Status - John Skinner - USS O'Brien:
O'Brien, escorting Curtiss, had completed its trip to Midway and returned to Pearl Harbor on April 3rd. O'Brien would remain at Pearl Harbor until April 18th.
Before departing Pearl Harbor in mid-April, O'Brien would have an armament upgrade installed. As the Sims-class destroyers were built before the war, less attention was paid to anti-aircraft capability. The ships originally had only four small-caliber machine guns. During this upgrade, O'Brien would receive 4 40-mm Bofors guns in 2 twin mounts, and 4 single 20mm Oerlikon guns. These 40 and 20 mm guns were eventually installed fleet-wide. See this page for a picture of a shipboard 40mm twin mount: US 40mm Bofors Anti-Aircraft - WWII.
O'Brien may also have had its No. 3 5-inch gun (the one near the center of the ship) removed - which would make way for the new anti-aircraft guns. The Sims-class as designed was top-heavy, and one 5-inch gun and 4 torpedo tubes were removed to promote stability.
U. S. Navy Task Forces:
- Task Force 17 (Yorktown) remained in the South Pacific area to continue raids and offensive operations.
- Task Force 11 (Lexington) arrived at Pearl Harbor on March 26th. Lexington undergoing refit until April 16th.
- Task Force 16 (Enterprise) remained at Pearl Harbor.
- USS Hornet was heading for Hawaii, where it would rendezvous with Task Force 16.
More Information:
- Official Navy Chronology, pp. 176-179.
- The First South Pacific Campaign, John B. Lundstrom, pp. 78-79.
NEXT POST: APRIL 11TH
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