1942 Following
shakedown,
Rodman, assigned to Task Force 22 (TF 22), alternated training and patrol duties at
NS Argentia,
Newfoundland with screening and plane guard services for the
aircraft carrier as that carrier trained aviation personnel along the northeast U.S. coast and ferried planes of the
Army's 33rd Pursuit Squadron to
Accra on the
Gold Coast from 22 April to 28 May 1942. Detached in June, she departed
Newport 1 July, escorted a seven-
troopship convoy to the
Firth of Clyde, then continued on to
Orkney where, as a unit of TF 99, she commenced operations with the
British Home Fleet. Based at
Scapa Flow into August, she alternated patrols from
Scotland and
Iceland to protect the southern legs of the PQ/QP convoy lanes between those two countries and the north
Russian ports of
Murmansk and
Archangel. With the long summer days, however, the
U-boats and Norwegian based
Luftwaffe units continued to exact a heavy toll. In early July, they destroyed
Convoy PQ 17. Further convoys were postponed until the relative cover of the Arctic winter darkness could be regained. Operation "Easy Unit" then came into being. Toward the end of July,
Rodman was designated to assist in filling the increasing immediate logistics demands of the Russians, and of British and American personnel in northern Russia, and to prepare for bases, men, and equipment to provide air cover for the convoys when they resumed. On 17 August
Rodman, with the
cruiser and two other American destroyers departed Scapa Flow carrying medical personnel and supplies men, and equipment for the
Royal Air Force's
144 and
145 Squadrons, ammunition, pyrotechnics, radar gear drystores, and provisions. Following the route taken by British destroyers three weeks earlier, they entered
Kola Inlet after dark on 23 August. The
Luftwaffe was grounded. The ships offloaded, refueled, took on merchant sailors survivors of ill-fated convoys, and departed
Vaenga Bay on 24 August. En route back to Scotland, the American ships were joined by
Royal Navy destroyers. On 25 August, the British ships tracked the
German minelayer Ulm — one of many ships and boats engaged in laying
mines at the entrance to the
White Sea and in the shallow waters off
Novaya Zemlya — and sank her southeast of
Bear Island (Norway).
Rodman arrived back in the Firth of Clyde on 30 August and on 1 September got underway for New York. An abbreviated overhaul at
Boston followed and, at the end of the month, she resumed training and patrols off the U.S. northeast coast. On 25 October she sortied with Task Group 34.2 (TG 34.2) to support the amphibious force of TF 34 in
Operation Torch, the invasion of
North Africa. On 7 November, Task Unit 34.2.3 (TU 34.2.3), comprising the
escort carrier , destroyer , and
Rodman left TG 34.2 and screened the Southern Attack Group to its destination. From then through 11 November,
Rodman screened
Santee, then put into Safi for replenishment. On 13 November
Rodman retired, arrived at Norfolk on 24 November, thence proceeded to Boston where her 1.1"/75 caliber gun| battery was replaced by
40 mm and
20 mm guns.
1943 In December she steamed to the
Panama Canal whence she escorted a convoy back to the U.S. east coast, arriving at
Norfolk on 7 January 1943. The next day she sailed again joining
Ranger for two more ferry runs to Africa, this time to
Morocco. During March and April, she remained in the western Atlantic, again ranging as far north as
Argentia on patrol and escort duty. In May, she returned to the United Kingdom. Arriving at Scapa Flow on 18 January,
Rodman rejoined the
Home Fleet. Into the summer she and her
sister ships patrolled out of Scotland and Iceland and screened the larger ships of the combined force, including the
battleships , , and , as they attempted to draw the German fleet — particularly the battleship — out of the protected
fjords. With August,
Rodman returned to the United States and by 1 September had resumed patrols at Argentia. Detached in October, she departed Norfolk 3 November for
Bermuda whence she sailed in the advance scouting line screening the battleship then carrying President
Franklin D. Roosevelt on the first leg of his journey to the
Teheran Conference.
1944 Returning in mid-December, the destroyer guarded carriers on training exercises out of Newport and
Portland, Maine, until April 1944. Then, on the 20th, she headed east with other units of her squadron,
DesRon 10. On 1 May she arrived at
Mers-el-Kebir, whence she operated as a unit of TG 80.6, a
hunter-killer group formed to work with the North African coastal air squadrons against the
U-boat menace to shipping in the 325-mile stretch between the
Straits of Gibraltar and
Oran. The Anglo-American air-sea effort, devised to keep U-boats submerged to the point of exhaustion and then overwhelm them as they surfaced, required time and patience, as well as coordination. It was instrumental in slicing the number of operational U-boats in the Mediterranean by over one-third between March and June. On 14 May
Rodman, with others of her squadron, departed Mers-el-Kebir to track a submarine which had sunk four merchantmen in less than two days. A 72-hour air-surface hunt ensued, but on the morning of 17 May, the damaged surfaced, was abandoned, and sank. The force picked up survivors and retired to Mers-el-Kebir only to sail for England the following day.
Invasion of France, Omaha Beach On 22 May
Rodman arrived at
Plymouth and on 23 May assumed duties as CTU 126.2.1 for
Operation Neptune, the naval phase of
Operation Overlord the invasion of France. On 24 May, she conducted shore bombardment exercises. Then she waited. On 4 June the convoy B-1, formed, headed out across the
English Channel, but then turned back, as the invasion was postponed one day. On 5 June the convoy again formed and headed east, this time continuing on to France and landing reinforcements on
Omaha Beach on the afternoon of 6 June.
Rodman, detached on arrival in the assault area, joined TG 122.4 and through 16 June provided gunfire support and patrolled in the
Baie de la Seine. Brief respite at Plymouth followed, but on 18 June she returned to the
Normandy coast. Back in English waters from 21 to 24 June, she joined
TF 129 on 25 June as that force joined the
Ninth Air Force in supporting the
U.S. VII Corps (the
9th,
79th, and
4th Divisions) closing
on Cherbourg.
Southern France Rodman returned to England the same day, proceeded to sea again on 30 June; and, after a 3-day stop at
Belfast, got underway for the
Mediterranean to participate in
Operation Dragoon ("Anvil"), the invasion of southern France. Arriving at Mers-el-Kebir on 11 July, she was en route to Sicily on 16 July, and into August operated between that island, the coast of Italy, and
Malta. On 11 August, assigned to TU 85.12.4,
Rodman sailed from
Taranto. Two days later French warships joined the formation; and on 15 August, the force arrived off the Delta assault area in the
Baie de Bougnon. From 04:30 to 06:41,
Rodman covered the minesweeping craft clearing the channels to the beaches. Two hours of shore bombardment followed. She then shifted to call fire support duties, which, with antiaircraft screening duties, she continued until retiring to
Palermo on 17 August. Back off southern France on 22 August, she fired on shore batteries at
Toulon on 23 August, covered minesweepers in the
Golfe de Fos on 25 August, and in the
Baie de Marseille on 26 August. Engaged in screening and patrol duties through the end of the month, she sailed for Oran on 2 September and for the next month and a half escorted men and supplies into the assault area.
Minesweeper conversion In late October, Destroyer Squadron 10 escorted a convoy back to the United States. From New York
Rodman continued on to
Boston for conversion to a destroyer minesweeper. Emerging from the yard as
DMS-21 on 16 December, she sailed for Norfolk the following week.
1945 Pacific theatre On 1 January 1945,
Rodman got underway for the Pacific. During the remainder of that month and into February, she conducted minesweeping and gunnery exercises off
California and in
Hawaiian waters, then sailed west. On 12 March she anchored at
Ulithi and seven days later sailed for the
Ryukyus and her last amphibious operation, "Iceberg". On 24–25 March she participated in minesweeping operations off
Kerama Retto, then prepared for the
assault on Okinawa.
Okinawa After 1 April landings on the
Hagushi beaches, she remained in the area and was caught in the air-surface action which enveloped the island on 6 April. Assigned to picket duty early that day, she later shifted to screening duties and joined
Emmons in covering small minecraft sweeping the channel between
Iheya Retto and Okinawa. In midafternoon a large flight of
kamikazes flew over. At 15:32 their leader dived out of the clouds and crashed into
Rodman port bow. His bomb exploded under her. Sixteen men were killed or missing, 20 were wounded, but
Rodmans engineering plant remained intact.
Emmons commenced circling
Rodman to provide antiaircraft fire as other
kamikazes closed in. Six were splashed.
Marine Corps F4U Corsairs arrived, joined in, and scored on 20, but not before others got through.
Rodman was hit twice more during the 3½-hour battle.
Emmons splashed six more, but was hit by five and damaged by four near misses. Her hulk was sunk the next day. From 7 April to 5 May
Rodman underwent temporary repairs at Kerama Retto, then started her journey back to the United States. Arriving at
Charleston Navy Yard on 19 June, her repairs were completed in mid-October, and on the 22nd she sailed for
Casco Bay for refresher training.
Post war For the next three years, she operated along the U.S. east coast, ranging from
Newfoundland to the
Caribbean; then, in September 1949, deployed to the
Mediterranean. There for only two weeks, she resumed her western Atlantic operations and during the next six years sailed twice more to the Mediterranean, both times for 5-month tours with the
6th Fleet, 2 June to 1 October 1952 and 19 January to 17 May 1954 with a short diversion to Charleston, South Carolina to serve in the role as the fictitious USS
Caine in the film
The Caine Mutiny. Reclassified
DD-456 on 15 January 1955, she decommissioned 28 July 1955 and was transferred the same day to the
Republic of China to serve as '
ROCS Hsien Yang
(DD-16)'. In ROCN service she became infamous for being involved in collisions twice in 1956 and was subsequently nicknamed "Gōng Yáng" ("ram"). After she ran aground c. 1969, her ROCN name and ROCN pennant number were reassigned to the former , which was acquired in 1970.
Rodman earned five
battle stars during World War II. == Notes ==