Livermore ofF New York Navy Yard, 4 August 1943.
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Destroyer Squadron 11
1 October 1941
USS Roe (DD 418), flag
Destroyer Division 21
USS Livermore (DD 429), flag
USS Eberle (DD 430)
USS Kearny (DD 432)
USS Ericsson (DD 440)
Destroyer Division 22
USS Gwin (DD 433), flag
USS Meredith (DD 434)
USS Grayson (DD 435)
USS Monssen (DD 436)
Following its order for eight 1,620-ton Benson- and two 1,630-ton Gleaves-class destroyers in fiscal year 1938, the Navy ordered eight more 1,630-ton Gleaves-class destroyers in F/Y 1939. Less Plunkett from 1939 (which was assigned as DesRon 7 flagship), but with Sims-class Roe and 1,630-ton Ericsson from F/Y 1940 added, these ships formed Destroyer Squadron 11.
  • Roe (DD 418) was built at the Charleston Navy Yard and commissioned in January 1940.
  • Division 21 consisted of Livermore (DD 429) and Eberle (DD 430) from Bath, commissioned in September and December 1940, and Kearny (DD 432) and Ericsson (DD 440) from Federal, commissioned in September 1940 and March 1941.
  • Division 22 consisted of four ships built at navy yards: Gwin (DD 433) and Meredith (DD 434) from Boston, Grayson (DD 435) from Charleston and Monssen (DD 436) from Puget Sound, all commissioined between January and March 1941.

World War II operations of destroyers
originally attached to Squadron 11

DesRon 11 World War II operations

After shakedown, the squadron joined the North Atlantic Neutrality Patrol where, south of Iceland on 17 October 1941, Kearny became the first US warship torpedoed by a German U-boat. She survived.

In the spring of 1942, DesDiv 22 was detached to form the screen for Hornet (CV 8) for her move to the Pacific. Three of the four destroyers were lost in 1942–43 (see Destroyer Division 22 for details).

Roe and Division 21, meanwhile, remained in the Atlantic. In November 1942, all five ships participated in the invasion of North Africa.

Operating independently, Roe went to the Mediterranean for the invasion of Sicily in July 1943. There, on the 10th, she collided with Swanson and returned to New York, where she was under repair until September. In 1944, she was transferred to the Pacific, where she joined the Seventh Fleet for operations along New Guinea’s north coast and then a range of assignments with the Fifth and Third Fleets while attached to DesRon 4.

Division 21 spent 1943 in patrol duty off Brazil and in the Caribbean Sea and escorting convoys between the East Coast and North Africa. In 1944, it went to the Mediterranean, where assignments included support for the landings at Anzio, Italy in January and at southern France in August. Convoy duty in the Atlantic resumed through V-E Day in May 1945. Ships of the division then moved to the Pacific, where they were in training at Pearl Harbor when the war ended.