USS Selfridge

USS Selfridge DD357
Scale 1:200
Author: Maciej Poznanski (ProModel)
File Size: 26.2Mb

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		USS Selfridge Porter-Class Destroyer Leader as she appeared in 1944
		Model # 027

		Price $12.00


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Technical data:
Launched	April 18, 1936
Displacement	2,154 tons standard
Length	381ft
Beam	36ft
Machinery	Geared turbines; 50,000 hp = 35.0 knots
Armament	Main battery - 5 x 127mm
	AAA - 8 x 40mm (Bofors), 4 x 20mm (Oerlikon)
	Torpedoes - 8 x 533mm
Complement	206 officers and enlisted



The USS Selfridge, DD-357, was the second destroyer with that name in the US Navy history. In January 1937, the ship conducted her first shakedown cruise and sea tests in the Mediterranean, and then proceeded to the Caribbean region where she operated during the following month. On the turn of April and May the ship underwent an overhaul with all her technical flaws being corrected. In September 1937, the ship conducted a cruise to Poughkeepsie on a Presidential escort mission. The destroyer joined the Battle Force as flagship of Destroyer Squadron (DesRon) No. 4 on 13 December. Over the next two years, the ship participated in combat training voyages and “Fleet Problems” exercises. In 1940, USS Selfridge, along with her squadron was reassigned to Pearl Harbour where she remained until the outbreak of the Pacific war on December 7, 1941. Within 5 minutes of the Japanese attack, USS Selfridge was firing AA guns onto Japanese planes and by 1pm, manned by mixed crew from different ships, she was underway to search for Japanese aircraft carriers that launched the attack. The destroyer patrolled the Hawaiian area until the end of December. After the New Year’s break, USS Selfridge operated with the aircraft carrier USS Saratoga until that carrier was torpedoed (on 11 January). The destroyer then screened the damaged carrier back to Pearl Harbour and remained there until 20 January. Then, she reported for escort duty with a merchant ship on a Canton Island run. On her way back, on 30 January, she depth charged and may have damaged a Japanese submarine. From 9 February the destroyer was underway again to escort USS Saratoga to Bremerton for a major overhaul. On 21 May, the destroyer escorted another convoy to the New Hebrides and Australia where she remained until the end of that month. On the waters off Australia a unit of Task Force 44 was formed in July 1942 and it proceeded along with other units to the Guadalcanal area. On 7 August 1942, a huge armada commenced a landing operation on the Guadalcanal beaches. USS Selfridge took active part in screening the landing on the beaches of Tulagi. On 9 August, following a night battle off the Savo Island, USS Selfridge performed the sad duty of sinking the badly-damaged Australian cruiser Canberra. Until the end of that month the destroyer screened the aircraft carriers of TF-44. On the 31 August, the ship headed back to Brisbane; and, for the next nine months, she continued to operate in the Coral Sea and in the area off New Guinea. In May 1943, USS Selfridge was reassigned to the 3rd Fleet. On the night of 6 October, the fight broke out during which 16 Japanese torpedoes were shot at her – unfortunately one of them hit the ship causing an explosion in ammunition rooms severed off the bow. The casualties included 49 dead and 11 seriously wounded. The heavily damaged USS Selfridge managed to reach the base in Noumea where her bow was temporarily fixed. Then, the ship reached the Mare Island where she was docked and underwent permanent repairs. Following the repairs, on 1 May 1944, the destroyer returned to Pearl Harbour. Reassigned to Task Force 58, she screened the aircraft carrier USS Bunker Hill. On 13 June, the ship took part in a shore bombardment of the Saipan Island, and on 19 June took part in the Battle of the Philippine Sea. Recalled from Saipan on 11 July 1944, she escorted a transport convoy heading for Eniwetok atoll. On 18 July, she returned to the Marianas and participated in the Guam assault, and then headed back to Pearl Harbour. On 21 August she received orders to cross the Atlantic. On 7 September 1944, she proceeded to New York where she underwent an overhaul, and after joining Task Force 65 as a flagship, she commenced convoy duty in the Atlantic between the US East Coast and Tunisia. The ship completed her last run on June7th calling at New York. She was decommissioned on October 15, 1945. USS Selfridge received four Battle Stars for her service during World War II.







Model built and photographed by Maciej Marzec, used with permission.

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