Caroline Atoll Jan '44 Formosa Oct '44/Jan'45 Kwajalein Is. Jan '44 Samar and Leyte Is. Oct'44 Enubuj/Ennylabegan Is. Jan '44 Cam Ranh Bay Jan'45 Eniwetok Feb '44 Hong Kong Jan'45 Truk/Ponape Feb/Apr '44 Radar Picket Okinawa Jun'45 Holandia Apr '44 Tokyo Bay Aug'45 New Guinea Apr '44 Korea Sep '53/Feb'54 Marianas Is. Jun '44 Tachen Is. Evacuation Feb'55 Guam and Rota Jul '44 Formosa Patrol Feb'55 Saipan Jul '44 Johnson Is. Nuclear Test Jul'59 Woleai, Ulithi Yap Is. Jul '44 Vietnam Patrol May'62 Chichi Jima, Iwo Jima Aug '44 Cuban Crisis Oct'62 Palau Is. Sep '44 Harbor Defense Da Nang Nov'65 Mindanao, P.I. Sep '44 Vietnam OperationsNov'65/Feb'66 Vesayas Is. Sep '44 Vietnam OperationsNov'66/May'67 Luzon and Manila Bay Sep '44 Vietnam Operations Jun/Dec'68 Okinawa Oct '44
Rear Admiral James Kelsey Cogswell was a native of Wisconsin and entered the Naval Academy in 1863. He was aboard the USS OREGON during the historic dash around Cape Horn to join the North Atlantic Squadron in time to contribute to the destruction of the Spanish Fleet at Santiago in 1898. For eminent and conspicuous conduct in that decisive battle he was promoted to Commander. Rear Admiral Cogswell died in Florida in 1908.
The Admiral's son, Captain Francis Cogswell was born in Portsmouth, NewHampshire, and was appointed to the Naval Academy from that state in 1903. During World War I, Captain Cogswell was awarded the Navy Cross. He died in 1939 at Bremerton, Washington.
Displacing a full load weight of about 2,900 tons, she was 376 feet long, with a beam of 39 feet. Her 60,000 horsepower propulsion-system was capable of speeds in excess of 35 knots. Her missions included naval gunfire support, anti-submarine warfare, escort, convoy and rescue duties.
After commissioning the Cogswell underwent shake down training off Bermuda and then she steamed through the Panama Canal and joined the Pacific Fleet where she was to participate in many of the major naval campaigns for the remainder of World War II. In December 1943 she joined task force 58 for the assault on the Marshall Islands and was part of the initial assault force on Kwajelein Atoll. Following this, she participated in the strikes against Truk, Palua, Ponape, Yap and New Guinea. In June 1944, she supported the amphibious assaults in the Marianas against Guam, Saipan and Tinian.
From there the Cogswell moved to Iwo Jima, Chi Chi Jima as well as Mindanao and Luzon in the Philippines for air and surface strikes. In October 1944 the Cogswell was assigned to task force 38 providing support for strikes against Okinawa, Formosa, Indo China, Hong Kong and the Chinese mainland. Later she participated in raids against the Japanese home islands She was also involved in sinking several Japanese war ships and she destroyed several key installations on the Japanese homeland. The Cogswell was the first warship into Tokyo Bay and was present at the signing of the Japanese surrender.
She was decommissioned and placed in the fleet reserve in January 1946. She was brought back to active service on June 7, 1951. She made several deployments including a world cruise in 1953-54 participating in the Korean conflict as a part of Task Force 77. Since World War II she has deployed 12 times as a unit of the Pacific Fleet. Four of these deployments were to support our nations efforts in Vietnam. The ship returned from her last operations in December 1968 having provided naval gunfire to our forces in Vietnam as well as rescue Destroyer for carrier USS Constellation CVA 64 in the Gulf of Tonkin. After her return state side she operated out of San Diego fleet training schools and participated in major fleet exercises. In early August while preparing for her 13th deployment the Cogswell was to be decommissioned and turned over to the Turkish Navy. On October 1, 1969 she was taken out of service and given to the Turks and she continued as the TCG IZMIT D-342. After several years with the Turks she was scraped in 1981. It should also be noted that the Cogswell never was damaged by the enemy. She served her Country for 23 years. Over this period of time it is believed that the crew members number over 3,500 men.
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