USS O’Bannon (DD-450)

Presley Neville O'Bannon, born in 1784 in Fauquier County, Va., entered the Marine Corps 18 January 1801. As a first lieutenant he commanded a detachment of marines in General Eaton's little force in the War with Tripoli. During the combined operations with the U.S. Navy, he led the successful attack on Derne 27 April 1805, giving the Marine Corps its immortal "to the shores of Tripoli." After resigning from the Marine Corps 6 March 1807, O'Bannon lived in Franklin County, Kentucky, where he died 12 September 1850.

The second O'Bannon (DD-450) was laid down by Bath Iron Works Corp., Bath, Me., 3 March 1941; launched 19 February 1942; sponsored by Mrs. E. F. Kennedy, descendent of Lieutenant O'Bannon; and commissioned at Boston 26 June 1942, Comdr. E. R. Wilkinson in command.

O'Bannon briefly trained for war in the Caribbean and sailed from Boston 29 August 1942 for the Southwest Pacific where the long and arduous battle for Guadalcanal had just begun. For over a year the Navy, stretched thin to cover its world-wide commitments at a period when new ships were just beginning to join the fleet in any number, was to fight and fight again in the Solomons in one of the most bitterly contested campaigns of history, wresting air and sea control from the Japanese, and providing the Marine Corps and the Army with every possible support as they gained ground inch by inch on the myriad islands. O'Bannon played a valiant part in these endeavors, it was to win her a Presidential Unit Citation.

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From the Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships, compiled by the Naval History and Heritage Command (O'Bannon II (DD-450)). A work of the United States Government, in the public domain.