At 18 years old, David S. Mickelson of Eau Claire, Wisconsin leaves high school to enlist in the United States Navy for a duration of two years.   His enlistment papers show him standing 5’8″ and 128 pounds.

At Great Lakes Naval Training Center, after getting his shots and a buzz haircut, David discards his civilian attire and possessions and mails them back to Eau Claire.  He is given the uniforms and other gear he would use during his period of enlistment and a Sea Bag to store everything in.  He completes his Navy Boot Camp training on April 29th, 1944. Here is a longer description of Navy Boot Camp during WWII from a former..Read More

David boards the USS Hughes for the first time at Humboldt Bay in Dutch New Guinea (now called Yos Sudarso Bay in Papau New Guinea).

David had very little time to get acquainted with his new ship before seeing action.  Only one week after coming aboard, the Hughes joined Navy Task Force 77, a total of 60 ships(see photo above), and participated in the invasion of Sansapor.  The Hughes was assigned submarine screening duty with two other destroyers in the pre-dawn morning hours on July 30th in preparation for the barrage the next day. July 31st would be the first..Read More

The USS Hughes would spend the entire month of August patrolling for enemy submarine or aircraft activity off the shores of New Guinea.  In order for the Allies on the ground in New Guinea (mostly Americans and Australians) to fully secure the islands, it was vital that the Navy kept control of the seas.  These patrols in August 1944 by the USS Hughes and other ships of Task Force 77 played a vital role in..Read More

David and the crew would receive a couple of weeks rest while the ship undergoes routine repairs in Humboldt Bay, New Guinea.

David and the USS Hughes leave the waters of New Guinea and head to Morotai, a small island in the East Indies.  The Allies need to secure an air base on this island to support the liberation of the Philippines later in 1944.  In the early hours of the 15th of September, the Hughes carried out minesweeping duties before participating in a two-hour-long bombardment of the landing area to suppress any Japanese forces on Morotai. ..Read More

On October 6th, a LST (Landing Ship Tank), runs into the Hughes causing damage to both ships.  It will take three days to repair the Hughes.

On October 15th, the Hughes leaves New Guinea and heads to the Philippines with General Douglas MacArthur to take the country back from the Japanese who had held it since 1942.  Although the weather featured near-hurricane speed winds, the Hughes successfully navigated their way to Leyte Gulf by 6:00am on October 17th.  Their job, along with two other destroyers, is to patrol the entrance of  Leyte Gulf. For the next week days, the Hughes would patrol..Read More

USS Hughes heads back to Humboldt Bay and dry-docks for two weeks of rest and repairs.

The Battle of Leyte Gulf  was the first battle in which Japanese aircraft carried out organized kamikaze attacks, or suicide attacks in which the pilot uses his plane as the weapon, deliberately crashing it into ships.  David and the Hughes made several trips back and forth between Humboldt Bay and Leyte throughout November 1944.  Each visit to Leyte meant the possibility of a Japanese kamikaze attack on the ship. On November 12th alone, the Hughes and its..Read More

Rear Admiral Arthur D. Struble, commander of the entire task force, comes aboard and transfers his flag to the USS Hughes, making it the flagship for the upcoming assault and landing at Ormoc Bay.

The USS Hughes, now the flagship of Task Force 78, leads the way in the assault on Ormoc Bay in the Philippines.  During the landing of troops in the early morning of December 7th, enemy air activity was heavy and kamikaze strikes frequent.  Two nearby ships, the USS Ward and the USS Mahan, were hit by kamikaze attacks and both eventually sunk. During the attacks, the USS Hughes opened fire four times, scoring hits on two..Read More

On December 10th, the USS Hughes left Ormoc Bay and returned to the Eastern side of Leyte Island, this time as part of a patrolling mission in Surigao Strait.  The mission, also known as picket duty, was considered routine and involved cruising around the area trying to pick up enemy planes on their radar screens that couldn’t be detected by the land-based radar due to the mountainous terrain. At 4:48pm, only ten minutes into their patrolling..Read More

David and the crew would stay in the San Pedro Bay area for the next week while the USS Hughes underwent temporary repairs.  They needed to get the ship seaworthy enough to make it to Seeadler Harbor on the island of Manus for the major repairs it needed.  They took a break from repair work on December 17th to hold a funeral for the men who were killed in the December 10th attack. They completed a..Read More

David and the USS Hughes spend Christmas 1944 at Seeadler Harbor on Manus Island (in New Guinea).  The ship begins getting the repairs it needs in order to return to the war.  (Note: Photo is of personnel on the USS Lexington celebrating Christmas with make-shift decorations and a helmeted Santa Claus.  From the National Archives).   While in Manus, David files a claim to replace his wool blanket which was lost during the December 10th attack. ..Read More

The USS Hughes leaves Manus after three weeks of repairs.  The repairs, while extensive, are still considered temporary, and the Hughes will soon be heading to San Francisco to receive the major repairs it needs to be ready for combat again.  However, the ship will first stop at Pearl Harbor.  Halfway through the 10-day voyage to Pearl Harbor, the temporary repair to the seams of the Hughes split because of the rough seas.   The last..Read More

While en route to Pearl Harbor, David is promoted from Seaman 2nd Class to Fireman 2nd Class (F2c).

The USS Hughes enters Pearl Harbor and begins the repairing the split seem in their hull so they can continue the journey to San Francisco.

While en route to San Francisco, David is promoted from Fireman 2nd Class (F2C) to Fireman 1st Class (F1C).

The USS Hughes arrives at the U.S. Naval Drydocks at Hunters Point in San Francisco.  The ship will spend the next four months at Hunters Point undergoing the extensive overhaul and repairs it needs to return to a battle-worthy ship.  The Hughes also makes a round trip test run to San Diego in May 1945. Below are two photos taken of the areas of the ship that were in need of repair:

David is granted 30 days leave while the ship is being repaired in San Francisco.  The leave included 10 days travel time, so he most likely visited family in Eau Claire.  

After four months of repairs in San Francisco, the USS Hughes departs and begins three weeks of drills nearby Attu Island in Alaska.

The end of June was spent running anti-shipping sweeps west of the Kurile Islands using the Aleutian Islands (Attu and Adak) in Alaska as their base of operations.  Notice the snow on the islands in the photo below from Chester Bradley of the Hughes:

Surabachi was a Japanese Naval Base and Airfield located on Paramushir Island in the Kuriles.  Surabachi and the other Japanese airfields on the island had been subject to sporadic air raids from the US Air Force and US Navy starting in 1943 and would continue the end of the war.  All of the attacks on Paramushir by the Americans, including the one on July 22nd by the Hughes, originated from the bases in the Aleutian Islands. The..Read More

During what would become the final stage of World War II, the United States detonated two nuclear weapons over the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki on August 6 and 9, 1945, respectively.  The two bombings killed at least 129,000 people, most of whom were civilians.  The bombs, along with the entry of the Russians into the Pacific War, are considered to be the main reasons the Japanese decided to surrender when they did. Here..Read More

After a couple of weeks of training and drilling, the Hughes is again called upon to shell a Japanese base in the Kurile Islands.  This time, they are sent to Matsuwa Island.  Matsuwa Island (Matua in Russian) had been completely transformed by the Japanese from a deserted, volcanic island to an underground fortress of artificial caves and walkways.  There were believed to be up to 8,000 Japanese troops on the island at the height of..Read More

The surrender of Imperial Japan was announced on August 15 and formally signed on September 2, 1945, bringing the hostilities of World War II to a close.

After the surrender, the USS Hughes participated in the initial occupation of Ominato Naval Base and Northern Honshu and Hokkaido, Japan while attached to the North Pacific Force.  The days consisted mostly of patrolling the sea off the coast of Japan and inspecting any passing ships. On October 4th, they hold a ceremony on board for two men who were awarded the Bronze Star for their actions during the kamikaze attack on December 10th, 1944...Read More

The crew of the USS Hughes makes their first trip onto mainland Japan on October 21st, 1945.  They are given four days to explore the town of Ominato, Japan.  The photo above is actually from the crew of the USS Diploma who also stopped at Ominato.  Below is the description of the town and the Japanese people written by USS Hughes’s Lieutenant commander David Spencer Bill Jr. who had just taken command of the ship..Read More

After an 18 day voyage, with stops at Midway and Pearl Harbor along the way, the USS Hughes reenters the United States at San Diego Harbor.   A band met the ship on the dock and there were large signs everywhere that proclaimed “WELCOME HOME.”  Photo is of USS Hughes sailors enjoying some leisure time.  

On November 28th, David is granted 19 days leave.  He most likely heads home to see his family, arriving only one week after Thanksgiving 1945.  He returns to the ship in San Diego on December 17th.

On Monday, April 29th, 1946, after two years, one month, and five days in the Navy, David S. Mickelson is honorably discharged from the service.  

As part of the United States Operation Crossroads nuclear testing program, the USS Hughes was used as a target to test the effects that an underwater atomic blast would have on a ship.  The Hughes was positioned only 920 yards from the blast zone and sustained serious damage, but was not sunk.  You can see ships near the blast at the :15 mark in the video. Newsman inspect the damage to the USS Hughes from another..Read More

On October 16th, 1948, the Hughes was towed out to sea off of Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands and on October 20th she was sent to her final resting place at the bottom of the ocean.  This is the last photo ever taken of the Hughes, and shows smoke and flames coming from the ship minutes before it sinks.