Among them were a third set of quadruple torpedo tubes, protective gun shelters, and emergency diesel generators, along with a steam propulsion system that was simpler and more efficient to operate.

In the Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands, Admirals Chester Nimitz and William Halsey commended the destroyer group (of which Mahan was a member) for a stellar effort in screening the aircraft carriers Hornet and Enterprise against heavy odds.

On 7 December 1944, a group of suicide aircraft overwhelmed and disabled Mahan at Ormoc Bay, Leyte, in the Philippine Islands.

She was powered by two of General Electric's geared steam turbines, which developed a total of 46,000 shaft horsepower (34,000 kW) for a maximum speed of 37 knots (69 km/h; 43 mph).

Mahan carried a maximum of 523 long tons (531 t) of fuel oil, with a range of 6,940 nautical miles (12,850 km; 7,990 mi) at 12 knots (22 km/h; 14 mph).

With boiler pressures increasing to 600 PSI (pounds per square inch), and high-pressure turbines that had double reduction gears, which ran faster and more efficiently than that of her predecessors.

The ship departed for Caribbean and South American ports within two months of her commission, combining her initial training and shakedown cruise with a goodwill tour.

She remained in the Atlantic until July 1937, then headed to the Southern California coast for fleet training before steaming to her new station at Pearl Harbor.

Japan's continued aggression, instigating the Second Sino-Japanese War in 1937 and invading French Indochina in 1940—to which the United States and European powers responded with embargoes on iron and oil imports—further heightened the tension.

[10][11][12] When the Japanese struck Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941, Mahan was at sea with the aircraft carrier Lexington, three cruisers and four destroyers as part of Task Force 12.

[13] After news of the attack on Pearl Harbor, the task-force commander received orders to terminate the ferry mission and to search for the Japanese strike force.

[9] By mid-October, she had steamed out of Pearl Harbor as part of Task Force 16 with the carrier Enterprise, the battleship South Dakota, two cruisers and seven destroyers.

[18] The two carrier groups formed Task Force 61 under the command of Rear Admiral Thomas C. Kinkaid, and was ordered to the Santa Cruz Islands to strike the Japanese if they moved on Guadalcanal.

Nimitz and Halsey expressed their satisfaction with Kinkaid's force and their battle against heavy odds, and the destroyers in the Hornet and Enterprise screens were commended for a stellar effort.

[19] En route to Nouméa, New Caledonia, on 27 October, a Japanese submarine contact caused the American ships to take evasive action.

In subsequent months she escorted convoys between the New Hebrides and the Fiji Islands, performed patrol assignments off New Caledonia, and engaged in operations in Australian waters.

[23] On 21 September an assault force under Barbey left Buna, escorted by US destroyers including Mahan, and stopped at Lae to pick up an Australian infantry brigade.

[26] Setting sail on the 14th, the force dropped anchor off Arawe early the next morning, and Mahan and her sister ships bombarded the Japanese shore defenses at the main landing point.

[28] The entrance to Borgen Bay was risky, with uncharted waters; Mahan and Flusser were picked to sound out the channel and mark the way.

[31] In early 1944, after extended wartime duty in the Pacific, the veteran destroyer was ordered to California for overhaul and moored again at the Mare Island Naval Shipyard.

She returned to New Guinea on 20 October via Eniwetok, Jaluit, Guam, Saipan and Ulithi, escorting convoys between Hollandia (Jayapura) and Leyte.

[33] On the morning of 7 December 1944, exactly three years after the day the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, troops of the US 77th Infantry Division landed south of Ormoc City.

"[37] Exploding and awash in flames, Mahan was turned by Commander E. G. Campbell toward the picket line in a last hope to save her before issuing the order to abandon ship.

The destroyers Lamson and Walke rescued the survivors; one officer and five men were missing, and thirteen seriously wounded (including burns).