Scott # 634 Naval Ship Cover USS Dobbin

Dated 5/28/1935  USS Dobbin

Dobbin was present during the attack on Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941. At the time of the attack she was moored northeast of Ford Island with five destroyers, USS Phelps (DD-360), USS Macdonough (DD-351), USS Worden (DD-352), USS Dewey (DD-349) and USS Hull (DD-350).^[1]

Dobbin‘s crew watched helplessly as Japanese planes targeted Battleship Row, but as the battleships each took heavy damage the Japanese pilots looked for other targets. Seeing that the ship had admiral flags,^[1] the aircraft tried to bomb Dobbin, but the ship only took shrapnel damage.

Dobbin‘s small craft spent the morning picking up survivors and taking the wounded to shore. The ship picked up hundreds of sailors from other ships, and when she left the harbor in search of the Japanese fleet, 200 men from USS Raleigh (CL-7) alone were aboard.^[1]

World War II

After the attack, Dobbin served in the Hawaiian area until May 1942 and then she was sent to Sydney, Australia. Dobbin was one of several Allied vessels located in Sydney Harbor during the Japanese midget submarine attack of 31 May 1942.^[2] On 25 June 1943 she was sent to Brisbane, Mackay, Townsville, and Cleveland Bay, Australia, before arriving at Milne Bay, New Guinea, 30 September 1943. She stayed near New Guinea until 14 February 1945, at which point she moved to Subic Bay in the Philippines. She served a Subic Bay from 24 February to 3 November 1945.