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Photo # NH 99557:  USS Hovey operating at sea, 1 September 1932

Online Library of Selected Images:
-- U.S. NAVY SHIPS --

USS Hovey (Destroyer # 208, later DD-208 and DMS-11), 1919-1945

USS Hovey, a 1190-ton Clemson class destroyer built at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, was commissioned in early October 1919, one of two ships of her class armed with twin 4"/50 gun mounts in place of the usual single mounts. Late in that year she steamed across the Atlantic, by way of the Azores, to begin service in the Mediterranean and Black Seas. Hovey passed through the Suez Canal in December 1920, en route to the Far East, where she operated with the Asiatic Fleet. In mid-1922 the destroyer went on to California and was placed out of commission at San Diego at the beginning of February 1923.

Hovey returned to commissioned service in February 1930, spending the rest of the decade on Naval Reserve training and service with the United States Fleet, mainly in the Pacific. She made a trip to New York in 1934 and also visited Hawaiian, Panamanian and Alaskan waters. Converted to a fast minesweeper in late 1940 and redesignated DMS-11 , in February 1941 she was transferred to Pearl Harbor. After the 7 December 1941 Japanese surprise attack on that Pacific Fleet base Hovey performed patrol and escort missions in the Hawaiian area until May 1942, when she went to the West Coast for overhaul. In July she was sent to the southwest Pacific, where she participated in the invasion of Guadalcanal and Tulagi in August. She performed Guadalcanal campaign escort and transport duty for the rest of 1942 and the first several months of 1943.

Following another California shipyard session, Hovey returned to the southwest Pacific in August 1943. In addition to more escort work she took part in landings on Bougainville in November 1943. In September 1944, after repairs on the West Coast, Hovey supported the Palaus invasion. A month later she swept for mines in advance of the landings at Leyte. She performed minesweeping duty during the January 1945 Lingayen Gulf invasion. After enduring intense Japanese suicide plane attacks on 6 January, she was steaming off the landing area early in the morning of 7 January when another air attack came in. Hit amidships by a Kamikaze and a torpedo, USS Hovey was cut nearly in two and sank, with the loss of nearly fifty lives.

USS Hovey was named in honor of Ensign Charles E. Hovey (1885-1911), who was killed in action in the Philipines on 24 September 1911.

This page features, and provides links to, all the views we have concerning USS Hovey (Destroyer # 208, later DD-208 and DMS-11).

For more images related to this ship, see:

  • USS Hovey (DMS-11, formerly DD-208) -- As DMS-11, 1940-1945; and
  • USS Hovey (DD-208, later DMS-11) -- On Board and Close Up Views.


    If you want higher resolution reproductions than the digital images presented here, see: "How to Obtain Photographic Reproductions."

    Click on the small photograph to prompt a larger view of the same image.

    Photo #: NH 53592

    USS Hovey
    (Destroyer # 208)

    Anchored off Pensacola, Florida, 15 November 1919.

    U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

    Online Image: 71KB; 740 x 575 pixels

     
    Photo #: NH 99557

    USS Hovey
    (DD-208)

    Operating at sea, 1 September 1932.

    Official U.S. Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval Historical Center.

    Online Image: 72KB; 740 x 615 pixels

     
    Photo #: NH 99558

    USS Hovey
    (DD-208)

    Photographed during the 1930s.

    U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

    Online Image: 85KB; 740 x 515 pixels

     
    Photo #: NH 67662

    USS Hovey
    (DD-208)

    Underway in San Francisco Bay, California, during the 1930s.
    Note her dark smokestacks with broad light bands at the top, possibly special markings for an exercise.

    Courtesy of Donald M. McPherson, 1969.

    U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

    Online Image: 59KB; 740 x 460 pixels

     
    Photo #: NH 99559

    USS Williamson
    (DD-244) and
    USS Hovey (DD-208)

    In the Miraflores Locks of the Panama Canal, during the 1930s.
    Destroyers next astern appear to be USS Barry (DD-248) and USS Long (DD-209).

    U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

    Online Image: 109KB; 740 x 615 pixels

     
    Photo #: NH 99569

    USS Hovey
    (DD-208)

    At Portland, Oregon, during the mid-1930s.

    Collection of Rear Admiral Elmer E. Duval, Sr., who was Hovey's Commanding Officer at the time.

    U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

    Online Image: 103KB; 740 x 435 pixels

     
    Photo #: NH 99571

    USS Hovey
    (DD-208)

    Off the Taku Glacier, Alaska, during the mid-1930s.

    Collection of Rear Admiral Elmer E. Duval, Sr., who was Hovey's Commanding Officer at the time.

    U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

    Online Image: 49KB; 740 x 455 pixels

     
    Photo #: 80-G-455918

    USS Maryland
    (BB-46),
    USS Hovey (DD-208), and
    USS Long (DD-209)
    (ships listed left to right)

    In the Miraflores Locks, while transiting the Panama Canal during the annual inter-ocean movement of the U.S. Fleet, 24 April 1931.
    Note the twin 4"/50 gun mountings carried by Hovey and Long.

    Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives.

    Online Image: 139KB; 740 x 590 pixels

    Reproductions of this image may also be available through the National Archives photographic reproduction system.

     
    Photo #: NH 53593

    USS Hovey
    (DD-208)

    Stands by while a launch assists in recovering a ditched Grumman F3F fighter, 7 February 1938.
    The plane, marked "3-F-12", belonged to Fighting Squadron Three, based on USS Saratoga (CV-3).

    U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

    Online Image: 75KB; 740 x 595 pixels

     
    Photo #: NH 91987

    Destroyers moored at San Diego, California, prior to World War II


    These ships are (from left to right): USS Barry (DD-248); USS Bainbridge (DD-246); USS Reuben James (DD-245); USS Williamson (DD-244); USS Fox (DD-234); USS Lawrence (DD-250); and USS Hovey (DD-208).

    Courtesy of the U.S. Naval Institute Photo Collection.

    U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

    Online Image: 87KB; 740 x 575 pixels

     
    Photo #: 80-G-455906

    Balboa Harbor, Panama Canal Zone


    Aerial photograph taken 23 April 1934, with U.S. Fleet cruisers and destroyers moored together.
    Most of the ships present are identified in Photo # 80-G-455906 (extended caption).

    Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives.

    Online Image: 298KB; 1200 x 970 pixels

    Reproductions of this image may also be available through the National Archives photographic reproduction system.

     
    Photo #: NH 84588

    Destroyer Division 18 (DesDiv 18) Commanding Officers


    Photographed circa the last part of 1935, possibly on board USS Southard (DD-207), which was DesDiv18 flagship at the time.
    Those present are (left to right, seated):
    Lieutenant Commander Dennis L. Ryan, Commanding Officer, USS Chandler (DD-206);
    Commander Carleton H. Wright, Commander DesDiv 18; and
    Lieutenant Commander William J. Morcott, Commanding Officer, USS Southard.
    (left to right, standing):
    Lieutenant Commander Earl E. Stone, Commanding Officer, USS Long (DD-209); and
    Lieutenant Commander Elmer E. DuVall, Jr., Commanding Officer, USS Hovey (DD-208).

    U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

    Online Image: 110KB; 595 x 765 pixels

     

    For more images related to this ship, see:

  • USS Hovey (DMS-11, formerly DD-208) -- As DMS-11, 1940-1945; and
  • USS Hovey (DD-208, later DMS-11) -- On Board and Close Up Views.


    If you want higher resolution reproductions than the digital images presented here, see: "How to Obtain Photographic Reproductions."


    Return to Naval Historical Center home page.

    Page made 26 September 2004
    Minor text corrections made 8 October 2004