USS Ward (DD-139/APD-16)
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In early December 1944 Ward
transported Army personnel during the landings at Ormoc Bay, Leyte. On the
morning of 7 December 1944, three years to the day after her Number Three
Gun fired the opening shot of the war, she was patrolling off the invasion
area when she came under attack by several Japanese aircraft. One bomber
made a suicide crash into her hull amidships, bringing the ship to a stop.
When the resulting fires could not be controlled, Ward's crew was ordered to
abandon ship and she was sunk by gunfire from USS
O'Brien (DD-725), whose Commanding Officer, William W. Outerbridge,
had been in command of Ward during her action off Pearl Harbor three years
before.
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Image Gallery (Click on image to see
enlarged version.)
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USS Ward (DD-139/APD-16) |
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In the aftermath of attack on 7 December 1944 |
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