USS Hobby

USS Hobby, DD 610, Mare Island, 26 January 1943
History
United States
Name	USS Hobby (DD-610)
Namesake	James H. Hobby
Builder	Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corporation, San Francisco, California
Launched	4 June 1942
Commissioned	18 November 1942
Decommissioned	1 February 1946
Stricken	1 July 1971
Fate	sunk in exercise, 1 June 1972
General characteristics
Class and type	Benson-class destroyer
Displacement	1,620 tons
Length	348 ft 4 in (106.17 m)
Beam	36 ft 1 in (11.00 m)
Draught	17 ft 4 in (5.28 m)
Speed	38 kts (70.4 km/h)
Complement	259
Armament	4 x 5" (127 mm), 4 x 20mm, 5 x 21" (533 mm) tt.

USS Hobby (DD-610) was a Benson-class destroyer in the United States Navy during World War II. She was named for James H. Hobby.

Hobby was launched 4 June 1942 by the Bethlehem Steel Corporation, San Francisco, California; sponsored by Mrs. Walter Davis, whose four sons were on active duty with the Navy; and commissioned 18 November 1942, Lieutenant Commander Ernest Blake in command.

After shakedown off the West Coast, Hobby proceeded to New York City 12 February 1943, to begin transatlantic convoy duty between there and Casablanca. In five voyages to the Mediterranean Sea that year, Hobby developed several U-boat contacts and was credited with inflicting severe damage on one marauder 9 May. She sailed from Norfolk, Virginia 2 January 1944 for the Pacific, where she remained in the New Guinea area until 22 August providing fire support and ASW screen for various invasions in the Admiralty and Schouten Islands. Sailing north in the fall, Hobby provided fire support for Peleliu and Ngesebus island invasions and then remained on screening duty through November. Despite frequent contacts with Japanese aircraft, she emerged untouched.

On 10 December, Hobby sortied with the fast carriers of Task Force 38 for strikes on the important Philippines target of Luzon. She remained with the carriers through further strikes on the Philippines, Formosa, and the China coast into 1945, as U.S. naval power pushed closer to Japan. On 16 February, Hobby joined Admiral Marc Mitscher's fast carriers of the 5th Fleet as they carried out the first air strikes against Tokyo since the Doolittle Raid of April 1942. In addition to screening tankers for the carrier force, she operated off Iwo Jima and later off Okinawa as part of the valuable tankers ASW screen. Detached from Pacific duty at the end of June, Hobby arrived Seattle 17 July 1945 for overhaul. News of the Japanese surrender reached her while she was in drydock.

Hobby sailed to New York 6 October to participate in Navy Day ceremonies, during which she hosted foreign naval attaches and congressmen during the Presidential Review of the fleet. Proceeding to Charleston 1 November 1945, Hobby decommissioned there and went into reserve 1 February 1946. Hobby was transferred in January 1947 to Orange, Texas. She was struck from the Naval Vessel Register on 1 July 1971 and disposed of in a fleet exercise on 1 June 1972.

Hobby was awarded 10 battle stars for her service in World War II.

As of 2009, no other ship in the United States Navy has been named Hobby.

This article includes information collected from the public domain sources Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships and Naval Vessel Register.