O’Bannon has emerged as among the most celebrated American destroyers of World War II due to three distinctions. First, she survived a well-publicized point-blank encounter with the battleship Hiei at Guadalcanal in November 1942. Second, she also participated in the

The history of the Pacific war can never be written without telling the story of the U.S.S. O’Bannon. Time after time the O’Bannon and her gallant little sisters were called upon to turn back the enemy. They never disappointed me.      Out-numbered, out-gunned, during the dark days of ’42 and ’43 they stood toe-to-toe with the best the Japanese Fleet could offer—and never failed to send them scurrying home with their tails between their legs.      No odds were ever too great for them to face. They fought battleships and heavy cruisers; escorted vitally needed supply ships for marines on Guadalcanal; bombarded Japanese positions; aided in dangerous rescue operations; and derailed the Tokio Express so often that the Japanese admirals ran out of excuses.      No medals, however high, can reward the gallant men of the tin-can fleet for their brave deeds. In her darkest hour their country called. They answered with flaming guns and high courage.    This is their story. — Admiral William F. Halsey foreword to James D. Horan’s Action Tonight, 1945

Battles of Kula Gulf, Kolombangara, and Vella Lavella and was awarded a Presidential Unit Citation for her year of action in the Solomon Islands (7 October 1942–7 October 1943). Third, she earned seventeen battle stars in World War II—a total unequaled among destroyers and surpassed only by aircraft carrier Enterprise, which had been at war for ten months longer than O’Bannon.
     Like sisters Nicholas and Taylor, she was a particularly lucky ship. Despite continuous front-line involvement, she lost no crewmembers and suffered damage only when she rammed Chevalier which, having been torpedoed and lost her bow, swerved into O’Bannon’s path.

O’Bannon was built at Bath (Maine) Iron Works side-by-side with Nicholas—the first two of 175 ships of the 2100-ton Fletcher class laid down. She commissioned at Boston Navy Yard 26 June 1942 and after shakedown followed Nicholas to the Pacific theater, there joining the Guadalcanal campaign already in progress. Her immediate roles included convoy escort and shore bombardment but in November, she

Naval Historical Center photo Cdr. Donald MacDonald, USN, O’Bannon’s commanding officer in 1943.

participated in the celebrated Battle of Guadalcanal, where she contributed to sinking the Japanese battleship Hiei.
     Soon Fletcher, De Haven, Radford, Jenkins, La Vallette, Chevalier, Strong, and Taylor arrived and in March 1943, after De Haven was lost, the survivors were formed into Destroyer Squadron (DesRon) 21.
     For the next seven months, these ships fought their way up the Solomon Islands chain through many more bombardments and night surface actions. O’Bannon was on hand to rescue survivors when Strong was lost 5 July 1943, and the next night participated in the Battle of Kula Gulf. A week later, she and other DesRon 21 destroyers were in the van at the Battle of Kolombangara. Finally, on October 6, she lost a portion of her bow during the Battle of Vella Lavella when she rammed Chevalier, which had been torpedoed. After the close of the battle, O’Bannon took off survivors before Chevalier was scuttled.
     This action ended a year in the Solomon Islands, for which the O’Bannon later received a Presidential Unit Citation. After repairs at Tulagi, she sailed home to Mare Island for overhaul.

DATA Name: United States Ship O’Bannon Type: Destroyer Namesake: Marine Lt. Presley Neville O’Bannon Navy Classification: DD 450 Class: DD 445, Fletcher Authorized: 17 May 1938 Builder: Bath Iron Works Corp., Bath, Maine Builder’s Hull Number: 191 Keel laid: 3 March 1941 Launched: 14 March 1942 First commissioned: 26 June 1942 Decommissioned: 21 May 1946 Redesignated: DDE 450: 26 March 1949 Recommissioned: 19 February 1951 Decommissioned: 30 January 1970 Disposition: Scrapped

     In March 1944, O’Bannon arrived back in the war zone to resume screening convoys and the fleet and bombarding shore positions in New Guinea, the Philippines and Borneo.
     After hostilities ceased on 15 August 1945, Admiral Halsey selected O’Bannon with Nicholas and Taylor to escort his flagship Missouri into Tokyo Bay for the formal surrender of the Japanese Empire. On 1 September, the day before Japan formally surrendered, O’Bannon sailed for San Francisco, where she was the first ship to arrive home from Tokyo Bay.
     Like most DesRon 21 ships, O’Bannon was mothballed in 1946, then recommissioned with Nicholas to serve in Korea and Vietnam. Many more crews got to know her, with some 4,000 eventually serving on board over the years. Finally in 1970, she decommissioned in a ceremony, again with Nicholas, and then broken up in 1972.
   A third O’Bannon, Spruance-class DD 987, was built by Ingalls Shipbuilding Division of Litton Industries, Pascagoula, Mississippi and commissioned 15 December 1979, the twenty-fifth of thirty-one ships in the class. Her home port was Mayport, Florida. She decommissioned in August 2005.