USS Dobbin (AD-3)

USS "Dobbin" (AD-3) is the name of a United States Navy destroyer tender. Named after James Cochrane Dobbin the Secretary of the Navy from 1853 to 1857. A firm believer in a strong Navy as insurance for peace, Secretary Dobbin instituted reforms throughout the Navy, and during his service 18 of the finest ships of their class in the world were built. Under his auspices many US Naval accomplishments were undertaken including the Perry expedition to Japan which successful terminated Japan's "Closed Country" policy.

The USS "Dobbin" was launched 5 May 1921 by the Philadelphia Navy Yard. [http://www.hazegray.org/danfs/auxil/ad3.htm Detailed history of USS Dobbin] ] She was commissioned 23 July 1924, and served for 22 years before being decommissioned on 27 September 1946, and transferred to the United States Maritime Commission for disposal.

Missing captain

Months before the Pearl Harbor attack the USS "Dobbin" was part of the strange episode of the disappearing Commander Thomas C. Latimore. In July 1941 the captain of the ship Commander Latimore disappeared while hiking the local Aiea Hills. His body was never found and was the subject of much local news coverage and rumor before being overshadowed by the Pearl Harbor attack.

Attack on Pearl Harbor

The "Dobbin" was present during the Attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. At the time of the attack the ship was moored northeast of Ford Island with five destroyers, the "Phelps", "MacDonough", "Worden", "Dewey" and "Hull".cite book |last=Robert S. La Forte and Ronald E. Marcello |title=Remembering Pearl Harbor: Eyewitness Accounts by U.S. Military Men and Women |origdate=1992-03-01|format=Paperback |publisher=Ballantine Books |location=New York |id=ISBN-10: 0345373804 ISBN-13: 978-0345373809 |pages=314 |chapter=Maps |quote = ]

The crew of the USS "Dobbin" watched helpless as Japanese planes targeted the Battleship row but as the battleships each took heavy damage the Japanese pilots looked for other targets. The planes seeing that the ship had admiral flags tried to bomb the "Dobbin" but the ship only took shrapnel damage.

"Dobbin"'s small craft spent the morning picking up survivors taking the wounded to shore. The ship picked up hundreds of sailors from other ships and when it left the harbor in search of the Japanese fleet had 200 men from the "Raleigh" alone aboard.

World War II

After the attack, the "Dobbin" served in the Hawaiian area until May 1942 and then she was sent to Sydney, Australia. "Dobbin" was one of several Allied vessels located in Sydney Harbour during the Japanese midget submarine attack of 31 May 1942. [cite book |last=Jenkins |first=David |title=Battle Surface! Japan's Submarine War Against Australia 1942–44 |year=1992 |publisher=Random House Australia |location=Milsons Point |isbn=0-09-182638-1 |pages=pp 193–194 |chapter=] On the 25 June 1943 she was sent to Brisbane, Mackay, Townsville, and Cleveland Bay, Australia, before arriving at Milne Bay, New Guinea, 30 September 1943. She stayed near New Guinea until 14 February 1945 at which point she returned to America and decommissioned 27 September 1946, and transferred to the Maritime Commission for disposal 24 December 1946.

"Dobbin" received one battle star for World War II service.

ee also

*List of auxiliaries of the United States Navy
*US Navy

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