User:Buster40004/Sandbox/Projects/SS David Dudley Field

1830 the 3rd & 4th planes picked SS DDF and ENW.

Both splashed just short, DDF sustained minor engine room damage.

Damaged    12 January 1945     Off the west coast of Luzon     Cressman p 609

David Dudley Field at Subic Bay (Armed Guard gunfire deflects the kamikaze so that it only strikes the ship a glancing blow).

The Kamikaze seemed to like being around this ole girl.....she was peppered a few times by those Japanese attacks....but she managed to always get by with just some minor damage and no loss of any crew.

Things got a tad serious on October 24th, 1944.....and at the time she was hauling 4,500 tons of gas.....

SS DAVID DUDLEY FIELD T he Liberty ship freighter was so named after Mr. David Dudley Field II [February 13, 1805 - April 13, 1894] whom was an American lawyer....that devoted his life work in the development of American civil procedure. Mr. Field was the oldest of eight sons and two daughters of David Dudley Field I, whom himself was a Congregational minister and local historian. David [the son] graduated from College and was made a pardner in his father’s practice in 1854. As David got into the practice of law he became convinced that the common law in American...and especially New York state, needed some change. So in 1836 he traveled to Europe.....to look over there courts, procedures and codes...he came back from this trip convinced that unification and simplification of law procedure must be put into place. Well David Field I worked for more than 40 years to bring about a codification of the common law procedure. He put into publication pamphlets and articles in journals as well as magazines...detailing his reforms. At first his effort was going on deaf ears....but then in 1847 he published a pamphlet, “The Reorganization of the Judiciary”,....which actually was the determining factor for the New York State Constitutional Convention that reported in favor of Fields codification of the laws. Fields painstaking endeavor of life long work became known as “The Field Codes”. Field went on to dabble in politics ...serving in the House of Representatives giving speeches about the presidential succession......all of this during the highly controversial presidential election of 1876. Photo furnish by Mr. William Layton David Dudley Field II died in New York City in 1894.

VESSEL PARTICULARIZATION
 * Maritime Commission Emergency Hull No. 470.
 * Builder: Permanente Metals Corporation, Yard No. 2.
 * Engine: Joshua Hendy Iron Works.
 * Owner: WSA [War Shipping Administration].
 * Operator: Isthmian Steamship Co.
 * Type: Freighter.
 * Master: Albion M. Burbank

TIME LINE


 * February 1, 1943 - Keel Laid
 * March 24, 1943 - Launched
 * April 5, 1943 - Delivered to WSA then onward to the above named ‘Operator’.
 * January 12, 1944 - Minor damage while in convoy by Kamikaze attack.
 * October 24, 1944 - Extensive damage by aerial attack, while anchored...[details below]
 * February 12, 1945 - Hit by Kamikaze attack....no loss...minor damage.
 * May 24, 1946 - Entered the Olympia Reserve Fleet an was used in the grain storage program.
 * February 27, 1970 - Withdrawn from the Reserve Fleet and scrapped at Portland, Oregon later that month.

ATTACK WHILE ANCHORED IN SAN PEDRO BAY

The SS David Dudley Field sailed from Hollandia, New Guinea, to Leyte, Philippine Islands.

While ths ship was anchored in San Pedro Bay, Japanese bombers attacked the anchorage. Hollandia, New Guinea

During the attack, a Japanese plane intentionally dove into the Dudley Field’s bridge amidships on the starboard side. The plane initially struck the #7 gun tub, which ripped off the planes wing.

The plane cartwheeled over the ship, taking off ventilators and starting a fire at the #6 gun tub. Firefighting parties brought the fire under control quickly. All nine officers, thirty-one men, thirty U. S. Navy Armed Guards, fifty stevedores, and ten Army passengers remained on the ship.

Only 4 of the 130 men on board reported injuries. The David Dudley Field suffered extensive damage but after repairs went back in service.

Author: Bud Shortridge