History
The Dunlap class retained much of the Mahan-class design but incorporated several notable improvements. The most significant upgrade was the installation of enclosed Mark 25 gun mounts for the two forward 5-inch/38 caliber dual-purpose guns. These turrets, which drew ammunition from dedicated handling rooms below each mount, marked the first time a US Navy destroyer used enclosed forward mounts instead of open gun shields.
USS Dunlap was launched on April 18, 1936, at Staten Island, NY, and commissioned later that year. Initially assigned to training duties along the East Coast, she relocated to the Pacific in 1940, arriving at Pearl Harbor just before the outbreak of war.
During the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, Dunlap was at sea with Task Force 8 after delivering aircraft to Wake Island, thus escaping damage. She returned to Hawaiian waters for patrol duty and later participated in early offensive strikes, including raids on the Marshall Islands and Wake Island in early 1942.
From late 1942 onward, USS Dunlap was deeply involved in major Pacific operations. Starting with the Solomon Islands campaign, she played a crucial role in the Battle of Vella Gulf (Aug 6–7), where she and five other destroyers sank three Japanese destroyers in a surprise night torpedo attack, without taking any damage.
USS Dunlap sailed back to San Diego, California, for its overhaul, and she conducted patrols from Adak, Alaska, in late 1943 during the Aleutian Campaign.
Later, she joined the 5th Fleet to support carrier task forces’ strikes during the Marshall Islands campaign and then found herself shelling Marcus Island and providing escort and patrol services throughout the Mariana Islands in October 1944.
She rendezvoused with the 3rd Fleet units for the upcoming invasion of the Philippines & Leyte Gulf. She supported naval strikes at Luzon and laid a firing support for the landings at Leyte. She was called to assist and repel the Japanese during their three-pronged attack on Leyte in October 1944.
By March 1945, she participated in pre-invasion bombardments of Iwo Jima and later intercepted Japanese vessels attempting evacuation from the Bonin Islands.
On June 19, 1945, she intercepted and sank a Japanese vessel evacuating Chichi Jima, rescuing 52 survivors. Shortly after, Japanese officials boarded Dunlap to discuss and sign the surrender of the Bonin Islands by September 3, 1945, officially marking the ship’s significant role in ending hostilities in that region.
Following the war, she made a final cruise to Houston, Texas, for Navy Day and was decommissioned at Norfolk on December 14, 1945, before being sold for scrap in December 1947.
