page_title: USS Mugford (DD-389)
section_title: Operational history
hierarchical_section_title: USS Mugford (DD-389) / Operational history
caption_attribution_description: The U.S. Navy destroyer USS Mugford (DD-389) under Japanese air attack off Guadalcanal, 7 August 1942. She sustanied three near misses and one bomb hit but shot down two of her attackers. She suffered eight killed, 17 wounded, and 10 missing.
context_page_description: USS Mugford (DD-389), a Bagley-class destroyer, was the 2nd ship of the United States Navy to be named for James Mugford, who commanded the schooner Franklin in the Continental Navy, serving through 1775.
context_section_description: Joining the Pacific Fleet in late 1937, Mugford conducted local operations along the West Coast and around the Hawaiian Islands, taking time out for periodic overhauls and upkeep. From 5 June 1939 to 30 July 1940 she was the first command of then Lieutenant Commander Arleigh Burke, and under his command was awarded a Battle "E" for gunnery excellence. 7 December 1941 found her at Pearl Harbor as flagship of Destroyer Division Eight of Destroyer Squadron Four. When the attack began, Mugford was on standby status, berthed at B6 in the Navy Yard for repairs, and while raising steam to get underway, downed three planes in 10 minutes with her antiaircraft guns. Within an hour after the attack began, the “little ship” was steaming out of Pearl Harbor firing as she went. Her next major duty was to screen the Wake Island relief force and after completion of this duty served as an escort for convoys traveling between the United States and Australia. She served in this capacity until mid‑1942.
  On 7 August Mugford was on patrol off Lunga Point, Guadalcanal, when a large Japanese airstrike came in; three near misses and one bomb hit couldn’t prevent Mugford from downing two of her attackers, but she suffered eight killed, 17 wounded, and 10 missing. Next day she shot down another enemy aircraft in a raid in which she suffered no damage, and rescued two enemy aviators from the water. On the 9th, she sped toward the action of the first Battle of Savo Island, arriving in time to pull 400 survivors of Vincennes (CA-44) and Astoria (CA-34) from the water.
  After battle damage repairs at Sydney, from 16 September through December, she operated on patrol in the Coral Sea and along Australia’s northern coast. Brisbane was her base for continued patrol, as well as escort missions to Milne Bay, New Guinea, which became her base later in the summer as New Guinea operations took on a faster pace. She joined in the assault on Woodlark Island in July, conducted shore bombardment and patrols in that general area in August, and in September escorted LSTs to the invasion of Lae on the 4th, after which she patrolled offshore while under enemy air attack. Later that month she conducted preinvasion bombardment north of Finschafen, off which she served until late in October. On 20 October, she and four companion destroyers were attacked by 60 enemy planes; Mugford suffered no damage.
  On 15 May 1943 the Mugford rescued the survivors of the Australian hospital ship AHS Centaur off Point Lookout, Queensland, after Centaur had been sunk by a Japanese submarine the previous day.
  On 14 and 15 December, she participated in the largest operation yet in the New Guinea campaign, the landings on Arawe, New Britain. Next was the assault on Buna and Cape Gloucester, where on Christmas Day she came under enemy air attack, taking three near misses in a first attack, and shooting down an attacker in a second assault later the same day. One man was killed, six wounded, and the ship riddled with shrapnel with some small holes below the waterline.
  After repairs at Milne Bay, Mugford returned to patrol, bombardment, and escort missions for the New Guinea operation, sailing off Saidor. On 10 January 1944 she sailed for Sydney, then returned to New Guinea and escort and patrol duty in Huon Gulf. After escorting three merchantmen from Tulagi to the Union Islands, Mugford arrived at Pearl Harbor 24 February to escort Maryland (BB-46) to Puget Sound, before continuing on to Mare Island for overhaul, arriving 5 March.
  Mugford returned to Pearl Harbor 10 May for training in preparation for the Marianas operation, for which she staged at Majuro. Screening the fast carriers, she observed the first strike the morning of 11 June, then screened battleships bombarding Saipan and Tinian, firing night harassing missions herself and screening night retirements. She rejoined the carrier screen as word came of the approach of an enemy carrier force, and thus played a role in the epic Battle of the Philippine Sea, when Japanese naval aviation was all but exterminated in a great victory. She c
caption: Mugford under air attack at Guadalcanal on 7 August 1942.
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