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History
United States
Name	Little
Namesake	George Little
Builder	Seattle-Tacoma Shipbuilding Corporation, Seattle
Laid down	13 September 1943
Launched	22 May 1944
Commissioned	19 August 1944
Fate	Sunk by Kamikaze, 3 May 1945
General characteristics
Class and type	Fletcher-class destroyer
Displacement	2,050 tons
Length	376 ft 5 in (114.7 m)
Beam	39 ft in (12.1 m)
Draft	13 ft 9 in (4.2 m)
Propulsion	60,000 shp (45 MW);; 2 propellers;
Speed	35 knots (65 km/h; 40 mph)
Range	6500 nmi. (12,000 km); @ 15 kt;
Complement	329
Armament	5 × 5 in (130 mm),; 10 × 40 mm AA guns,; 7 × 20 mm AA guns,; 10 × 21 inch (533 mm) torpedo tubes,; 6 × depth charge projectors,; 2 × depth charge tracks;

USS Little (DD-803), a Fletcher-class destroyer, was the second ship of the United States Navy to be named for Captain George Little (1754–1809).

Little was laid down by Seattle-Tacoma Shipbuilding Corp., Seattle, Wash., 13 September 1943; launched 22 May 1944, sponsored by Mrs. Russell F. O'Hara; and commissioned 19 August 1944.

History

After training off the West Coast, Little departed Seattle 11 November 1944 to escort a convoy to Pearl Harbor. She arrived 23 November and participated in gunnery training and battle problems. On 22 January 1945 she got underway with a group of LSTs for Eniwetok and rehearsals for the invasion of Iwo Jima. Final preparations were made at Saipan, and 15 February Little sailed for the assault beaches.

Shore bombardment at Iwo Jima began 19 February. Little furnished fire support for ground forces until the 24th when she left for Saipan. She returned 4 March for bombardment, screening, and radar picket duties, and was back at Saipan 14 March to prepare for the Okinawa invasion.

Little sailed for Okinawa 27 March assigned to the demonstration group charged with feigning landings opposite the actual assault beaches. After accomplishing this diversion 1 and 2 April, Little screened transports and escorted LSTs to the beaches. On 19 April she was ordered to picket duty where she remained until 24 April—unscathed despite relentless enemy suicide attacks.

On 3 May Little and Aaron Ward (DM-34) were again on picket duty. At 18:13 hours, 18 to 24 aircraft attacked from under cloud cover. Aaron Ward took the first hit at 18:41. An instant later Little was hit on the portside. Within four minutes three more enemy kamikazes had hit her, breaking her keel, demolishing the amidship section, and opening all three after machinery spaces. At 19:55 Little broke up and sank. Thirty-one of the Little's approximately 320 crew members perished, while another 49 suffered injuries.^[2]^[3]

Little received two battle stars for World War II service.

Citations

^ Brown (1990), p. 149.
^ Fenoglio, Melvin (May 1985). "The History of the USS Little DD803". USS Little's 40th Reunion booklet.
^ Green, Rick (5 July 2013). "70 Years Later, A Purple Heart". Hartford Courant. Archived from the original on 2 November 2013. Retrieved 5 July 2013.

References

Brown, David (1990). Warship Losses of World War Two. London, UK: Arms and Armour. ISBN 0-85368-802-8.
This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be found here.