Allied Warships

USS Edison (DD 439)

Destroyer of the Benson / Gleaves class

Navy	The US Navy
Type	Destroyer
Class	Benson / Gleaves
Pennant	DD 439
Built by	Federal Shipbuilding & Drydock Co. (Kearny, New Jersey, U.S.A.)
Ordered	15 Jun 1939
Laid down	18 Mar 1940
Launched	23 Nov 1940
Commissioned	31 Jan 1941
End service	18 May 1946
History	Decommissioned 18 May 1946. Stricken 1 April 1966. Sold 29 December 1966 and broken up for scrap.

Commands listed for USS Edison (DD 439)

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	Commander	From	To
1	Lt.Cdr. Albert Christian Murdaugh, USN	31 Jan 1941	Mar 1942
2	Lt.Cdr. William Ramon Headden, USN	Mar 1942	24 Feb 1943 (1)
3	T/Cdr. Hepburn Alcott Pearce, USN	24 Feb 1943	15 May 1945 (1)
4	Cdr. William John Caspari, USN	15 May 1945	18 May 1946 (1)

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Notable events involving Edison include:

Franklyn E. Dailey, Jr., CAPT. USNR (Ret.), gunnery officer of the USS Edison wrote a book about the ship, "Joining the War at Sea, 1939-1945, A Destroyer's Role in World War II, Convoys and Invasion Landings". Dailey International Publishers, 500 Laurel Oaks Lane, Alpharetta, GA 30004, Georgia (2)

28 Mar 1942
HMS H 50 (Lt. M.L.C. Crawford, DSC, RN) conducted A/S exercises off Lough Foyle with HMS Reading (Lt.Cdr. D.V. Clift, RN), HMS Sunflower (Lt.Cdr. J.T. Jones, RD, RNR), HMS Saladin (Lt.Cdr. G.V. Legassick, RNR), HMS Sabre (Lt. R.L. Caple, DSC, RN), USS Bristol, USS Buck and USS Edison. (3)

19 Nov 1943
Around 1100 hours, USS Iowa (Capt. J.L. McCrea, USN) and her escort; USS Ellyson (Lt.Cdr. E.W. Longton, USN), USS Rodman (Cdr. J.F. Foley, USN) and USS Emmons (Lt.Cdr. E.B. Billingsley, USN) joined USS Brooklyn (Capt. R.W. Cary, Jr., USN) and her escort; USS Trippe (Lt.Cdr. R.C. Williams, USN), USS Edison (Lt.Cdr. H.A. Pearce, USN), HMS Troubridge (Capt. C.L. Firth, MVO, RN), HMS Teazer (Lt.Cdr. A.A.F. Talbot, DSO and Bar, RN) and HMS Tyrian (Cdr. C.W. Greening, RN). In the afternoon USS Ellson, USS Rodman and USS Emmons were detached.

20 Nov 1943
USS Iowa (Capt. J.L. McCrea, USN) arrived at Mers El Kebir where her 'passengers' left the ship.

She departed Mers El Kebir later the same day to proceed to Bahia, Brazil.

At sea she re-joined USS Brooklyn (Capt. R.W. Cary, Jr., USN), HMS Sheffield (Capt. C.T. Addis, RN) and their escort; USS Trippe (Lt.Cdr. R.C. Williams, USN), USS Edison (Lt.Cdr. H.A. Pearce, USN), HMS Troubridge (Capt. C.L. Firth, MVO, RN), HMS Teazer (Lt.Cdr. A.A.F. Talbot, DSO and Bar, RN) and HMS Tyrian (Cdr. C.W. Greening, RN).

For the daily positions of USS Iowa during this passage see the map below.

21 Nov 1943
USS Iowa (Capt. J.L. McCrea, USN) passed Gibaltar Straits westbound into the Atlantic.

Around 0540 hours, HMS Sheffield, departed the formation.

Around 0820 hours, USS Ellyson (Lt.Cdr. E.W. Longton, USN), USS Rodman (Cdr. J.F. Foley, USN) and USS Emmons (Lt.Cdr. E.B. Billingsley, USN) arrived to take over the escort of USS Iowa and USS Brooklyn (Capt. R.W. Cary, Jr., USN) and her escort; USS Trippe (Lt.Cdr. R.C. Williams, USN), USS Edison (Lt.Cdr. H.A. Pearce, USN), HMS Troubridge (Capt. C.L. Firth, MVO, RN), HMS Teazer (Lt.Cdr. A.A.F. Talbot, DSO and Bar, RN) and HMS Tyrian (Cdr. C.W. Greening, RN) departed the formation and set course for Gibraltar.

21 Jan 1944
Around 1220/21, the Task Group 82.8, part of 'X-ray Force', made up of the light cruisers USS Brooklyn (Capt. R.W. Cary, Jr., USN), HMS Penelope (Capt. G.D. Belben, DSC, AM, RN) and the destroyers USS Trippe (T/Cdr. R.C. Williams, USN), USS Mayo (T/Cdr. F.S. Habecker, USN), USS Woolsey (T/Cdr. H.R. Wier, USN), USS Ludlow (T/Cdr. L.W. Creighton, USN) and USS Edison (T/Cdr. H.A. Pearce, USN) departed Naples in support of Operation Shingle, the landings at Anzio. En-route to the landing area they escorted a convoy (NAF 1).

They entered the 'fire support area' around 0130/22.