Monaghan

USS Monaghan (DD-354) off Mare Island, California, 17 February 1942.

History

Design

After the end of World War I and the introduction of the Japanese Fubuki class, the USN had to develop a new class of Destroyers. The reactivation of all the entire World War I Destroyer flotilla however was not considered an acceptable solution, so drafts were made for a modern class. With the London Naval Treaty in 1930 the tonnage was restricted to not more than 1,500 tons per vessel.

After in-depth experiments and analysis of the old flushdeckers, including bending and bombing tests, it was decided to no longer pursue the flushdecker design but rather move to a bow that was one deck higher, giving the ships a higher freeboard for increased seaworthiness, and for the first time the Destroyers were supposed to be welded rather than riveted.

The result was a 104m long and 10.44m wide hull, displacing 1400 tons standard. The propulsion using steam could deliver 42,800 shaft horsepower and allow for a listed top speed of 36.5 knots, however during trials a speed of around 41 knots was achieved.

Initial armament of the Farragut consisted of five single mounts of the new 127mm/38 dual purpose gun (which would later prove to be one of the strongest AA guns of the war), which was directed by a Mark 33 Fire director for both anti-surface and anti-aircraft warfare. To save weight, only the two gun mounts on the foreship received a shield to protect the crew against splinter and heavy seas. Two quad 53.3cm torpedo launchers were mounted on the centerline of the ship, again an improvement over the older Destroyers, and the light AA consisted of only four .50 cal machine guns.

Throughout World War II it became clear that the threat from aircraft would grow more and more, thus the AA had to be strengthened on all ships including the destroyers of the Farragut class. This began with replacing the .50 cal machine guns with the modern 20mm Oerlikons, but in 1943 the ships had to sacrifice their third turret in exchange for the famous 40mm Bofors, which then filled the role of a medium range AA gun.

The eight destroyers were laid down between 1932 and 1934, with the first ones being launched and commissioned in 1935.

Service

USS Monaghan was present at Pearl Harbor on the morning of 7 December 1941, as a part of DesDiv2. She was ordered out early in the morning to partake in A/S operations near the entrance, when a black smoke and overhead aircraft signaled to the ship that a battle was on. She directed her efforts in attacking the high altitude bombers that were harassing the stationed surface vessels, until she was ordered to sortie out with the rest of DesDiv2. While organizing, a submarine alert signal alerted her crew to an additional presence; a Japanese midget submarine. Due to the close proximity of the combatant, Lieutenant Commander Burford decided to ram the sub. A shock across the bow registered the impact and a subsequent depth charge launch thrashed the sub to the surface, where it rolled over and sank. She spent the rest of the engagement patrolling her sector outside the mouth of the harbor.

During the Battle of the Coral Sea, Monaghan was part of Task Force 11 and was organized into an attack group comprised of other destroyers and cruisers tasked with engaging Japanese surface elements. As a part of Task Force 16, Monaghan found herself part of the US force at the Battle of Midway. As an escort element to USS Yorktown, she assisted her after she took a hit, and assisted in the hunt of I-168 after it had torpedoed Yorktown.

On 26 March 1943, Monaghan was one of the elements of DesRon4 at the Battle of the Komandorski Islands. Her main role during the surface engagement was to provide a screen for the main cruiser force, with gunfire and smoke cover. After USS Salt Lake City was badly damaged and had her engines knocked out, DesRon4 was ordered to launch a torpedo attack against the Japanese Fifth Fleet. Captain Riggs directed the attack directly for the cruisers with this command to “Get the big boys!” The destroyers charged steadfastly towards what they knew was near-suicide; unwavering their approach or gunfire until around 9,000 yards, when they turned abroad to release their torpedoes. The Japanese were caught off guard and decided to disengage; surprisingly Monaghan was unscathed.

As the US forces directed their attention to the island-hopping campaign in the summer of 1943, Monaghan found herself patrolling for enemy contacts around the Aleutians. In the early morning of 22 July, Monaghan was patrolling the area south of Kiska Island when a contact pinged some 14,000 yards away. An hour passed until she closed to 2,000 yards when Lieutenant Commander Horn gave the command to fire. Guided by radar-direction, Monaghan’s guns opened fire. In the thick of the inky night, the two foes engaged and disengaged multiple times; relying solely on the vision of radar. The duel ended when Monaghan cornered her foe against a difficult portion of rocky coastline, and she disengaged in fears of running aground. A daylight reconnaissance flight proved that the destroyer forced transport submarine I-7 aground; now a wreck after her crew scuttled her prior to abandon. Monaghan spent the next few months in the service of surface force escort all across the Pacific; be it carrier forces or destroyer escorts chasing Japanese submarines, from islands to islands; battle to battle.

On 18 December 1944 Monaghan was tasked with screening the vessels of the third fueling unit attached to Task Force 38. Suddenly a storm came raging down form the North; the flotilla of ships were caught in the wrath of a typhoon, which they discovered too late. Monaghan herself could not have been in a more precarious position: she had no water ballast on board. In the screaming maelstrom of water and wind, Monaghan – alongside fellow destroyers USS Spence and USS Hull – fell prey to the uncompromising force of nature. Three hundred men went down with the ship; only six survived the torrent alive.

Historical Inaccuracies

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  USS Monaghan (DD-354).

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  Monaghan, 14 September 1936, location unknown.

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  Monaghan and USS Dale (DD-353) coming out of a smokescreen during Fleet Problem XX, held in February 1939.

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  Monaghan in Mare Island Navy Yard, 16 February 1942.

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  Monaghan off at sea with the Fifth Fleet in 1944.

See here for links to Update notes.

• Available for testing by supertesters in the game starting from Update 0.7.0.
• Update 0.7.6:
  • Minor fixes for ship textures and geometry.
  • Fixed minor visual defects of torpedo armament.
  • Fixed description of the ship.
• First appeared on sale in June 2018.
• Update 0.7.7:
  • For 127mm AP / SC Mk38 armor-piercing shells, the fuse detonation time was reduced from 0.03 to 0.01 s.
  • Made minor fixes to geometry and textures on the ship and camouflage.
• Update 0.9.6:
  • The torpedo module Mk15 mod.3 was removed from the game. Improved torpedoes will now be installed alongside the Monaghan Hull (B).
• Update 0.10.8:
  • The number of depth charges was increased from 1 to 2.
• Update 0.11.6:
  • Was made temporarily unavailable for purchase in the Armory due to technical issues.
    • Note: not included in the patch notes list from WG.