Allen II DD-66

Allen II

(Destroyer No. 66: dp. 1,071 (n.), 1. 315'3", b. 29'11" (wl.) dr. 9'9 1/4" (aft) (f.); s. 30.29 k.; cpl. 130; a. 4 4", 2 1-pars., 12 21" tt.; cl. Sampson)

The second Allen (Destroyer No. 66) was 1aid down on 10 May 1915 at Bath, Maine, by the Bath Iron Works, Iaunched on 5 December 1916, sponsored by Miss Dorthea Dix Allen and Miss Harriet Allen Butler, and commissioned on 24 January 1917, Lt. Comdr. Samuel W. Bryant in command.

Over the next five months, Allen conducted patrol and escort duty along the eastern seaboard and in the West Indies. During that time, the United States entered World War I on the side of the Allies on 6 April. On 14 June, the destroyer put to sea from New York in the escort of one of the first convoys to take American troops to Europe. After seeing the convoy safely across the Atlantic, Allen joined other American destroyers at Queenstown, Ireland, and began duty patrolling against U-boats and escort!ng convoys on the last leg of their voyage to Europe. That duty included escort missions into both French and British ports. During her service at Queenstown, she reported engagements with German submarines on 10 separate occasions, but postwar checks of German records failed to substantiate even the most plausible of the supposed encounters. One of the last duties the destroyer performed in European waters came in December 1918 when she helped to escort George Washington-with President Woodrow Wilson embarked—into Brest, F rance, on the 13th. Following that mission, the destroyer returned to Queenstown, whence she departed on the day after Christmas bound for home. Allen pulled into New York on 7 January l919.

After voyage repairs, the destroyer resumed duty along the east coast and in the West Indies with the Atlantic Fleet. That duty continued until 22 June 1922 at which time she was placed out of commission, in reserve. She was placed back in commission three years later, on 23 June 1925. Al len spent almost three years as a training platform for naval reservists at Washington, D.C. In March of l928, the destroyer returned to the Reserve Fleet and was berthed at Philadelphia. There, she remained for more than 12 years. On 23 August 1940, Allen was recommissioned at Philadelphia, Lt. Comdr. Frederick P. Williams in command.

Following a brief period of service on the east coast, she was reassigned to the Pactfic Fleet as a unit of Destroyer Division (DesDiv) 80. By the time Allen returned to commission, the Pactfic Fleet had been moved from its base on the west coast to Pearl Harbor in Hawaii as a gesture to "restrain" the Japanese. Therefore, Allen moved to the Hawaiian base whence she operated until the beginning of hostilities between the United States and Japan. On the morning of 7 December 1941, she was moored in East Loch to the northeast of Ford Island and just south of east of the hospital ship Solace (AH-5). During the Japanese attack on the harbor, she claimed to have assisted in downing three enemy planes. FoHowing the attack, she began duty escorting ships between islands of the Hawaiian chain and patrolling the area for enemy ships—primarily submarines. She also made periodic round-trip voyages to the west coast. Such duty remained her occupation throughout World War I). In September 1945, the destroyer sailed from Hawaii to Philadelphia, where she was placed out of commission on 15 October 1945, Her name was struck from the Navy list on 1 November 1945, and she was sold to the Boston Metals Co., Baltimore, Md., on 26 September 1946 for scrapping.

Allen (DD-66) earned one battle star for World War II service.