Destroyers of the Marina Militare - Fante Class Destroyers, Gleaves Class Destroyers of the Marina Militare, USS Taylor, USS Walker (Paperback)

Purchase includes free access to book updates online and a free trial membership in the publisher's book club where you can select from more than a million books without charge. Chapters: Fante Class Destroyers, Gleaves Class Destroyers of the Marina Militare, Uss Taylor, Uss Walker, Uss Prichett, Uss Nicholson, Italian Destroyer Aviere, Italian Destroyer Geniere, Italian Destroyer Lanciere, Italian Destroyer Fante. Excerpt: USS Taylor (DD/DDE-468) was a Fletcher-class destroyer of the United States Navy, named for Rear Admiral William Rogers Taylor (18111889). She was laid down on 28 August 1941 at Bath, Maine, by the Bath Iron Works Corp.; launched on 7 June 1942, sponsored by Mrs. H. A. Baldridge; and commissioned on 28 August 1942 at the Charlestown Navy Yard near Boston, Mass., Lieutenant Commander Benjamin Katz in command. Taylor was the first destroyer to anchor in Japanese coastal waters at the end of World War II one that, wrote Admiral William F. Halsey, "admirably performed every mission assigned to her." Taylor began her naval career with the Atlantic Fleet. Assigned to Destroyer Squadron 20 (DesRon 20), the destroyer trained at Casco Bay, Maine, and made her shakedown cruise in the northern Atlantic before beginning duty as a coastwise convoy escort. The latter duty lasted until mid-November when she escorted a transatlantic convoy to a point just off Casablanca. The transit was uneventful, save for the interception of a Spanish merchantman, SS Darro. A boarding party from Taylor sent the neutral ship off to Gibraltar to prevent her from transmitting information about the convoy to the enemy. Taylor returned to the United States at Norfolk early in December and remained there until mid-month. On 17 December, the warship cleared Hampton Roads in company with Task Force 13 (TF 13) on her way to duty in the Pacific. After transiting the Panama Canal and stopping at Tutuila in the Samoan Islands, the destroyer repor... More: http://booksllc.net/?id=1574666