USS Gwin (DM-33)
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| History | |
|---|---|
 United States
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| Name: | Gwin |
| Namesake: | William Gwin |
| Builder: | Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corporation, San Pedro, California |
| Laid down: | 31 October 1943 |
| Launched: | 9 April 1944 |
| Commissioned: | 30 September 1944 |
| Decommissioned: | 3 September 1946 |
| Recommissioned: | 8 July 1952 |
| Decommissioned: | 3 April 1958 |
| Struck: | 22 October 1971 |
| Fate: | Transferred to Turkey 15 August 1971 (TCG Muavenet (DM-357)]]) |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type: | Robert H. Smith-class destroyer |
| Displacement: | 2,200 tons |
| Length: | 376 ft 5 in (114.73 m) |
| Beam: | 14 ft (4.3 m) |
| Draft: | 15 ft 8 in (4.78 m) |
| Speed: | 34 knots (63 km/h; 39 mph) |
| Complement: | 336 officers and enlisted |
| Armament: |
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USS Gwin (DD-772/DM-33/MMD-33) was a Robert H. Smith-class destroyer minelayer in the United States Navy. She was named for William Gwin.
Gwin was launched by the Bethlehem Steel Corporation, San Pedro, California on 9 April 1944; sponsored by Mrs. Jesse W. Tarbill, second cousin and sponsor of the previous Gwin (DD-433). The ship was commissioned on 30 September 1944 at Los Angeles, Commander F. S. Steinke in command.
After shakedown along the California coast, Gwin sailed for the Pacific theatre as flagship of Mine Squadron 3, reaching Pearl Harbor 3 January 1945. A week later the squadron left for the fighting front. At Saipan, 20 January, Gwin and her sister minesweepers joined Battleship Division 7. For 7 days, 21 to 26 January, she participated in the preliminary bombardment of Iwo Jima, next to the last step in the island-hopping campaign across the Pacific. Returning to Pearl Harbor, Gwin underwent overhaul before sailing for Eniwetok, 23 February.
From Eniwetok Gwin steamed to Nansei Shoto 17 March to sweep the area around Okinawa. Acting in a variety of roles—antisubmarine screen, radar picket ship, minesweeper, fire support—Gwin was to remain off Okinawa the following five months, almost to the very end of the war. During this period she accounted for some 16 enemy aircraft as the Japanese launched the kamikaze attacks. Nine of these Japanese planes fell victim to Gwin's guns on only two days, 16 April and 4 May. An air raid 16 April saw Gwin down two Mitsubishi G4M "Betty" dive bombers, coming in only to have another come sweeping in and crash in the sea some 25 yards (23 m) as the ship evaded her. An alert gun crew swung their battery to catch another Japanese plane and shoot it down less than 50 yards (46 m) from the ship.
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