World War II Database

Contributor: C. Peter Chen

ww2dbaseAfter shakedown and training cruise, Tucker was based at San Diego, California, United States as a part of Destroyer Squadron 3, Destroyer Division 6. She took part in Fleet Problem XX in Feb 1939. She operated between the west coast of the United States and Hawaii between spring 1940 and 14 Feb 1941, when she sailed for New Zealand on the first leg of her cruise to the South Pacific that would last several months. As a part of Task Force 19, Tucker patrolled in Hawaiian waters in Nov 1941.

ww2dbaseWhen the Japanese struck on 7 Dec 1941, Tucker was moored at berth X-8, East Loch, Pearl Harbor, in the center of a nest of five destroyers and tender Whitney. Her 5-inch guns might had contributed to the downing of two Japanese aircraft during the attack. She sailed in convoys between Hawaii and the west coast of the United States, then convoyed in the South Pacific. At 2145 on 2 Aug, while escorting SS Nira Luckenbach to Espiritu Santo, she struck a friendly mine outside of the Segond Channel; the mine field had only been laid by Americans hours before, therefore Tucker and Nira Luckenbach's crews had no prior warning. The explosion killed three men, and the ship began breaking up shortly after. Nira Luckenbach immediately sent boats to rescue the survivors, and was able to rescue all but three men, who were listed as missing after the incident. YP-346 arrived on the scene the next morning in attempt to tow Tucker into shallow water for salvage, but eventually failed as Tucker sank at 0445 on 4 Aug 1942.

USS Tucker Operational Timeline

Photographs

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