USS Prichett (DD-561) was a Fletcher-class destroyer, built for the United States Navy during World War II. The ship saw extensive action during the war in escort and bombardment roles, most notably during the Battle of Okinawa, during which she was struck by a bomb and a Kamikaze attack on two separate occasions. After the war, she served in the Korean War and the Vietnam War as a fire support ship, before being sold to the Italian navy with her sisters USS Taylor and USS Walker in 1970. She was renamed Geniere (D 555) by the Italians and served for five years before being scrapped in 1975.
Construction and World War II services
In 1942, Prichett was ordered from the Seattle-Tacoma Shipbuilding Company in Washington as one of 15 Fletcher-class destroyers for the US Navy. The ship was laid down on July 20, 1942, launched on July 31, 1943, and commissioned on January 15, 1944.
After testing and evaluation, on April 1, 1944, Prichett sailed to Majuro and then Manus where she joined the battleships of Task Force (TF) 58. On April 28, Prichett sortied as a part of Task Group (TG) 58.3 and joined together with the fast carriers of TG 58.1 for the Caroline islands. On April 29, Prichett served as an escort during the attack on the Japanese airfield. The next day, Prichett participated in the bombardment on Ponape before the task group retired to Majuro, whence Prichett returned to Pearl Harbor for a small refit to add fighter director equipment.
On May 30, 1944, Prichett sailed west to join TF 52 for the invasion of Saipan. After completing her transport escort objective, Prichett was then assigned to provide screening for the battleships as they bombarded the shore, then provided fire support for the landing troops on June 15. During the operation on June 18, she was involved in the rare rescue of a Japanese pilot who ditched his plane near the ship.
Between June 19-20, Prichett set sail for the attack on the Japanese-held Tinian island, before returning to the Marianas and remaining there until August. On August 17, Prichett joined TF 38 for the Philippines campaign. There, Prichett participated in raids on Japanese transports and convoys, fleet carrier escorts, and shore bombardment until January 1945, when the task force moved to the South China Sea to disrupt Japanese shipping lanes and strike the industrial complex on Taiwan, Yokohama, and Tokyo, and participated in the Iwo Jima campaign until March 9.
Okinawa campaign
By March 12, Prichett had returned to Ulithi island in preparation for the Okinawa campaign. Assigned to TF 54, Prichett arrived off the coast of the Okinawa Islands on March 25 to cover minesweeping operations. On April 1, she participated in the "feint" bombardment on southern Okinawa to deceive the Japanese intelligence, then steamed back to cover the actual landing at Hagushi. The next morning, Prichett narrowly avoided her demise when a Japanese bomber managed to fly unnoticed and drop a 500 lb bomb 20 yards off the port beam. Later that day, Prichett participated in the radar picket line to detect and screen the Japanese air raid.
Just after 1:00 on April 3, the task group detected a large group of Japanese aircraft. Prichett spotted four aircraft at 1:29, of which she shot one down and warded off another. The remaining two then pressed on, with one dropping a 500 lb bomb on the fantail. The bomb holed her under the waterline, causing flooding on her aft and a fire in the 20 mm magazine room. While the crew underwent damage control operations, the ship continued to ward off incoming attacks and managed to shoot down the other two aircraft. After being relieved by the USS Brush (DD-745) shortly before noon, Prichett retreated to Kerama Retto for emergency repairs. On April 7, she sailed back to Guam for a month of extensive repairs.
Prichett departed Guam on May 3 alongside the escort carrier USS Shipley Bay (CVE-85) and returned to Okinawa on May 7. She then resumed the radar picket duty and managed to avoid further damage for three months until late July.
Between midnight of July 28 and dawn of July 29, while on picket duty, two Yokosuka K5Y trainer aircraft modified for Kamikaze attack managed to slip past the radar. The first plane flew past the proximity shell fired from the USS Callaghan (DD-792) as the wood-and-fabric structure rendered the fuze ineffective, then struck Callaghan on the starboard sides at 0:40 of July 29, causing engine fires. Being close to Callaghan, Prichett ran up to aid the crew of the former in firefighting and rescuing survivors in the water. In the fire-lit darkness, the ship proved an easy target and a second K5Y closed in for a Kamikaze attack. Despite retaliation, the plane bore in and crashed on the starboard side of the superstructure, killing two sailors. Despite the damage, Prichett remained in the area for two hours picking up survivors from Callaghan when the latter sank at 2:35. For this action, Prichett was later awarded a Navy Unit Commendation by the US Navy.
After Okinawa, Prichett sailed home on August 13 and arrived at the end of the war. She then underwent pre-inactivation overhaul at Puget Sound and was decommissioned and berthed for the Pacific Reserve Fleet, San Diego Group.
Korean War
Prichett was reactivated following the breakout of the Korean War on August 17, 1951. After test sailing off the coast of California, on January 13, 1952, Prichett sailed to the Atlantic, arriving in Norfolk on February 2. In April, she sailed to Boston for her modernization. The modernization, which included improved anti-air weaponry, fire control radar, sonar, and communications gear, was completed in November and she became the flagship of the 282nd Destroyer Division. After completing training in the Caribbean, Prichett departed Norfolk on January 4, 1953 and arrived in Sasebo, Japan on February 11.
Assigned to TF 77, Prichett provided air cover to friendly aircraft and bombarding ships, provided gunfire support at Wonsan Harbor and the Hungnam coast, as well as hospital ship services for the Marines fighting primarily around Wonsan. After her services between February and June, Prichett steamed back to Norfolk in a round-the-world goodwill visit trip between June 26 to August 22. After a major overhaul into a destroyer escort, she participated in numerous training and ASW exercises around the Sea of Japan and the Taiwan strait for almost 10 years before being sent to Vietnam in 1964.
Vietnam War
On August 30, 1964, Prichett joined TF 77 in the Tonkin Gulf and the South China Sea during the United States' entry into the Vietnam War. The ship then spent five years touring up and down the coast of Vietnam, conducting escort and shore bombardment operations. In mid-1967, the ship sailed back to the US for the final modernization to improve the ageing fire control system.
Prichett returned in November 1967 and was again assigned for the shore bombardment in December. During the Tet Offensive in February 1968, the ship provided crucial fire support during the battle of Phan Thiet, her accuracy and fire volume so remarkable that the captured Viet Cong fighters allegedly nicknamed her "the Mortar from the Sea". At the end of the operation, Prichett sailed home on May 6.
After spending almost a year in repair, Prichett sailed to Vietnam for one last time on June 4, 1969. While still underway however, the ship was scheduled for inspection, which was conducted upon her return on December 5. The ship was assessed to be in poor condition and recommended for disposal on December 17. She then sailed to San Diego and was decommissioned on January 10, 1970, and struck from the Navy List the same day.
At the end of her service with the US Navy, USS Prichett earned eight battle stars during World War II, two during the Korean War, and six during the Vietnam War.
Post-Vietnam and Italian services
A week after her decommissioning, on January 17, 1970, the Italian Navy ordered the Prichett from the US Navy as the third ship of the Fante-class destroyers, a Fletcher-class destroyer that had been sold to Italy in 1969 as a replacement for the Artigliere-class (ex-Benson-class) destroyer.
Originally, Italy ordered two ships from the US Navy; the USS Walker (DD-517), later the Fante (D 561), and the USS Taylor (DD-468), later the Lanciere (D 560). However, the Lanciere was found to be in very poor condition, which led to the purchase of the third ship - the Prichett, as a replacement in 1970. The ship was sold in "as is" condition and transferred to the Italian Navy the same day, where she was renamed Geniere (D 555). Unlike the other two sister ships, the Geniere featured a different weapon suite, lacking the Mark 18 "Weapon Alfa" anti-submarine rocket launchers due to her undergoing different modernization plans.
Due to the ship's worn-out condition, the Italian Navy only intended to operate the Fante-class as a stopgap measure until the domestically-built Audace-class guided missile destroyers were completed. As such, Fante and Geniere were operated and maintained using cannibalized parts from the Lanciere. The Geniere served with the Italian Navy until 1975 when she was scrapped.
