Continuing my day at Patriots Point during our February 2021 trip to Charleston, I toured the USS Laffey (DD-724). Nicknamed "The Ship That Would Not Die", the destroyer served both in Europe and the Pacific. Completed just in time to support the Allies D-day landings in Normandy, the Laffey escorted tugs and landing craft bound for Utah Beach. After performing screening duties and even shore bombardment, the Laffey was on her way back to the States in early July 1944. After a month long refit and subsequent shakedown cruise on the east coast, she headed for the Pacific by way of the Panama Canal. By September, the Lafferty was in Pearl Harbor. She joined Task Force (TF) 38, screening for carriers involved in the aerial bombing of strategic targets in the Philipines. After supporting the December 15 Allied landings on Mindoro, she supported the January 1945 landings in the Lingayen Gulf area of Luzon. In early March, the Laffey spent three weeks in intensive training with the battleships of TF 54 before sailing with the TF to support the invasion of Okinawa. On April 15, 1944, the Laffey was assigned to radar picket station 1 about 30 miles northwest of Okinawa.
Over the course of about 80 minutes on the morning of April 16, USS Laffey was attacked by approximately 30 Japanese airplanes. The Laffey fought well through what has been called one of the, if not the most, unrelenting suicide attacks of the war.
As noted in the Presidential Unit Citation for USS Laffey:
For extraordinary heroism in action as a Picket Ship on Radar Picket Station Number One during an attack by approximately 30 enemy Japanese planes, thirty miles northwest of the northern tip of Okinawa on 16 April 1945. Fighting her guns valiantly against waves of hostile suicide aircraft plunging toward her from all directions, the USS LAFFEY set up relentless barrages of anti-aircraft fire during an extremely heavy and concentrated air attack. Repeatedly finding her targets, she shot down eight enemy planes clear of the ship and damaged six more before they crashed on board. Struck by two bombs, crash-dived by suicide planes and frequently strafed, she withstood the devastating blows unflinchingly and, despite severe damage and heavy casualties, continued to fight effectively against insurmountable odds, and her brilliant performance in this action reflects highest credit upon herself and the United States Naval Service.
For the President,
James Forrestal
Secretary of the Navy
Out of a complement of 336 officers and crew, 32 were killed and 71 wounded in the attacks.
The Laffey also served with distinction during the Korean War, earning another two battle stars to go with the five earned in World War II. Decommissioned in 1975, the Laffey was acquired by Patriots Point in 1981. The USS Laffey is listed on both the U.S. National Register of Historic Places and as a U.S. National Historic Landmark.
Adult entrance to the museum is $27 and includes access to the USS Yorktown and USS Laffey as well as the Vietnam Experience and the Medal of Honor Museum. The USS Clamagore was closed to visitors due to Covid-19 restrictions when I visited the museum. Other tickets are available for active duty, retired military, veterans, first responders, teachers, seniors, and children. An adult annual pass is $69. Discounts for an adult ticket are often available online, but not on the museum website.
The museum website is https://www.patriotspoint.org/.
