1940s After shakedown out of Bermuda and tests en route to Argentina, the new destroyer departed New York on 10 November 1944, escorting the
battleships , , and
aircraft carriers and to the Pacific. She transited the
Panama Canal and touched
San Francisco,
Pearl Harbor, and
Eniwetok before joining the
3rd Fleet at
Ulithi 27 December. Early in January 1945,
John W. Weeks sortied from that busy lagoon with
Vice Admiral John S. McCain's
Fast Carrier Task Force TF 38 and headed toward the Philippines in the screen of Rear Admiral
Gerald F. Bogan's task group. Meanwhile, the mighty Luzon Attack Force assembled in
Leyte Gulf on New Year's Day, passed through
Surigao Strait, and set course for
Lingayen Gulf. On 9 January, as
General Douglas MacArthur's troops landed on the beaches at Lingayen, planes from McCain's carriers hit Japanese airstrips on
Formosa and the
Pescadores to neutralize air opposition to the Luzon invasion. That night McCain's ships slipped through
Luzon Strait into the
South China Sea where they could be on call to support the
Allied beachheads while striking strategic enemy positions along the southeastern coast of Asia and searching for the
Imperial Fleet. In the next 10 days, they lashed out at
Hong Kong,
Hainan, and the Indochinese coast causing much damage ashore and sinking 44 ships totaling 132,700 tons. At the end of this sweep into enemy waters Admiral
William Halsey reported, "the outer defenses of the Japanese Empire no longer include Burma and the Netherlands East Indies; those countries are now isolated outposts, and their products are no longer available to the Japanese war machine..."
John W. Weeks returned with her carriers to Ulithi on 28 January. The destroyer again sailed with the carriers on 11 February, and conducted strikes on Tokyo on 16–17 February, in preinvasion support of the
Allied attack on Iwo Jima. After inflicting considerable damage to Japanese air power,
John W. Weeks steamed toward
Iwo Jima to give direct support to
Marines fighting for the island. Later that month, the carriers renewed their attacks on the enemy's home islands. Heavy raids during March continued to cripple the enemy's power, and the destroyer received credit for two assists as five enemy planes were splashed while attempting a raid on the Task Force. When D-day for the
Okinawa invasion neared,
Weeks in company with other units shelled the shores in preinvasion bombardment. The assault forces landed on 1 April, and the destroyer stood by to offer support. On 7 April, a Japanese surface force was located, and strikes were launched to intercept the enemy, resulting in the sinking of . During these operations, the aircraft carrier was hit by a
kamikaze and the destroyer rescued 23 survivors in a heroic rescue mission. For the remainder of the war,
John W. Weeks participated in the final assault on the Empire Islands, engaging in
radar picket duty, shore bombardment, rescue missions and the antishipping sweep off
Tokyo Bay. Following the cessation of hostilities, she steamed into Tokyo Bay on 8 September to begin escort operations with the occupation forces. She continued escort duty until 30 December, when she sailed for home, arriving San Francisco on 20 January 1946. The destroyer arrived
Norfolk, Virginia on 19 February and following repairs she was inactivated on 26 April. One year later, on 17 May 1947, she sailed once again and commenced Naval Reserve training cruises until mid-1949. On 6 September of that year, she sailed for Europe, returning on 8 February 1950.
John W. Weeks decommissioned on 31 May 1950.
1950s At the beginning of the
Korean War, President
Harry S. Truman ordered American forces into action to take up the challenge.
John W. Weeks recommissioned on 24 October 1950 and commenced training cruises in the Atlantic and Caribbean. During her European cruise in January 1952, she participated in the attempt to save ill-fated , which foundered and sank in a gale on 10 January 1952. The destroyer returned to Norfolk on 6 February to engage in coastal operations and a
midshipmen European cruise.
John W. Weeks sailed on an around the world cruise on 3 November 1953, and while in the Far East she operated with units of the
7th Fleet off the coast of Korea. She completed the cruise when she returned via the Mediterranean arriving Norfolk on 4 June 1954. From 1954 to 1963 the destroyer operated with the Atlantic Fleet and during this period made five Mediterranean cruises and two
NATO exercises. The destroyer was operating with the
6th Fleet during 1956 when the
Suez Crisis erupted over the canal. One year later, on another Near Eastern deployment,
Weeks and other units stood by to prevent subversion of Jordan. The Mediterranean cruise of 1958 included patrol duty and exercises with navies of
Baghdad Pact countries. The destroyer was also active in U.S. waters, busy with midshipmen at-sea training and antisubmarine exercises. During 1959 she participated in Operation "Inland Seas" during the opening of the
St. Lawrence Seaway.
John W. Weeks was the first navy destroyer to enter each of the
Great Lakes. During this cruise she escorted the
royal yacht , with Queen
Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom aboard, from
Chicago to
Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan.
1960s On 9 March 1960,
John W. Weeks, in company with the destroyer , transited the
Bosporus; and the two became the first U.S. warships to enter the
Black Sea since 1945. On the same cruise she rendezvoused with at the end of the nuclear-powered
submarine's cruise round the world. After returning to Norfolk, the destroyer visited the Caribbean and the
New England coast on midshipman training at sea. In the fall she deployed to the Mediterranean and returned to Norfolk, Virginia on 3 March 1962. Midshipman training in the summer and exercise out of Norfolk kept the ship in fighting trim and ready for action. In October, the presence of Soviet offensive missiles in Cuba prompted President
John F. Kennedy to order a quarantine of the island (
See Cuban Missile Crisis).
John W. Weeks escorted
replenishment ships to the quarantine area. When this display of national strength and determination forced the
Kremlin to withdraw the missiles,
John W. Weeks returned via
San Juan, Puerto Rico, to Norfolk. Early in 1963, while preparing for another Mediterranean deployment from February–April, the destroyer received the Battle Efficiency "E" for outstanding service. She headed for the Mediterranean on 29 November. The end of the year found her patrolling off troubled
Cyprus, standing by ready to evacuate, if necessary, Americans from that strife-torn island. On
New Year's Day, en route to the Red Sea to join that U.S. Middle East Force, she was the first ship to transit the
Suez Canal during 1964. She visited
Jidda, Saudi Arabia;
Berbera, Somali Republic,
Aden, Aden Protectorate; Djibouti, French Somaliland;
Massawa, Ethiopia; and
Karachi, Pakistan. She headed west from Karachi on 6 February; refueled at Aden; then turned south for patrol along the Zanzibar coast during
the revolution there, and off Kenya and Tanganyika during unrest in those countries. She departed
Mombasa, Kenya on 24 February and transited the Suez Canal on 6 March. After patrolling the Mediterranean,
John W. Weeks departed Pollença Bay,
Mallorca, for home on 12 May and reached Norfolk on 23 May. After overhaul in Norfolk Naval Shipyard, the destroyer departed
Hampton Roads on 9 November for
Guantanamo Bay and refresher training. She returned to Norfolk early in January 1965 to prepare for another Mediterranean cruise. She got underway 13 February and arrived
Valencia, Spain on 5 March. She stopped at
Naples for a fortnight en route to the Suez Canal and 2 months of duty in the Red Sea. Back in the Mediterranean 2 June, the destroyer headed for home 30 June and returned to Norfolk 12 July. Late in the summer, the destroyer was on the
Gemini 5 recovery team. For the remainder of the year, she operated out of Norfolk in the
Caribbean and along the Atlantic Coast. She continued ASW exercises in the Caribbean until returning to Norfolk on 3 February 1966. After serving as sonar school ship at Key West during March and April, the veteran destroyer departed Norfolk 16 May for European waters. Steaming with DesRon 2,
John W. Weeks spent the next 3 months cruising the western coast of Europe from Norway to France. She took part in
anti-submarine warfare (ASW) exercises, and during Operation "Straight Laced," a simulated invasion of the Norwegian coast, she operated with British and
West German ships. While carrying out ASW duty during this exercise, she made the only simulated submarine kill in the operation on 19 August. Departing
Derry,
Northern Ireland on 24 August, she returned to Norfolk on 2 September. During the remainder of the year she served as school ship at
Key West and joined in ASW exercises along the Atlantic Coast and in the Caribbean.
John W. Weeks continued this duty until early in July 1967 when she departed Norfolk for deployment in the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans. Steaming via San Juan, Puerto Rico, and
Recife, Brazil, she touched at African ports on the east and west coasts of that continent and ranged Africa from the
Gulf of Guinea to the Red Sea. The destroyer departed from Norfolk, Virginia in January 1969 for duty off the coast of
Vietnam. She operated with four
aircraft carriers while there. She returned home in September 1969. ==Decommissioning and disposal==