USS Charles Ausburne (DD-570)

USS Charles Ausburne (DD-570): The Fletcher-Class Destroyer of Destroyer Squadron 23

USS Charles Ausburne (DD-570) was a Fletcher-class destroyer that became one of the best-known American destroyers of the Pacific War. Commissioned in November 1942, she entered service just as the United States Navy was learning the difficult lessons of night warfare in the Solomon Islands. Her career would take her from the Atlantic and Mediterranean approaches to the South Pacific and then across many of the major campaigns of the Pacific War. She fought in surface actions, escorted convoys, supported amphibious landings, bombarded Japanese positions, screened aircraft carriers, and operated with Destroyer Squadron 23, the famous “Little Beavers.” Most significantly, Charles Ausburne served as the flagship of Captain Arleigh A. Burke during the squadron’s remarkable series of operations in the Solomons, including the Battle of Cape St. George on 25 November 1943. The ship survived the war, earned 11 battle stars, and later found a second career with the Federal German Navy as Zerstörer 6 before being scrapped in 1968.

Construction and Namesake

A Destroyer Named for a Navy Hero

Charles Ausburne was named for Charles Lawrence Ausburne, a U.S. Navy sailor whose actions during the First World War earned him the Navy Cross posthumously. Born in New Orleans on 26 July 1889, Ausburne enlisted in the Navy in 1908. During the sinking of the Army transport Antilles on 17 October 1917, Electrician First Class Ausburne remained at his emergency wireless station and continued performing his duty until the vessel disappeared beneath the sea. His conduct became the basis for the Navy Cross awarded after his death. The spelling of the ship’s name is itself an interesting detail: an earlier Navy vessel had used “Ausburn,” reflecting the spelling used by other members of the family, but the Navy later established that Charles Ausburne himself signed his name with the final “e.” The second ship therefore carried the spelling Ausburne.

The destroyer was laid down at Consolidated Steel Corporation in Orange, Texas, on 14 May 1941 and launched on 16 March 1942. Sponsored by Mrs. W. H. Cotten, she was commissioned on 24 November 1942 with Lieutenant Commander Luther K. Reynolds in command. As a Fletcher-class destroyer, Charles Ausburne represented one of the most capable and adaptable destroyer designs produced by the United States during World War II. The class combined substantial gunfire, torpedo armament, anti-aircraft capability, speed, and maneuverability in a relatively compact hull, making its ships suitable for everything from convoy escort to aggressive surface combat.

From the Atlantic to the Solomon Islands

After commissioning and training, Charles Ausburne initially served in the Atlantic. Between 1 April and 8 May 1943, she escorted a convoy from New York to Casablanca and returned with another convoy. This early assignment was a reminder that American destroyers were needed on several fronts simultaneously: even as the decisive naval struggle in the Pacific was intensifying, merchant shipping and military transports crossing the Atlantic required protection against German submarines and other threats.

The destroyer subsequently moved toward the Pacific and joined Destroyer Squadron 23. Her first significant combat experience came in the Solomon Islands, where American and Japanese forces were engaged in an exhausting campaign characterized by repeated nighttime surface actions, amphibious operations, air attacks, and attempts to reinforce isolated island garrisons. On the night of 27–28 September 1943, Charles Ausburne opened her combat record by helping sink two Japanese barges off Vella Lavella. In October, she operated from Espiritu Santo while her squadron prepared for further operations. On 23 October, Captain Arleigh A. Burke broke his pennant aboard Charles Ausburne, making her the flagship of Destroyer Squadron 23.

Destroyer Squadron 23 and the “Little Beavers”

Arleigh Burke’s Flagship

The association between Charles Ausburne and Arleigh Burke became one of the defining elements of the ship’s historical identity. Burke was an experienced destroyer officer who recognized that the new combination of radar, high-speed destroyers, improved communications, and increasingly sophisticated tactical training could transform American nighttime operations. During the early Solomon Islands battles, U.S. forces had suffered painful defeats while facing Japanese destroyers equipped with powerful torpedoes and experienced in nighttime combat. Destroyer Squadron 23 became one of the formations through which the American Navy adapted to this environment.

The squadron’s destroyers were frequently asked to perform missions that went far beyond traditional screening. They patrolled contested waters, supported troops ashore, protected transports, and actively hunted Japanese surface forces. The tactical doctrine developed within the squadron emphasized coordinated attacks in which one group could launch torpedoes while another maneuvered to bring gunfire to bear. Radar provided an increasingly important advantage by allowing American ships to detect and track opponents in darkness, while disciplined communications allowed several independent destroyers to function as a coordinated fighting force.

The Battle of Cape St. George

The most famous action involving Charles Ausburne came on the night of 24–25 November 1943, during what became known as the Battle of Cape St. George. Japanese destroyers were attempting to move personnel between Buka and Rabaul when Destroyer Squadron 23 detected them. At approximately 0141, radar contacts were picked up, and the five American destroyers moved rapidly toward the Japanese force. Charles Ausburne, Claxton, and Dyson formed one division, while Converse and Spence operated as a second group.

At about 5,500 yards, Charles Ausburne, Claxton, and Dyson launched torpedoes before turning away and allowing the second group to bring its guns into action. The attack proved devastating. Japanese destroyers Onami and Makinami were struck, with Onami sinking rapidly. The American formation then pursued the surviving Japanese ships. Charles Ausburne and the other destroyers used their 5-inch guns against the retreating force, while simultaneously maneuvering to reduce the danger posed by Japanese torpedoes. The destroyer Yugiri was eventually hit repeatedly and sank.

The significance of the battle extended beyond the ships lost. Destroyer Squadron 23 had demonstrated how radar, communications, coordinated tactics, torpedoes, and gunfire could be combined into a highly effective nighttime surface operation. The U.S. Naval Institute’s historical account describes the engagement as a major demonstration of the squadron’s tactical development, and Burke received the Navy Cross for the action. The victory also contributed to the increasingly favorable balance of naval power in the Solomons.

The Pacific War Expands

Bougainville and the Central Pacific

Charles Ausburne continued to operate in the Solomon Islands following Cape St. George. She participated in the operations supporting the invasion of Bougainville and carried out bombardment and screening duties as American forces expanded their positions in the region. Her role as a destroyer flagship meant that she was not simply another escort vessel: she served as a command platform from which Burke and his staff could coordinate the activities of other destroyers.

During early 1944, Destroyer Squadron 23 continued to operate aggressively while the American advance moved north and west. By March, Charles Ausburne was operating with the Fifth Fleet and joined the powerful carrier forces responsible for attacks against Japanese positions throughout the Pacific. Between 30 March and 1 April, the task force struck targets in the Palau Islands, Yap, Ulithi, and Woleai. Later operations supported the landings at Hollandia while carrier aircraft also attacked Japanese bases such as Truk and Ponape.

The destroyer’s transition from the close-range surface battles of the Solomons to carrier-screening operations demonstrated the flexibility of the Fletcher design. A destroyer could move rapidly between very different forms of naval warfare, protecting carriers from surface and air threats while remaining ready to bombard targets ashore or fight enemy ships.

The Marianas Campaign

From June into July 1944, Charles Ausburne participated in the massive campaign for the Mariana Islands. She operated primarily in the screen around Task Force 58, the fast carrier striking force, while American aircraft attacked Japanese positions on Tinian, Saipan, Pagan, Guam, and Iwo Jima. The carrier strikes were essential to suppressing Japanese airfields and defenses while American forces established themselves on the Marianas.

The destroyer also contributed direct gunfire support. During operations around Guam, her guns were used against shore defenses, while elsewhere she screened carriers such as USS Essex as they launched repeated strikes. This combination of defensive and offensive duties was characteristic of destroyer operations during the Pacific War. The ship had to remain close enough to protect larger vessels while also being prepared to respond independently to threats and tactical opportunities.

As the American advance continued, Charles Ausburne took part in further operations across the Pacific. Her wartime service eventually encompassed a broad succession of campaigns, and by the end of World War II she had accumulated 11 battle stars. Her record reflected not one isolated engagement but sustained participation in the Pacific offensive from the Solomon Islands through the major operations that followed.

Postwar Service and Zerstörer 6

Transfer to West Germany

Like many Fletcher-class destroyers, Charles Ausburne remained useful after the end of World War II. She was decommissioned on 18 April 1946 and spent the following years out of active U.S. Navy service. In the early Cold War, however, former American destroyers became valuable assets for allied navies rebuilding their maritime forces. On 12 April 1960, Charles Ausburne was transferred to the Federal Republic of Germany under the U.S. Military Assistance Program. She entered German service as Zerstörer 6, carrying the NATO designation D180.

Her transfer was part of a larger program through which West Germany acquired former U.S. Navy Fletcher-class destroyers. These ships provided the emerging Bundesmarine with modern, proven vessels capable of performing escort and fleet-defense duties during the Cold War. Zerstörer 6 remained in German service until 1968. She was then removed from the German naval register and sold for scrapping. The former Charles Ausburne thus ended her career nearly a quarter-century after entering American service.

Legacy of USS Charles Ausburne

The historical importance of USS Charles Ausburne rests on the combination of her own wartime achievements and her connection with the evolution of American destroyer tactics. As the flagship of Destroyer Squadron 23, she was closely associated with Arleigh Burke at a crucial stage in his career and with the development of increasingly sophisticated American nighttime surface operations. The Battle of Cape St. George remains the clearest example of what the squadron achieved: a coordinated destroyer force used radar, torpedoes, gunfire, communications, and maneuver to attack a Japanese formation under cover of darkness.

Yet reducing Charles Ausburne to the Battle of Cape St. George would overlook the breadth of her service. She escorted convoys across the Atlantic, fought in the Solomon Islands, supported the Bougainville campaign, screened aircraft carriers, participated in operations around the Marianas, and provided shore bombardment. Her career illustrates the versatility expected of a Fletcher-class destroyer and the increasingly central role that destroyers played in American naval operations as the Pacific War progressed.

Her postwar service also extended the ship’s historical story beyond 1945. After spending years in reserve, she became Zerstörer 6 in the West German Navy and served during the Cold War. From her launch in Texas in 1942 to her disposal in 1968, Charles Ausburne therefore passed through three distinct eras: wartime construction and combat, postwar American reserve, and allied Cold War service.

Technical Specifications of USS Charles Ausburne (DD-570)

Published technical references can differ slightly because Fletcher-class ships underwent wartime modifications and because sources sometimes report different displacement, draft, speed, and armament configurations. The following table primarily follows the U.S. Navy’s DANFS figures, supplemented where useful by naval historical references.

USS Charles Ausburne was ultimately one of the many Fletcher-class destroyers built to fight a global war, but her individual story gives her a distinctive place in naval history. She became a flagship at a pivotal moment in the Solomon Islands campaign, participated in one of the most successful American destroyer actions of the Pacific War, and subsequently accompanied the U.S. fleet as it shifted from island fighting to large-scale carrier operations. Her later career with West Germany further demonstrates the durability and continuing usefulness of the Fletcher design. Charles Ausburne did not merely survive World War II; she became part of the technological and tactical transition that transformed American destroyers from primarily supporting ships into powerful independent offensive weapons capable of shaping the outcome of major naval engagements.