1944 Cassin Young arrived at
Pearl Harbor 19 March 1944 to complete her training before sailing on to
Manus, where she joined the massive
Fast Carrier Task Force (then called TF 58, at other times called TF 38, depending on whether the overall organization was called
5th Fleet or
3rd Fleet). On 28 April, this force sortied for air attacks on Japanese strongholds at
Truk,
Woleai,
Satawan, and
Ponape, during which
Cassin Young operated as a
picket ship, assigned to warn her group of possible enemy counterattack. She returned to
Majuro, and then Pearl Harbor for further training before reporting to
Eniwetok on 11 June to join the screen of
escort carriers assigned to covering duty in the invasion of
Saipan four days later. In addition to radar picket and screening duty, she was also called upon for inshore fire support. As the battle for Saipan raged ashore, escort carriers of
Cassin Youngs group launched attacks on the island, as well as sorties to neutralize enemy air fields on
Tinian,
Rota, and
Guam. Similar operations supporting the subsequent assaults on Tinian and Guam claimed the services of
Cassin Young until 13 August, when she returned to Eniwetok to replenish. Between 29 August and 2 October 1944,
Cassin Young guarded the carriers of Task Group 38.3 as strikes were flown from their decks to hit targets on
Palau,
Mindanao, and
Luzon in support of the assault on the Palaus, stepping-stone to the Philippines. Only four days after her return from this mission to
Ulithi,
Cassin Young sailed on 6 October with the same force on duty in the accelerated schedule for the Philippines assault. First on the schedule were air strikes on
Okinawa, Luzon, and
Formosa; these led to the furious
Formosa Air Battle of 10 to 13 October, during which the Japanese tried to destroy the carrier strength of the imposing TF 38. On 14 October, the
cruiser was struck by a
kamikaze, which wounded five of
Cassin Youngs men with machine gun fire.
Cassin Young aided in shooting down several aircraft in this attack. On 18 October 1944, TF 38 took position east of Luzon to launch strikes immobilizing enemy air fields there in preparation for the
assault on Leyte two days later. After standing by to render support if called upon during the initial landings,
Cassin Youngs group began to search for the enemy forces known to be moving toward
Leyte Gulf on 23 October, and next day moved in toward
San Bernardino Strait, ready to launch strikes. In the most vigorous and successful air attack mounted by the Japanese during the Leyte operation, at 09:38 on 24 October, an enemy bomb struck the aircraft carrier , and
Cassin Young rejoined TG 38.3 for the dash northward to attack the
Japanese Northern Force. This developed on 25 October into the
Battle off Cape Engaño, a series of air strikes in which four Japanese carriers and a destroyer were sunk.
1945 Cassin Young continued operations in support of the Leyte conquest, as her carriers continued to range widely, striking at enemy bases on Okinawa, Formosa, and Luzon. With Ulithi as her base, the destroyer screened carriers during the January 1945
South China Sea raid as their aircraft pounded away at Formosa, Luzon,
Camranh Bay,
Hong Kong,
Canton, and the
Nansei Shoto in their support for the assault on Luzon. A brief overhaul at Ulithi prepared her for the operations supporting the
invasion of Iwo Jima with air strikes on
Honshu and Okinawa, the bombardment of
Parece Vela, and screening off
Iwo Jima itself during the initial assault on 19 February.
Okinawa Cassin Young returned to Ulithi, where she was attached to
Task Force 54 (TF 54) for the
invasion of Okinawa, for which she sailed from Ulithi 22 March 1945. After screening heavy ships in the massive pre-invasion bombardment,
Cassin Young moved inshore to support the activities of
underwater demolition teams preparing the beaches. On invasion day itself, 1 April, the destroyer offered fire support in the assault areas, then took up radar picket duty. As the Japanese air arm had been decimated by this point in the war, the lack of trained and experienced pilots led to its most extensive deployment of
kamikaze attacks during this battle; on 6 April,
Cassin Young experienced her first
kamikaze action, rescuing the survivors of two nearby destroyers that were sunk.
12 April Kamikaze damage On 12 April, a massive wave of
kamikazes came in at midday.
Cassin Youngs accurate gunfire had aided in shooting down five aircraft, but a sixth crashed high-up into her foremast, exploding in midair only from the ship. Surprisingly only one man was killed, TM3cT Robert Dean "Bobby" Moore, 19, of Enid, Oklahoma. 58 were wounded, many seriously.
Cassin Young, although damaged, made it to
Kerama Retto under her own power. After repairs there and at Ulithi, she returned to Okinawa on 31 May, and resumed radar picket duty.
30 July Kamikaze strike As the
kamikaze attacks continued,
Cassin Young had respite only during two brief
convoy escort voyages to the
Marianas. On 28 July, her group was again a prime target for the Japanese, with one destroyer sunk and another badly damaged by
kamikazes. During the engagement,
Cassin Young assisted in shooting down two enemy aircraft, and rescued survivors from the sunken ship. At 0200 30 July, she was struck for the second time, when a low-flying aircraft hit her starboard side, striking her fire control room. A tremendous explosion amidships was followed by fire, but the crew managed to restore power to one engine, get the flames under control, and had the ship underway for the safety of Kerama Retto within 20 minutes. Twenty-two men were killed and 45 wounded. For her determined service and gallantry in the Okinawa radar picket line she was awarded the
Navy Unit Commendation.
1946 Cassin Young cleared
Okinawa 8 August and headed home for repairs. Arriving home in San Pedro, California she was fully repaired, and then decommissioned and placed in reserve in
San Diego on 28 May 1946.
1951–1960 Recommissioned 8 September 1951, she cleared San Diego on 4 January 1952 for her new home port,
Newport, Rhode Island. In September 1952 she entered Dry Dock 1 at
Boston Navy Yard for the first of four major overhauls she would undergo in this shipyard. At this time the ship was updated to its current configuration. Two
Hedgehog anti-submarine (ASW) launchers and two torpedo carriages for the
Mark 32 torpedo were added, with one
21 inch (533 mm) quintuple torpedo tube mount removed. Also, four
40 mm Bofors twin mounts were replaced by two quadruple mounts. The forward pole mast was replaced by a tripod mast to accommodate improved radar and electronics systems. Local operations and refresher training in the Caribbean preceded a period of antisubmarine exercises off
Florida from 7 May to 12 June 1953. Her first tour of duty with the
6th Fleet in the Mediterranean took place from 16 September to 30 November 1953. After another period of local operations, and exercises in the Caribbean Sea early in 1954, she cleared Newport on 3 May for a round-the-world cruise, which included exercises with the
7th Fleet in the western Pacific, patrols off
Korea, and good-will visits to Far Eastern and Mediterranean ports. She returned to Newport on 28 November 1954. Her operations from that time until 1960 included training exercises in the Caribbean and off the eastern seaboard as well as tours of duty in the Mediterranean in 1956, winter 1956–57, and 1959, and a round of visits to ports of northern Europe in 1958. During that last overseas deployment an issue was discovered with her rudder that put her into dry dock in France. At that point the repair costs outweighed retaining the aging ship. Consequently, on 6 February 1960 she arrived at
Norfolk Naval Shipyard to be decommissioned. The ship was put into long-term storage at the
Philadelphia Naval Inactive Ship Maintenance Facility 29 April 1960. She was listed on the
National Register of Historic Places and designated a
National Historic Landmark in 1986, as a well-preserved example of the
Fletcher-class destroyer, the most numerous class of destroyer produced by the United States during World War II. In late July 2010,
Cassin Young closed to the public in preparation for dry-docking. On 9 August 2010, she was moved into Historic Dry Dock #1 at Boston Navy Yard for the first time in 30 years for some much needed repairs to her hull. On 4 September 2012, the ship was closed to the public to allow contractors to make final repairs to the hull. She returned to her position at Pier 1 on 14 May 2013. On 4 June 2013, she was moved to the Boston Harbor Shipyard and Marina in East Boston while repairs were made to her berth in Charlestown. By September 2013, she had returned to her museum berth. In 2026, it was announced that a 3D virtual tour of the ship would be available on the website of the park where it resided. Three other
Fletcher-class ships are preserved as memorials: • at
Buffalo, New York • at
Baton Rouge, Louisiana • , former , at
Thessaloniki, Greece ==Awards==