page_title: USS Prichett (DD-561)
section_title: Iwo Jima and Okinawa
hierarchical_section_title: USS Prichett (DD-561) / Iwo Jima and Okinawa
caption_attribution_description: The U.S. Navy destroyer USS Prichett (DD-561) underway off Aiki Point, Washington (USA), on 4 February 1944. The ship is painted in Camouflage Measure 32, Design 13D.
context_page_description: USS Prichett (DD-561), a Fletcher-class destroyer, was a ship of the United States Navy named for Lieutenant Commander James M. Prichett.
  Prichett was laid down 20 July 1942 by the Seattle-Tacoma Shipbuilding Co., Seattle, Washington; launched 31 July 1943, sponsored by Mrs. Orville A. Tucker; and commissioned 15 January 1944, Commander Cecil T. Caulfield in command.
context_section_description: On 30 December, the Ulithi logistics base was left behind again as the force steamed west to welcome the new year, 1945, with strikes against Luzon and Formosa. The ships then thrust into the South China Sea and hit enemy shipping and shore installations from Saigon to Formosa, and then struck at Okinawa. They then retired to Ulithi, replenished, rearmed, and, on 10 February, departed to raid the industrial complexes of Honshū. After striking Tokyo and Yokohama, the force turned back to cover the landings on Iwo Jima, 19 February. There Prichett was reassigned to Task Unit 52.2.5 (TU 52.2.5), with which she remained in the Iwo Jima–Chichi Jima area until 9 March.
  By 12 March, DD-561 was back at Ulithi to prepare for the invasion of the last stepping stone to the enemy's home islands: Okinawa. Attached to Task Force 54 (TF 54), Prichett arrived off the objective 25 March to cover minesweeping and underwater demolition team operations. Preinvasion bombardment, harassment fire and fire support missions off Kerama Retto followed. On 1 April, she participated in the demonstration "feint" on southern Okinawa, then swung around to screen the transports off the Hagushi assault area.
  Just after 01:00, 3 April, the Japanese commenced a long day of aerial resistance. At 01:42, Prichett, having beaten off several attacks, was closed by two bogies. The first veered off, but the second pressed on and dropped a 500-pound bomb on the fantail. Exploding close under the counter, it holed the destroyer below the waterline, causing flooding aft and a fire in the 20 mm. clipping room. The crippled destroyer, maintaining a speed in excess of 28 knots to minimize flooding and bringing the fire under control, remained in the area and continued to ward off enemy planes until relieved shortly before noon. She then retired to Kerama Retto for emergency repairs. On the 7th, she got underway for Guam where repairs were completed, and on 7 May she returned to Okinawa and radar picket duties. For almost 3 months she escaped further serious damage. However, on 29 July, while standing by Callaghan—a kamikaze victim—she became the target of a second suicide-minded Japanese pilot. Prichett took him under fire at 5,000 yards, but he bore on. Splashed into the sea approximately 6 feet off the destroyer's port side, his mission was partially accomplished as his lethal cargo exploded on impact, bowing in the ship's hull and causing extensive damage to her superstructure, port depth charge racks, and radio and power leads. Prichett, despite her damage, remained in the area and for another two hours continued to pick up survivors from Callaghan.
  Awarded a Navy Unit Commendation for her actions off Okinawa, Prichett sailed for home 13 August. Arriving after the cessation of hostilities, she underwent deactivation overhaul at Puget Sound and on 14 March 1946 was decommissioned and berthed with the San Diego Group, Pacific Reserve Fleet.
caption: Prichett in 1944.
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