakedown cruise and reported to the Pacific Fleet in spring of 1943. She escorted transports in the Solomon Islands area and participated in the bombardment of the Vila Stanmore and Shortland Island areas in Kula Gulf beginning on 2 Jul 1943. Between 21 Nov 1943 and 19 Jan 1944, she bombarded Japanese positions at Bougainville, Buka, and Green Islands, then she sailed for Bougainville to provide naval gunfire support for the landing operations there. In Mar 1944, she bombarded Japanese positions in the New Britain and New Ireland area. After a brief training period at Pearl Harbor, she escorted LSTs during the landing operations on Tinian. In Nov 1944, she provided gunfire support in the Ormoc Bay area in the Philippines. On 31 Dec 1944, she sailed with a task unit to screen a large Allied transport formation sailing for Lingayen Gulf at Luzon; the task force reached Luzon for landing operations on 9 Jan 1944 safely.

ww2dbaseOn 21 Feb 1945, Renshaw was struck by a torpedo. With a hole 3 meters below the waterline, her firerooms were flooded and the ship lost all power. 19 men were killed and 20 more injured. She remained afloat and was eventually escorted to San Pedro Bay for temporary repairs and then to the Todd Pacific Shipyard in Tacoma, Washington, United States for permanent repairs. Because of the torpedo damage, she missed the remainder of the war.

ww2dbaseOn 27 Oct 1945, in New York Harbor, President Harry Truman reviewed the Navy Day victory parade from aboard Renshaw.

ww2dbaseRenshaw was decommissioned in 1947, but she was recommissioned during the Korean War as an anti-submarine vessel. She served two tours of duty in the Pacific Rim area, serving in anti-submarine, escort, patrol, search and rescue, and bombardment duties. In 1960, she received the new anti-submarine weapon Weapon Alpha. On 17 Dec 1961, she recovered the nose-cone of space shuttle Discoverer 36. On 3 October, she participated in the recovery of Project Mercury Astronaut Commander Walter M. Schirra. In 1965, she returned to the Pacific Rim, this time operating in the South China Sea area off Taiwan and Vietnam. She returned to Pearl Harbor from her 12th and final Western Pacific tour in Dec 1969, and was decommissioned in Feb 1970. She was sold for scrap in Oct 1970 to Zidell Explorations Inc.

Destroyer Renshaw Interactive Map

Photographs

Renshaw Operational Timeline

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