USS Whitney (AD-4)

USS Whitney (AD-4) was a Dobbin-class destroyer tender named for United States Secretary of the Navy William Collins Whitney. She was launched on 12 October 1923, and was commissioned on 2 September 1924. She was decommissioned on 22 October 1946, later being sold for scrap to the Dulien Ship Products firm on 18 March 1948. She was on station in Pearl Harbor at the time of the Japanese attack, amid a flotilla of destroyers; Tucker, Conyngham, Reid, Case, and Selfridge. Whitney was undamaged during the attack.

USS Whitney (AD-4) at San Diego in 1932
History
United States
Name:	USS Whitney
Namesake:	William Collins Whitney
Laid down:	23 April 1921
Launched:	12 October 1923
Commissioned:	2 September 1924
Decommissioned:	22 October 1946
Fate:	Sold for scrap, 18 March 1948
General characteristics
Class and type:	Dobbin-class destroyer tender
Displacement:	8,325 long tons (8,459 t)
Length:	483 ft 9 in (147.45 m)
Beam:	61 ft (19 m)
Draft:	17 ft 2 in (5.23 m)
Speed:	16 kn (18 mph; 30 km/h)
Complement:	416 officers and enlisted
Armament:	8 × 5 in (130 mm) guns 4 × 3 in (76 mm) guns 2 × 6-pounder guns 2 × 21 in (530 mm) torpedo tubes

Dallas police detective Jim Leavelle, who became renowned for escorting Lee Harvey Oswald when Oswald was shot by Jack Ruby, served aboard the Whitney and was on board during the attack on Pearl Harbor.[1]

Machinist Mate 1st Class Ernest L. Quetschke served on Whitney from the onset of WWII to the end of WWII. "Ernie" doubled as a 6-pounder Hotchkiss gunner for his on-deck duties. Ernest Quetschke returned home to his hometown of Toledo, Ohio after the war ended.