USS Burns (DD-588)
USS BURNS 1946. Photo Courtesy of Larry Cote.
USS Burns (DD-588) was a Fletcher-class destroyer (376 ft x 39 ft) built for service in WWII. USS Burns was launched on 8 August 1942 by Charelston Navy Yard and commissioned on 3 April 1943. Burns served a multitude of roles in WWII acting as anti-submarine escort, picket ship, fighter director ship and aircraft rescue ship. She returned from the Western Pacific in December 1945 and was placed out of commission into the reserve fleet in San Diego on 25 June 1946. Burns was stricken from the Naval Register on 1 November 1972 and was sunk as a target ship by USS Hull (DD-945) on 29 June 1976 to test the effectiveness of the Navy’s new Mk 71 8″/55 Major Caliber Lightweight Gun. The wreck of USS Burns now lies at a depth of 270 ft outside Pyramid Cove, San Clemente Island, CA.
US Navy Ship John McDonnell imaged USS Burns during her 2002 multibeam sonar survey of San Clemente Island, CA. Survey ID MCD0212.
