USS Jouett (DD-396) — service history

1936

The second Jouett (DD-396) was laid down on 26 March 1936 at Bath, Maine, by Bath Iron Works Corp.; launched on 24 September 1938; sponsored by Mrs. J. R. Todd; and commissioned at Boston on 25 January 1939, Cmdr. G. W. Clark in command.

1939

Following shakedown training which took Jouett to England and Ireland, the ship returned to Norfolk on 29 April 1939 and began operating on neutrality patrol along the East and Gulf Coasts. She stood out of Pensacola Bay 15 February 1940 as one of the escorts for the heavy cruiser Tuscaloosa (CA-37), carrying President Franklin D. Roosevelt on a cruise through the Gulf of Panama, returning to Pensacola on 1 March 1940. Jouett then set course for the Panama Canal and the Pacific, arriving at Pearl Harbor, Territory of Hawaii, for duty 10 April 1940.

1941

The destroyer remained in Hawaiian waters during the next year exercising with America's vital carriers and perfecting tactics. Sailing on 18 April 1941, Jouett accompanied Yorktown (CV-5) through the canal to Cuba, proceeding from there to Port-of-Spain, Trinidad., on19 May. The ship then joined a cruiser and destroyer force under Rear Adm. Jonas H. Ingram charged with guarding against German surface or submarine attacks on U.S. shipping. Jouett was at Port of Spain on 7 December 1941 when the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor brought America into the war. The ship then began offensive antisubmarine patrols between Brazil and Africa, helping to keep the all-important ocean supply lines open. She accompanied U.S. Army engineers to lonely Ascension Island on 30 March 1942 where an airfield was carved from the bleak landscape. Jouett convoyed the precious oil tankers from Trinidad south during the months that followed, often attacking submarines with depth charges. In December 1942, the ship returned to Charleston for repairs, hut by 21 January 1943 she was back in Natal harbor, Brazil.

1943

Jouett received President Getulio D. Vargas of Brazil on 27 January 1943, providing quarters for him and his party during important conferences on board Humboldt (AG-121) with President Roosevelt. Following the talks, which cemented relations between the countries and provided for closer naval cooperation, President Vargas departed Jouett on 29 January.

The veteran destroyer resumed her escort duties in February, and 14 May joined in the search for U-128 off Bahia, Brazil. Aircraft dropped depth charges on the sub and brought her to the surface where gunfire from Jouett and Moffett (DD-362) sent her to the bottom. The destroyer continued to serve with Adm. Ingram's crack antisubmarine force, now 4th Fleet, through the rest of 1943. On New Year's Day 1944 she joined Omaha (CL-4) for ocean patrol; and the ships intercepted German blockade runner Rio Grande, with a vital cargo of crude rubber. After the crew abandoned ship, Omaha and Jouett sank the German ship. This effective closing of the South Atlantic to German blockade runners was demonstrated even more forcefully on 5 January when patrol planes reported a strange ship identifying herself as Floridian. Intelligence identified her, however, as blockade runner Burgenlund. Before aerial attacks could begin Omaha and Jouett picked her up on radar and closed in. Scuttling charges and the cruiser's gunfire sank her just after 1730.

1944 France

Jouett returned to Charleston once more in March 1944 and engaged in training operations in Casco Bay, Maine, before sailing for England in convoy 16 May 1944. There she joined a Reserve Fire Support Group for the long-awaited invasion of France. Jouett arrived off Omaha beach 8 June, escorting coastal steamers with support troops embarked. She repelled an air attack that day, and until 21 June screened British heavies during shore bombardment and provided antisubmarine screen for the Omaha Beach transport area. The second front established, Jouett escorted convoys to and from the Firth of Clyde until 12 July 1944 when she sailed with a convoy for Algeria.

The destroyer arrived at Oran on 21 July 1944 to prepare for the next major European operation, the invasion of southern France. Departing Naples 14 August, Jouett arrived off the Delta assault area next day and, as troops landed, acted as command ship of the Convoy Control Group charged with the smooth routing and unloading of support troops. This duty continued until 3 September, after which the ship operated on patrol out of Toulon. In early October Jouett steamed off Cape Ferrat, giving gunfire support to American troops in the bitter fighting ashore. She also destroyed mines off San Remo on 9 October, destroyed bridges, and covered Allied minesweeping operations in the area.

Jouett sailed from Oran on 31 December 1944 for repairs at Charleston. After refresher training in Casco Bay in April, the battle tested ship made convoy voyages to England and Cuba before the end of the war on 15 August 1945. She was decommissioned at Philadelphia Naval Shipyard on 1 November 1945 and was scrapped there in 1946.