USS La Vallette (DD-448)
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| History | |
|---|---|
 United States
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| Name: | La Vallette |
| Namesake: | Rear Admiral Elie A. F. La Vallette |
| Builder: | Federal Shipbuilding and Drydock Company |
| Laid down: | 27 November 1941 |
| Launched: | 21 June 1942 |
| Commissioned: | 12 August 1942 |
| Decommissioned: | 16 April 1946 |
| Struck: | 1 February 1974 |
| Fate: | Sold 26 July 1974 to Peru as parts donor, scrapped |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type: | Fletcher-class destroyer |
| Displacement: | 2,100 tons |
| Length: | 376 ft 3 in (114.68 m) |
| Beam: | 39 ft 8 in (12.09 m) |
| Draft: | 13 ft (4.0 m) |
| Propulsion: |
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| Speed: | 36 knots (67 km/h) |
| Range: |
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| Complement: | 273 officers and enlisted |
| Armament: |
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USS La Vallette (DD-448) was a World War II-era Fletcher-class destroyer in the service of the United States Navy. She was the second Navy ship named after Rear Admiral Elie A. F. La Vallette.
La Vallette was laid down 27 November 1941 by Federal Shipbuilding and Drydock Company, Kearny, New Jersey; launched 21 June 1942; sponsored by Mrs. Lucy La Vallette Littel, great-granddaughter of Rear Admiral LaVallette; and commissioned 12 August 1942, Lieutenant Commander H. H. Henderson in command.
After training and escort duty in the Caribbean and Atlantic, La Vallette departed New York 16 December 1942 for the Panama Canal and Pacific duty. First contact with the enemy came 29 January 1943 as she screened Task Force 18 (TF18) off Guadalcanal, when La Vallette’s guns splashed three of a wave of attacking planes.
Attacked again 30 January while guarding Chicago (CA-29), she shot down six Japanese Mitsubishi G4M “Bettys”, but was struck by a torpedo. With 22 dead, she was towed to drydock at Espiritu Santo for temporary repairs, then sailed to Mare Island Navy Yard, arriving 1 April.
Completely repaired, La Vallette left 6 August for Pearl Harbor, where she joined a carrier force for a strike on Marcus Island 31 August before returning to patrol duty in the Solomon Islands. On the nights of 1 and 2 October, she contacted Japanese troop barges off Kolombangara, of which she sank four and damaged two. La Vallette carried out escort and screening assignments during the Gilbert landings, and in strikes against Kwajalein and Wotje, during which she splashed another enemy aircraft. Brief repairs at San Francisco followed, after which she returned to the South Pacific.
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