USS De Haven (DD-469)

History
USS De Haven
United States
Name:	De Haven
Namesake:	Edwin J. De Haven
Builder:	Bath Iron Works
Laid down:	27 September 1941
Launched:	28 June 1942
Commissioned:	21 September 1942
Fate:	Sunk by Japanese aircraft off Savo Island on 1 February 1943
General characteristics
Class and type:	Fletcher-class destroyer
Displacement:	2,050 long tons (2,080 t)
Length:	376 ft 6 in (114.76 m)
Beam:	39 ft 8 in (12.09 m)
Draft:	17 ft 9 in (5.41 m)
Propulsion:	60,000 shp (45,000 kW) geared turbines 2 propellers
Speed:	38 knots (70 km/h; 44 mph)
Range:	6,500 nmi (12,000 km; 7,500 mi) at 15 kn (28 km/h; 17 mph)
Complement:	329 officers and enlisted
Armament:	5 × 5 in (127 mm)/38 cal. guns 10 × 40 mm AA guns 7 × 20 mm AA guns 10 × 21 in (533 mm) torpedo tubes 6 × depth charge projectors 2 × depth charge tracks

USS De Haven (DD-469) was a Fletcher-class destroyer of the United States Navy, the first Navy ship named for Lieutenant Edwin J. De Haven USN (1819–1865). De Haven was the first Fletcher-class ship lost in World War II, having been in commission only 133 days.

De Haven was laid down by the Bath Iron Works Corporation at Bath, Maine on 27 September 1941 and launched on 28 June 1942 by Miss H. N. De Haven, granddaughter of Lieutenant De Haven. The ship was commissioned on 21 September 1942, Commander Charles E. Tolman in command.

De Haven sailed from Norfolk, Va. and reached Tongatapu, Tonga Islands, 28 November 1942 to escort a convoy of troopships to Guadalcanal to relieve the Marines who had been there since the invasion landings in August. De Haven screened the transports off Guadalcanal from 7 to 14 December, then sailed out of Espiritu Santo and Nouméa in the continuing Solomon Islands operations. She patrolled in the waters of the Southern Solomons to stop the "Tokyo Express", the nightly effort to supply the beleaguered Japanese troops still fighting on the invaded islands, and took part in two bombardments of Kolombangara island during January 1943.