'USS Braine,' Boston Navy Yard, 1945
Item 67325 info
National Archives at Boston
A dramatic example of the success of the Navy’s firefighting training is the survival of USS Braine (DD-630) that was built at Bath Iron Works and passed through Casco Bay before and after shakedown in Bermuda.
On May 27, 1945, while on radar picket duty off Okinawa, she was hit by two kamikaze planes in quick succession.
Sixty-seven men were killed and 102 wounded out of a crew of about 325.
Despite sustaining apparently overwhelming casualties and fire damage, the Braine was saved by an efficient and well-trained crew.
After temporary repairs at a tender in Okinawa, she sailed to Boston for permanent repairs, arriving Aug. 6, 1945.
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