View source for USS Sturtevant (DD-240)

{{Short description|Clemson-class destroyer}}
{{For|United States Navy ships named '' Sturtevant''|USS  Sturtevant}}
{{Use American English|date=March 2021}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2021}}
{|{{Infobox ship begin}}
{{Infobox ship image
|Ship image=USS Sturtevant (DD-240).jpg
|Ship caption=USS ''Sturtevant'' underway, date and place unknown.
}}
{{Infobox ship career
|Hide header=
|Ship country=United States
|Ship flag={{USN flag|1942}}
|Ship name=USS ''Sturtevant''
|Ship namesake=[[Albert D. Sturtevant]]
|Ship ordered=
|Ship builder=[[New York Shipbuilding]]
|Ship laid down=23 November 1918
|Ship launched=29 July 1920
|Ship acquired=
|Ship commissioned=21 September 1920
|Ship decommissioned=
|Ship in service=
|Ship out of service=
|Ship struck=8 May 1942
|Ship honors=
|Ship fate=Sunk by [[naval mine|mines]] off [[Key West]], 26 April 1942
|Ship notes=
}}
{{Infobox ship characteristics
|Hide header=
|Header caption=
|Ship class={{sclass|Clemson|destroyer}}
|Ship displacement={{convert|1215|LT|t|0|abbr=on}}
|Ship length={{convert|314|ft|4|in|m|abbr=on}}
|Ship beam={{convert|31|ft|8|in|m|abbr=on}}
|Ship draft={{convert|9|ft|10|in|m|abbr=on}}
|Ship power={{convert|26500|shp|kW|lk=in|abbr=on}}
|Ship propulsion=*2 × geared [[steam turbine]]s
*2 × shafts
|Ship speed={{convert|35|kn|mph km/h|lk=in|abbr=on}}
|Ship range={{convert|4900|nmi|mi km|lk=in|abbr=on}} at {{convert|15|kn|mph km/h|abbr=on}}
|Ship complement=130 officers and enlisted
|Ship armament=4 × [[4"/50 caliber gun|{{convert|4|in|mm|abbr=on}}]] guns, 1 × [[3"/23 caliber gun|{{convert|3|in|mm|abbr=on}}]] [[Anti-aircraft warfare|anti-aircraft gun]], 12 × [[American 21 inch torpedo|21 inch (533 mm)]] [[torpedo tube]]s
|Ship notes=
}}
|}

'''USS ''Sturtevant'' (DD-240)''' was a {{sclass|Clemson|destroyer}} in the [[United States Navy]] during World War II. She was the first ship named for [[Albert D. Sturtevant]].

''Sturtevant'' was laid down on 23 November 1918 and launched on 29 July 1920 by the [[New York Shipbuilding Corporation]]; sponsored by Mrs. Curtis Ripley Smith; and commissioned at the [[Philadelphia Navy Yard]] on 21 September 1920.

==Inter-war period==
''Sturtevant'' sailed to [[Newport, Rhode Island]], and thence proceeded to New York City. On 30 November, she departed New York to join the [[United States Naval Forces, European Waters]]. She reached [[Gibraltar]] on 10 December, and after four days continued on to the [[Adriatic Sea]]. On the 19th, she arrived at her new base, [[Split (city)|Split]] on the [[Croatia]]n coast (then in Kingdom of [[Yugoslavia]]). For the next six months, she conducted various missions from Split to the ports on the Adriatic littoral.

On 16 June 1921, the destroyer was reassigned from the Adriatic detachment to the [[Constantinople]] detachment, and, three days later commenced docking and overhaul at Constantinople. During this assignment, ''Sturtevant'' conducted drills in the [[Sea of Marmara]], between the twin straits, the [[Dardanelles]] and the [[Bosphorus]], and operated in the [[Black Sea]]. She visited [[Samsun]], Turkey; [[Burgas]], [[Bulgaria]]; and [[Sulina]] and [[Brăila]] on the coast of Romania. From 25 October to 28 November, she flew the flag of [[Admiral (United States)|Admiral]] [[Mark L. Bristol]]. Following this duty, the ship visited the ports of [[Beirut]] and [[Jaffa]] and then [[Alexandria]], Egypt, and the [[Isle of Rhodes]]. In late December, she returned to Turkey at Samsun, thence to Constantinople in January 1922, before reentering the Black Sea to visit southern Russia.

From 1921 to 1923, the [[Russian Civil War]] and a drought brought a great famine to Russia, particularly to the usually food-rich [[Volga]] region of southern Russia. America responded with nearly {{convert|1000000|ST|t|abbr=on}} of food which the [[Bolsheviks]] accepted, often as surreptitiously as possible. ''Sturtevant'' investigated potential ports of debarkation in southern Russia for the supplies soon to be shipped by the American Relief Administration. To this end, she visited [[Odessa]], [[Sevastopol]], [[Novorossiysk]], [[Feodosia|Theodosia]], and [[Yalta]] between early February and mid-April. Thereafter, through the end of the year, she made voyages across the Black Sea to various Russian ports in conjunction with the relief operation. She stopped at numerous other foreign ports on the voyages, including Samsun, [[Trabzon|Trebizond]], and [[Mudanya]], Turkey. From July–October, she made a round-trip voyage back to the U.S., during which she was overhauled at the [[New York Navy Yard]] and exercised out of [[Yorktown, Virginia]]. On 1 October, ''Sturtevant'' was ordered back to the eastern Mediterranean and, the following day, got underway for Gibraltar. She arrived there on the 14th and continued on to Turkey, reaching Mudania on the 27th. For the next seven months, the destroyer visited the ports of the eastern Mediterranean and those along the coast of the Black Sea. In addition to ports of call of the previous cruises, she visited [[Varna, Bulgaria]]; [[Mersina]] and [[Smyrna]], Turkey; [[Piraeus]], Greece; and [[Naples]], Italy. From the latter port, she sailed for Gibraltar in late May 1923, and by 12 June was back at the Navy Yard in New York. She operated along the Atlantic seaboard through the end of the year, conducting gunnery exercises in October at the southern drill grounds off [[Virginia]]. In November, the ship paid an [[Armistice Day]] visit to [[Baltimore]]. Three days before the end of the year, ''Sturtevant'' became [[flagship]] of Division 41, Squadron 14, [[Scouting Fleet]].
[[File:USS Sturtevant (DD-240) at sea.jpg|thumb|300px|USS ''Sturtevant'' at sea, date and place unknown]]

In early January, ''Sturtevant'' proceeded to the [[Panama Canal Zone]] to participate in a war problem with the Scouting Fleet. At the end of the month, she sailed with the Fleet, via [[Culebra Island]], to [[Guantanamo Bay Naval Base|Guantanamo Bay]], [[Cuba]], and the [[British West Indies]], conducting tactical exercises along the way. In May, the destroyer returned north and operated along the east coast for the remainder of the year. In January 1925, ''Sturtevant'' again headed south. After a month and a half of operations in the Caribbean, she transited the Panama Canal and entered the Pacific. She visited [[San Diego]] and [[San Francisco]] in California in April before getting underway for the [[Hawaiian Islands]]. From late April-mid-June, the ship participated in a joint [[United States Army|Army]]-Navy war problem simulating the attempt of an enemy force to capture the island of [[Oahu]]. On 11 June, she set a course for San Diego and arrived on the 17th. The destroyer started on her return voyage to the Atlantic on the 22nd and reached New York City on 16 July. She cruised the Atlantic coast until mid-October, and then proceeded south for winter maneuvers out of Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Transiting the Panama Canal in late January 1926, she participated in fleet exercises on the Pacific side. Returning to the Atlantic side of the isthmus to resume drills and exercises in the vicinity of Cuba, ''Sturtevant'' steamed north to [[Boston]] during the first week in May.

From May 1926 to January 1931, ''Sturtevant'' continued to operate with the [[United States Fleet Forces Command|Atlantic Fleet]] in Destroyer Division 41 ([[DesDiv]] 41), [[Destroyer Squadron]] 14 (DesRon 14). Each year summer operations along the north and central Atlantic coast of the U.S. were alternated with winter maneuvers in the warm waters of the Caribbean Sea and the [[Gulf of Mexico]]. During the fall of 1930, she was assigned [[Charleston, South Carolina]] as her homeport, but was ordered north again in January 1931 for decommissioning. On 30 January 1931, ''Sturtevant'' was placed out of commission at [[Philadelphia]]. She was recommissioned there on 9 March 1932, and on 30 April reported for duty to the Commander, [[Special Service Squadron]] at [[Coco Solo]] in the Canal Zone. For the next two years, the destroyer plied waters of the Gulf and the Caribbean, supporting the activities of the marines ashore in [[Nicaragua]], [[Haiti]], Cuba, and other Latin American republics. Early in 1934, she left the Special Service Squadron to rejoin the destroyers of the Scouting Force. During this tour of duty, she was home ported at [[Norfolk, Virginia]].
[[File:USS Sturtevant (DD-240) and USS Indianapolis (CA-35).jpg|thumb|300px|On board [[heavy cruiser]] {{USS|Indianapolis|CA-35|2}} looking aft from the forward superstructure as ''Sturtevant'' comes alongside, during the Presidential fleet review off New York City on 31 May 1934.]]

==World War II==
In the latter half of 1935, the ship was reassigned to the [[Battle Force]], located in the Pacific. After operating out of San Diego until 20 November, she was decommissioned once again. On 26 September 1939, ''Sturtevant'' was recommissioned once more. By mid-1940, she was back in the Atlantic escorting convoys and conducting [[Neutrality Patrol]]s along the eastern seaboard. The destroyer operated out of Norfolk, in the North Atlantic until early March 1942, then escorted a convoy from New York to the Canal Zone. There she reported for duty to the Commander, [[Caribbean Sea Frontier]], screening convoys between the various ports of the Caribbean until late April.

==Convoys escorted==
{|class="wikitable"
!Convoy
!Escort Group
!Dates
!Notes
|-
|[[HX convoys|HX 155]]
|
|18-25 Oct 1941<ref name="hxconvoy">{{cite web|url=http://www.convoyweb.org.uk/hx/index.html|title=HX convoys|publisher=Andrew Hague Convoy Database|access-date=2011-06-19}}</ref>
|from [[Dominion of Newfoundland|Newfoundland]] to [[Iceland]] prior to US declaration of war
|-
|[[ON convoys|ON 31]]
|
|4-15 Nov 1941<ref name="onconvoy">{{cite web|url=http://www.convoyweb.org.uk/on/index.html|title=ON convoys|publisher=Andrew Hague Convoy Database|access-date=2011-06-19}}</ref>
|from Iceland to Newfoundland prior to US declaration of war
|-
|[[HX convoys|HX 162]]
|
|29 Nov-7 Dec 1941<ref name="hxconvoy"/>
|from Newfoundland to Iceland prior to US declaration of war
|-
|[[HX convoys|HX 169]]
|
|10-18 Jan 1942<ref name="hxconvoy"/>
|from Newfoundland to Iceland
|-
|[[ON convoys|ON 59]]
|
|3-5 Feb 1942<ref name="onconvoy"/>
|from Iceland to Newfoundland
|}

==Fate==
On 26 April 1942, she departed Key West in company with a convoy. Just over two hours out of port, a violent explosion lifted ''Sturtevant''{{'}}s [[stern]] from the water, but caused no apparent damage. Thinking herself under [[submarine]] attack, the destroyer dropped two [[depth charge]] barrages. About a minute after she dropped the second barrage of charges, a second detonation rocked the ship. She began to settle rapidly, but on an even [[keel]]. Minutes later, a third explosion ripped her keel apart beneath the after deckhouse. The midships section sank immediately, and the stern settled soon thereafter. The [[Bow (ship)|bow]], curiously, remained above water for several hours. Finally, however, all but the [[crow's nest]] disappeared beneath the waves. ''Sturtevant'' went down off [[Key West]] about {{convert|8|mi|km|abbr=on}} north of the [[Marquesas Keys]]. Fifteen of her crew were lost with the ship.

''Sturtevant'' lies as two sections in {{convert|60|ft|m|abbr=on}} of water.<ref name=Barnette>{{cite book |author=Barnette, Michael C. |title=[[Florida's Shipwrecks]] |year=2008 |publisher=Arcadia Publishing |isbn=978-0-7385-5413-6 |author-link=Michael C. Barnette}}</ref>

It was later determined that ''Sturtevant'' passed through an American-laid minefield of whose existence the crew had not been notified. Her name was struck from the [[Naval Vessel Register]] on 8 May 1942.

==Citations==
{{Reflist}}

==References==
*{{DANFS|http://www.history.navy.mil/danfs/s19/sturtevant-i.htm}}
*{{cite web|title=''Sturtevant''|work=Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships|url=http://www.history.navy.mil/danfs/s19/sturtevant-i.htm|access-date=31 January 2015}}
*{{cite web|title=DD-240 USS ''Sturtevant''|work=Service Ship Photo Archive|url=http://www.navsource.org/archives/05/240.htm|access-date=9 March 2007}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|USS Sturtevant (DD-240)}}
*[http://www.navsource.org/archives/05/0524006.jpg U.S.S. STURTEVANT DD-240 "as-built"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131101113604/http://www.navsource.org/archives/05/0524006.jpg |date=1 November 2013 }} artist’s conception
*[http://members.aol.com/fourpiper/sinking.html "The Death of his First Love"], a secondhand eyewitness account of ''Sturtevant''{{'}}s sinking by crewmember Thomas Joseph Burns RdM1c
* [http://www.maritimequest.com/daily_event_archive/2008/04_apr/26_uss_sturtevant_dd240.htm Roll of Honor]

{{Clemson class destroyer}}
{{April 1942 shipwrecks}}
{{coord|24|45.857|N|82|1.174|W|display=title}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sturtevant}}
[[Category:Clemson-class destroyers]]
[[Category:World War II destroyers of the United States]]
[[Category:Ships built by New York Shipbuilding Corporation]]
[[Category:1920 ships]]
[[Category:Ships sunk by mines]]
[[Category:World War II shipwrecks in the Gulf of Mexico]]
[[Category:Shipwrecks of the Florida Keys]]
[[Category:Maritime incidents in April 1942]]