Rear Admiral Charles Wilson Dyson was an American naval officer and engineer. He was born 2 December 1861 in Cambridge, Maryland, and died 25 October 1930 in Washington, D.C. Dyson graduated from the United States Naval Academy in June 1883. He was well known for his achievements in the field of engineering. His designs covered machinery for naval vessels of all types, including Saratoga (CV-3) and Lexington (CV-2). He wrote extensively for technical magazines and revised Durand's treatise on Marine Engineering. RADM Dyson served three terms as president of the American Society of Naval Engineers (ASNE) (1916, 1920, & 1922). For his meritorious service while in charge of the Division of Design of the Bureau of Steam Engineering during World War I, he was awarded the Navy Cross and the Distinguished Service Medal. Dyson was retired 2 December 1925, and died in Washington, D.C., 25 October 1930. In 1942, the destroyer USS Dyson (DD-572) was named in his honor.
 

Moored to the City Docks, Orange, Texas, a newly constructed 2 100-ton destroyer rested tranquilly—a modern charger, destined to carry men into battle against the enemy. On the 30th day of December, 1942, this destroyer was commissioned the U.S.S. DYSON (DD 572) and accepted by the United States Navy. Its officers and men reported on board. A soul had been breathed into this bulk of steel giving it personality and a name.

 
After the commissioning, there followed a period of outfitting; a month shakedown cruise at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba; a post-shakedown check-up; and two months of escort and anti-submarine duties in the Atlantic. That summarizes, in a very brief way, the training activities in which the DYSON participated and was made ready for the call to the Pacific Ocean.

 
On I5 May 1943 the Dyson departed Sandy Hook, New Jersey, on a voyage which took her through the South Atlantic; through the Caribbean Sea; through the Panama Canal. After leaving the Canal, the DYSON pointed her bow westward for Noumea, New Caledonia.. Bora Bora Island was a “gas stop” on the way. On the 12th of June 1943 the DYSON steamed into Port Noumea, New Caledonia.

The time was at hand when the DYSON would be actively contributing to the defeat of the aggressors from Japan. Noumea was the base from which the battle for the Solomons wan directed. In July the United States launched the campaign to wrest the New Georgia Islands from the enemy, and the DYSON won a unit of Task Group 36.3 which was poised in the Coral Sea ready to block any effort attempted by major Japanese surface forces.

Then followed the days of the “slot—that famed passage through the Solomon Islands. The destroyers and cruisers of the United States Pacific Fleet fought courageously in those treacherous waters, aspiring to win master of the “slot,” so that the road out of the South Pacific might be opened to our armies.

The DYSON began her “slot” days on 27 August 1943. It was always an exciting experience racing up the “slot” under cover of night to intercept the “Tokyo Express.” The ever-present “bogies” hovered overhead, displaying their wide assortment of flares, float lights, and bombs to any ship which would dare trespass this “no man’s land.” It was not the lot of the DYSON to meet the “Tokyo Express.” She did contribute, however, in disrupting the barge traffic which was so important to the Japanese garrisons in the Solomons. On two occasions the DYSON was instrumental in sinking same of the enemy’s barges. The crew watched, with impatience, Japanese flags being painted on the directors of other DD’s, and wondered if barges could not be credited on the director of the DYSON. The captain, though, predicted bigger things to come.

“Bigger things” did come when the long step to Bougainville Island wax planned. The first day of November 1943 was a few minutes old when Cruiser Division Twelve and Destroyer Squadron Twenty-Three opened fire in the first naval bombardment of the Buka-Bonis airfields and the Sohano Island off Buka Island. The primary objective was to render inoperative the two airfields which were within easy striking distance of Empress Augusta Bay, Bouganville, where our troops were to invade that morning. The element of surprise was achieved, far the share batteries did not return fire until eight minutes after the cruisers and destroyers had commenced firing. The task was completed without damage to United States ships, and the airborne spotter observed that the objective areas were “thoroughly plastered.” An enemy plane which attempted to interrupt the retirement of the bombardment farce was shot dawn by destroyer gunfire.

The bombardment of the Buka-Bonis region did not complete the day’s work for the cruisers and destroyers. At daylight they were in bombardment disposition and approaching the Shortland Island group. The Japanese manning the shore batteries on Morgssiai Island, Shortland Islands, were at their bottle stations when the cruisers and destroyers reached the “firing line.’’ The ships and the shore batteries opened fire simultaneously. The cruisers fired on the Faisi Island seaplane base while the destroyers fired counter battery fire. The DYSON found the shore batteries annoyingly accurate, being straddled several times. One shell clipped a radio antenna but failed to detonate. Another shell scored a direct hit on the bow chock causing superficial damage and fires. Flying shrapnel from near misses wounded five men and caused minor damage to the hull and superstructure.

Upon completion of the bombardment of the Shortland Islands, Destroyer Division Forty-Five fueled in Hathorn Sound, New Georgia Islands. During the return to the rendezvous point, the DYSON struck a submerged object which did considerable damage to the starboard propeller. The vibration shook the ship but all hands went to work lashing down the jumping radio and radar instruments, engineering equipment, steam ,lines, and other gear. It is to the credit of the fighting spirit of the officers and men of the DYSON that they took their battle-scarred, hopping ship into the battle of Empress Augusta Bay.
At 0231 on 2 November 1943 Cruiser Division Twelve and Destroyer Squadron Twenty-Three in attack disposition made radar contact an a striking force of twelve Japanese men-of-war which was steaming toward our transports at Empress Augusta Bay. Destroyer Division Forty-Five sped in for the initial torpedo attack. A fast column of four enemy ships was attacking at the same time. Flashes were seen and underwater detonations were heard as the U.S. torpedoes intercepted the path of the enemy ships.

At Left: The USS Foote

As Destroyer Division Forty-Five turned away from the enemy torpedo attack, two torpedo wakes were observed by the gunnery officer and other topside personnel to pass under the DYSON. A three-hour battle ensued in which five enemy vessels. were estimated sunk and four damaged. U.S. forces suffered one casualty: the U.S.S. FOOTE (DD 511) (At Left) was damaged by a torpedo hit. Action was broken off when the last enemy target discernible, a Fubuki-class destroyer, was sunk by gunfire. The U.S. farce re-farmed in two groups—one group with the four cruisers and four destroyers, the other group with the FOOTE, taken in tow by a destroyer, and two destroyers escorting.

At 0805 the cruiser group was attacked by sixty or seventy Japanese aircraft. The tight anti-aircraft disposition, the evasive maneuvering, and the extremely accurate gunfire were responsible for the remarkable fact that none of these ships was sunk. The DYSON experienced many near misses as several planes made runs an her. The DYSON tally after the 23-minute fracas showed six planes definitely destroyed and one probably destroyed.

The second bombardment of the Buka airdrome was conducted an the morning of 17 November 1943 by the DYSON and four other destroyers of Destroyer Squadron Twenty-Three. During the night of the 16th the destroyers were speeding north off the west coast of Baugaixviile Island, when DexDiv 46 intercepted an enemy submarine an the surface. The target was illuminated and five-inch hits were registered an the submarine. It sank, and after an hour of fruitless sound searching, the destroyers resumed their trek northward.

At 0417 on the 17th, the twenty-minute bombardment of Buka airdrome commenced. A large ammunition dump was exploded and extensive fires started before the ships withdrew from the bombardment area. Despite the fact th0t bogies had dogged the destroyers throughout the previous night, the “tin-cans’ pulled out successfully.

On Thanksgiving Day, 25 November 1943, five destroyers of DesRon 23 pounced on five or six destroyers of the Japanese fleet attempting a speedy round trip between Buka and Rabaul. These enemy ships h0d just departed Buka and were laden with evacuees from the Buka and Bonis airfields. The enemy was deployed in two groups. In the van group there were two or three ships; in the rear group there were three ships. The AUSBURNE, CLAXTON and DYSON of Destroyer Division Forty-Five immediately proceeded to attack the first group, each firing a half salvo of torpedoes at 6000 yards from the enemy. Just before the torpedoes struck the first group radar contact was made on the second group. When the torpedoes intercepted the van group, terrific explosions and fires warned the rear group of the presence of DesRon 23. These three Japanese vessels immediately turned to the north at top speed. The CONVERSE and SPENCE stayed behind to sink the sole, crippled survivor from the van group, while the CHARLES F. AUSBURNE, the CLAXTON, and the DYSON chased the rear group. It was an astern chase, so a torpedo attack was an impossibility. The three “Little Beavers” began firing at the enemy from the forward mounts, the only mounts which would bear. The enemy were returning fire from their after mounts. As our destroyers were slowly inching up on the enemy ships, the three Japanese ships scattered. One continued, north, one altered course to the northwest, and the third changed course to the west. Rather than make a melee out of an orderly pursued engagement, Commander Destroyer Squadron Twenty-Three elected to keep Division Forty-Five intact. The CHARLES F. AUSBURNE with the CLAXTON and DYSON in column astern continued to chase the target trying to escape to the north. The CLAXTON fired on the other two escaping targets and the DYSON fired on the target escaping on a westerly course until they were out of gun range. Both of these ships were hit; one was slowed considerably and may have been the ship which search planes described as exploding and breaking up after the “Little Beavers had begun their retirement. The enemy DD racing to the north was slowed by gunfire and eventually sunk by the combined fire of the AUSBURNE, CLAXTON, and DYSON. This engagement, The Battle of Cape St. George, has been described as the almost perfect surface action.

December 1943 was a busy month with shore bombardments and air attacks. Buka and Bonis airfields were on the receiving end of many five-inch shells from DesRon 23. January 1944 was a welcome “breathing spell” devoted to effecting repairs, installing new equipment, and training.

On 3 February 1944 the CHARLES F. AUSBURNE the CLAXTON, and the DYSON positioned themselves on the Buka-Rabaul shipping lane in anti-submarine disposition— their mission to tighten the blockade of Buka Island and Bougainville Island by intercepting any surface or subsurface shipping along the usual route. Shortly after sunset that evening Japanese bombers began attacking the three destroyers and continued to attack for about two hours. The DYSON splashed one bomber while receiving a near miss off the starboard bow, a near miss off the port bow, and three or four bombs off the port quarter. The Japanese attackers were not successful and failed to deter the Blue destroyers from bombarding Sarime Plantation on the west coast of Bougainville the following morning at sunrise. So- rime was an enemy strong point from which an attack against our positions in Empress Augusta Ba could be hurled.

At daylight on the morning of 8 February 1944 the AUSBURNE, STANLY, CONVERSE, SPENCE, and DYSON began a seventy-minute bombardment of Kavieng, New Ireland. In that period of time the facilities of this important enemy bastion received a severe drubbing. The air spotter was mast enthusiastic in his report of the destruction caused by gunfire, which destroyed or damaged many enemy vessels in the harbor. The destroyers encountered moderate and accurate share battery fire and an many occasions it was necessary to shift the guns from target areas to silence a battery that was becoming particularly dangerous. As the ships retired from a smoking Kavieng, two Doves mode bombing runs on them without success.

George Washington’s birthday in 1944 was celebrated in a patriotic manner by the “Little Beavers.” About 1045 a small merchantman evacuating four hundred Japanese from Kavieng to Truk or Palau was sunk by these destroyers. The AUSBIJRNE picked up 31 survivors; the STANLY, II, and the DYSON, 31. At 753 the “Little Beavers” sank a Japanese destroyer or minelayer by gunfire near Tingwon Island. The victim exploded violently after she sank, affording little opportunity for her officers and crew to escape. The third surface engagement of the day come at 2103. The CONVERSE and SPENCE had bombarded the harbor facilities of Kavieng, forcing some of the shipping to exit from the harbor via Steffen Strait. The CHARLES F. AUSBURNE, STANLY, and DYSON steamed into the mouth of Steffen Strait to close the trap on a large AK and a few smaller craft. The DYSON sank a PC or SC in sixteen minutes and then switched over to the AUSBURNE’s target, a large AK. At 2213, burning from stem to stern and being hit by salvo firing from the AUSBURNE and DYSON, the large cargo ship sank. The STANLY had damaged several barges, causing two of them to be beached. The trek down Gazelle Channel, between New Britain and New Ireland, began. A snooper plane went ahead of the three destroyers searching the harbor for shipping, but found nothing of any consequence. The destroyers approached the Duke of York Islands and at 0336 on 23 February began a 23-minute bombardment of an airfield which the Japanese were constructing. After daybreak the CHARLES F. AUSBURNE, STANLY and DYSON effected rendezvous with the CONVERSE and SPENCE east of Cape St. George, New Ireland. An enemy plane sneaked out of Rabaul, dropped a bomb near the SPENCE, then high- tailed back to his base. An hour later the CONVERSE rescued four survivors from a Ventura patrol plane that had gone down in the vicinity of Cape St. George. With their mixed cargo of survivors—Americans and Japanese— and with the unique experience of three surface engagements and two shore bombardments within eighteen hours to their credit, the five destroyers set course for “home”— Port Purvis, Florida Islands.

The “Little Beaver Squadron” had served notice on the sons of Nippon. The power of the ‘‘Fortress of Asia” in the South Pacific was past its prime and dwindling. Two operations in the South Pacific remained for the destroyers of DesRon Twenty-Three. The CHARLES F. AUSBURNE STANLY, CONVERSE, SPENCE, and DYSON in company with Cruiser Division Twelve made the second sweep across the Truk-Rabaul-Kavieng sea route without encountering an enemy vessel. These some ships acted as a covering force for the landing in the St. Mothias Island—an amphibious operation which placed the Yanks between Kavieng ond Truk.

The battle for the South Pacific had been won. Destroyer Squadron Twenty-Three departed triumphantly from that theater of the war late in March 1944 to join a carrier task force which was steaming westward for the first carrier raid on Palau Islands. These destroyers began a new career as screening units in Task Force 58 which spearheaded the attack across the vast Pacific. The reception at Palau was a hot one. The Japanese endeavored to turn back this bold force of carriers and sent many planes, chiefly torpedo planes, in to attack with a vengeance; but they failed to accomplish their mission, for Palau was hit and hit hard. On the return to Majuro, Marshall Islands, the carriers dallied by Truk long enough for the “flattop flyers to give it a heavy pasting. This was the second carrier attack on Truk. The Blue carrier force was next employed in supporting amphibious landings at Hollandia, New Guinea. On this occasion the CHARLES F. AUSBURNE STANLY and DYSON made an anti-shipping sweep along the coast of New Guinea, northwest from Hollandia with negative results. Truk again was a target on the return to Majuro.

The month of May was utilized in training and upkeep. On the 6th of June 1944 the fast carrier task force sorted from Majuro in support of the most daring move in the Pacific to that date—the landing on Saipan. The DYSON was with the carriers which were positioned between Saipan and the Philippines ready to counteract any thrust the Japanese fleet might attempt from that direction. The nineteenth of June, 944, has become famous as the Turkey shoot day, for on that day more than 350 Jap planes were destroyed by the carrier pilots and ships of the Fifth Fleet when the Japanese carrier force tried to strike a mortal blow against the U.S. warships and invasion fleet.

The DYSON was also with the carriers who made the first attack on the Bonins on 15-16 June 1944. Guam and Rota Islands were shelled during daylight on 27 June by the MIAMI, HOUSTON and Destroyer Squadron Twenty- Three (less AULICK, CLAXTON, and FOOTE). Five days later the AUSBURNE, STANLY and DYSON returned to Guam on a day and night harassment sweep. The intermittent fire of these destroyers kept the enemy jittery and finally provoked return fire from the shore but none of the destroyers was damaged. In July the DYSON was a screening unit in the fast carrier task force which pounded Guam in the pre-invasion bombing and which remained to afford the invading force close support. On 30 July 1944 Destroyer Squadron Twenty-Three (less AULICK, CLAXTON, FOOTE, and THATCHER) began a trek to the east which terminated in th0t for away land the United States. The DYSON commenced her overhaul on 17 August in Mare Island Navy Yard, Mare Island, California.

The Navy yard overhaul being accomplished the DYSON on 5 October 1944 in company with the CHARLES F. AUSBURNE, CONVERSE and SPENCE, proceeded in route to Pearl Harbor. After two weeks of gunnery torpedo arid radar tracking practice, squadron maneuvers and other exercises these ships along with the BISMARCK SEA, MAKIN ISLAND and LUNGA POINT departed the Hawaiian Islands on 25 October for Ulithi Atoll in the Western Carolinas. The DYSON was detached from the ships in company and sped on ahead to arrive in Ulithi Atoll on 4 November 1944. The following day the DYSON was assigned to Task Farce 38 and sorted with one of its groups on a mission in support of invasion of the Philippine Islands. On II and 13 November 1944 enemy planes approached the carrier formation but were destroyed or turned back by combat air patrols before they could attack the vessels. On 24 November, after many successful air strikes had been accomplished by the carriers, the DYSON in company with Task Group 38.1 returned to Ulith for routine provisioning and upkeep. Departing Ulithi on II December 1944, the DYSON joined Task Group 38.2 whose mission was to hurl air strikes at enemy planes and bases on Luzon Island in the Philippines. The carrier planes were devastating in their blows against Clark Field, Nichols Field and other important air bases which the Japanese were employing.

While on this mission, Task Group 38.2 and other Third Fleet units had an awesome experience. A typhoon of terrifying intensity enveloped the Fleet. Three destroyers—the HULL, MONAGHAN, and SPENCE—overturned and capsized. Though a tedious search of the area was made by ships and aircraft, only a few survivors were found. During the raging storm the DYSON had a close call when the ship rolled heavily to port taking a huge swell over the main deck. Water entered a ventilation intake and was sluiced into the forward engine roam, causing the No. I switchboard to short out. To save the ship, emergency repairs were effected immediately. It was BOONE KEMP who saved the ship on this day. He had to enter the engine room and throw switches and told me that it was "extremely hot" in the engine room with temperatures of 125 t0 150 degrees. He went in not expecting to come out. Three days later the DYSON entered Ulithi Atoll to repair storm damage.

Ulithi Atoll below

                                                                                       Beech At Ulithi Atol

After celebrating another Christmas in Pacific waters and the second anniversary of the commissioning of the vessel the DYSON departed Ulithi as a screening unit with the Third Fleet tankers. On the 10th of January 1945 the DYSON contacted what was believed to be an enemy submarine. Two attacks were made before contact with the sub was lost. A week later, the DYSON in company with the tankers and the major portion of the Third Fleet weathered a typhoon in the South China Sea. This two-day storm paralleled the ferocity of the one encountered the month before. While no ships were last, many men were swept aver the sides of ships by mountainous rolling seas, and considerable material damage was done to the ships. Fear clutched every heart as each roll of the ship brought back the picture of disaster in December.

When retiring from the South China Sea, the DYSON encountered a Nippanese U-boat. This undersea craft, attempting to forestall the attacking destroyer, fired torpedoes, two of which exploded in the wake of the ship as she plunged in far a depth charge attack. It is believed that the submarine was damaged but not destroyed. The DYSON returned to Ulithi Atoll on 27 January far provisioning and other logistics.

At Left: Jap uniform from one of the escaping Japs on Corregidor

Picture courtesy of: John Signorino S1C USS Dyson who still has it

Having been detached from the Third Fleet, the DYSON departed Ulithi on 7 February and proceeded to Leyte Island, P. I., to join the other ships of DesRan 23. Three days later she arrived in San Pedra Bay at Leyte and reported to Commander Seventh Amphibious Carps far duty. The bombardment of Corregidor Island on almost daily trips from Subic Bay, Luzan Island, between the 19th of February and the middle of March was of great service to the Army. On the 20th of February, four Japanese attempting to escape from Corregidor Island were picked up by the DYSON and turned aver to the Army. The SAUNTER (AM 295) shuck a mine off El Fraile Island in Manila Bay on 26 February, and it was feared that she would have to be abandoned. However, a party of officers and men from the DYSON went aboard the SAUNTER and helped to save her.

In the ensuing period of two months the DYSON supported the amphibious landings an Panay, Negras, and Mindanaa Islands in the Philippines. There was very little firing required by the support ships on these operations, as the Philippine guerilla farces had assisted capably in keeping the Japanese clear of the assault beaches. Far the DYSON, this was the “quiet before the storm.”

On Sunday, 13 May 1945, the “Little Beaver Squadron” steamed out of San Pedro Bay, Leyte Gulf, enroute far Okinawa Shima. Three days later Destroyer Squadron Twenty-Three arrived off Hagushi Beach, Okinawa. Okinawa, the land of the Kamikaze pilot, was a graveyard far destroyers. There was, however, a gap to fill, and the “Beavers” were there to fill it. The DYSON fueled the following day, and then proceeded to a station on the outer screen line, where the Commanding Officer of the DYSON was in tactical command of a screening sector. That night two Japanese planes were scared off by the concerted firing of the five- inch guns. At 2310, however, a Japanese torpedo plane plunged through the flak and attacked. DYSON five-inch shells seemed to burst all around him, but he pressed in to launch his torpedo. Fortunately, the gunfire and evasive movements of the ship caused the pilot to miscalculate and the torpedo exploded astern; regrettably, the plane got away.
 

The Score in 1945

Two days later, an the 19th of May, the DYSON was ordered to Radar Picket Station No. 16.-This was the first assignment far the DYSON an the famed ‘picket line of Okinawa.” This was to be her chief role far the nest two months. At dusk on 29 May two low-flying Zeros attacked Radar Picket Station No. 9. Commanding Officer, USS DYSON was in tactical command of two other destroyers and four LCSs. It was a sneak attack. The enemy planes were skimming over the waves and had approached to nine miles before they were detected by the destroyers. The skirmish was quick and decisive. The LCS group was interposed between the attacking planes and the destroyers. One Zeke, trying to cross the LCS5, was destroyed by the concentrated fire of these splendid little support ships. The other pilot swung his plane around this group, missed the stern of one destroyer, and broke out into the open on the beam of the three ships. He was just attempting a “wing over” when he was killed by five-inch bursts or automatic weapons fire. The plane, without catching fire, plunged into the sea.

Two days later during the mid-afternoon of Thursday, 31 May 1945, a Japanese plane, a Frances, approached R.P.S. No. 9. It was at an altitude of 4000 feet when the five- inch fire af the three destroyers began hitting. Before getting within bombing range of the ships, the Frances plummeted to the sea. An enemy plane had been driven off earlier, making this the second unsuccessful attack of the day.

The Okinawa area was attacked by night and by day. There was always an unhappy report th0t some ship known to you had been victimized by the “Divine Winds” from Nippon. No place in the area was safe; the target of most frequent attack, however, was the picket line. Early in June, the DYSON was equipped for fighter direction. Her purpose on the picket line became twofold: to report approaching enemy aircraft, and to direct our fighter planes to where they might engage and destroy the enemy planes. On Monday June on enemy air raid was reported 35 miles away. The combat air patrol was vectored out immediately by the DYSON fighter direction team to intercept this raid. Subsequently, this combat air patrol shot down two vals and were making o run on the third when that one was shot down by surface craft. The raid was broken up effectively before it could attack any of our ships or installations.

Okinawa was the scene of action for the DYSON until the end of the war. Over and above the picket duty there was escort duty in and around Okinawa Gunto. The DYSON ran out two typhoons while escorting transports to safer waters. These were the menial tasks of the destroyers, but the suicide plane—until the final surrender note was sent out from Japan—was a constant threat to the life of every defender of Okinawa.

The war has ended. The war record of a ship is a phase of history completed. Historians do not attempt to write down for posterity the saga of a place or on era without devoting much time and space to the personalities involved therein, but this war record, because of its brevity, has omitted the personal side of the ship’s history. No mention has been mode of the joys and sorrows, the hopes and disappointments, of the men on the ship who mode the DYSON o living thing. Everyone who dealt with the DYSON liked and respected her. It was a comfort to many to look around and see that fighting ship, DYSON, in company with them. In surface engagements, shore bombardments, and air-sea bottles she has performed in on outstanding manner. Of course there were many tedious routine tasks, but they too were performed with interest and competence, The DYSON has contributed to the destruction of many enemy installations and units while suffering only minor material casualties; she has token o heavy toll of enemy life with, fortunately, no loss of her own. The U.S.S. DYSON (DD 572) is one ship that naval historians con point to with pride in their histories of World War II.