View source for USS Hulbert

{{short description|Tender of the United States Navy}}

{|{{Infobox ship begin}}
{{Infobox ship image
|Ship image=[[Image:USS Hulbert (DD-342) underway at sea, circa 1930 (NH 67664).jpg|300px|USS Hulbert (DD-342)]]
|Ship caption=
}}
{{Infobox ship career
|Hide header=
|Ship country=United States
|Ship flag={{USN flag|1945}}
|Ship name=
|Ship namesake=[[Henry Hulbert]]
|Ship ordered=
|Ship builder=[[Norfolk Naval Shipyard]]
|Ship laid down=18 November 1918
|Ship launched=28 June 1919
|Ship acquired=
|Ship commissioned=27 October 1920
|Ship decommissioned=2 November 1945
|Ship in service=
|Ship out of service=
|Ship struck=28 November 1945
|Ship reinstated=
|Ship honours=
|Ship fate=Sold for scrap, 31 October 1946
|Ship notes=
}}
{{Infobox ship characteristics
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|Header caption=
|Ship class= [[Clemson class destroyer|''Clemson''-class]] [[destroyer]]
|Ship displacement=1,190&nbsp;tons
|Ship length={{convert|314|ft|5|in|m}}
|Ship beam={{convert|30|ft|8|in|m}}
|Ship draft={{convert|9|ft|3|in|m}}
|Ship propulsion=*26,500&nbsp;shp (20&nbsp;MW);
*geared turbines,
*2 screws
|Ship speed={{convert|35|kn|km/h}}
|Ship range=*4,900 [[Nautical mile|nmi]] (9,100 km)
*&nbsp;@ 15 [[knot (unit)|kt]]
|Ship complement=126 officers and enlisted
|Ship sensors=
|Ship EW=
|Ship armament=4 × [[4"/50 caliber gun|{{convert|4|in|mm|abbr=on|0}}/50]] guns, 2 × [[3"/23 caliber gun|{{convert|3|in|mm|abbr=on|0}}/25]] guns, 12 × [[American 21 inch torpedo|21 inch (533 mm)]] [[torpedo tube]]s
|Ship armour=
|Ship armor=
|Ship aircraft=
|Ship aircraft facilities=
|Ship notes=
}}
|}

'''USS ''Hulbert'' (DD-342/AVD-6)''' was a [[Clemson class destroyer|''Clemson''-class]] [[destroyer]] in the [[United States Navy]] following [[World War I]]. She was named for [[Henry Hulbert]].

== Service history ==  

''Hulbert'' was launched by [[Norfolk Navy Yard]], [[Portsmouth, Virginia]], 28 June 1918; sponsored by Mrs. V. C. Hulbert, widow of Lieutenant Hulbert; and commissioned 27 October 1920. 
=== Prewar service ===

Following shakedown training out of [[Norfolk, Virginia]], ''Hulbert'' took part in destroyer maneuvers in the Atlantic until June 1921, when she assisted in ordnance tests on obsolete American and captured [[Germany|German]] ships. For the next year, the ship operated out of [[Newport, Rhode Island|Newport]] with other destroyers.
{{stack|[[File:USS Hulbert gets USS Graham's bow.jpg|thumb|upright=0.5|''Graham''{{'s}} bow in the process of being grafted onto ''Hulbert'', May 1922]]}} 
During spring maneuvers in [[Guantanamo Bay]], [[Cuba]], in early 1922, ''Hulbert''{{'s}} bow was crushed in a collision. Coincidentally, another ''Clemson''-class destroyer, {{USS|Graham}}, had been damaged in a collision some months prior and was in the process of being scrapped. Rather than repair ''Hulbert''{{'s}} bow, it was decided to remove ''Graham''{{'s}} bow and graft it onto ''Hulbert''. The procedure was carried out at the [[Brooklyn Navy Yard]] on 17 May 1922.<ref name="eagle_18may1922">{{cite news |title="Surgeons" Graft Bow of Crippled Destroyer Onto Hull of Another |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/brooklyn-eagle-destroyer-grahams-bow-gr/156034067/ |work=The Brooklyn Daily Eagle |date=18 May 1922 |page=1}}</ref>

''Hulbert'' sailed 20 June 1922 for duty on the [[Asiatic Station]], steaming via the [[Mediterranean]] and [[Ceylon]] to [[Chefoo]], [[China]], 26 August. The ship patrolled Chinese and [[Philippines|Philippine]] waters in the year that followed, protecting American interests during the [[Chinese Civil War]]. On the night of 28 February 1923, six crew were killed in the engine room when furnace oil flared back and trapped them.<ref>United Press, "Six Killed In Warship Blast", ''The Madera Daily Tribune'', Madera, California, Thursday 1 March 1923, Volume XXXI, Number 98, page 1.</ref>  She also took part in periodic fleet exercises designed to keep her crew and equipment at maximum readiness. ''Hulbert'' took part in the evacuation of American civilians and missionaries in March 1927 and September 1928. Completing this lengthy tour of duty in the Far East, she sailed 22 July 1929 from [[Yokohama]], arriving San Diego 17 August.

During the remainder of the year, ''Hulbert'' acted as plane guard for carriers {{USS|Langley|CV-1|2}} and {{USS|Saratoga|CV-3|2}} off [[California]], thus helping to develop carrier-group tactics. She took part in important fleet exercises on both coasts, during the period from 1930 to 1934 and arrived [[Philadelphia]] 14 August 1934. She decommissioned there 17 October 1934 and was placed in reserve.

''Hulbert'' was converted to a [[seaplane tender]], recommissioning at [[New York Navy Yard]] as '''AVD-6''' on 2 August 1940. She arrived in San Diego 24 August via [[Guantánamo Bay, Cuba|Guantanamo Bay]] and the [[Panama Canal Zone]], and began servicing Patrol Wing 1 on operations off the West Coast, helping to perfect America's seaplane reconnaissance capability. ''Hulbert'' sailed 8 May 1941 for Pearl Harbor, where she became headquarters ship for the seaplane wing and continued servicing and repairing her planes.

=== World War II and postwar service === 
On the morning of 7 December 1941, during the [[attack on Pearl Harbor]], ''Hulbert'' was moored at the Submarine Base, [[Pearl Harbor]]. General Quarters sounded just before 08:00, and the ship's antiaircraft batteries immediately opened fire at attacking planes. This vessel went to general quarters when the Japanese attack was first sighted by the watch aboard, and is believed to have been the first ship in the fleet to open fire. As the Japanese directed their attention to [[Ford Island]] and the [[battleship]]s, she shot down one torpedo plane at 0758, shared in bringing down a dive bomber at about 0820 and damaged several other aircraft. After the attack the ship assisted in the rescue effort. After loading ammunition, she moved to Hilo 9 December to set up an advance base for the all-important patrol bombers. ''Hulbert'' was also called upon to aid aircraft at sea, as on Christmas Day she repaired a seaplane at sea and then towed it for nearly 3 days when heavy seas prevented a safe takeoff.

After sundown on 30 December 1941 ''Hulbert'' was engaged by [[Japanese submarine I-1|Japanese submarine ''I-1'']] while moored. The IJN vessel claimed moderate damage and hit the adjacent pier. ''Hulbert'' returned fire, aided by a local Coast Artillery unit.<ref>[http://www.combinedfleet.com/type_j1.htm Submarine Type J-1]</ref><ref name="I-1Tab2">{{cite web|url=http://www.combinedfleet.com/I-1.htm|title=IJN Submarine ''I-1'': Tabular Record of Movement|last1=Hackett|first1=Bob|last2=Kingsepp|first2=Sander|website=CombinedFleet.com|access-date=24 September 2018}}</ref>

The ship also made supply runs to [[Palmyra Atoll]] before moving north to [[Kodiak, Alaska|Kodiak]] 6 June 1942. The Japanese had occupied [[Kiska]] and [[Attu Island|Attu]] as part of the abortive [[Battle of Midway|Midway]] Offensive, and ''Hulbert'' was assigned to tend the seaplanes of VP-43 during reconnaissance flights and bombing raids on those islands. The ship also steamed to Seguam Island 30 August 1942, landing a party of marines to search for a Japanese radio station. Next day, she arrived in Atka to aid torpedoed tender [[USS Casco (AVP-12)|USS ''Casco'']], alternating between salvage efforts and seaplane tending during September. ''Hulbert'' sailed 4 October for supplies and repairs at [[San Francisco, California]].

[[File:USS Hulbert (AVD-6) stranded on Attu 1943.jpg|thumb|''Hulbert'' stranded on Attu, 1943.]]

She was again underway from [[Seattle, Washington]] 8 December 1942 for Kodiak where the ship serviced patrol bombers during the first months of 1943. In May ''Hulbert'' moved to [[Amchitka]], acting as communications ship during the recapture of [[Attu Island|Attu]] that spring. She moved again to Attu in June, to provide fuel and communications services for seaplanes and torpedo boats but was blown ashore in Massacre Bay during a severe storm 30 June 1943. ''Hulbert's'' hull was seriously damaged and, after temporary repairs at [[Dutch Harbor]], she arrived in Seattle 30 August for a major overhaul.

The ship was reclassified DD-342 on 1 December 1943, and sailed 15 January 1944 to San Diego to take up new duties as an escort ship. For the remainder of the war ''Hulbert'' acted as plane guard and screen ship for dozens of new escort carriers as they made ready to join America's striking fleet in the Far East. The ship also served as a maneuvering torpedo target during pilot training and rescued a dozen pilots during this period. After the war's end, ''Hulbert'' sailed 30 September, escorting carrier [[USS Ranger (CV-4)|USS ''Ranger'']] to the [[Panama Canal Zone]] and arrived Philadelphia 17 October 1945.

She decommissioned 2 November 1945 and was sold for scrap on 31 October 1946 to Ship Shape, Inc., Philadelphia.

''Hulbert'' received two battle stars for World War II service.

As of 2009, no other ship has been named USS ''Hulbert''.

==References==
{{reflist}}
*{{DANFS|http://www.history.navy.mil/research/histories/ship-histories/danfs/h/hulbert.html}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|USS Hulbert (DD-342)}}
*http://www.navsource.org/archives/05/342.htm

{{Clemson class destroyer}}
{{June 1943 shipwrecks}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2019}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hulbert (Dd-342)}}
[[Category:Clemson-class destroyers]]
[[Category:Seaplane tenders of the United States Navy]]
[[Category:World War II destroyers of the United States]]
[[Category:World War II auxiliary ships of the United States]]
[[Category:1919 ships]]
[[Category:Ships present during the attack on Pearl Harbor]]
[[Category:Ships built in Portsmouth, Virginia]]
[[Category:Maritime incidents in June 1943]]