KH-1-2018 USS MANNERT L. ABELE

USS Mannert L. Abele (DD-733) was an American WWII destroyer. The keel for this unit was laid in 1943, and the launch took place in April 1944. The total length of the ship at the time of launching was 114.8 meters and a width of 12 meters. The displacement was around 2,200 tons and the maximum speed was around 34 knots. The armament included: six 127 mm guns, 12 40 mm cannons and 10 533 mm torpedo tubes. USS Mannert L. Abele (DD-733) was one of the destroyers belonging to the Allen M. Sumner class (Sumner for short). Units of this type were designed as a development of the previous, successful class of destroyers - the Fletcher class. The Sumner destroyers, compared to their predecessors, had mainly more extensive and more advantageously located main artillery, more modern fire control systems and radars. They also had more extensive anti-aircraft guns. Interestingly, however, compared to the Fletcher class destroyers, they had almost the same size, but with significantly greater displacement - both standard and full. One of the Sumner-class destroyers was just that USS Mannert L. Abele (DD-733), which was built at Bath Iron Works in Bath, Maine. The unit, shortly after being accepted into service in July 1944, was sent to the Pacific, and from January 1945 took part in the preparations for the invasion of Iwo-Jima. From the beginning, it also supported the American operations in Okinawa in April of the same year. During the fighting in the Okinawa area, USS Mannert L. Abele was sunk on April 12, 1945 as a result of a kamikaze attack carried out with the Yokosuka MXY-7 Ohka machine.