Laffey conducted her "shakedown" off the American West Coast as World War 2 raged on. She made it to Efate before the end of August 1942 and joined up with Task Force 18 (TF18) the following month. Her rescue services were called into action with the sinking of USS Wasp. This was followed by participation with TF64 before the end of September.
She then took part in the Battle of Cape Esperance (Second Battle of Savo Island) from October 11th to the 12th. Her 5" inch guns were brought to bear on the enemy and she scored hits against the enemy cruiser IJN Aoba - damaging the vessel. She escorted transports in November and followed this with the Battle of Guadalcanal, managing damage to the battleship IJN Hiei. The battle closed in on the small ship warship at which point she took her own damage from projectiles and a torpedo which rendered her immobile. With the order given to abandon ship, the vessel was all but lost. However, an internal explosion worsened the situation and claimed the lives of dozens of her crew. The resulting damage was great enough to take the vessel and what remained of her crew still aboard down in short order. In the battle, 59 of her crew perished and 116 were left wounded.
For her service she and her crews were awarded three Battle Stars as well as the Navy Presidential Unit Citation.
The Laffey name was resurrected once more through USS Laffey (DD-724) (detailed elsewhere on this site) which was commissioned for service in 1944 and earned the title of "The Ship That Would Not Die". This incarnation managed to survive the rest of the war and served into the Cold War decades before being decommissioned and saved as a floating museum at Patriot's Point, South Carolina.
Content ©MilitaryFactory.com; No Reproduction Permitted.
