Wreck of USS Halligan (DD-584)

 Second World War 1939-1945, shipwreck, destroyer (ship), United States Navy

USS Halligan was a Fletcher Class Destroyer laid down at the Boston Navy Yard in November 1942 and commissioned into US Navy service in August 1943, assigned to the US Atlantic Fleet. Drawing the Top-Secret duty of escorting the Battleship USS Iowa (BB-63), with President Roosevelt embarked, to Tehran for the Tehran Conference directly after her shakedown cruise, the Halligan saw her charge safely to and from the Middle East before returning stateside in December 1943.

Assigned to the US Pacific Fleet shortly after her return, the Halligan and her crew transited the Panama Canal and began their part in the fight against the Japanese Empire. Taking direct roles in the Invasions of the Marshall Islands at Kwajalein and screening Escort Carriers as they conducted airstrikes on Saipan during the first half of 1944, the Halligan and her crew were given a brief period off the frontline in July and August for rest and repair before standing out of Hawaii for the Admiralty Islands, where they joined the Allied armada bound for the Philippines. Screening Troopships and Amphibious Transports in Leyte Gulf from the outset of the American Invasion, the Halligan and her crew came under repeated air attack from the Japanese, though her gunners were able to account for three of their attackers before the Destroyer was ordered out of the Gulf. Linking up with the battered remnants of the famous “Taffy 3” group which had emerged victorious from the lopsided Battle of Samar, the Halligan escorted the most seriously damaged ships back to the Admiralty Islands. Present for the detonation of the Ammunition Ship USS Mount Hood (AE-11) on November 10th, the Halligan emerged relatively unscathed and her crew set about rescuing victims of the disaster and providing damage control parties to the numerous heavily damaged ships in Seeadler Harbor.

Returning to the Philippines at the end of 1944 to resume her duty with the Escort Carriers , the Halligan took part in the Invasion of Luzon and again came under withering air attack, this time from Japanese Kamikaze aircraft, which at the time were a new and terrifying weapon. Again emerging unscathed from the action, the Halligan and her crew departed the Philippines for Ulithi Atoll where she received her orders for duty off a small volcanic island called Iwo Jima. Beginning her duty as a lifeguard for preinvasion airstrikes on February 17th, the Halligan moved to the shores of Iwo Jima itself with the invasion force on the 19th, closing to within 2700 yards from shore to conduct heavy shore bombardment of Japanese positions. Later assigned to screen Carrier forces conducting airstrikes, the Halligan was one of the final Destroyers of the initial assault force ordered off the front lines of Iwo Jima , returning to Ulithi for a well-deserved period of repair and liberty for ship and crew in early March.

Downtime for the Veteran ship and her crew proved to be short lived as by mid-March Halligan was back at sea, this time escorting invasion forces bound for Okinawa Island in the Ryukus. After safely screening her convoy to its destination, the Halligan took her position with a fire support unit off the Southwestern coast of Okinawa and began lobbing shells ashore to destroy Japanese positions. Finding few targets initially, the Halligan was detached to patrol the coastline between Okinawa and Kerama Retto for targets and to screen Minesweepers clearing the heavily mined waters on the islands West coast. Continuing this work through the night of the 25th and day of the 26th, the Halligan was steaming North through a previously swept sea lane when she struck a solitary moored Japanese mine head-on at 1835hrs.

The initial blast rocked the ship and showered her forward half in seawater and left much of her crew dazed but uninjured. The Destroyer had barely settled back to an even keel when a second and more powerful detonation tore through the ship as her entire foreword 5 Inch magazine detonated, killing or injuring the majority of the men stationed forward and blowing out the sides and keel of the ship. Still underway, the force of the ships motion and the weight of the inrushing water to her shattered bow caused a catastrophic failure of her hull just ahead of her #1 funnel and moments after the second blast the entire bow and forward superstructure of the ship sheared off and quickly sank, taking every man stationed in it to the bottom. Severely damaged and flooding in numerous forward compartments including her forward fireroom, the Halligan’s engineers shut down her engines as her propellers were brought above the surface and the ship went dead in the water. Ensign Richard L. Gardner, the seniormost surviving officer aboard ship, was placed in command of the shattered vessel and directed rescue efforts for the surviving men thrown about the deck and sea around the vessel. As other ships closed to render assistance, Gardner issued the abandon ship order and by 1930hrs the Halligan had been abandoned and was set adrift off Okinawa. Muster calls would later reveal that 162 of the Halligan’s crew, including all but 2 of her officers, were lost with the ship.

Drifting aimlessly for the remainder of the 26th, the aft hulk of the Halligan finally grounded on a reef on Tokashiki Island where she was later inspected by US Navy salvage teams. Deemed to be too difficult to salvage in her position, the wreck was stripped of usable materials and left to its fate. The Halligan’s wreck was later sold to the Government of Ryukyus Prefecture in 1958 and subsequently broken up for scrap.

For her actions during the Second World War, USS Halligan received six Battle Stars.

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