Saving the “Ship That Would Not Die”
The destroyer USS Laffey, currently on display at the Patriot’s Point Naval Museum in Charleston, SC could be a poster ship for our insistence that small ships are very survivable in modern war, as much as the Big Ships which the navy loves so well. Currently the valiant ship is facing a struggle for survivle more ominous than with the Japanese in World War 2, a battle with the elements. From Charleston.net:
Water seeps through her spongy skin, rushing around broken ribs and further crumbling a damaged backbone, leaving the destroyer Laffey’s caretakers at Patriots Point racing against the elements to resuscitate her.
It’ll take about $7.7 million to save “The Ship that Would Not Die” in unrelenting World War II kamikaze attacks. But the Patriots Point Development Authority doesn’t have the money and has only one year to find it…At its worst, 3,000 gallons of seawater flooded into the ship every hour.
Your’s truly has stood on the deck of Laffey years back. It is still amazing how such a small but tough warship took the fight to the enemy, and continued in service well into the Cold War. Equally amazing were the men who fought on her, and are now attempting to save her from becoming an artificial reef. From the Patriot Point website, here is her story:
The second LAFFEY was built as an Allen M. Sumner-class destroyer by Bath Iron Works (Maine). Commissioned February 8, 1944, LAFFEY supported the D-Day landings at Normandy on June 6, 1944. Late that summer, LAFFEY transferred to the Pacific Theater to join the US offensive against Japan. While operating off Okinawa on April 16, 1945, LAFFEY was attacked by 22 Japanese bombers and kamikaze (suicide) aircraft. Five kamikazes and three bombs struck her and two bombs scored near misses to kill 31 and wound 71 of the 336 man crew. LAFFEY shot down 11 of the attacking aircraft and saved the damage ship. LAFFEY’s heroic crew earned her the nickname: “The Ship That Would Not Die.” LAFFEY was awarded the Presidential Unit Citation and earned five battle stars for service during World War II.
LAFFEY was repaired and was present (as a support ship) for the atomic bomb test at Bikini Atoll in 1946 (Operation Crossroads). On June 30, 1947, LAFFEY was decommissioned and placed in the reserve fleet. Re-commissioned in 1951, Laffey would earn two battle stars during the Korean War. Laffey underwent FRAM II (Fleet Rehabilitation and Modernization) conversion in 1962 and served in the Atlantic fleet until decommissioned in 1975. Laffey, the only surviving Sumner-class destroyer, was added to the Patriots Point fleet in 1981. LAFFEY was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1986.
For more info on how YOU can help save the “Ship That Would Not Die” visit the USS Laffey Association site.
