USS Harwood

USS Harwood (DD-861) in 1945
History
United States
Name	USS Harwood
Builder	Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corporation, San Pedro, California
Laid down	29 October 1944
Launched	22 May 1945
Commissioned	28 September 1945
Decommissioned	1 February 1971
Stricken	1 February 1971
Fate	Sold to Turkey, 17 December 1971
Turkey
Name	TCG Kocatepe (D 354)
Acquired	17 December 1971
Fate	Sunk in error by Turkish aircraft, 22 July 1974
General characteristics
Class and type	Gearing-class destroyer
Displacement	3,460 long tons (3,516 t) full
Length	390 ft 6 in (119.02 m)
Beam	40 ft 10 in (12.45 m)
Draft	14 ft 4 in (4.37 m)
Propulsion	General Electric geared turbines, 2 shafts, 60,000 shp (45 MW)
Speed	36.8 knots (68.2 km/h; 42.3 mph)
Range	4,500 nmi (8,300 km) at 20 kn (37 km/h; 23 mph)
Complement	336
Armament	6 × 5"/38 caliber guns 12 × 40 mm AA guns 11 × 20 mm AA guns 10 × 21 in (533 mm) torpedo tubes 6 × depth charge projectors 2 × depth charge tracks

USS Harwood (DD/DDE-861) was a Gearing-class destroyer of the United States Navy. She was named for Commander Bruce L. Harwood USN (1910–1944) who was twice awarded the Navy Cross, and killed in action during the Battle of Leyte Gulf.

Harwood was laid down by the Bethlehem Steel Corporation at San Pedro in California on 29 October 1944, launched on 22 May 1945, by Mrs. Bruce Lawrence Harwood, widow of Commander Harwood and commissioned on 28 September 1945.

Harwood alternated operations along the east coast and in the Caribbean with the 2nd Fleet with deployments to the Mediterranean with the 6th Fleet, underwent an extensive Fleet Rehabilitation and Modernization (FRAM) overhaul at the New York Naval Shipyard between 2 May 1961 and 2 February 1962.

Harwood was decommissioned and stricken from the Naval Vessel Register on 1 February 1971, transferred to the Turkish Navy on 17 December 1971, and renamed TCG Kocatepe (D 354). The ship was sunk in error by Turkish aircraft on 22 July 1974, mistaking it for a Greek vessel during Turkish landings on Cyprus (see also Turkish invasion of Cyprus and Friendly fire). Sixty-seven Turkish marines and members of her crew were killed in the incident.

USS Harwood (DDE-861) in 1960.

References

 This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entries can be found here and here.

External links

• Photo gallery of USS Harwood at NavSource Naval History