USS Childs

{{Short description|Clemson-class destroyer}} {{For|the Civil War ship sometimes referred to as ''Childs''|USS Alonzo Child}}

{{Infobox ship |section1={{Infobox ship/image |image=USS Childs (DD-241) underway on 4 June 1927 (NH 55159).jpg |image_caption=USS ''Childs'' in 1927 }}

|section2={{Infobox ship/career |hide_header= |country=United States |flag={{USN flag|1945}} |name= |namesake=Earle W. F. Childs |ordered= |builder=[[New York Shipbuilding]] |laid_down=19 March 1919 |launched=15 September 1920 |acquired= |commissioned=22 October 1920 |decommissioned=10 December 1945 |in_service= |out_of_service= |struck=3 January 1946 |reinstated= |honours= |fate=Sold for scrap, 23 May 1946 |notes= }}

|section3={{Infobox ship/characteristics |hide_header= |header_caption= |class= {{sclass|Clemson|destroyer}} |displacement=1,215 tons |length={{convert|314|ft|4|in|m}} |beam={{convert|31|ft|8|in|m}} |draft={{convert|9|ft|10|in|m}} |propulsion=*26,500 shp (20 MW); *geared turbines, *2 screws |speed={{convert|35|kn|km/h}} |range=*{{convert|4,900|nmi|km|abbr=off}} * @ 15 [[knot (unit)|kt]] |complement=137 officers and enlisted |sensors= |EW= |armament=4 x [[4"/50 caliber gun|{{convert|4|in|mm|abbr=on}}]] guns, 1 x [[3"/23 caliber gun|{{convert|3|in|mm|abbr=on}}]] gun, 12 x [[American 21 inch torpedo|21 inch (533 mm)]] tt. |armour= |armor= |aircraft= |aircraft_facilities= |notes= }} }}

'''USS ''Childs'' (DD-241/AVP-14/AVD-1)''' was a {{sclass|Clemson|destroyer}} in service with the [[United States Navy]] from 1920 to 1945. She was scrapped in 1946.

==Namesake== Earle Wayne Freed Childs was born on 1 August 1893 in [[Philadelphia]], [[Pennsylvania]]. He was a member of the [[United States Naval Academy]] class of 1915. He married Miss Gertrude Boucher on June 27, 1917, attending his wedding with his head bandaged from a car accident in that morning while driving in a storm. He had been cut by flying glass from the windshield.

Graduating from the Naval Academy as an [[Ensign (rank)|ensign]], he was assigned to the {{USS|Culgoa||6}}, a refrigerated supply ship. His next assignment was to the {{USS|Celtic|AF-2|6}} another refrigerated supply ship.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/42590457/ensign_earle_w_childs_of_u_s_s/ |title=Ensign Earle W. Childs, of U. S. S. Celtic, Visited Friends Saturday |work=Harrisburg Daily Independent |location=Mifflintown |page=10 |date=1916-04-06 |access-date=2020-01-19 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> In June 1916 he was assigned to the cruiser {{USS|Montana|ACR-13|6}}.

Promoted to [[Lieutenant]], he served in [[World War I]] on the [[submarine]] {{USS|L-2|SS-41|6}}. However, while serving as an observer on the British submarine [[HMS H5|HMS ''H5'']], Childs was killed on March 2, 1918, when the ''H5'' was mistaken for a German U-boat by a British merchant ship off the coast of [[Wales]].<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/42590061/lewistown_officer_lost_life_on_british/ |title=Lewistown Officer Lost Life on British Submarine |work=Harrisburg Telegraph |location=Lewistown, Pennsylvania |page=10 |date=1918-03-18 |access-date=2020-01-19 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> The SS ''Rutherglen'' deliberately rammed the ''H 5'', sending the submarine to the bottom with the loss of its entire crew.

==History== ''Childs'' (DD-241) was launched 15 September 1920 by [[New York Shipbuilding Corporation]]; sponsored by Mrs. E. W. F. Childs; and commissioned 22 October 1920.

Arriving at [[Gibraltar]] 14 February 1921, ''Childs'' joined [[U.S. Naval Forces, Europe]], to cruise in the Mediterranean, Adriatic, North, and Baltic Seas until 25 November, when she arrived at [[Constantinople]]. Here she joined the relief mission sent to Russia early in 1922, remaining in the Black Sea on diplomatic duties until 1 April. On 8 July, she departed from [[Cherbourg]] for [[Philadelphia]], returning to the United States 29 July.

''Childs'' conducted training operations, and joined other ships in fleet exercises along the Atlantic coast and in the Caribbean until 14 February 1925, when with the [[Scouting Fleet]] she stood out of [[Guantanamo Bay Naval Base|Guantanamo Bay]] for large scale fleet exercises in the Hawaiian Islands and then returned to the U.S. East Coast. On 6 April 1929, she collided with the American four-masted [[schooner]] {{ship||A. Ernest Mills|schooner|2}} in the [[Atlantic Ocean]] off [[North Carolina]]; the schooner sank.<ref>{{Cite newspaper The Times |title=Casualty reports |date=8 April 1929 |page=19 |issue=45171 |column=F }}</ref>

In 1932, 1933, and 1934, the annual concentration of the Fleet for battle practice was again held on the West Coast, and ''Childs'' took part. With her home port changed to [[San Diego, California]] 9 November ''Childs'' served as [[flagship]] of Destroyer Division 8 Rotating Reserve, Scouting Force, 5 January-15 June when she was in full commission again. She spent the summer of 1935 cruising off the Pacific Northwest and Alaska.

The next year ''Childs'' returned to the east coast for overhaul, then returned to duty at San Diego, cruising several times to the Hawaiian Islands before 14 May 1938, when she cleared for Philadelphia and conversion to a [[seaplane tender]]. Reclassified '''AVP-14''', she saw her first service in her new role during the annual fleet problem of 1939, operating between the Florida coast and [[San Juan, Puerto Rico]], and after final preparations at Philadelphia, sailed for her new base at [[Pearl Harbor]], arriving 29 June. She tended seaplanes there and on the plane guard stations off [[Midway Atoll|Midway]], [[Wake Island]], and [[Guam]] until 1 October 1940, when she was reclassified '''AVD-1''', and ordered to the [[Asiatic Station]]. The next day she left Hawaii for [[Cavite]], Philippines, arriving 1 November to begin her service to air patrol squadrons.

==World War II== [[File:USS Childs (AVD-1) underway, circa in late 1944 (19-N-74863).jpg|thumb|USS ''Childs'' in 1944.]] When war with Japan broke out, ''Childs'' lay in [[Cavite Navy Yard]] for repair, and during the devastation of the yard by Japanese aircraft on 10 December 1941, escaped damage by evasive maneuvering in the confined harbor area. She tended her [[Consolidated PBY Catalina|flying boats]] of Patrol Wing 10 from Manila<ref name=Alsleben>{{cite web |first=Allan |last=Alsleben |url=https://warfare.gq/dutcheastindies/patrol_wing10.html |title=US Patrol Wing 10 in the Dutch East Indies, 1942 |date=1999–2000 |work=Forgotten Campaign: The Dutch East Indies Campaign 1941-1942 |access-date=2021-03-30 |archive-date=2021-04-16 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210416153418/http://warfare.gq/dutcheastindies/patrol_wing10.html |url-status=dead }}</ref> for 4 more days, then began a lengthy base-to-base withdrawal. On leaving [[Kendari]] harbour on 24 January 1942 she evaded the invading Japanese fleet in a rain squall and survived an air attack.<ref>{{cite web|first=Klemen|last=L|url=https://warfare.gq/dutcheastindies/kendari.html|title=The Fall of Kendari, January 1942|date=1999–2000|work=Forgotten Campaign: The Dutch East Indies Campaign 1941-1942|access-date=2021-03-30|archive-date=2021-04-16|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210416143616/http://warfare.gq/dutcheastindies/kendari.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> At [[Surabaya]] the tenders ''Childs'', [[USS Heron (AM-10)|''Heron'']], and [[USS William B. Preston (DD-344)|''Preston'']] rotated as needed to service VP101 which was patrolling [[Makassar Strait]]. Finally she reached [[Seaplane Base Exmouth]], at [[Exmouth Gulf]], Australia, 28 February 1942.<ref name=Alsleben/> From [[Fremantle, Western Australia|Fremantle]] and other [[Western Australia]] ports, ''Childs'' continued her tender duties until 12 August 1944. During this time, her planes scouted and bombed Japanese positions and shipping, mined the waters off [[Balikpapan]], Borneo, and performed air-sea rescue missions.

''Childs'' returned to the west coast 19 September 1944, and after overhaul, conducted training operations off the west coast until the close of the war. She was decommissioned 10 December 1945, and sold 3 January 1946.

''Childs'' received one [[battle star]] for World War II service.

==Notes== {{reflist}}

==References== * {{cite web |first= Klemen |last= L |date= 2000 |title= Forgotten Campaign: The Dutch East Indies Campaign 1941–1942 |url= https://warfare.gq/dutcheastindies/index.html |access-date= 2021-03-30 |archive-date= 2011-07-26 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20110726053035/http://www.dutcheastindies.webs.com/index.html |url-status= dead }}

==External links== *http://www.navsource.net/archives/05/241.htm *{{DANFS|https://www.history.navy.mil/content/history/nhhc/research/histories/ship-histories/danfs/c/childs.html}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Childs (Dd-241)}} [[Category:Clemson-class destroyers]] [[Category:Seaplane tenders of the United States Navy]] [[Category:World War II auxiliary ships of the United States]] [[Category:Ships built by New York Shipbuilding Corporation]] [[Category:1920 ships]] [[Category:Maritime incidents in 1929]]