Cannon-class destroyer escort

USS Cannon (DE-99)
Class overview
Name: Cannon class
Operators: World War II
 United States Navy
 Free French Naval Forces
 Brazilian Navy
Post-War
 French Navy
 Hellenic Navy
 Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force
 Philippine Navy
 Republic of China Navy
 Republic of Korea Navy
 Royal Thai Navy
 Marina Militare
 Peruvian Navy
 United States Navy
 National Navy of Uruguay
Preceded by: Buckley class
Succeeded by: Edsall class
Planned: 116
Completed: 72
Cancelled: 44
Active: 1 (Philippine Navy)
Preserved: 1
General characteristics
Type:Destroyer Escort
Displacement:1,240 tons standard
1,620 tons full load
Length:93.3 m (306 ft)
Beam:11 m (36 ft)
Draft:3.5 m (11 ft) full load
Propulsion:4 GM Mod. 16-278A diesel engines with electric drive
6,000 shp (4,500 kW), 2 screws
Speed:21 knots (39 km/h)
Range:10,800 nautical miles (20,000 km; 12,400 mi) at 12 knots (22 km/h)
Complement:15 officers
201 enlisted men
Armament:  3 × 3 in (76 mm)/50 guns (3×1)
• 2 × 40 mm AA guns (1x2)
• 8 × 20 mm AA guns (8×1)
• 3 × 21 in. torpedo tubes (1×3)
• 8 × depth charge projectors
• 1 × depth charge projector (hedgehog)
• 2 x depth charge tracks

The Cannon-class destroyer escorts were built by the United States primarily for ocean anti-submarine warfare escort service during World War II. The lead ship, USS Cannon, was commissioned on 26 September 1943 at Wilmington, Delaware. Of the 116 ships ordered 44 were canceled and six commissioned directly into the Free French Forces. Destroyer escorts were regular companions escorting the vulnerable cargo ships.

The class was also known as the DET type from their Diesel Electric Tandem drive.[1] The DET's substitution for a turbo-electric propulsion plant was the primary difference with the predecessor Buckley ("TE") class.[2] The DET was in turn replaced with a direct drive diesel plant to yield the design of the successor Edsall ("FMR") class.[3]

BRP Rajah Humabon (PF-11) of the Philippine Navy, formerly USS Atherton, remains the only confirmed commissioned ship of this class as of 2013.

Hull numbers

A total of 72 ships of the Cannon class were built.

Wartime transfers

During World War II, six ships of the class were earmarked for the Free French Naval Forces and a further eight were transferred the Brazilian Navy.

Free French Ships

Transferred to Brazil

Postwar dispersal

After the end of World War II the United States Navy transferred many ships of the Cannon class to other navies

Transferred to France

Transferred to Greece

Transferred to Italy

Transferred to Japan

Transferred to the Netherlands

Transferred to Peru

Transferred to the Philippines

BRP Rajah Humabon (PF-11) of the Philippine Navy

Transferred to South Korea

Transferred to Republic of China (Taiwan)

Transferred to Thailand

Transferred to Uruguay

Other notables

References

  1. ↑ U.S. Destroyers: an illustrated design history by Norman Friedman. Chapter 7. ISBN 1-55750-442-3.
  2. ↑ Rivet, Eric; Stenzel, Michael (April 22, 2011). "Classes of Destroyer Escorts". History of Destroyer Escorts. Destroyer Escort Historical Museum. Retrieved July 8, 2012. The CANNON class was very similar in design to the BUCKLEY class, the primary difference being a diesel-electric power plant instead of the BUCKLEY class's turbo-electric design. The fuel efficient diesel electric plant greatly improved the range of the CANNON class, but at the cost of speed.
  3. ↑ Rivet, Eric; Stenzel, Michael (April 22, 2011). "Classes of Destroyer Escorts". History of Destroyer Escorts. Destroyer Escort Historical Museum. Retrieved July 8, 2012. Except for the propulsion, the EDSALL class was nearly identical to the CANNON class in every respect. This fourth class of destroyer escort mounted a direct drive diesel configuration that proved to be extremely reliable.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Cannon class destroyer escorts.