USS Benham (DD-397) was the lead ship of her class of destroyers built for the United States Navy, representing a significant contribution to naval warfare during World War II. Laid down on September 1, 1936, by the Federal Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company in Kearny, New Jersey, she was launched on April 16, 1938, and commissioned on February 2, 1939, under the command of Lieutenant Commander T. F. Darden. The ship was named after Andrew Ellicot Kennedy Benham, and her sponsorship was by Mrs. A. I. Dorr, a grandniece of the namesake. Constructed as a modern, fast, and maneuverable destroyer, Benham was initially assigned to the Atlantic Fleet, patrolling off Newfoundland and later in the Gulf of Mexico during 1939. She transitioned to the Pacific theater, arriving at Pearl Harbor on April 14, 1940. During her service in the Pacific, she participated in numerous critical operations, including escorting the aircraft carrier USS Enterprise during the delivery of Marine planes to Midway Atoll in late 1941, thus missing the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. She actively supported operations around Hawaii, participated in the Doolittle Raid on Tokyo in April 1942, and served in the Battle of Midway, where she rescued 720 survivors from the USS Yorktown and 188 from the USS Hammann. Benham also took part in landings on Guadalcanal and Tulagi, and the Battle of the Eastern Solomons. On October 15, 1942, she was assigned to Task Force 64 off Guadalcanal and fought in the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal on November 15, 1942. During this engagement, she was hit by a torpedo, likely from the Japanese destroyer Uranami, which severed everything forward of her bridge. Despite her damage, she remained afloat initially but was eventually abandoned by her crew by late afternoon. The destroyer Gwin rescued her survivors and scuttled her at 19:38 on November 15, 1942. USS Benham earned five battle stars for her service during World War II, marking her as a notable vessel in the naval campaigns of the Pacific.

This description has been generated using GPT-4.1-NANO based on the Vessel's wikidata information and then modified by ShipIndex.org staff.