Pringle was one of the three
Fletcher-class destroyers to be built (out of 6 planned) with a
catapult for a
float plane. The catapult and an aircraft
crane were located just aft of the number 2
smokestack, in place of the after
torpedo tube mount, 5-inch mount number 3, and the 2nd deck of the after deck house which normally carried a twin 40 mm anti-aircraft gun on most ships of the class. (The twin 40 mm mount was moved to the
fantail, just forward of the
depth charge racks, where most ships of the class carried 20 mm mounts.) It was intended that the float plane be used for scouting for the destroyer flotilla to which the ship was attached. It would be launched by the catapult, land on the water next to the ship, and be recovered by the aircraft crane.
Pringle was the first of five ships that eventually received the catapult to use it operationally. Due to design problems with the derrick,
Pringle could not recover the
Kingfisher airplane. Two ships constructed in 1943, and , had redesigned derricks.
Stevens became the first of the five ships to successfully launch and recover the plane. All were ultimately converted to the standard Fletcher-class configuration. Following shakedown,
Pringle joined
convoy ON 154 in mid-
Atlantic 1 January 1943 to escort the
Halifax-bound contingent. While on this duty she was the first U.S. destroyer to use an aircraft with catapult. The float plane was catapulted off to search for enemy submarines. Recovery of the plane in the prevailing weather for a ship the size of
Pringle was difficult. After reaching Halifax,
Pringle proceeded to
Charleston Naval Shipyard for a brief overhaul, during which her catapult was removed, returning her to standard Fletcher configuration. On 6 February, she got underway for the
Pacific Theater, escorting the British aircraft carrier from
Norfolk Navy Yard to the Pacific. Arriving off
Guadalcanal on 30 May, she took up patrol duties off the
Solomons, and, on the night of 17/18 July, joined and in attacking three
Japanese destroyers off
Vanga Point,
Kolombangara. Scoring several
torpedo hits, she also shot down one Japanese plane. As the
Solomon Islands campaign continued into August,
Pringle screened advance units of the
Vella Lavella assault force, escorted
LSTs through
Gizo strait, and on the 24th covered
minelaying operations off Kolombangara under Japanese guns. On the night of 3/4 September,
Pringle with made a sweep of Japanese
barges between
Gambi Head,
Choiseul, and Kolombangara, sinking three. While escorting Task Group 31.7 into
Empress Augusta Bay,
Bougainville, on 11 November 10 days after the initial landing there,
Pringle shot down one Japanese plane and damaged another. With the exception of a run to Sydney in late January 1944, she continued to operate in the Solomons for the next few months. She swept the southwest coast of Bougainville during daylight in early March, bombarding enemy installations and beached barges. The
Marianas operation produced another long period of bombardment, screening and
anti-submarine missions for
Pringle. During the assaults
on Saipan and
Tinian, she conducted fire support operations. She then returned to San Francisco, California, for refit and to rest her crew. After overhaul at
Mare Island Naval Shipyard,
Pringle sailed for
Pearl Harbor on 19 October. She departed Pearl Harbor on 10 November for the
Philippines to take part in the upcoming invasion. From 27 to 28 November, she bombarded enemy shore positions near
Ormoc Bay,
Leyte, shooting down a Japanese plane on the same day. On 27 November, she and
Saufley,
Waller, and combined to sink IJA transport submarine
MaruYu-No.2. On 28 November, these destroyers sink .
Pringle came under her most intense air attack while escorting a re-supply echelon to
Mindoro from 27 to 30 December. Several ships in the convoy were sunk, while
Pringle shot down two planes. On the 30th, a
kamikaze crashed into her after deckhouse, killing 11 men and injuring 20, totally destroying one 40 mm mount and damaging two 5-inch mounts. Back in service in February,
Pringle screened transports to
Iwo Jima for the
assault there on the 17th, then provided fire support for the
Marines ashore. Returning to
Ulithi on 4 March, she prepared for the
assault on Okinawa. ==Fate==