1943 — Jan 12, USN destroyer Worden hits rock/sinks, Constantine Hbr. ent., Amchitka Isl., AK-14

–14 AK Bur. Ocean Energy Mgmt., Reg., Enforce. Alaska’s Worst All Time Shipping Losses.
–14 Alaskashipwreck.com. Alaska Shipwrecks. “Alaska Shipwrecks 1926-1950.”
–14 Alaskashipwreck.com. Alaska Shipwrecks. “Alaska Shipwrecks A–Z.” (W).
–14 Nelson, Eric. Shipwrecks on Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge. Oct 28, 2007.
–14 U.S.S. Worden – DD 352.

Narrative Information

Alaska Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement: “Jan 12, 1943. Navy destroyer Worden. Hit rock and sank. At mouth of Constantine Harbor, Amchitka Island. 14 lost, some rescued.” (AK BOEMRE. Alaska’s Worst…Losses.)

Alaskashipwreck.com: “1943…Worden…SW [southwest area]…341 Foot…Naval Destroyer… 14 [lives lost]…175 [lived].” (Alaska Shipwrecks. “Alaska Shipwrecks 1926-1950.”)

Alaskashipwreck.com: “Worden (1943). The 341 foot Navy destroyer Worden struck a pinnacle and sank January 12, 1943 south of Kirilof Point on Amchitka Island. The vessel was shoved by the current onto a pinnacle which punctured her hull and flooded the engine room. Powerless the destroyer began breaking up on the rocky shore. 14 of 189 crewmembers perished in the 20 foot seas and 36 degree waters while attempting to abandon ship. Included in the missing and lost were Seaman 1st Class Leland Floyd Bass, USNR Susanville, CA; Electrician’s Mate Third Class John Alfred Anderson, USN, Priest River, ID; Electrician’s Mate Third Class Don Avery Blue, USNR, Cleveland, TX; Fireman First Class Keith Leonard Briley, USN Beaumont, TX; Radioman Third Class Robert William Kieser, USN, Denver, CO; Seaman First Class Francis Dewey Musgrave Jr., USN, Sinclair, WY; Fireman First Class William Frederick Reddeman, USN, Chicago, IL; Fireman Second Class Leo Lester Schultz, USN, Monroe, MI; Seaman First Class Stephen Stanley Seltz, USNR, Tracy, MN; Seaman First Class Harvey John Senne, USN, Fairmont, MN; Fireman Second Class Willard Edwin Shinabery, USN, Bellevue, OH; Fireman Third Class Jerome Joseph Wolshock, USN, Chester, IL; Water Tender First Class Charles Frederick Wood, USN, Gloversville, NY; Seaman First Class John Harris Wright, USNR, East St. Louis, MO.

“Mapping and Location: Southwest Alaska 51 25 15 N 179 17 50 E Charts 16012, 16440.

“Sources: 1. BOEM Alaska Shipwreck List (2011), 2. U.S.S. WORDEN DD 352 at dd352.us (2017).” (Alaskashipwreck.com. Alaska Shipwrecks. “Alaska Shipwrecks A–Z.” (W).)

Nelson: “Amchitka Is., 1943, Jan. 12th, U.S. Navy destroyer USS Worden (DD-352) struck a rock at the entrance of Constantine Harbor and sank, 14 of the crew were lost, and the vessel became a total loss.” (Nelson, Eric. Shipwrecks on Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge. 10-28-2007.)

Roscoe: “On June 6-7, 1942, the Japanese landed on American soil. It was the first time that soil had been trod by a foreign army since the War of 1812. The Japanese came with ships, guns, planes, troops – all the bag and baggage of conquest. True, they landed on America’s farthest outward fringe – but they were bent on territorial seizure and occupation.

“Extending 1,100 miles westward from the Alaskan mainland, the Aleutians are a long way from the continental United States. Nevertheless the tramp of enemy boots on those remote Aleutian shores reverberated through the United States like a seismic shock. Japanese aircraft had bombed the U.S. Naval base at Dutch Harbor. Japanese submarines had been prowling off Kodiak. Now the Rising Sun flag was on Alaska’s doorstep….

“Contrary to the initial impression left on the American public by the move, the Japanese High Command was not planning an invasion of continental Alaska. The Aleutian offensive was aimed at two strategic objectives. On the one hand, it was intended as a diversion to fool the Americans into rushing their Navy northward when Yamamoto struck at Midway. And on the other hand, seizure of the Western Aleutians would prevent the United States from using the archipelago as a causeway to Northern Japan….

“Loss of U.S.S. Worden

“Late in the autumn of 1942, Admiral Nimitz began to study plans for an advance on Kiska [Aleutian Islands]. Occupation of Adak [Aleutian Islands] had given the Catalinas a base 250 miles from the invader’s easternmost foxholes. But a move from Adak to Amchitka still further west would put the PBY’s within virtual ‘spitting distance’ of the enemy.

“The island was swampy – the low tundra afforded little protection against the williwaws – the soggy marshland militated against the construction of an airstrip. American scouts discovered that a Jap exploring party had visited Amchitka, and had apparently reported the island a quagmire not worth the taking. But CinCPac thought otherwise, and the occupation of Amchitka was scheduled for mid-January 1843.

“D-Day was set for January 12. Landings were to be made on the beaches of Constantine Harbor. Troops were carried by the Coast Guard transport Arthur Middleton. And the destroyer Worden (Commander W. G. Pogue) was assigned to transport from Adak Island and land at Amchitka the Advance Security Detail of the Army.

“The night of January 11-12 was as black as anthracite, the weather clearing and calming after a storm. Closing the harbor entrance, the destroyermen obtained a glimpse of outlying rocks and headland. Radar checked the picture, and the DD started in. After ticklish maneuvering between a great bed of kelp and a cluster of rocks, Worden managed the hazardous approach on the beach without misadventure, and quietly anchored off shore. In the darkness before the subarctic dawn she lowered her boats and landed the Army detachment. By 0720 of the 12th the last man was on the beach, and the destroyermen were congratulating themselves on a mission handily accomplished.

“About 0730 Worden was once more under way, heading seaward. The bridge watch was vigilant. The lookouts scanned the water for signs of treachery. No man on watch was asleep on his feet. But the island was to exact a toll of these visitors, vigilance despite.

“The destroyer was almost free of the bay’s embrace when there was a crash, a grinding snarl under the keel, and the ship was snagged by a jagged rock. She tore free from the clutch of this concealed snare, only to find herself trapped in a nest of rocks, with an outcropping of granite directly abeam. Worden had apparently been set to northwestward when she ran into this mist-veiled trap. She had hit hard, under the engine-room. Water spurted through her torn bottom-plates, and the engine-room spaces flooded rapidly.

“Splashing about in the murk, the damage-controlmen fought to stem the rising flood. All available pumps were put into action, but the ocean came in, and the damage-controlmen were driven out. The engine-room was ‘partially abandoned.’

“With power lost, the ravaged DD drifted at the mercy of ground swells which drove her toward the jutting rocks abeam. Commander Pogue ordered the anchor dropped to hold the bow and prevent the ship from going broadside into the rocky tumulus. Her keel clear of the bottom, Worden rode at anchor until daylight. Had the sea remained lenient, the destroyer could undoubtedly have been extricated from the shoals.

“But just as daylight began to dissolve the gloom, the harbor was roughened by a rising wind, and Worden’s stern began to grind and pound submerged rock. A battering surf came breaking around the stranded ship. All hands were put to pumping and jettisoning operations, but Worden’s stern could not be gotten off.

“In answer to a distress call, the destroyer Dewey…steamed to Worden’s aid. A tow line was rigged, and Dewey tried to pull Worden clear. There ensued a tug of war between straining destroyer and obdurate Aleutian rock, with Worden’s life as prize. The rock won.

“The contest had hardly begun when the tow line parted with a detonation like a gunshot. As the broken cable backlashed like a monster bullwhip, Worden lurched and listed to starboard. She began to settle, and the list increased as buffeting surf assailed her exposed beam. Driven against the rocks, the destroyer lay helpless and aground, and savage seas ran in to give her a beating.

“Throughout the forenoon they slammed her against the rocks. Flogged her hull. Swept up over her deck to flood her hatches. The ship was floundering and groaning when Commander Pogue gave the order to abandon. A whaleboat was lowered into the boiling sea. Life rafts were launched. In the turmoil of wind and wave, seamen were thrown headlong into the water. The ship lurched and listed 35 degrees. Watching rescue operations, Commander Pogue was clinging to the splinter shield of a 40 mm. mount when a wave struck like a shell-burst and he was knocked overboard, unconscious.

“Rescue operations under Commander G.R. Cooper (ComDesDiv 1 in Dewey) were as hazardous as they were urgent. Whaleboats from Dewey and the landing boats from the transport Middleton came sweeping through the shoals to pick up Worden’s survivors. In the furious water a number of the destroyermen were injured. Several were drowned. Rabid seas continued to pound the stranded destroyer. At 1225 the ship’s hull broke in two, and sprawled on the rocks, a halved carcass….” (Roscoe. United States Destroyer Operations in World War II. 1953, pp. 150, 153-155.)

U.S.S. Worden – DD 352: “This site is dedicated to the crew of USS Worden (DD 352), whose ship foundered during the Aleutians operations in January 1943. Worden was a Farragut-class destroyer designed by the naval architecture center at Carderock, Maryland, and launched in 1934 at Puget Sound, Washington.

“Worden survived the Pearl Harbor attack and served in the battles of Coral Sea and Midway, assisted the invasion of Guadalcanal, and finally ran aground while landing a spearhead unit of Alaska Scouts and army volunteers on Amchitka Island, Alaska. Out of a crew of 186, 14 died — most from freezing in the midwinter Bering Sea.

“Worden’s mission was so secret that the sinking was not announced until 1945. Its name does not appear in the official published history of the Aleutians campaign. Nothing marks its grave, and the entire island remains off-limits to civilians.” (U.S.S. Worden – DD 352.)

Sources

Alaska Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement. Alaska’s Worst All Time Shipping Losses. Accessed 11-27-2021 at: https://www.boem.gov/about-boem/alaskas-worst-all-time-shipping-losses

Alaskashipwreck.com. Alaska Shipwrecks. “Alaska Shipwrecks 1926-1950.” Accessed 11-27-2021 at: https://alaskashipwreck.com/alaska-shipwrecks-1729-2012/alaska-shipwrecks-1926-1950-2/

Alaskashipwreck.com. Alaska Shipwrecks. “Alaska Shipwrecks A–Z.” (W). Accessed 11-26-2021 at: https://alaskashipwreck.com/shipwrecks-a-z/alaska-shipwrecks-w/

Nelson, Eric. Shipwrecks on Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge. 10-28-2007. Accessed at: http://www.amnwr.com/ShipwreckList.htm

Roscoe, Theodore. United States Destroyer Operations in World War II. Naval Institute Press. 1953. Google Preview accessed at: http://books.google.com/books?id=mszT93YXPFMC&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false

U.S.S. Worden DD 352 (website). Accessed 11-27-2021 at: https://dd352.us/index.shtml