USS Smith - "Hey, South Dakota, Can I Borrow You?"

In a navy with as many destroyers as the WW2-era USN, many fall through the cracks. They saw limited action and generally only served as convoy escorts or the like. And many that did see action would end up sunk in that same battle or soon after.
USS Smith bucks that trend, in a way. Her most famous action saw her survive before returning to the aforementioned simple service. Service that she would perform well, avoiding major damage for the rest of the war.

[@alephalon7849]

That incident was a testament to both Smith's luck and her captain's quick thinking. Not every ship set ablaze would have a conveniently nearby battleship, and not every captain would have thought to use another ship's wake as an impromptu firefighting tool.

[@frednone]

Having been on a ship that was on fire at sea, you would be amazed how much of an inspiration that is.

[@ranekeisenkralle8265]

So long as it is only Class- A or B fires, sure. Class-D on THAT scale, however, ehhh.. probably not so much.

[@frednone]

@@ranekeisenkralle8265 Oh you'd still be inspired, though it would be to improve your swimming skills.

[@ranekeisenkralle8265]

@@frednone Fair.

[@ranekeisenkralle8265]

@@frednone As they say: "All Class-D fires on a ship go over the side - one way or another." Either thrown overboard, or if that isn't feasible, they burn their way through the bottom of the ship. Only problem is if there are magazine spaces in between. Because even flooding those magazines is probably not going to do anything, After all Class-D tends to burn just as happily under water as it does above.

[@frednone]

@@ranekeisenkralle8265 With the exception of a 'Deep Fat Fryer Fire', (Try saying that five times fast.) which is considered a class D fire because using water on it is considered a bad thing, correct. Probably the best example would HMS Sheffield which sank under tow after an Excocet Missile started a Class-D fire in her superstructure.

[@Sinvare]

On fire with a third of your crew dead or missing and continuing your duty screening the fleet until the end of the battle is legendary for any ship.

[@bw1357]

My dad was a 20 year Navy sailor....he spent most of his sea duty on tin cans. .....he bled blue till the day he died

[@mikebrase5161]

The Smith almost sank due to the enormous weight of the Captains balls.

[@robertf3479]

Not only the Captain's, every man in the crew had an impressive pair. Lots of kids got started when these guys got home, just hugging their wives and girlfriends. 😉

[@mikebrase5161]

@@robertf3479 the best part is these were the kind of guys when they got home were all Uh yeah I didn't really do much during the war. My grandfather who never talked about the war much. When he died I got his shoe box with his medals. 2 Bronze Stars, Purple Heart, CIB, and a Ribbon with 3 Arrowhead devices. He landed in North Africa, Sicily, and Normandy. Humble.

[@robertf3479]

@@mikebrase5161 My Dad served in the AAF during WWII, New Guinea and one of the first ground echelon guys into Clark Air Base after the Army took it away from the Japanese. He was much the same way though he had a photo album from his time overseas. I enjoyed going through it with him. My little brother still has it I think.

[@genericpersonx333]

So far as I know, a Mahan-Class DD would have a wartime crew closer to 250 men but 57 out 250 is still very bad for a small ship when you appreciate some of those 57 could specialists that can't be replaced by just anyone on the crew in a hurry!

[@EEHart]

THANK YOU! My grandfather was stationed on the smith for WW2. He was in his 30’s then and died long before I was born. It’s been so hard to track down his ship name and its service record to imagine what he did as a Lt.

[@TheArchemman]

Surviving a proto kamikase attack, and then avoiding damage from proper kamikase attacks. Well, you know what they say, "what doesn't kill you, makes you stronger"

[@petesheppard1709]

I remember first reading of _Smith's_ firefighting feat, and being surprised that a BB could kick up such a roostertail.

[@ranekeisenkralle8265]

Cavitation plus rough seas? With Propellers big enough to move a battleship at an appreciable speed? Not that hard to imagine. Depending on how bad the swell is, that would make it a nghtmare to steer though, I would reckon. Even more so with the bridge being inoperable. Thing is, you'd need to get insanely close for that. Probably in the ballpark of ten meters or less (in moon-landing-units that's 30ft or so) My guess is that the captain counted on any impact of his small destroyer being unable to do significant damage to the big ol' chunker of a battleship with its stern overhang and all that... Probably guessed it would make a big dent in the BB's stern at worst, but little more than that.

[@petesheppard1709]

@@ranekeisenkralle8265 I first read about this event long, long ago. I understand now.

[@RayyMusik]

@@ranekeisenkralle8265 “moon-landing-units“ 😆

[@ranekeisenkralle8265]

@@RayyMusik Ironically enough the US reluctance to adoptthe metric system has resulted in quite a few close-calls that could have become outright desasters. Not to mention conversion errors that have cost NASA billions in lost/destroyed equipment. Why? Because some special snowflake refused to run the whole operation on the measurements the scientists have been using for decades, and instead insisted on both metric and imperial to be used together - with all the conversion-chaos that entails.

[@williampaz2092]

The South Dakota’s were DESIGNED to reach a top speed of 28 knots. They could actually achieve close to 30 knots. A slight change in their reduction gears or slightly larger propellers or a tad more steam pressure….33 knots? Maybe?

[@timengineman2nd714]

2 of the lesser known Murphy's Laws apply here: If Necessity is the Mother of Invention, then Pure Desperation is Surely the Father! If It is Stupid, but It Works, than It ain't Stupid!

[@sillyone52062]

The "proto Kamikazes" were a thing at Santa Cruz. The commander of a Japanese torpedo squadron dove into the USS Hornet without even attempting to drop his torpedo. I try to imagine the pilot briefing on the Japanese carriers that day. They must have been told that the fate of the Empire rested on their bravery.

[@Sinvare]

Given the low speed of torpedo runs and low survival rate of torpedo bombers, he probably went for the more sure attack run. He might of heard of the fate of the American Torpedo Bombers at Midway and how they scored no hits. Even if he didn't, the pilots knew the fate of slow straight attacks against fighters and AA.

[@mikearmstrong8483]

I would distinguish between a kamikaze and a suicidal pilot. The kamikaze was part of an organized program and set out with the intentional purpose of diving into a ship as the means of attack. If the Japanese plane was carrying a torpedo, it would not have been an intentional kamikaze attack. Torpedoes are complex and expensive, and you don't load one on a plane to dive into a target; you load a simple bomb. The plane was certainly hit by AA fire and the pilot chose to end his mission with some degree of success. At one time or another pilots from all the combatant nations intentionally tried to hit the ship they were attacking, after their plane had become disabled. Knowing that they were doomed to crash and most likely die anyway, they made a snap decision to inflict as much damage as possible. That is a completely different philosophy than the kamikaze strategy, and we don't refer to any of the Allied pilots that are know to have done this as kamikazes.

[@TJ-USMC]

"Semper-Fi - USS Smith"

[@shep9231]

The skipper of USS Smith was a true genous. :)

[@joewalker2152]

Yet again, a great video, my friend!! Si vis pacem, para bellum

[@christopher-ke9nj]

Damn good on you Captain

[@tonyInPA]

Great video- glad to find your channel!

[@aldenconsolver3428]

Good video there. I suspect her 1944 escorting merchant ships, well the Fletchers were there, much better AA destroyers.

[@Cha-y412]

Amazing story !

[@josephpadula2283]

Looks like they welded over the original portholes in the hull among the way….

[@J3AD]

well done

[@timbrwolf1121]

Reminds me of that scene in Stealth where they use the bomb plume to put out the drones fire.

[@pfrstreetgang7511]

Like the fact you are not succumbing to the lazy yet popular AI voice over so many new narrators seem to like. Can't beat a good narrator's inflection.

[@christopher-ke9nj]

What, no battle star bloody hell

[@tanjianyumoe5700]

0:05 USS Mahan?

[@bill5982]

Wow, the South Dakota actually did something useful rather than running aground and spending months in repair. Collided with a destroyer requiring repairs. And having a power outage in it's most critical battle and rendered useless, being heavily damaged by the Kirishima and then spending more months in repair. Battleship X indeed.

[@christopherrlayton8335]

hey bill5982: maybe you, yer big mouth and the other 6 cowards that gave you an up-vote should be very thankful that BB57 was actually around to earn 13 battle stars in some of the nastiest parts of the war in the Pacific, or you'd be on a steady diet of chop suey and raw fish right about now. I had an Uncle on that war wagon as a Gunner 1st Class for it's entire service life and he was damned proud of his service as well he shoulda been. Somehow, I just don't believe you and the other 6 cowards woulda been able to keep yer drawers clean. But.....cowards do what cowards do because they're cowards.

[@markcantemail8018]

Did USS Smith end the War as a Mine Sweeper after Okinawa ?

[@robertf3479]

Her official record indicates that she was still a DD, not a DMS at the end of the war though she was stationed in Buckner Bay, Okinawa at the end. From there she went to Nagasaki to pick up US personnel held as POWs during two trips (yes, AFTER the atomic bombing,) delivering them to Okinawa for transport home. After that duty she transferred to Sasebo Japan in September 1945 and departed for San Diego two days after arrival with a stop at Pearl Harbor. She departed San Diego for Pearl Harbor in January 1946 where she was decommissioned in June 1946. Ex-USS Smith (DD 378) was sold for scrap in August 1947. Rest in Peace little Lady.

[@markcantemail8018]

@@robertf3479 Thanks Robert . My Neighbor Was on the Lucky G . He passed on Decades ago so I cant ask him . He mentioned after Okinawa he was on a Minesweeper for a short time . I am unsure if it was Smith ?

[@robertf3479]

@@markcantemail8018 During the war a number of older destroyers were converted to act as Destroyer Mine Layers, Mine Sweepers and Troop Transports. Many of these were older "4 Stackers" of WWI vintage though, as I recall a small number of ships of the Smith's vintage and later were also converted. There were a number of minesweepers operating around Okinawa during the invasion and for quite some time afterward as well as around the Japanese Home Islands to clear defensive minefields or mines laid by U.S. forces to cut off the Japanese lines of supply.

[@sillyone52062]

@@robertf3479 The Caine Mutiny is fiction, but the ship, a DMS, doesn't sweep a mine until the war is over.

[@schlirf]

USS. Mugford!