USS Aaron Ward (DD-483) was a Gleaves-class destroyer in the service of the United States Navy. She was the second Navy ship named in honor of Rear Admiral Aaron Ward. She sank on 7 April 1943 in a shoal near Tinete Point of Nggela Sule, Solomon Islands during Operation I-Go. Her wreck was discovered on 4 September 1994.
Construction Aaron Ward was laid down on 11 February 1941 at Kearny, New Jersey by the Federal Shipbuilding and Drydock Company and launched on 22 November 1941, sponsored by Miss Hilda Ward, the daughter of the late Admiral Ward. The ship was commissioned on 4 March 1942.
Service history Following her shakedown cruise out of Casco Bay, Maine and post-shakedown availability at the New York Navy Yard, Aaron Ward sailed for the Pacific on 20 May 1942 and proceeded via the Panama Canal to San Diego. A short time later, as the Battle of Midway was developing off to the westward, the destroyer operated in the screen of Vice Admiral William S. Pye's Task Force 1 (TF 1), built around four battleships and an escort carrier, Long Island, as it steamed out into the Pacific Ocean – eventually reaching a point some 1,200 miles (2,200 km) west of San Francisco, California and equally northeast of Hawaii – to "support the current operations against the enemy." With the detachment of Long Island from the task force on 17 June, Aaron Ward screened her on her voyage back to San Diego.
World War II After local operations off the west coast, Aaron Ward sailed for Hawaii on 30 June 1942 and then to the Tonga Islands with TF 18. Assigned to escort duties soon afterwards, she convoyed the oiler USS Cimarron (AO-22) to Nouméa. During the course of the voyage she made two sound contacts, one on 5 August and the other the following day, which she developed and attacked with depth charges. Although she claimed a probable sinking in each case, neither kill was borne out in postwar accounting. Subsequently assigned to screening duties with forces seeking to cover and resupply Guadalcanal, Aaron Ward saw the fleet carrier USS Wasp (CV-7) torpedoed by I-19 on 15 September 1942. Within a month's time, Aaron Ward was earmarked for a shore bombardment mission on 17 October. She stood into Lunga Roads to lie to and await the arrival of a Marine liaison officer who would designate targets for the ship. Before she could embark passengers, though, she spotted five enemy bombers approaching from the west. These attacked Aaron Ward but ran into a heavy antiaircraft barrage from both the ship and marine guns on shore. The destroyer went ahead at flank speed when she spotted the attackers, to carry out evasive maneuvers and avoid the falling bombs, radically swinging to the right or left as the occasion demanded. Three bombs splashed 100 to 300 yards (91 to 274 m) astern of the ship. The Marines claimed two of the five attackers destroyed, while the ship and the Marines shared a third kill. The action over, the destroyer embarked Martin Clemens, the former British consular representative on Guadalcanal, Major C. M. Nees, USMC, and Corporal R. M. Howard, USMC, a photographer, and got underway soon afterwards, reaching her target area within 40 minutes. For three hours, Aaron Ward shelled Japanese shore positions, her targets ranging from a gun emplacement to ammunition dumps; fires, smoke, and explosions marked her visit as she quit the area. Reaching Lunga Roads, she disembarked her passengers and after going on alert for a Japanese air raid that failed to materialize, cleared Lengo Channel and rejoined her task force. Three days later, while again performing screening operations, Aaron Ward saw the cruiser Chester take a torpedo hit on 20 October from I-176. The destroyer went to the aid of the stricken cruiser and dropped a full depth charge pattern on Chester's assailant, but did not record a kill. She then escorted the damaged cruiser to Espiritu Santo. Ten days after this, Aaron Ward carried out another bombardment of Japanese positions on Guadalcanal, this time in company with the light cruiser Atlanta, flagship of Rear Admiral Norman Scott, and destroyers Benham, Fletcher, and Lardner. Arriving off Lunga Point at 0520 on 30 October, the task group stood in, and Atlanta embarked a liaison officer from Major General Alexander A. Vandegrift, Commander of the 1st Marine Division, 20 minutes later. Steaming to its designated area, the task group reached its destination within an hour's time, and Atlanta opened fire. Aaron Ward followed suit soon afterwards; eventually, she expended 711 rounds of 5-inch ammunition. Pausing briefly to investigate a reported submarine in the vicinity, Aaron Ward then cleared the area.
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