USS Stack (DD-406)

History: Stack was laid down on 25 June 1937 by the Norfolk Navy Yard, Portsmouth, Virginia; launched on 5 May 1938; sponsored by Miss Mary Teresa Stack; and commissioned on 20 November 1939, Lieutenant Commander Isaiah Olch in command.

Following shakedown which lasted until 4 April 1940, including a cruise to the West Indies and Rio de Janeiro, Stack proceeded to the west coast and thence to Pearl Harbor where she operated with the Pacific Fleet until June 1941. She then returned to the east coast for an overhaul at the Philadelphia Navy Yard. Stack began patrolling off Bermuda late in November with the Neutrality Patrol. After the United States entered World War II, Stack continued to patrol in the Caribbean until 22 December when she was assigned to escort Wasp from Bermuda to Norfolk, Virginia.

On the 28th, she sailed from Norfolk as screen for Long Island, She arrived at Casco Bay, Maine, two days later. She refueled and got underway for Argentina in the screen for Long Island and Philadelphia.

Class: The Benham class of ten destroyers was built for the United States Navy (USN). They were part of a series of USN destroyers limited to 1,500 tons standard displacement by the London Naval Treaty and built in the 1930s. The class was laid down in 1936-1937 and all were commissioned in 1939. Much of their design was based on the immediately preceding Gridley and Bagley-class destroyers. Like these classes, the Benhams were notable for including sixteen 21-inch (533 mm) torpedo tubes, the heaviest torpedo armament ever on US destroyers. They introduced a new high-pressure boiler that saved space and weight, as only three of the new boilers were required compared to four of the older designs. The class served extensively in World War II in the Atlantic, Mediterranean, and Pacific theaters, including Neutrality Patrols in the Atlantic 1940-1941. Sterett received the United States Presidential Unit Citation for the Battle of Guadalcanal and the Battle of Vella Gulf, and the Philippine Republic Presidential Unit Citation for her World War II service. Two of the class were lost during World War II, three would be scrapped in 1947, while the remaining five ships would be scuttled after being contaminated from the Operation Crossroads atomic bomb tests at Bikini Atoll in the Pacific.

Nationality: The U.S. is a country of 50 states covering a vast swath of North America, with Alaska in the northwest and Hawaii extending the nation’s presence into the Pacific Ocean. Major Atlantic Coast cities are New York, a global finance and culture center, and capital Washington, DC. Midwestern metropolis Chicago is known for influential architecture and on the west coast, Los Angeles' Hollywood is famed for filmmaking.