Loss
Silhouetted by the explosion of Paul Hamilton at 21:04, Lansdale was attacked from both port and starboard by planes from two and possibly three waves. As Heinkels approached on the port bow and launched two torpedoes that missed, Lansdale turned to starboard to repel five Ju-88s which had veered seaward from the convoy. Her guns hit one as it passed down the starboard side; but, as it crashed well astern, another launched a torpedo 500 yd (460 m) on the starboard beam before passing over the forecastle under heavy fire and going down on the port quarter.
The torpedo struck the starboard side forward about 21:06, wrecking the forward fireroom and opening both sides to the sea. Almost split in two, Lansdale immediately took a 12° list to port. Her rudder jammed 22° to starboard, and she steamed at 13 kn (15 mph; 24 km/h) in a clockwise circle.
At 21:12, she again came under attack. Two bombers launched torpedoes on the beam and broad on the bow to port but both missed the still-turning ship. Despite the increasing list, her guns downed one of the planes as it turned away from the ship.
At 21:20, the course of the ship straightened out, but the list increased steadily. Within two minutes, it reached 45° despite the efforts of her crew to control the battle damage. Her skipper, Lt. Cdr. D. M. Swift, ordered her abandoned when he feared the stricken ship might roll "completely over." By 21:30, the list had increased to 80° and the destroyer began to break up. Five minutes later she broke in half, and the stern section quickly sank. The forward section sank 20 minutes later as destroyer escorts Menges and Newell began rescue operations.
The two destroyer escorts swept the water from 21:55-03:30 the next morning searching for survivors. Menges picked up 115 men, including two German fliers who were shot down either by Lansdale or Newell. Newell rescued 119 survivors, including Lt. Cdr. Swift. Forty-seven officers and men were carried down with Lansdale.
Read more about this topic: USS Lansdale (DD-426)
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