page_title: Mahan-class destroyer
section_title: Case
hierarchical_section_title: Mahan-class destroyer / Service history / Case
caption_attribution_description: USS&#160;Case&#160;(DD-370) English: Stern of at Mare Island on 21 Nov 1943
context_page_description: The Mahan-class destroyers of the United States Navy were a series of 18 destroyers of which the first 16 were laid down in 1934. The last two of the 18, Dunlap and Fanning, are sometimes considered a separate ship class. All 18 were commissioned in 1936 and 1937. Mahan was the lead ship, named for Rear Admiral Alfred Thayer Mahan, an influential historian and theorist on sea power.
  The Mahans featured improvements over previous destroyers, with 12 torpedo tubes, superimposed gun shelters, and generators for emergency use. The Standard displacement increased from 1,365 tons to 1,500 tons. The class introduced a new steam propulsion system that combined increases in pressure and temperature with a new type of lightweight steam turbine, which proved simpler and more efficient than the Mahans' predecessors—so much so that it was used on many subsequent wartime US destroyers.
  All 18 ships saw action in World War II, entirely in the Pacific Theater, which included the Guadalcanal Campaign, and the battles of the Santa Cruz Islands, Leyte Gulf, and Iwo Jima.
context_section_description: USS Case began active duty in September 1936 and was assigned to the Pacific Fleet.  In April 1940, Pearl Harbor became her home base.  The following year, she participated in fleet exercises to Midway Island, Johnston Island, Palmyra Atoll, Samoa, and Auckland.  Case was berthed at Pearl Harbor when the Japanese struck, but sustained no damage.  After the attack, she escorted convoys between the west coast and Pearl Harbor until late May 1942.  Case went north to support the pre-invasion bombardment of Kiska and do patrol duty off Adak, Alaska.  In October, the ship escorted a convoy to Pearl Harbor and then headed to the states for repair, returning to Pearl Harbor in November. In January 1943, she sailed to Espiritu Santo for training and remained there until September.  After overhaul in San Francisco, California, Case returned to Pearl Harbor in December 1943. She proceeded to the Marshall Islands, taking part in attacks on Wotje Atoll and Maloelap Atoll in late January and Eniwetok in early February 1944.
  In April 1944, Case took part in air raids on Hollandia, Truk (Chuuk Lagoon), Satawan, and Ponape Island.  Her next assignment was with Task Group 58.4, participating in strikes on Japanese airfields in the Bonin Islands. During June 1944, Case engaged in raids on the Mariana Islands and Vulcan Islands. Following repair work at Eniwetok, the ship resumed operations with the task group, screening for air strikes in July and for attacks on the Bonin Islands in August and September. She took part in the bombardment of Marcus Island before joining Task Group 38.1 for strikes on Luzon.  While screening US cruisers bound for Saipan, Case rammed and sank a Japanese midget submarine.  Undamaged, she sailed to Saipan for offshore patrol duty until early December 1944. Afterward, Case became involved in a raid on Iwo Jima airfields and helped sink two Japanese ships.  Following repairs at Saipan, she patrolled between there and Iwo Jima until the end of the war.  She then left Iwo Jima for Norfolk, Virginia, where she was decommissioned in December 1945 and sold in December 1947.  Case received seven battle stars for her World War II service.
caption: Case's stern, showing the 5 inch guns at Mare Island in November 1943
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