READ ABOUT THIS WRECK IN SHIPWRECKS OF THE SUNSHINE STATE!
READ ABOUT THIS WRECK IN
SHIPWRECKS OF THE SUNSHINE STATE!
The USS Kendrick (DD-612) was launched 2 April 1942 by the Bethlehem Steel Corporation, San Pedro, California, and commissioned 12 September 1942. The Kendrick, a Bristol class destroyer, was 348' in length with a 36' beam. After her shakedown cruises and other various duties, the Kendrick eventually steamed into the Mediterranean by mid-1943. At Oran on 2 September, a German dive bomber made a surprise attack on the Kendrick. The plane roared in 50 feet above the water and launched two torpedoes before it was shot down by the destroyer's gunners. One of the "fish" struck Kendrick's stern, damaging her rudder, steering compartment, and fantail, but without harming her crew. As she turned back to Oran, the destroyer stopped to throw life rings to the crew of the enemy plane floating in the Med.
After seeing more action in Italy and southern France, the Kendrick completed several other escort cruises. In early 1945 she performed air-sea rescue, escort duty, fire support missions, and patrol duty in the Mediterranean as the war in Europe came to an end. Kendrick cleared Oran 15 May with a convoy and put into New York 8 days later. The Kendrick received three battle stars for her World War II service. On 1 May 1966 her name was struck from the Navy List.
The Kendrick was eventually subjected to demolition tests off Key West, by the David Taylor Model Basin, Carderock, Maryland, in March of 1968. She sits upright and intact, resting in 320' of water with portions rising to within 250' of the surface.
