The USS Schley (DD-103)

USS Schley (DD-103 / APD-14)

Technical Data: Built by Union Iron Works of San Francisco, California, the destroyer USS Schley was launched March 28, 1918

and commissioned on September 20, 1918. Named after Rear Admiral Winfield Scott Schley (1839-1911), the USS Schley stretched

314 feet, four inches in length and had a beam of thirty feet, eleven inches. Displacing 1,185 tons, she had a draft of nine feet, two

inches. Her twin-screw geared turbines put out 26,000 horsepower and reached a top speed of 35.2 knots. She held a crew of 133.

World War I: Under Commander R. C. Giffin, the Schley left San Diego, California, October 10, 1918, en route to the east coast. On

November 12, she departed New York for the Mediterranean, making port in Taranto, Italy, and Constantinople (today Istanbul), Turkey,

before arriving at Pola, Italy, on February 17, 1919, to begin duty as station ship in the Adriatic. Beginning April 15, she toured Italian

and Yugoslav ports on the Adriatic before departing for the United States on July 2. The Schley returned to San Diego on September

8, 1919, and remained there until placed out of commission on June 1, 1922.

Service in World War II: With war threatening, the Schley was recalled from reserve status and re-commissioned at San Diego on

October 3, 1940. On December 17, she arrived in Hawaii for patrols and exercises. When Japanese planes attacked Pearl Harbor on

the morning of December 7, 1941, the Schley was moored in dry dock among several other ships undergoing overhaul. As her guns

were disassembled, she could only respond with small arms fire. Her repairs were expedited, and she headed to sea December 20,

taking up a patrol station off the channel entrance to Pearl Harbor. For the next year, she operated in those waters, as well as off the

coast of Honolulu. On December 13, 1942, the Schley returned to Puget Sound Navy Yard in Washington state for conversion to a

high-speed transport and was given the new designation APD-14. The Schley returned to Hawaii on February 22 and continued on to

the New Hebrides, arriving there March 24. In the New Hebrides, the Schley trained extensively with U.S. Marines, performed patrols

and escorts, and operated as a transport between the Solomon Islands, the New Hebrides, American Samoa, and New Zealand. On

June 30, the Schley participated in its first combat landing at New Georgia, putting troops ashore at Wickham Anchorage at the

southwest end of Vangunu. On July 5, Schley landed a second group of troops at Rice Anchorage, New Georgia. During this action,

a Japanese submarine sank the Schley's sister APD, the USS Strong, with a single, long-range torpedo shot. After returning to Rice

Anchorage with supplies and ammunition, the Schley departed on August 1 for Mare Island, California, for complete overhaul. The

ship returned to action and earned eleven World War II battle stars before being taken out of service in November 1945; however, this

narrative ends here, as Chief Plummer disembarked the Schley September 30 and transferred to a new ship then under construction.

Charley Plummer's Story: The above narrative captures the essence of the USS Schley's early World War II service. For a sailor's

view, click here and read Chief Quartermaster Charley Plummer's own words describing daily activities of July 1940 through October

1943, carefully transcribed from a small pocket diary he maintained during his many years at sea.

Ship's Itinerary (from Chief Quartermaster Charley Madison Plummer's diary): click here.

Sources: Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships; wartime diary of Chief Quartermaster Charley M. Plummer, U.S. Navy (1920-50).