The Stoddard History Project

This is a project designed to capture as much history from living shipmates as we can. The first step was completed by shipmate Neal Pearson (ET1 Stoddard 67-68). What you see below is the FIRST pass at the WWII Timeline of events. Neal went through the Stoddard website and browsed other places on the web and organized the events by date. Now we know there are some more pieces of history locked up in the brains of our shipmates and we hope to fill in the blanks of this sheet. This will expand up through the other Service Years and provide a complete collection of audio/video comments about each action.

Statement of Work

Create a computer based audio visual presentation that depicts the full history of the USS Stoddard, DD-566. 

  1. Organize historical events in spreadsheet by “era.”
    1. Need and creation of the Fletcher Class destroyer
    2. WWII
    3. Korean War
    4. Cold War
    5. Vietnam War
    6. Weapons Test
    7. Final Fate
  2. Determine key events to highlight.
  3. Commit to a 640 pixel wide display window and select tools.
  4. Develop the technical process to gather the audio and video information.
    1. Use email and web where possible.
    2. Use direct download of audio clips by volunteers
  5. Determine shipmate speakers to interview for each era.
  6. Determine Naval Historical Center assistance required.
  7. Confirm participation with speakers.
  8. Create a storyboard for presentation.
  9. Organize worksheets for gathering data.
  10. Get volunteers to assist in different cities.
  11. Coordinate and gather audio/video/photos to insert
  12. Combine and create the first pass.
  13. Final product completed by Dec. 15, 2008.

To be a success this project will require shipmates to volunteer with the sound bites and video snippits that need collected. If you can help give me an call or an email at 360-437-0125 or email danwithers@qwest.net. If you wish to use the US Post Office, mail to:
     Dan Withers
     1400 E. Ludlow Ridge Road
     Port Ludlow, WA 98365

What happens next?

This list will be emailed to all WWII shipmate email addresses that we have. If the WWII shipmates can look over the timeline and make any corrections or additions that are needed, that would be great. If you recall participating in one or many of these events, please consider making some written notes and decide if you would like to participate as a audio voice recorded, or an audio voice and a short video clip telling your piece of the history to camera. It is our hope to get many clips with video that cover each event. If you want to refer to a line do so with the line number on the left. I will start inserting sub-lines in between as we get them.

If you can help in any way, or want to help but not sure how, just let us know and we will find a project.

Next will be the Korean War era.

 

WWII Era History Timeline
Line# Day Mo Yr   Event Location/Notes
A 10 3 1943   Keel Layed Seattle, WA - Seattle-Tacoma Shipbuilding Corporation
B 19 11 1943   Launched  Seattle, WA 
C 15 4 1944   Commissioned  
D 21 4 1944   Off Vashon Island, Wa (2 photos) Bremerton - just out of the channel from Bremerton and Puget Sound Navy Yard. The ship is in camouflage 
E   6 1944   Shakedown Training San Diego, Ca
F 16 7 1944   Screened a convoy to Pearl Harbor Seattle, WA 
G 29 7 1944   Arrived Pearl Harbor
H 8 8 1944   Joined Task Force (TF) 94 (or 92) per Hurst Adak, Alaska - Trenton (C-11), Concord (C-10), Richmond (CL-9), and destroyers of Destroyer Division (DesDiv) 57
I 14 8 1944   Battle Mission (Weather Turnback) Kuril Islands - Harass Japanese outposts in the Kuril Islands
J 21 8 1944   TF94 renamed TF92 Adak, Alaska
K 26 8 1944   Battle Mission (Weather Turnback) Kuril Islands - Harass Japanese outposts in the Kuril Islands
L 28 8 1944   Laid up Attu is the westernmost and largest island in the Near Islands group of the Aleutian Islands of Alaska,
M 21 11 1944   Pounded Japanese installations  Matsuwa is an island in the central Kuril Islands - damaging the airfields and other installations heavily
N 25 11 1944   Returned to Attu Attu/Adak
O 1 12 1944   Routed to Dutch harbor w/DesDiv 113 Dutch Harbor
P 13 12 1944   Enroute to Japan's Kuril defenses Enroute Kuril
Q 3 1 1945   Swept Kuril defenses Kuril Islands
R 5 1 1945   Bombarded Surabachi Wan area of Paramushiro Kuril Islands - severely damaging canning installations and airfields
S 13 1 1945   Return Dutch Harbor
T 16 1 1945   Headed south for operational training To Pearl Harbor  - Stoddard and Rowe (DD-564) 
U 22 1 1945   10 Day Rest Period Pearl Harbor 
V 7 2 1945   Back to Attu To Attu
W 13 2 1945   Arrived Attu and joined with group  Massacre Bay (Attu) Gathering for the bombardment of Kuabu Zaki
X 16 2 1945   Heading for Action To Kuril Islands
Y 18 2 1945   Bombarded the island until midnight Paramushiro
Z 20 2 1945   Back at Attu Attu
AA 23 2 1945   Shifted to Adak for supplies and repairs Adak, Alaska
AB 8 3 1945   Returned to Attu  Attu
AC 15 3 1945   hit Matsuwa Matsuwa
AD 1 4 1945   Begin task force exercises  Near Adak
AE 17 4 1945   End task force exercises  Attu
AF 18 4 1945   Departed Aleutians chain - Heading to Pearl To Pearl Harbor - DesDiv 13
AG 24 4 1945   Arrived in Pearl Harbor Pearl Harbor
AH 25 4 1945   recreation in the islands and…. Hawaii Area - preparation for assignment to Okinawa and the Fast Carrier Task Force
AI 10 5 1945   conducted operational training Hawaii Area
AJ 11 5 1945   sailed from Pearl Harbor To Ulithi - in the screen of Ticonderoga (CV 14), bound for Ulithi
AK 17 5 1945   Screening for Ticonderoga Maloelap Atoll area Ticonderoga's air group got in a little live ammunition practice on 17 May, when they struck the Japanese forces isolated on Taroa and the other islets of Maloelap Atoll. 
AL 22 5 1945   task group reached the lagoon at Ulithi  Ulithi Atoll (also know as Urushi, or Mackenzie Island) is a coral atoll in the Federated States of Micronesia, in the western Pacific Ocean
AM 29 5 1945   Departed to take up station off of Okinawa To Okinawa
AN 2 6 1945   Arrived at radar picket station Off Okinawa   Though the Okinawa campaign was rapidly nearing its conclusion, the proximity of airfields in Japan and on Formosa allowed enemy air power to continue to make life unpleasant for the ships around the island. True, the deluge of kamikazes had abated, but the skies continued to shower significant numbers of suicide planes. 
AO 4 6 1945   Assisted Cargo Ships Near Japan - covered the withdrawal of several cargo ships on 4 June during a typhoon-evasion maneuver and then returned to her station
AP 7 6 1945   Picket Duty -two planes attacked Off Okinawa -both were sent hurtling into the sea before they could reach the ships
AQ 16 6 1945   Picket Duty nearing end Off Okinawa - During her tour of duty on the picket line, Stoddard claimed two Japanese planes for herself, two assists, and one probable kill.
AR 17 6 1945   Enroute to Phillipines  To San Pedro Bay - in the screen of Mississippi (BB-41).  San Pedro Bay is a bay in the Philippines, at the northwest end of Leyte Gulf, about 15 km east-west and 20 km north-south. The bay is bounded on the north and east by Samar and on the east by Leyte Island. It is connected by San Juanico Strait to Carigara Bay of the Samar Sea. The largest city on the bay is Tacloban City, the capital of Leyte province.
AS 20 6 1945   passed through Surigao Strait into Leyte Gulf San Pedro Bay
AT 21 6 1945   underwent repairs and took on provisions San Pedro Bay - For the remainder of the month
AU 1 7 1945   screen of TF 38, the Fast Carrier Task Force to Japanese Home Islands - For the next 45 days, she guarded the carriers as their planes made repeated strikes on the Japanese home islands.
AV 6 7 1945   was credited with shooting down two Kamikazes  Off Okinawa
AW 23 7 1945   join DesDiv 113 in a bombardment of Chi Chi Jima  Bonins
AX 15 8 1945   Cessation of Hostilities  
AY 16 8 1945   with TF 38 to cover the occupation forces waters near Japan 
AZ 17 8 1945   Stoddard in Tokyo Bay Tokyo Bay
BA 2 9 1945   Surrender ceremonies  Tokyo Bay -  representatives from the Empire of Japan signed Japanese Instrument of Surrender in Tokyo Bay aboard the USS Missouri.
BB 21 9 1945   Cleared Japanese Waters Enroute  to Eniwetok
BC 7 10 1945   Availability at Eniwetok Marshall Islands
BD 8 10 1945   returned for training exercises until November  
BE 18 11 1945   departed Japan for the United States Enroute to US via San Diego
BF 22 11 1945   Thanksgiving Day - Underway from Japan to San Diego  
BG 18 12 1945   transited the Panama Canal Panama Canal
BH 23 12 1945   Arrived Philadelphia  
BI 24 12 1945   Yard Overhaul Philadelphia
BJ   4 1946   ferried personnel to Charleston, S.C. Charleston, SC
BK 8 7 1946   inactivation overhaul  Charleston, SC - Charleston Group of the Atlantic Reserve Fleet.
BL 9 1 1947   Decommissioned (Mothballed) (Hurst 7/1/47) Charleston, SC

 

 

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