Photographic History of the United States Navy
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NavSource Naval History Photographic History of the United States Navy |
DESTROYER ARCHIVE |
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Size | Image Description | Contributed By |
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|---|---|---|---|---|
| No Photo Available | Captain Jeremiah O’Brien (1744-1818) was in command of Unity when she captured HMS Margaretta in the first naval battle of the American Revolutionary War. He was born at Kittery, Maine. O'Brien and his five brothers, Gideon, John, William, Dennis and Joseph, were crewmembers of the sloop Unity when she captured Margaretta on 12 June 1775, at the entrance to the harbor at Machias (a town then in Massachusetts, later in Maine). Under the command of Jeremiah O’Brien, thirty-one townsmen armed with guns, swords, axes, and pitch forks captured the British armed schooner in an hour-long battle after Margaretta had threatened to bombard the town for interference with the shipment of lumber to British troops in Boston, Massachusetts. This battle is often considered the first time British colors were struck to those of the United States, even though Unity was not formally a member of the Continental Navy. The United States Merchant Marine claims Unity as its member and this incident as their beginning. A privateer, O'Brien continued as the captain of Unity, renamed Machias Liberty, for two years. In later years, he had an appointment as the federal customs collector for the port of Machias. a position he held until his death. | Bill Gonyo | ||
| 121k | Ship's Historical Data Plaque, photographed at the Boston Navy Yard, Charlestown, Massachusetts, 3 September 1940. Photograph from the Bureau of Ships Collection in the U.S. National Archives. | Fred Weiss | |
| 64k | First day underway, location unknown. | Vincent Brennan | |
| 79k | Photographed soon after completion, circa 1940. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval Historical Center. | Fred Weiss | |
| 44k | Boston, MA sometime around her commissioning. From the collection of Larry's father, Raymond H. Whitford Jr, who was a Chief Machinists Mate aboard the O'Brien from her launching to her sinking. | Larry Whitford | |
| 166k | Tthe New Mexico (BB-40) at Norfolk, 31 December 1941. She is equipped with the then "state of the art" quadruple 1.1"/75 machine guns [later replaced by the Bofors 40mm gun(s)]. She has also just been fitted with 20mm Oerkilons, but still was equipped with 0.5 caliber machine guns which the 20mm ultimately replaced. She also carries two radar units; a surface search set (Mark 3) on top of her forward main battery director atop her tower bridge and an air search SC unit on her pole main mast. The tug YT-213 is pulling alongside an unidentified vessel. Across the pier from her is the new destroyer O'Brien (DD-415). | Roel Bakels | |
| 66k | Uncropped version of the above photo, USS O'Brien (DD-415) Is torpedoed by a Japanese submarine during the Guadalcanal Campaign, 15 September 1942. USS Wasp (CV-7), torpedoed a few minutes earlier, is burning in the left distance. O'Brien was hit in the extreme bow, but "whipping" from the torpedo explosion caused serious damage to her hull amidships, leading to her loss on 19 October 1942, while she was en route back to the United States for repairs. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives. | Fred Weiss | |
| 72k | Cropped version of the above photo. | - | |
| 262k | A series of 5 photographs of the loss of the O'Brien from the collection of crewman Walter J. Ganley. | Marc Ganley | |
| 252k | As above. | Marc Ganley | |
| 238k | As above. | Marc Ganley | |
| 147k | As above. | Marc Ganley | |
| 196k | As above. | Marc Ganley | |
| 112k | Two views of the Obrien at Suva, Fiji aproximately one week before sinking. Additional photos and the Official Damage Report may be seen at http://www.researcheratlarge.com/Ships/DD415/DD415ForwardRepair.html thanks to Tracy White. | Marc Ganley | |
| 81k | As above. | Marc Ganley | |
| 93k | USS O'Brien (DD-415) being hit by a torpedo from the Japanese submarine I-19. Photo from United States Destroyer Operations in World War II, by Theodore Roscoe. | Robert Hurst | |
| 39k | USS O'Brien (DD-415) sinking off Samoa on her way home after receiving emergency repairs at Espiritu and Noumea. Photo from United States Destroyer Operations in World War II, by Theodore Roscoe. | Robert Hurst | |
| 67k | USS O'Brien sinking from the effects of a Japanese torpedo hit weeks before. Photo from United States Destroyer Operations in World War II, by Theodore Roscoe. | Robert Hurst | |
LCDR Carl Frederick Espe Mar 2 1940 - Dec 13 1941 (Later VADM) LCDR C. F. Pope Dec 13 1941 - ? CDR Charles Adams Blakely unknown (Later VADM)
The contact listed, Was the contact at the time for this ship when located. If another person now is the contact, E-mail me and I will update this entry. These contacts are compiled from various sources over a long period of time and may or may not be correct. Every effort has been made to list the newest contact if more than one contact was found.
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