Presently, the USS Laffey (DD 724) is part of the
Patriots Point Naval and Maritime Museum
located in Mt. Pleasant, South Carolina
The only preserved Allen M. Sumner class destroyer, as well as the only surviving U.S. World War II destroyer that saw action in the Atlantic, USS Laffey acted as an escort for convoys to Great Britain. On D-Day, the destroyer helped bombard Utah Beach at Normandy. Sent into the Pacific, Laffey was involved in one of the most famous destroyer-kamikaze duels in the war. Hit several times, racked by explosions and fires, Laffey remained afloat because of the valiant efforts of her crew to earn the sobriquet "the ship that would not die." Laffey earned five battle stars and a Presidential Unit Citation for her World War II service and two battle stars for her Korean War service.
Stricken from the Navy Register in 1977, Laffey (DD 724), is now displayed with the aircraft carrier Yorktown, the submarine Clamagore, and the Coast Guard Cutter Ingham in Patriots Point, Mt. Pleasant, South Carolina.
USS Laffey is a National Historic Landmark.
- Class: Allen M. Sumner Destroyer
Launched: November 21, 1943
At: Bath Iron Works, Bath, Maine
Commissioned: February 8, 1944- Length: 377 feet Beam: 41 feet
Draft: 19 feet Displacement: 2,200 tons
Armament: Six 5-inch/38 caliber guns; six 21-inch torpedo tubes- Present Address:
Patriots Point Naval & Maritime Museum
40 Patriots Point Road
Mount Pleasant, SC 29464