World War II After shakedown along the
California coast,
Gwin sailed for the Pacific theatre as
flagship of Mine Squadron 3, reaching
Pearl Harbor 3 January 1945. A week later the squadron left for the fighting front. At
Saipan, 20 January,
Gwin and her
sister minesweepers joined Battleship Division 7. For 7 days, 21 to 26 January, she participated in the preliminary bombardment of
Iwo Jima, next to the last step in the island-hopping campaign across the Pacific. Returning to Pearl Harbor,
Gwin underwent overhaul before sailing for
Eniwetok, 23 February. From Eniwetok
Gwin steamed to the Ryukyu Islands 17 March to sweep the area around
Okinawa. Acting in a variety of roles—antisubmarine screen,
radar picket ship, minesweeper, fire support—
Gwin was to remain off Okinawa the following five months, almost to the very end of the war. During this period she accounted for some 16 enemy aircraft as the Japanese launched the
kamikaze attacks. Nine of these Japanese planes fell victim to
Gwins guns on only two days, 16 April and 4 May. An air raid 16 April saw
Gwin down two
Mitsubishi G4M "Betty" dive bombers, coming in only to have another come sweeping in and crash in the sea some as the ship evaded her. An alert gun crew swung their battery to catch another Japanese plane and shoot it down less than from the ship. At dusk on 4 May,
Gwin was on radar picket station off Okinawa.
Combat Air Patrol reported 8 to 10 Japanese planes to port, and
Gwin swung her batteries to face the threat. Suddenly a second contingent of planes swept in out of the setting sun to starboard.
Gwin swung her guns around and two of the attackers were downed. Whirling to port, the gun crews fired into the original attack group, and accounted for three more kamikazes. The seas had not yet closed over these three planes when a sixth, another kamikaze, crashed into
Gwin. Two men were killed, 2 missing, and 11 injured as the plane embedded itself into
Gwins aft gun platform. Then, as damage control parties rushed to quell the fires raging around the kamikaze, the Japanese attack ended as suddenly as it had begun. In less than six minutes,
Gwin, although under attack from all quarters, had downed five Japanese planes and been herself damaged by a sixth. After a brief stay at Ryukyu Islands for battle damage repairs,
Gwin returned to patrol and sweeping duties around Okinawa. She rendezvoused 20 August with Task Force 35 and headed for
Tokyo Bay. Putting into
Sagami Bay 27 August 1945,
Gwin began to sweep the area and destroyed some 41
mines in 2 days duty. At last on 29 August 1945 she steamed into Tokyo Bay, and anchored under the towering snowcap of
Mount Fuji. Departing for Okinawa 1 September,
Gwin, remained on minesweeping duty there and in the
East China Sea for the rest of the year.
Reserve With her share of the Pacific "mopping-up" complete,
Gwin at last headed home, reaching
San Pedro, Los Angeles on 23 February 1946. The ship then sailed for
Charleston, South Carolina, arriving on 14 March.
Gwin decommissioned there on 3 September 1946 and was placed in reserve.
Reactivated during the Korean War As the
Korean War necessitated the strengthening of America's fleet,
Gwin recommissioned at Charleston 8 July 1952. For the next few years she divided her time between Caribbean and local exercises, European cruises, and
NATO maneuvers, with time out for overhaul. In 1953
Gwin crossed the Atlantic for a 4-month tour of duty with the
6th Fleet, visiting ten Mediterranean ports before returning to Charleston 3 February 1954. Midshipman Able Cruises June to August 1954 and 1955 took her to
Lisbon, Portugal,
Le Havre,
Valencia, Spain, and
Torquay, England.
Gwin returned to the Mediterranean a final time in 1957 for NATO maneuvers with ships of the Portuguese, French, and British navies, visiting both
Brest and
Gibraltar. In between Caribbean and Mediterranean cruises and training,
Gwin engaged in a variety of minesweeping and hunter-killer antisubmarine exercises along the East Coast and participated in several other NATO maneuvers in American waters.
Gwin sailed to the Philadelphia Navy Yard 12 January 1958 where she decommissioned 3 April 1958 and remained in reserve through 1967.
Transfer to Turkey Transferred to the
Turkish Navy on 15 August 1971 and renamed ; severely damaged by firing of two
Sea Sparrow missiles by on 2 October 1992 during NATO Exercise Display Determination 92; 5 crew killed, 19 crew injured. The ship was struck in 1993 and
broken up for scrap. ==Awards==