![]() She was docked in San Pedro Bay, Leyte for a refit in early December and joined Close Support Group 77.3, departing for Mindoro in early December to help support additional landings. Operating with the 7th Fleet, the destroyer screened the battleships against enemy submarine and air attacks and covered the amphibious landings at Ormoc Bay. ![]() Laffey returned to Ulithi on November 22nd and set a new course for Leyte Gulf with Destroyer Squadron 60. There, Laffey joined Task Force 38 in attacking Japanese shipping and airfields on the Philippines Islands. On October 23rd, after training, she left for the Pacific Theater, arriving at Ulithi on November 5th. There she received supplies and some crew changes and within 24 hours, she departed for Pearl Harbor, Hawaii via the Panama Canal. On August 25th she arrived back in Norfolk. She remained in repair dock for a month and received new electronic equipment. ![]() She arrived in Belfast on July 1st, 1944 and sailed for home, arriving in Boston on July 9th. She was assigned to the battleship USS Nevada and Bombardment Group 2 in shelling German strong points in France. Laffey also was placed on ASW duty and pursued enemy submarines which had torpedoed the destroyer Nelson. ![]() At dawn on D-Day, the sixth of June, Laffey arrived with her charges off of Utah Beach, France, along with over 5,000 other ships of all types.Ä«etween June 6th and 12th, Laffey was ordered to screen and bombard gun emplacements onshore. On June 3rd, 1944 she steamed for the Normandy beaches escorting a flotilla of slow tugs, two Dutch gun boats and some large landing craft. Additional supplies and ammunition were loaded in all available spaces as extended shelling and ASW requirements were expected. After the escort to England, USS Laffey received new orders to make ready for the invasion of mainland Europe. The crossing was uneventful but gave Laffey's crew time to drill and get into a destroyer escort's anti-submarine warfare (ASW) role. She was ordered to Norfolk to serve as a school ship and, in mid-May, a convoy was forming in New York harbor - Laffey called to proceed there for escort duty to England. The ship received her crew and completed her trials over the next 20 days in Caribbean waters and returned to the Washington Naval Yard to receive her sailing orders. ![]() Her displacement of 3,316 tons did not stop her from accomplishing cat-like turns due to her speed of 34 knots and the aforementioned dual rudder arrangement. Additional armament included 10 x 21-inch (530mm) torpedo tubes, 6 x depth charge projectors and 2 x depth charge tracks. The class was often referred to simply the "Sumner-class", this class characterized by their twin 5-inch gun turrets (each guided by a Mark 37 fire control system), dual rudders, additional anti-aircraft weapons and many of the other advancements incorporated into the previous Fletcher-class such as its Mlk6 8,500 rpm gyro. The USS Laffey had her keel laid down in Bath, Maine at the Bath Iron Works on June 28th, 1943 and, following completion, she was commissioned on February 8th, 1944. Laffey's award stands as a tribute to his actions occurring on March 5th, 1864, this at Yazoo City, Mississippi. Soon after, the war department began creating the medal structure still in use even today, saving the MOH for actions "above and beyond". During a Confederate attack in 1864, he was awarded the Medal of Honor (MOH) for staying by his gun under a sustained heavy attack (at this time, the only medal the Union had was the MOH). Sumner-class destroyer, was named for seaman Bartlett Laffey who was assigned to a 12-pound howitzer gun crew on the stern wheel gunboat, the USS Marmora. The USS Laffey (DD-724), a United States Navy Allen M. ![]()
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