Cincpac File No.             UNITED STATES PACIFIC FLEET
                          FLAGSHIP OF THE COMMANDER IN CHIEF
Pac-90-wb
A16-3/Ts133

Serial



S E C R E T

  From:        Commander in Chief, U. S. Pacific Fleet.
  To:          Commander in Chief, U. S. Fleet.

  Subject:     U.S.S. CUSHING, Loss of.

  Enclosure:   (A) CO CUSHING Secret ltr. Dated 19 November 1942, with
                   endorsements thereto.

       1.      Enclosure (A) is forwarded.


                                                     P. V. MERCER,
                                                     By direction.


A16-3               ADVANCED NAVAL BASE
Serial TS/133        Cactus - Ringbolt


                                     20 November 1942

From:          Commander Naval Activities, Cactus-Ringbolt Area.
To:            Commander South Pacific Forces.

Via;           Commander Task Force 62.

Subject:       Transmittal "U.S.S. CUSHING; loss of." Dated
               19 November 1942.

     1.        Subject report is forwarded herewith.


                                 W. G. GREENMAN

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FE25/A16-3(8)             AMPHIBIOUS FORCE
FIRST ENDORSEMENT       SOUTH PACIFIC FORCE                 00/hw
                       Office of the Commander


                                 U.S.S. McCAWLEY, Flagship,
S E C R E T                        November 27,1942.

From:          Commander Task Force SIXTY-TWO.
To:            Commander in Chief, U.S. Pacific Fleet.
Via:           Commander South Pacific Force.

      1.       Forwarded.


                                    R. K. TURNER

                        ADVANCED NAVAL BASE
                         Cactus - Ringbolt

SECRET                                 19 November 1942.

From:          The Commanding Officer, U.S.S. CUSHING.
To:            Secretary of the Navy.

Via:           Commander Destroyer Division Ten.
               Commander U.S. Naval Forces, South Pacific.
               Commander in Chief, Pacific Fleet.

Subject:       U.S.S. CUSHING; loss of.

Reference:  (a)U.S. Navy Regulations, 1920, ARTICLE 841.

     1.        In accordance with reference (a) it is reported
that the U.S.S. CUSHING was lost due to enemy action on November
13, 1942, about two miles to the southeast of Savo Island, B.S.I.
at about Latitude 09°-11’ South, Longitude 159°-55’ East.

     2.        The CUSHING was heavily hit by enemy fire at about
0200, November 13, 1942, and was stopped, lying dead in the water
with no power on the ship.  Shortly thereafter the ship again came
under heavy enemy fire to which no adequate reply could be made.

     3.        At about 0220, while under fire, the Commanding
Officer ordered that the ship be abandoned, and about one half
the crew (who were unwounded) and over sixty-five wounded men and 
six wounded and four unwounded officers left the ship.

     4.        Due to the enemy fire the ship commenced to burn
furiously forward, spreading aft.  There was also a fire below
decks aft.

     5.        At about 0315, The Commanding Officer left the
ship and believes that he was the last man off the ship.

     6.        The CUSHING burned the day of the thirteenth  until
about 1700 when as reported by Lieutenant-Colonel William J. Fox,
U.S.M.C, observing from Guadalcanal, there was a large explosion
at the location of the CUSHING and cold air moved in on the water;
no further sign of the ship being seen.  Air search from this area
on the morning of November 14th, found wreckage but no sign of the
ship.

     7.        As a result of the loss of the CUSHING, the follow-
ing personnel casualties occurred:

               Officers:     5   Unwounded survivors
                             6   Wounded survivors
                             1   Dead (Known)
                             5   Missing (Including probable deaths)
                     Total   17.
                             
                    Men:    127  Unwounded survivors.
                             56  Wounded survivors.
                             10  Died of wounds ashore.
                      (about 53  Missing (includes probable deaths)
                      Total 246

                                            E. N. PARKER

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FIRST ENDORSEMENT

                        ADVANCED NAVAL BASE
                         Cactus - Ringbolt

                                         19 November 1942.

From           Commander Destroyer Division TEN.
To:            Secretary of the Navy.

Via:           Commander U.S. Naval Forces, South Pacific.
               Commander in Chief, Pacific Fleet.

Subject:       U.S.S. CUSHING; loss of.

       1.      Forwarded.


                                         T. M. STIKES.


                     SOUTH PACIFIC FORCE
              OF THE UNITED STATES PACIFIC FLEET
                HEADQUARTERS OF THE COMMANDER
A16-3(2)/(11)
Serial 0097c


S-E-C-R-E-T

SECOND ENDORSEMENT to:
C.O. CUSHING Secret ltr.
Dated 19 November, 1942.

From:          The Commander South Pacific Area and South
                   Pacific Force.
To:            The Secretary of the Navy.
Via:           The Commander-in-Chief, U.S. Pacific Fleet.

Subject:       U. S. S. CUSHING, Loss of.

     1.        Forwarded.

                                  W. F. HALSEY

Information U.S.S. CUSHING

  The third Cushing was launched 31 December 1936 by Puget Sound Navy 
Yard; sponsored by Miss K. A. Cushing, daughter of Command Cushing; 
commissioned 28 August 1936, Commander E. T. Short in command; and 
reported to the Pacific Fleet.

  Cushing joined the search in the Hawaiian Islands and at Howland 
Island, for the missing aviatrix Amelia Earhart from 4 to 30 July 
1937, then returned to San Diego for training exercises, tactics, and 
fleet problems. Except for brief periods of training at Pearl Harbor 
and one cruise to the Caribbean, she cruised the west coast from San 
Diego for exercises and training.

  Undergoing overhaul at Mare Island Navy Yard when the Japanese 
struck Pearl Harbor, Cushing sailed from San Francisco 17 December 
1941 for convoy escort duty between the west coast and Pearl Harbor 
until 13 January 1942. She sailed to Midway to serve on antisubmarine 
patrol from 18 January to 2 February, then returned to San Francisco 
19 February to screen TF 1 off the California coast in training and 
patrol duty.

  On 1 August 1942 Cushing departed San Francisco for training 
exercises at Pearl Harbor, then to join the operations around 
Guadalcanal.  Constantly on the move, she escorted vital resupply 
convoys to the bitterly contested island, and fought in the Battle of 
Santa Cruz of 26 October, when an outnumbered American force turned a 
Japanese flotilla back from their advance toward Guadalcanal.

  Cushing screened transports safely into Guadalcanal 12 November 1942 
and was in the van of the force that moved out to intercept the 
Japanese fleet in the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal on the night of 13 
November. As the range closed, she suddenly sighted three enemy 
destroyers at 3,000 yards. In the bitter gunfire which followed 
Cushing received several hits amidships, resulting in a gradual power 
loss, but she determinedly continued to fire her guns at the enemy, 
launching her torpedoes by local direction at an enemy battleship. 
Fires, exploding ammunition, and her inability to shoot any longer 
made the abandon ship order unavoidable at 0230. Her burning hulk was 
last seen from Guadalcanal at 1700 when she sank about 3,500 yards 
southeast of Savo Island. Cushing lost about 70 men killed or missing, 
some of them later rescued from the water, and many wounded, but with 
the task force she had aided in saving Henderson Field from a 
disastrous bombardment by a Japanese force.

Cushing received three battle stars for World War II service.

                                 Mahan Class
                             Completed - 1936 - 37

DD 364 MAHAN
DD 365 CUMMINGS
DD 366 DRAYTON
DD 367 LAMSON
DD 368 FLUSSER
DD 369 REID
DD 370 CASE
DD 371 CONYGHAM
DD 372 CASSIN*
DD 373 SHAW
DD 374 TUCKER
DD 375 DOWNES*
DD 376 CUSHING
DD 377 PREKINS
DD 378 SMITH
DD 379 PRESTON
DD 384 DUNLAP
DD 385 FANNING

Notes:
     * These units rebuilt in 1944

Dimensions

Displacement:
   1,500 tons (stand)
   2,200 tons (Mean War Service)
Length: 344’ (oa)
Beam: 35
Draft: 13’ (max)

Armament

4 5"/ 38 DP
2 40mm twins (none on DD 366)
5 20mm
2 DC tracks
4 DC projectors
3 21" TT (quads)

Propulsion

Speed: 35 knots (max)
Max. Cruising radius:
  2,600 miles @ 25 knots 
  6,100 miles @15 knots
Horsepower: 50,0000 (shaft)
Drive: 2 screws; geared turbine
Fuel: 544 tons oil (max)

Remarks:
      Generally known before the war as the MAHAN Class, the CUMMINGS 
and her sisters represent a modified FARRAGUT design, with a heavier 
torpedo armament.  As first commissioned, they mounted 5-5" /- 38 guns 
in single shield and open mounts, and were fitted with a tripod 
foremast and pole mainmast, stepped right abaft the after-stack.  The 
need for increased close-defense armament during the war resulted in 
removing one 5"-gun and reducing the masts to a single pole foremast.

      Three of the units, the CUSHING (DD 372), SHAW (DD 373) and 
DOWNES (DD 375) were seriously damaged at Pearl Harbor and restored 
after elaborate reconstruction.

      The DUNLAP and FANNING are practically sisters of the CUMMINGS 
from which they differ in having enclosed single mounts for their 
forward guns instead of shields.  This type 5"-gun mount made its 
first appearance in U.S. destroyers in these two units.


War losses include:
DD 364 MANHAN (original name-ship of this class)
DD 369 REID 
DD 374 TUCKER 
DD 376 CUSHING 
DD 377 PREKINS
DD 379 PRESTON