The USS Southard was named for Samuel Lewis Southard born on 3 June 1787 in Baskingridge, NJ, and graduated from Princeton in 1804. After teaching school in New Jersey, he worked as a tutor in Virginia and studied at law there. Upon being admitted to the bar, he returned to New Jersey, where he was appointed law reporter by the legislature in 1814. Southard became an associate justice of the state supreme court in 1815, and , in 1820, served as a presidential elector. In 1821, he was chosen to fill the seat in the United States Senate, vacated by the resignation of James J. Wilson, and served until March of 1823. In September of that year, he was appointed Secretary of the Navy, a post he held until 1829. During these years, he also served briefly as Secretary of the Treasury and Secretary of War. In 1829, Southard became attorney-general of New Jersey and, in 1832 was elected governor. He returned to the Senate in 1833 and, on 4 March 1841, became President pro tempore of the Senate. Southard died in Fredricksburg, VA on 26 June 1842.
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During the early fall of 1919, Southard completed fitting out and sailed for the Florida coast for shade-down. She next headed for New York to join six other destroyers in escorting HMS Renown out to sea as that warship departed carrying Edward, the Prince of Wales, after his visit to the United States. On 19 November 1919, Southard departed Newport, RI., for duty with the Naval forces in the eastern Mediterranean. For about a year, she operated in the Adriatic Sea. She then departed the Dalmatian coast; transited the Suez Canal; and after calling at ports in Egypt, Arabia, India, and China, put in at Cavite in the Philippines on 16 February 1921. Southard underwent repairs at the Navy yard there until 21 March, when she resumed operations. On 27 August 1922, she sailed for the United States and arrived in San Fransico, CA, on 2 October. From there, she moved on to San Diego, where she was decommissioned on 7 February 1922.
After almost seven years in reserve, Southard again flew a commissioning pennant on 6 January 1930. She operated off the west coast of the United States throughout 1930 and in the vinicity of the Panama Canal during the first months of 1931. For the next nine years, Southard continued operations in the Pacific with the battle force. The only exceptions to this schedule came in 1934 and 1939 when she made short cruises in the Atlantic. In 1940, she was converted to a high-speed destroyer minesweeper and, on 19 October, was re-classified DMS-10.
Though stationed at Pearl Harbor when war broke out in the Pacific, Southard was at sea during the Japanese attack on 7 December. Two days earlier, she had departed that base to participate in excerises in the vicinity of Johnston Island. The destroyer minesweeper returned to Oahu two days after the attack and patrolled the approaches to Pearl Harbor until 23 January 1942. After escorting a convoy to San Fransico and back, on 15 February Southard resumed patrols in Hawaiian waters. On 20 May, she again exited Pearl Harbor in the screen of an east bound convoy. The ships reached San Fransico on the 31st, and Southard spent the next ten days in restricted availability in the Mare Island Navy Yard. She reentered Pearl Harbor on 1 July and, nine days later, stood out for the south Pacific.
Stopping along the way at both British and American Somia, she arrived at Tongatabu, Fiji Islands, on 22 July. She departed three days later, stopped at Efate Island in the New Hebrides, and made Guadalcanal by 7 August. Southard participated in the opening bombardment of Florida Island; then joined the minesweeping force in a sweep to the south of Gavutu Island and through Lengo Channel. On the 8th, about twenty high-altitude bombers attacked the transport area, and Southard succeeded in splashing at least one enemy plane.
When the beachhead on Guadalcanal had been successfully established, Southard settled down to the risky routine of screening the convoys from New Caledonia and the New Hebrides to the Solomons. For almost eight months, she steamed back and forth between Euspriitu Santo, Efate, Noumea, Tulagi, Purvis Bay, and Guadalcanal. There were frequent air attacks and submarines prowled the sea lanes.
Early in the morning of 10 November, while passing between San Cristobal and Guadalcanal in route to Aola Bay, Southard encountered an enemy submarine steaming on the surface. She immediately slowed to 10 knots and opened fire. The submarine submerged, and Southard commenced her first depth-charge attack. The destroyer minesweeper lost contact with her adversary and did not regain it again until 0607, almost three and one-half hours later. Over the next three hours, Southard made five more depth-charge runs. After the last barrage, oil was sighted on the surface; and she moved in to investigate. Upon reaching the slick, Southard's crew could find no further evidence of damage, and she steamed on through the slick. When she reached a point about two thousand yards on the other side of the slick, the submarine surfaced almost vertically -- exposing her whole conning tower, her hull forward of the tower, and part of her keel. Then the bow dropped about ten degrees, and the submarine sank rapidly by the stern. Though absolute confirmation of the kill was never received, all evidence strongly indicated that Southard was the victor.
Following a liberty and recreation excursion to Brisbane, Austrailia, and six days in dry dock at Sydney, Southard returned to patrol and convoy duty in early January 1943. On 20 March, she stood out of Noumea in company with Hovey (DMS-11), Stringham (APD-6), and Sonoma (AT-12), towing Aulick (DD-596). This task unit stopped at Suva Harbor, Fiji, on the 25th and departed the next day to continue on to Pago Pago, Pearl Harbor, and ultimately to San Fransico. Southard entered the Mare Island Navy Yard on 19 April and remained until 8 June. By the 15th, she was in Pearl Harbor again and, nine days later, headed back toward the South Pacific she reached Dumbea Bay, New Caldonia, on 6 July 1943.
Her return to the western Pacific meant a resumption of patrol and convoy escort duty. To support the continuing Solomon's campaign which, by this time, had progressed farther north. On 30 October, she joined a convoy off Tetere Point, Guadalcanal, and steamed for Bougainville. The convoy arrived off Cape Torokina the next day and Southard joined other elements of the fleet in bombarding Bougainville. After minesweeping operation in Empress Augusta Bay, she made for Florida Islan, entering Purvis Bay on 3 November. Four days later, she returned to Bougainville to investigate the shoals along the approaches to Empress Augusta Bay; then, she resumed patrols off Guadalcanal.
These patrols and cruises with convoys occupied Southard's time until 21 November, when she passed through Lengo Channel bound for Noumea. From 25 November to 16 December, Southard stayed in the vicinity of New Caledonia, participation in drills and screening ships into and out of Noumea. On 17 December, she enter Suva Harbor with a convoy and, two days later, got underway for Guadalcanal.
Upon her reentry into the solomons, she took up the familar routine of patrols and screening supply ships. The apparent monotony was broken on 22 January. While escorting Cache (AO-67) from Florida Island to Espiritu Santo, Southard had an opportunity to sharpen her antisubmarine warfare skills when a japanese submarine torpedoed her charge. Her hunting, however, was cut short by the more important task of covering the limping oiler's retirement to Espiritu Santo.
In late February, Southard visited Auckland, New Zealand. She returned to the Solomons in March, partolled the Guadalcanal area, and conducted exercises in the Russell Islans. Her field of operations was expanded in April and may to include parts of the Bismarck Archipelago as she began escorting convoys to Borgen Bay, New Britain. By 10 May, she was back in Espirity Santo; and, a week later, she set sail for the United States and overhaul. She took on fuel at Funafuti on 19 May, provisioned and fueld at Pearl harbor on the 24th and 25th, and entered San Francisco Bay on 31 May. Southard commenced overhaul at the Mare Island Navy Yard the next day.
Two months later, the revitalized destroyer minsweeper headed back to the war. She made Pearl Harbor on 5 August and, on the 12th sortied with six escort carriers and five other destroyer-type ships, bound for the solomons. Twelve days later, the task group enter Purvis Bay. Southard stood out again the following day for exercises in the Russells.
On 4 September, she rendezvoused with a task force off Guadalcanal, arrived in the Palaus on the 12th and swept mines off the coasts of Peleliu and Anguar. On the 24th, she fueled and replenished at Manus in the Admiralty Islands, then returned to the Palaus for patrols and screening duties. She reentered Seeadler Harbor on 4 October to prepare for the invasion of the Philippines at Leyte.
Southard sortied from Manus with tthe Dinagat Attack Force on 10 October and began sweeping Leyte Gulf on the 18th. She swept mines in the gulf again on the 19th and made and exploratory sweep of Surigao Strait on the 20th. On the 24th, the destroyer minesweeper joined the screen of Carrier Group77.4 and remained so employed until the 26th. Back in Seeadler Harbor by 30 October, Southard spent all of November and most of December engaged in drills and availability at Manus.
Two days before Christmas 1944, she rendezvoused with TG 77.6 and headed for Leyte Gulf. From there, the task group moved on to Luzon and the Lingayen assault. Southard made minesweeping operations at Lingayen on 6 january 1945. Late that afternoon, while she was fighting off a kamikaze attack, one of the suicide planes crashed Southard abaft her stacks. The plane's engine embedded itself in the ship while it's fuselage ricocheted off her starboard side, tearing a trough six feet wide in her deck as it went. Southard quickly cut loose her sweep gear and retired to make emergency repairs.
Within fourteen hours, she was back in action sweeping mines. The plucky ship continued operations for five more days before departing the Lingayen area. She returned to San Pedro bay on 15 January for further repairs; then, on 4 February, headed east toward Hawaii. She stopped at Ulithi on the 6th and at Guam two days later. Southard departed from the Marianas on the 13th and arrived in Pearl Harbo on George Washington's birthday. She underwent extensive repairs at Pearl Harbor and did not leave hawaiian waters until 4 May. She stopped at Eniwetok on the 12th; then in company with the Clinton (APA-144) and Buckingham (APA-141), continued on to the Marianas. On 21 May, she sailed from Guam to Saipan and, two days later, got underway for Okinawa.
On the day of her arrival at Nakagasuku Wan, Okinawa, Southard almost suffered another suicide crash as an attacking kamikaze splashed a scant 15 yards ahead of the destroyer minesweeper. For the next three months, she swept mines, screened transports around Okinawa. On 15 August 1945, hostilities between the United States and the Japanese Empire ceased. Southard remained in the Ryukyus for the rest of August, underoing inspection and survey. By 15 September, the survey team determined that she should be moved to the rear area for further inspection and repair. However two days afterward, while maneuvering at anchor during a typhoon, her screws were fouled by a drifting antisubmarine net; and she was grounded on a pinnacle reef off Tsuken Shima. She was floated clear of the reef, and her propellers were cleared by divers on the 18th. Later while still waiting to move to the rear area, on 9 October, Southard was wrecked on another reef about 1,000 yards southwest of Tsuken Shima. The next day, the officers and crew save the commanding officer and a skeleton crew, were removed. The destroyer minesweeper was declared a total loss; and, on 5 December 1945, she was decommissioned. Southard was struck from the Navy list on 8 January 1946, and her hull was destroyed six days later.
Southard received 10 battle stars for World War II service.
From the Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships
