USS JOHN D FORD DD228 OCT17 1937 CHEFOO CHINA CROSBY CACHET

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Ford (Destroyer No. 228) was laid down on 11 November 1919 at Philadelphia, Pa., by William Cramp and Sons Ship and Engine Building Co.; reclassified as DD-228 during the assignment of alphanumerical hull numbers on 17 July 1920; launched on 2 September 1920; sponsored by Miss F. Faith Ford, daughter of Rear Admiral Ford; and commissioned on 30 December 1920, Lt. (j.g.) Lester T. Forbes, USNRF, in temporary command.After acceptance trials off New England, Ford received Lt. Comdr. Charles A. Pownall as commanding officer on 16 July 1921. On 17 November, while operating along the eastern seaboard, her name was changed to John D. Ford. After training in the Caribbean, she departed Newport, R.I.,on 20 June 1922 for duty with the Asiatic Fleet. Sailing via the Mediterranean Sea, the Suez Canal, and the Indian Ocean, she arrived at Cavite, Manila Bay, on 21 August. Prior to the outbreak of World War II, John D. Ford operated out of Manila, cruising Asiatic waters from southern China to northern Japan. During April and May 1924, she helped establish temporary air bases in the Japanese Kurile and Hokaido Islands in support of the pioneer, global flight between 9 April and 28 September by the U.S. Army Air Service. On 6 June she deployed to Shanghai, China, to protect American lives and interests, which were threatened by Chinese civil strife. After renewal of the Chinese Civil War in May 1926, she patrolled the Chinese coast to protect coastal shipping from roving piratical bands. On 24 March 1927 she supported the evacuation of American and foreign nationals, who were fleeing from anti-foreign violence at Nanking. While the ascendancy of the reformed Nationalist government under Chiang Kai-Shek in 1928 somewhat quieted civil strife in certain areas, deteriorating Sino-Japanese relations often required John D. Ford's presence in Chinese--rather than Philippine-- waters. Following Japanese aggression in northern China during July 1937, she evacuated Americans from Peking as Japanese ships essentially blockaded the Chinese coast. Steaming to Manila on 21 November, she operated between the Philippines and southern China on fleet maneuvers. And after war broke out in Europe in September 1939, she increased training off the Philippines and commenced neutrality patrols in the Philippine and South China Seas. After the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941 [8 December 1941 west of the International Date Line], John D. Ford (Lt. Comdr. Jacob E. "Jock" Cooper, in command) prepared for action at Cavite as a unit of Destroyer Division (DesDiv) 59. Undamaged in the destructive Japanese air raid that obliterated the Asiatic Fleet's base at Cavite on 10 December, she sailed southward the same day to patrol the Sulu Sea and Makassar Strait with Task Force 6. She remained in Makassar Strait until 23 December, then she steamed from Balikpapan, Borneo, to Surabaya, Java, arriving on the 24th. With too few ships and practically no air support, the Asiatic Fleet deployed to help defend the "Malay Barrier." John D. Ford departed Surabaya on 11 January 1942 for Koepang, Timor, where she arrived the 18th to join a destroyer striking force. Two days later the force sailed for Balikpapan to conduct a surprise attack on Japanese shipping. In the ensuing Battle of Makassar Strait, commencing during the mid watch on 24 January 1942, four U.S. destroyers (Commander Paul H. Talbot) attacked the Japanese Borneo invasion convoy. John D. Ford, although damaged by gunfire, torpedoed and sank the transport Tsuruga Maru; Parrott (DD-218) sank Patrol Boat No.37 [a obsolete destroyer converted to a ship similar in mission to an American high speed transport] and transport Sumanoura Maru; Paul Jones (DD-230) and Pope (DD-225) teamed to sink transport Tatsukami Maru; Paul Jones sank cargo ship Kuretaki Maru. Later, U.S.Army Air Force B-17s and Dutch Martin 139s and Brewster 339s bombed Japanese shipping, sinking transports Nana Maru and Jukka Maru. DesDiv 59 returned to Surabaya on 25 January. The Japanese offensive through the Netherlands East Indies ... read more

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