page_title: USS John D. Ford
section_title: World War II
hierarchical_section_title: USS John D. Ford / Service history / World War II
caption_attribution_description: English: The U.S. Navy destroyer tender USS Whitney (AD-4) with six Clemson-class destroyers alongside: USS Stewart (DD-224), USS Pope (DD-225), USS Pillsbury (DD-227), USS John D. Ford (DD-228), USS Truxtun (DD-229), and USS Peary (DD-226), in the 1930s.
context_page_description: USS John D. Ford was a Clemson-class destroyer in the United States Navy during World War II. She was named for Rear Admiral John Donaldson Ford.
  John D. Ford was laid down 11 November 1919 and launched 2 September 1920 from William Cramp & Sons; sponsored by Miss F. Faith Ford, daughter of Rear Admiral Ford; and commissioned as Ford 30 December 1920, Lieutenant, junior grade L. T. Forbes in temporary command.
context_section_description: After the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor 7 December 1941, John D. Ford readied for action at Cavite as a unit of DesDiv 59. Undamaged by the destructive Japanese air raid on Manila Bay 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 the 24th.
  As the Japanese pressed southward through the Philippines and into Indonesia, the Allies could hardly hope to contain the Japanese offensive in the East Indies. With too few ships and practically no air support they strove to harass the Japanese forces in an attempt to delay their advance, and to prevent the invasion of Australia. Anxious to strike back at the Japanese, Ford departed Surabaya 11 January 1942 for Kupang, Timor, where she arrived on the 18th to join a destroyer striking force. Two days later the force sailed for Balikpapan to conduct a surprise torpedo attack on Japanese shipping. Arriving off Balikpapan during mid watch 24 January, the four destroyers launched a raid through the Japanese transports while Japanese destroyers steamed about Makassar Strait in search of reported American submarines. For over an hour the destroyers fired torpedoes and shells at the astonished enemy. Before retiring from the first surface action in the Pacific war, they sank four Japanese ships; one of them, the IJA transport Kuretake Maru, fell victim to John D. Ford's torpedoes and was lost along with six crewmen and 272 troops. In the darkness, Ford also fired on the Japanese hospital ship Asahi Maru, causing minor damage. The striking force arrived Surabaya 25 January.
  The Japanese pincer offensive through the Dutch East Indies continued despite Allied harassment. On 3 February the Japanese began air raids on Surabaya, and John D. Ford retired in convoy to Tjilatjap on the southern coast of Java. During mid-February the Japanese tightened their control of islands east and west of Java, and on 18 February they landed troops on Bali, adjacent to the eastern end of the Java. In response John D. Ford, Pope, and other American and Dutch ships steamed to Badoeng Strait in two waves to engage an enemy destroyer-transport force during the night of 19/20 February in what became known as the Battle of Badung Strait. A unit of the first wave, Ford conducted a running engagement with two Japanese destroyers without results. The outcome from the battle as a whole was a Japanese victory: the landings on Bali were successful and the Dutch destroyer HNLMS Piet Hein was sunk, while suffering substantial damage to only one ship.
  Returning to Tjilatjap 21 February for fuel, Ford and Pope immediately sailed to Kiritimati to pick up the last reserve of 17 to 18 torpedoes from Black Hawk. Then they steamed to Surabaya, arriving on the 24th to join the dwindling ABDA Striking Force. Hampered by shortages of fuel, ammunition, and torpedoes and reduced in strength by sinkings, battle damage, and repair needs, the Allies indeed faced a "critical situation." Only four U.S. destroyers remained operational in the Striking Force.
  Late on the 25th, Ford sortied with the Striking Force from Surabaya in search of a large enemy amphibious force in the Java Sea. Returning to port the following day, the force was joined by five British ships; once more the Striking Force steamed to intercept the enemy. Following an unsuccessful strike by enemy planes the morning of the 27th, the Allied force steamed for Surabaya. While steaming through the mine field, the ships reversed course and deployed to meet the enemy off the northern coast of Java.
  The Battle of Java Sea commenced at 1616 and continued for over 7 hours. The Allied ships, 5 cruisers and 9 destroyers, engaged the enemy force, four cruisers and 13 destroyers, in a furious running battle marked by intermittent gun and torpedo duels. Ford emerged from the battle undamaged, but once again the battle as whole was a defeat for the Allies, as in the unsuccessful attempt to prevent the invasion
caption: Left to right: Destroyer tender USS Whitney (AD-4) and destroyers USS Stewart (DD-224), USS Pope (DD-225), USS Pillsbury (DD-227), USS John D. Ford (DD-228), USS Truxtun (DD-229), and USS Peary (DD-226).
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