Charles Everett Vaughn

• Individual
• Ancestors
• Descendants
• Relationship
• Timeline
• Family
• GEDCOM
• Suggest

Ship-USS Hazelwood (DD-531)

US Navy Destroyer Hazelwood (DD-531) > HAZELWOOD AFTER KAMIKAZE HIT OFF OKINAWA -- On 29 April, the carrier group she was shepherding was attacked by kamikazes who dove out of low cloud cover. Hazelwood, all guns blazing, maneuvered to avoid two of the Zeros. A third screamed out of the clouds from astern. Although hit by Hazelwood’s fire, the enemy plane careened past the superstructure. It hit #2 stack on the port side, smashed into the bridge, and exploded. Flaming gasoline spilled over the decks and bulkheads as the mast toppled and the forward guns were put out of action. Ten officers and 67 men were killed, including the Commanding Officer, Cmdr. V. P. Douw, and 36 were missing. Hazelwood’s engineering officer, Lt. (j.g.) C. M. Locke, took command and directed her crew in fighting the damage and aiding wounded. Proceeding by tow and part way under her own power, the gallant ship reached Ulithi 5 May for temporary repairs, then sailed to Mare Island Naval Shipyard via Pearl Harbor 14 June for