World War II Database

Contributor: C. Peter Chen

ww2dbaseUSS Stewart was commissioned into US Navy service in 1920. In the summer of 1922, she joined US Navy's Asiatic Fleet, and would end up remaining at that capacity for more than 20 years. In the 1920s and 1930s, she protected American interests in China through this tumultuous period in Chinese history, even came under small scale attack by Nationalist Chinese factions who resented foreign militaries operating in Chinese territory. In 1937, when WW2 began in Asia, she observed the Japanese invasion of Shanghai up close, even experienced several Chinese aerial bombs detonating near her during the chaos of battle. As war with Japan seemed inevitable for the United States, she was ordered to evacuate China, arriving in Tarakan in Dutch Borneo on 29 Nov 1941. After war broke out, she escorted ships sailing from the Philippines toward Port Darwin, Australia. In Jan 1942, she, joined by two cruisers and four destroyers, escorted Dutch transport Bloemfontein, which carried hastily assembled supplies, field guns, and men of the Headquarters Battery of US 26th Field Artillery Brigade and the 1st Battalion of US 131st Field Artillery, sailing toward Surabaya, Java, Dutch East Indies. On 4 Feb 1942, after USS Marblehead suffered damage during the Battle of Makassar Strait, USS Stewart escorted her to Tjilatjap, Java. On 4 Feb 1942, she participated in the Battle of Makassar Strait, and in mid-Feb she sailed with a American-British-Dutch-Australian (ABDA) Command joint force in an abortive attempt to interfere with Japanese advances in northern Sumatra, Dutch East Indies. On 19 Feb, during the Battle of Badung Strait, she led one of the three groups of ABDA ships. She suffered hits by Japanese destroyers that damaged her boats, torpedo racks, and galley before a hit below the water line that caused flooding in the steering engine room; she was nevertheless able to escape to Surabaya during the morning of 20 Feb. She was the first ship to enter the floating drydock at Surabaya for repairs, but due to inadequate support, she fell off of the keel blocks, causing further hull damage and bending her propeller shafts. As Surabaya was deemed vulnerable to Japanese capture, it was decided that the destroyer be scuttled. Demolition charges went off on 2 Mar 1942, destroying the floating drydock with USS Stewart in it. Shortly after, her name was assigned to an Edsall-class destroyer escort that would be launched later in the same year.

ww2dbaseIn Feb 1943, the Japanese 102nd Naval Construction Department raised the wreck and rebuilt the ship. Recommissioned as Patrol Boat No. 102 on 20 Sep 1943, she operated with the Japanese Southwest Area Fleet. On 24 Aug 1944, submarines USS Harder and USS Hake attempted to attack Patrol Boat No. 102 (Lieutenant Tomoyoshi Yoshima) and escort vessel Type D No. 22 (CD-22) off Dasol Bay off Luzon, Philippines; during the failed attack, the two Japanese ships counterattacked, with CD-22 sinking USS Harder, killing all aboard. In Nov 1944, Patrol Boat No. 102 received an upgrade in her anti-aircraft weaponry at Kure, Japan. She was captured by US forces near Kure in Aug 1945.

ww2dbaseOn 29 Oct 1945, the ship was recommissioned into US Navy service under the generic name of DD-224, since the name Stewart had already been assigned to another ship. En route back to the United States, her engines failed in the Pacific Ocean near Guam, and she was towed for the remainder of the journey, arriving at San Francisco, California, United States in Mar 1946. She was decommissioned on 23 Apr 1946, and on the following day she was towed off San Francisco to be used as a target. She was hit by 18 rockets and thousands of rounds of 50-caliber ammunition from 5 US Navy F6F Hellcat fighters. Before the end of the day, submarine chaser USS PC-799 sank her with 12 40-millimeter shells and 17 3-inch shells from a range of 300 yards. Her wreck was rediscovered in Aug 2024 3,500 feet below the surface of the sea.

Destroyer Stewart (DD-224) Interactive Map

Photographs

Stewart Operational Timeline