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DEPARTMENT OF THE NAVY -- NAVAL HISTORICAL CENTER
805 KIDDER BREESE SE -- WASHINGTON NAVY YARD
WASHINGTON DC 20374-5060
Online Library of Selected Images:
-- U.S. NAVY SHIPS --
USS Gregory (DD-82, later APD-3), 1918-1942
USS Gregory, a 1060-ton Wickes class destroyer,
was built at Quincy, Massachusetts. Commissioned in June 1918,
she escorted convoys between France and England until early November
1918, then patrolled out of Gibraltar. During the months after
the 11 November Armistice, Gregory operated in the Mediterranean
and Black Seas supporting diplomatic and relief efforts. She was
intermittently active after her return to the U.S. in June 1919
and was formally decommissioned at the Philadelphia Navy Yard
in July 1922.
After nearly two decades in reserve, Gregory was recalled
to active duty and converted to a high speed transport. Recommissioned
with the new hull number APD-3 in November 1940, she conducted
amphibious warfare training in the Atlantic and Caribbean into
early 1942, then was transferred to the Pacific. She took part
in exercises in Hawaiian waters and off the west coast until mid-1942.
Gregory next was ordered to the south Pacific, where
the Allies' first major offensive against the Japanese was being
prepared. On 7 August 1942, she landed Marines during the invasion
of Guadalcanal and Tulagi, in the southern Solomon Islands. For
the next month, she provided transport and other support services
in the area. On the night of 4-5 September 1942, while patrolling
off Guadalcanal's Lunga Point in company with USS Little
(APD-4), she encountered a greatly superior force of Japanese
destroyers. In a brief, intense and very-one sided battle, Gregory
was riddled with enemy gunfire and soon sank.
In July 1992, nearly fifty years after her loss, a sunken U.S.
Navy high-speed transport was discovered and briefly examined
on the sea floor some miles off Lunga Point. Though its specific
indentity could not be determined, this ship is either USS Gregory
or her sister, USS Little.
This page features all the views we have of USS Gregory
(DD-82, later APD-3).
Click on the small photograph to prompt
a larger view of the same image.
Photo #: NH 84722
USS Gregory (DD-82)
In a European port, circa 1919.
Note single-engine seaplane flying overhead.
U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.
Online Image: 49KB; 690 x 630 pixels |
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Photo #: NH 97781
USS Gregory (APD-3)
Photographed in port, circa early 1942, while painted in pattern
camouflage.
Official U.S. Navy Photograph, from the collections of the
Naval Historical Center.
Online Image: 74KB; 740 x 600 pixels |
 |
Photo #: NH 97782
USS Gregory (APD-3)
Photographed in port, circa early 1942.
Official U.S. Navy Photograph, from the collections of the
Naval Historical Center.
Online Image: 56KB; 740 x 595 pixels |
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Photo #: NH 97783
USS Gregory (APD-3)
Photographed in port, circa early 1942.
Note what appears to be an old side-wheel ferryboat by the shore
in the left distance.
Official U.S. Navy Photograph, from the collections of the
Naval Historical Center.
Online Image: 83KB; 740 x 595 pixels |
 |
Photo #: NH 97836
Rehersals for the Guadalcanal-Tulagi Invasion
Two high-speed transports (APD) underway during practice landings
in the Fiji Islands, 30 July 1942, shortly before the invasion
of Guadalcanal and Tulagi.
These ships are USS Gregory (APD-3), at left, and USS
Little (APD-4), in the right center.
Note the light cruiser beyond them, possibly USS San Juan
(CL-54).
Official U.S. Navy Photograph, from the collections of the
Naval Historical Center.
Online Image: 56KB; 740 x 615 pixels |
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Photo #: NH 43019
Fore River Shipbuilding Company, Quincy, Massachusetts
Destroyer hulls on the building ways, 1 October 1917. Those closest
to the camera are the future USS Colhoun (DD-85) and Stevens
(DD-86), which had builder's numbers 280 and 281. The ships on
the left are probably the future USS Sigourney (DD-81)
and Gregory (DD-82).
U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.
Online Image: 168KB; 580 x 765 pixels |
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Photo #: NH 43022
Fore River Shipbuilding Company, Quincy, Massachusetts
Ships fitting out at the Fore River shipyard, 19 March 1918.
The six destroyers are Little (DD-79), Kimberly
(DD-80), Sigourney (DD-81), Gregory (DD-82), Colhoun
(DD-85) and Stevens (DD-86), which had builder's hull
numbers 274-277 and 280-281 respectively.
The freighter at right is Katrina Luckenbach, yard hull
# 267, which served as USS Katrina Luckenbach in 1918-19.
Most of the equipment on the pier is for her.
Note the large submarine being built in the background, under
the revolving crane.
U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.
Online Image: 146KB; 740 x 585 pixels |
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Page made 28 November 2001
New image added 23 January 2002