Description

USS Ward APD-16 kit.
Contains resin hull and structure, 3D printed detail parts, decals, photoetch, brass elements and instructions for building the model.

USS Ward (DD-139), was Wickes class destroyer of the United States Navy. Her keel was laid down on May 15, 1918 at the Mare Island Navy Yard and launched a record 17 days later on June 1, 1918. Ward was commissioned on July 24, 1918, however she did not participate in any action during World War I. Ward was placed in reserve and
decommissioned on July 21, 1921.

When war broke out in Europe, Ward was recommissioned on January 15, 1941 and transferred to Pearl Harbor to assume local district defense duties. While patrolling the channel entrance into Pearl Harbor on the morning on December 7, 1941, lookouts on Ward’s bridge spotted the conning tower of an Imperial Japanese midget submarine

and commenced firing upon it. A shot from the number three gun struck the conning tower, causing the submarine to sink. Ward dropped 4 depth charges as it passed the submarine’s position, sealing its fate. Unknowingly, Ward had fired the first American shots of the Pacific War.

Ward was converted into a high-speed transport and redesignated as APD-16 in February 1943. She supported numerous amphibious landings in the Pacific. While supporting troop landings in Leyte Gulf on December 7, 1944, Ward came under kamikaze attack and was struck amidships by one. The resulting fires could not be controlled and her crew abandoned ship. Ward was sunk by gunfire from USS O’Brien. In December 2017, Ward’s wreck was located by RV Petrel in 209m (686ft) of water.