USS Isherwood (DD-520)

USS Isherwood (DD-520)
History
United States
NamesakeBenjamin F. Isherwood
BuilderBethlehem Mariners Harbor, Staten Island
Laid down12 May 1942
Launched24 November 1942
Commissioned12 April 1943
Decommissioned11 September 1961
Stricken15 January 1974
FateLoaned to Peru, 8 October 1961
Peruvian FlagPeru
NameAlmirante Guise (DD-72)
Acquired8 October 1961
Stricken1981
FateScrapped in 1981
General characteristics
Class and typeFletcher-class destroyer
Displacement2,050 tons
Length376 ft 6 in (114.7 m)
Beam39 ft 8 in (12.1 m)
Draft17 ft 9 in (5.4 m)
Propulsion60,000 shp (45 MW); 2 propellers
Speed35 knots (65 km/h; 40 mph)
Range6500 nmi. (12,000 km) at 15 kt
Complement336
Armament

USS Isherwood (DD-520), a Fletcher-class destroyer, was the second ship of the United States Navy to be named for Rear Admiral Benjamin F. Isherwood (1822–1915).

Isherwood was launched by Bethlehem Shipbuilding Co., Staten Island, N.Y., 24 November 1942, sponsored by Mrs. A. J. Kerwin, granddaughter of Rear Admiral Isherwood; and commissioned 12 April 1943 at New York Navy Yard.

The new destroyer conducted her shakedown training in Casco Bay, Maine, and off Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, through April and May. During the next 2 months she operated with a patrol and escort group out of NS Argentia, Newfoundland, and on 5 August 1943 departed for England with troop ship RMS Queen Mary. Isherwood arrived Scapa Flow 19 August to carry out combined operations with the British Home Fleet, including a search toward Spitzbergen for German battleship Tirpitz. Sailing 14 September, the destroyer returned to Boston with a convoy 29 September 1943.

Isherwood was subsequently reassigned to the Pacific, sailing from Boston 14 November for San Francisco. From there she steamed to Pearl Harbor and sailed 11 December to join Task Force 94 (TF 94) in the Aleutians. For the next eight months, Isherwood carried out antisubmarine sweeps of the cold Alaskan waters. In June she took part in bombardments of the Kurile Islands, finally arriving San Francisco for repairs 15 August 1944.