| Career (US) | |
|---|---|
| Name: | John M. Howard |
| Namesake: | John Martin Howard |
| Launched: | 1934 as Elsie Fenimore |
| Acquired: | 2 July 1942 |
| Commissioned: | 1 September 1942 |
| Decommissioned: | 9 May 1945 |
| Fate: | returned to Maritime Commission |
| General characteristics | |
| Displacement: | 94 tons |
| Length: | 87 ft (27 m) |
| Beam: | 20 ft (6.1 m) |
| Speed: | 9 knots |
USS John M. Howard (IX-75), an unclassified miscellaneous vessel, was the only ship of the United States Navy to be named for John Martin Howard. Her keel was laid down in Camden, New Jersey, in 1934 as Elsie Fenimore, and purchased from her owner, E. R. Fenimore Johnson, on 2 July 1942. She was placed in service at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on 29 July. Taken to Washington, DC, and renamed John M. Howard on 17 August 1942, she commissioned there 1 September 1942.
During the war the ship was used for ordnance experiments, operating out of Naval Ordnance Laboratory, Washington, DC, to Chesapeake Bay and various Atlantic coast ports. She decommissioned on 9 May 1945 at the Washington Navy Yard and was placed in service until 16 November 1945. She was returned to the Maritime Commission for disposal 24 January 1946.