History
The USS Ralph Talbot (DD-390) was a destroyer of the Bagley class, a group of eight ships built for the United States Navy under the constraints of the London Naval Treaty. Designed in the 1930s, the Bagley-class destroyers were developed from the earlier Gridley-class and closely resembled the Benham class. While they traded a slight reduction in speed compared to their predecessors, they offered a longer operational range, making them particularly effective in the vast Pacific Theater. Among her class, Ralph Talbot emerged as the most decorated, earning fourteen battle stars for her service during the Second World War.
Laid down in 1936 and commissioned in 1937, Ralph Talbot was active in the Pacific even before the US formally entered the war. On December 7, 1941, during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, the ship was already at high readiness. Her crew brought the destroyer to action within minutes, downing an attacking aircraft and immediately commencing anti-submarine patrols. In early 1942, she took part in a series of raids against Japanese positions in the Marshall and Gilbert Islands, as well as Wake and Marcus Islands, before returning to convoy escort duties between Hawaii and the US mainland.
Ralph Talbot joined the Solomon Islands campaign in mid-1942. During the First Battle of Savo Island, she suffered serious damage from both friendly and enemy fire. Her radar and fire control systems were destroyed, and raging fires broke out across the ship. Despite the heavy damage and the loss of twelve crew members, the crew managed to regain control of the situation and stabilize the vessel. She was then routed back to the mainland for repairs.
Once restored, Ralph Talbot returned to active duty in the South Pacific. In June 1943, she supported the landings at New Georgia and rescued hundreds of survivors from a damaged attack transport. She carried out regular escort and patrol duties throughout the Solomons, later joining operations in New Guinea and New Britain. By 1944, she was participating in bombardments and convoy escorts supporting the invasion of the Mariana Islands, striking targets across Okinawa, Luzon, and Formosa. During the Battle of Leyte Gulf, she screened larger US vessels and later supported the Luzon landings. While on duty off Okinawa, she was attacked by two Japanese aircraft. One crashed into her aft starboard side, causing significant damage, but the crew managed to bring flooding under control and returned her safely to base.
As the war neared its end, Ralph Talbot continued to serve on convoy duty between the Marianas and the Ryukyus. In August 1945, she was involved in rescue efforts following the sinking of the USS Indianapolis, recovering twenty-four survivors from the Philippine Sea. With the end of hostilities, she returned to the United States in October and was later selected for Operation Crossroads, the US atomic bomb testing program at Bikini Atoll. After serving as a test target, she was decommissioned in August 1946 and ultimately sunk in March 1948.
