A Note by Our Historian Tom Wilson

A personal comment if I may, a ship is more than just the metal and bolts she is made of.  She takes on a character of her own, or maybe in part the character of the men who serve on her.  The “Leaky Weeks” was always fast, always did all that was asked of her, and earned the loyalty and love of those who served on her.  Many men served on her and went on to be great.  Did she help make them great?  Or was she great because of them?

USS John W weeks (DD 701) - The Begining

USS John W. Weeks (DD 701), an Allen M. Sumner  class destroyer, was laid down on January 17, 1944 by Federal Ship Building and Dry Dock Company, Kearny, New Jersey, launched on May 21, 1944, sponsored by Mrs. John W. Davidge, daughter of John. W. Weeks, and commissioned on July 21, 1944, at the Brooklyn Navy Yard, Commander Robert A. Theobald, in command.  Following final fitting out the Weeks set out on August 26, 1944, en-route to Bermuda for shakedown training.

After shakedown training, further training and tests en-route to  Newfoundland, the Weeks departed New York on November 10, 1944 escorting battleships Missouri (BB – 63), Texas (BB – 35), Arkansas (BB – 33), escort carriers Shamrock Bay (CVE – 84) and Wake Island (CVE – 65) to the Pacific.  The Weeks transited the Panama Canal and stopped at San Francisco, Pearl Harbor, and Eniwetok before joining the Third Fleet at Ulithi atoll on December 27, 1944.

The War Years

Early in January 1945, the Weeks departed Ulithi with Carrier Task Force 38 (TF 38) and headed toward the Philippines.  The Weeks, part of the Luzon attack force, assembled in Leyte Gulf, passed through Surigao Strait, and set course for Lingayen Gulf.  On January 9, 1945, U.S. Army troops came ashore on the beaches at Lingayen, while planes from TF 38 carriers attacked Japanese airstrips on Formosa and the Pescadores to neutralize air opposition to the Luzon invasion.  That night TF 38 ships passed through Luzon Strait into the South China Sea where they could be on call to support the invasion beachheads while striking enemy positions along the southeastern coast of Asia and searching for elements of the Japanese Imperial Fleet.  During the next ten days aircraft from TF 38 attacked Hong Kong, Hainan, and the Indochinese coast causing considerable damage ashore and sinking 44 ships totaling 132,000 tons.  At the end of this sweep into enemy waters Admiral Halsey reported “The outer defenses of the Japanese Empire no longer include Burma and the Netherlands East Indies, those countries are now isolated outposts, and their products are no longer available to the Japanese War Machine.”  The Weeks, following her role in this incursion into the South China Sea, returned with TF 38 to Ulithi on January 28, 1945.

The Weeks again sailed with TF 38 carriers on February 11, 1945, supporting strikes on Tokyo, February 16 and 17, 1945, in pre-invasion support of the attack on Iwo Jima.  The Weeks then deployed to Iwo Jima to render direct support to the invasion force.  Later that month the Weeks again supported carrier attacks on Japan.  Heavy carrier raids during  March 1945 continued to cripple the enemy’s power and the Weeks received credit for two assists as five enemy planes were shot down while attempting a raid on the task force.

Prior to the Okinawa invasion, the Weeks in company with other units, shelled Okinawa in pre-invasion bombardment operations.  The Okinawa invasion took place on April 1, 1945.  The Weeks stood by to offer support.  On April 7, 1945, A Japanese surface force was located.  Carrier aircraft strikes were launched to intercept the enemy force, resulting in the sinking of the Battleship Yamato.  During these operations the carrier USS Hancock (CV – 19) was struck by a kamikaze, following which the Weeks rescued 23 survivors in a heroic rescue mission.

For the remainder of the war the Weeks engaged in radar picket duty, shore bombardment, rescue missions, and patrol sweeps in the vicinity of Tokyo Bay.  Following the cessation of hostilities the Weeks entered Tokyo Bay on September 8, 1945, for escort operations with occupational forces.  The Weeks continued escort duties until December 30, 1945, at which time she sailed for home, arriving in San Francisco on January 20, 1946.  The Weeks arrived in Norfolk on February 19, 1946 and, following repairs, was inactivated.

The Weeks is Decommissioned

On May 17, 1947, the Weeks commenced Naval Reserve training cruises which continued until mid – 1949.  On September 6, 1949, the Weeks sailed for Europe returning home on February 8, 1950.  On May 31, 1950, the Weeks was decommissioned at the Charleston, South Carolina Naval Shipyard.