USS Higbee (DD-806) - first US warship named for a female member of the Navy

[cutiger83]

USS Higbee (DD/DDR-806) was a gearing-class destroyer in the US Navy during World War II.

 

She was the first US warship named for a female member of the US Navy, being named for Chief Nurse Lenah S Higbee (1874–1941), a pioneering Navy nurse who served as Superintendent of the US Navy Nurse Corps during World War I.

 

Higbee was launched 13 November 1944 by the Bath Iron Works, Bath, Maine; sponsored by Mrs. A. M. Wheaton, sister of the late Mrs. Higbee; and commissioned on 27 January 1945, Commander Lindsay Williamson in command.

 

WWII:

Higbee immediately sailed to Boston, where she was converted to a radar picket destroyer. After shakedown in the Caribbean, she sailed for the Pacific on 24 May, joining Carrier Task Force 38 less than 400 miles from Tokyo Bay on 19 July. "Leaping Lenah", as she had been dubbed by her crew, screened the carriers as their planes launched heavy air attacks against the Japanese mainland until the end of hostilities on 15 August.

 

Korean War:

When Communist troops plunged into South Korea in June 1950, Higbee, redesignated DDR-806 on 18 March 1949, was immediately deployed to the Korean coast with the 7th Fleet. Most of her Korean War duty came in screening the Fast Carrier Task Force 77 as their jets launched raids against Communist positions and supply lines.

 

Peacetime duties

The radar picket destroyer's peacetime duty then fell into a pattern of six-month WestPac cruises alternating with upkeep and training out of San Diego. Operating with the 7th Fleet on her WestPac cruises, Higbee visited Australian and South Pacific ports frequently as well as engaging in fleet maneuvers with units of SEATO navies. Her home port was changed to Yokosuka, Japan, on 21 May 1960. After two years duty in Japan, Higbee returned to her new home port, San Francisco, on 4 September 1962. On 1 April 1963 the destroyer entered the shipyard there for a fleet rehabilitation and modernization (FRAM) overhaul designed to improve her fighting capabilities and lengthen her life span as an active member of the fleet. Higbee was redesignated DD-806 on 1 June 1963.

 

Vietnam War

Ready for action on 3 January 1964, Higbee trained on the West Coast until departing for Japan on 30 June and reached her new homeport, Yokosuka, on 18 July. During the Gulf of Tonkin Incident in August, the destroyer screened carriers of Task Force 77 (TF 77) in the South China Sea. In February 1965 Higbee supported the 9th Marine Brigade at Da Nang, Vietnam. In May she participated in Project Gemini recovery in the Western Pacific. On 19 April 1972 the Higbee became the first US warship to be bombed during the Vietnam War, when two VPAF (also known as the NVAF- North Vietnamese Air Force) MIG-17s from the 923rd Fighter Regiment attacked, one of which, piloted by Le Xuan Di, dropped a 250 kilogram (500 lb) bomb onto the Higbee's rear 5-inch gun mount, destroying it.

The 5-inch gun crew had been outside their turret, due to a misfire within the mount, when the air attack occurred, which resulted in the wounding of four US sailors.

 

Post-war fate
Higbee's first peacetime duty was as a member of Destroyer Squadron 27 home ported in Long Beach, California. Her later years (after May, 1975) were spent as a reserve destroyer home ported in Seattle, WA, as a unit of DesRon 37. In 1978 Higbee had the highest score for NGFS (Naval Gunfire Support) of any ship in the US Navy and was featured in Surface Warfare magazine for this distinction. Higbee was decommissioned and struck from the Navy list on 15 July 1979. Higbee was sunk as a target on 24 April 1986, around 130 nmi (240 km; 150 mi) west of San Diego.

Honors
Higbee earned one battle star for her service in World War II and seven battle stars for her service in the Korean War.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Higbee_%28DD-806%29

 

 

[RustyCanteen]

I had heard of the ship, but had never made the connection to the namesake.

 

Thank you for posting this.

RC

[uplandmod]

Great Info thanks!

 

LF

[gunbunnyB/3/75FA]

cool posting.

[The Meatcan]

I learned somthing today!

thanks Kat!

Terry

[Bearmon]

Ships Patch

[sigsaye]

Very nice Kat! I had operated with her when she was a reserve, but, again, like the others, never knew who she was actually named for! Thank you

[cutiger83]

Thanks everyone for the interest. Here is a write up of the citation for Nurse Higbee.

 

http://www.usmilitariaforum.com/forums/index.php?/topic/218282-navy-cross-recipients/&do=findComment&comment=1722780