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NavSource Online: Service Ship Photo Archive

USS Whitney (AD-4)

International Radio Call Sign:
November - India - Romeo - Lima
 NIRL
Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons



Precedence of awards is from top to bottom, left to right
Top Row - Combat Action Ribbon (retroactive - Pearl Harbor, 7 December 1941)
Second Row - American Defense Service Medal (with Fleet clasp) - American Campaign Medal - Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal (1)
Bottom Row - World War II Victory Medal - Navy Occupation Service Medal (with Asia clasp) - Philippines Liberation Medal
Dobbin Class Destroyer Tender:
  • Laid down, 23 April 1921, at Boston Navy Yard, Boston, MA.
  • Launched, 12 October 1923
  • Commissioned USS Whitney (AD-4), 2 September 1924
  • USS Whitney was at Pearl Harbor, 7 December 1941
  • Decommissioned, 22 October 1946, at San Diego, CA.
  • Custody transferred to the Maritime Commission, 21 November 1946
  • Laid up in the National Defense Reserve Fleet, Suisun Bay, Benecia, CA.
  • Struck from the Naval Register, 22 January 1947
  • Final Disposition, sold for scrapping, 18 March 1948, to Dulien Ship Products Co.
  • USS Whitney earned one battle star for her World War II service
    Specifications:
    Displacement 8,325 t., 16,900 t.(lim)
    Length 483' 10"
    Beam 61'
    Draft 25' 2" (lim)
    Speed 16 kts (trial).
    Complement
    officer 35
    enlisted 674
    Largest boom capacity 17 t.
    Armament
    four single 5"/38 cal. dual purpose gun mounts
    four twin 40mm AA gun mounts
    Ship's Service Generators three 250Kw 120V D.C.
    Fuel Capacity NSFO 6,845 Bbls.
    Propulsion
    one Navy Yard Boston, Parsons-design geared turbine
    four Thornycroft boilers 215psi Sat.
    single Navy Yard Philadelphia Main Reduction Gear
    single propeller, 7,000shp
    Click On Image
    For Full Size Image    		 Size Image Description Contributed
    By
    Whitney 140k USS Whitney (AD-4) on a preliminary trial run near Boston Navy Yard, 7 October 1924.
    US National Archives, RG-19-LCM, Photo # Unknown, a US Navy Bureau of Ships photo now in the collections of the US National Archives, courtesy Shipscribe.com.    		 Mike Green
    Whitney 80k USS Whitney (AD-4) with USS Lamson (DD-328) alongside, in the Hudson River, New York, at 1000 Hrs., 2 May 1927. Several other destroyers are in the background, among them are USS Bruce (DD-329) at right.
    US Navy photo # NH 45093.    		 Robert Hurst
    Whitney 22k USS Whitney (AD-4) moored to a buoy at San Diego, 7 October 1932. Her boats are alongside, and the masts of four "flushdeck" destroyers can be seen beyond her.
    US Navy photo # NH 65007.    		 US Naval Historical Center
    Whitney 242k USS Whitney (AD-4) at anchor, date and location unknown. Tommy Trampp
    Whitney 109k USS Whitney (AD-4) passing through the Panama Canal in 1936. Cliff Coffey
    Whitney 77k USS Whitney (AD-4) passing under the Golden Gate Bridge on Pedestrian Day, Bridge Walk, 27 May 1937. Ron Reeves
    Whitney 75k USS Whitney (AD-4) moored, date and location unknown Jerry C. Lester for his father
    James C. Lester BT2/c USS Whitney 1932-38
    Whitney 63k USS Whitney (AD-4) at anchor in San Diego Bay, 1939
    US Navy photo.    		 Richard Miller BMCS USNR Ret.
    Whitney 237k USS Whitney (AD-4) underway, date and location unknown.
    US Navy photo.    		 Jim Kurrasch
    Battleship Iowa Pacific Battleship Center
    Dobbin 92k Pearl Harbor Attack, 7 December 1941. View taken around 0926 hrs. in the morning of 7 December, from an automobile on the road in the Aiea area, looking about WSW with destroyer moorings closest to the camera. In the center of the photograph are: USS Dobbin (AD-3), with destroyers USS Hull (DD-350), USS Dewey (DD-349), USS Worden (DD-352) and USS Macdonough (DD-351) alongside. The ship just to the left of that group is USS Phelps (DD-360), which got underway on two boilers around 0926 hrs. The group further to the right consists of: USS Whitney (AD-4), with destroyers USS Conyngham (DD-371), USS Reid (DD-369), USS Tucker (DD-374), USS Case (DD-370) and USS Selfridge (DD-357) alongside. USS Solace (AH-5) is barely visible at the far left.
    US National Archives photo # 80_G-33045 a US Navy photo now in the collections of the US National Archives.    		 Robert Hurst
    Whitney 103k USS Whitney (AD-4) moored behind torpedo nets at Pearl Harbor, 17 April 1942. Four of her eight 5"/51 guns have been removed and her anti-aircraft battery has been strengthened.
    US National Archives, RG-19-LCM, Photo # 19-N-34732, a US Navy photo now in the collections of the US National Archives, courtesy Shipscribe.com.         		Mike Green
    Whitney 22k USS Whitney (AD-4) tending destroyers at San Diego, CA., date unknown.
    US Navy photo    		 Joe Radigan MACM USN Ret
    Whitney 91k USS Whitney (AD-4) underway, date and location unknown Jon Burdett
    Whitney 42k Overhead view of USS Whitney (AD-4) underway with tugs alongside, date and location unknown. Robert Hurst
    USS Whitney (AD-4)
    Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (DANFS)
    Commanding Officers
    01CAPT. White, Richard Drace, USN (1899)2 September 1924 - 12 May 1925
    02CAPT. Nichols, Neil Ernest, USN (USNA 1902)12 May 1925 - 11 June 1927
    03CAPT. Giles, William Jefferson, USN (USNA 1903)11 June 1927 - 8 June 1929
    04CAPT. Ancrum, William, USN (USNA 1902)8 June 1929 - 9 May 1930
    05CAPT. Anderson, Leslie Barratt, USN (USNA 1906)9 May 1930 - 5 June 1932
    06CAPT. Brown, Alfred Winsor, USN5 June 1932 - 20 February 1935
    07CAPT. McKinney, Stephen Booth, USN (USNA 1907)20 February 1935 - 11 June 1935
    08CDR. Lee, William Henry, USN (USNA 1907)11 June 1935 - 1 July 1936
    09CDR. Dessez, John Harrison, USN (USNA 1909)1 July 1936 - 17 June 1937
    10CDR. Roesch, Herbert Otto, USN (USNA 1910)17 June 1937 - 30 April 1938
    11CAPT. Wadsworth Jr., Alexander Scammel, USN (USNA 1905)30 April 1938 - 28 May 1938
    12CAPT. Godwin, Donald Clark, USN (USNA 1911)28 May 1938 - 31 May 1940
    13CDR. Corn, William Anderson, USN (USNA 1914)31 May 1940 - 30 June 1941
    14CDR. Pigman, Nathaniel Moore, USN (USNA 1915)30 June 1941 - 17 June 1942
    15CDR. Campbell, Colin, USN (USNA 1917)17 June 1942 - 8 October 1942
    16CAPT. Parks, Gordon Bennet, USN8 October 1942 - 29 January 1944
    17CAPT. Swain, Charles Davis, USN (USNA 1914)29 January 1944 - 8 August 1945
    18CDR. Nonweiler, Karl Herman, USN (USNA 1925)8 August 1945 - 15 December 1945
    19CAPT. Wood, Robert Winthrop, USN (USNA 1928)15 December 1945 - 20 September 946
    20LCDR. Lickwar, John, USN 20 September 1946 - 22 October 1946
    Courtesy Wolfgang Hechler and Ron Reeves
    Crew Contact And Reunion Information
    U.S. Navy Memorial Foundation - Navy Log
    Additional Resources and Web Sites of Interest
    Pearl Harbor Action Report
    MARAD Vessel History Database
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    This page is created and maintained by Gary P. Priolo
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    Last Updated 3 April 2020