Edsall-class destroyer escort
 USS Edsall (DE-129) | |
| Class overview | |
|---|---|
| Name: | Edsall class destroyer escort |
| Builders: |
Consolidated Steel Corporation, Orange, Texas Brown Shipbuilding, Houston, Texas |
| Operators: |
 United States Navy United States Coast Guard Mexican Navy Philippine Navy Tunisia Navy Republic of Vietnam Navy |
| Preceded by: | Cannon-class destroyer escort |
| Succeeded by: | Rudderow-class destroyer escort |
| Planned: | 85 |
| Completed: | 85 |
| Active: | 1 |
| Laid up: | 0 |
| Lost: | 5 |
| Retired: | 84 |
| Scrapped: | 75 |
| Preserved: | 1 |
| General characteristics | |
| Type: | Destroyer Escort |
| Displacement: | 1,253 tons standard 1,590 tons full load |
| Length: | 306 ft (93.3 m) |
| Beam: | 36 ft 7 in (11.2 m) |
| Draft: | 10 ft 5 in (3.2 m) |
| Propulsion: | 2-shaft Fairbanks-Morse geared diesel engines, 6,000 bhp |
| Speed: | 21 knots |
| Range: | 10,800 nautical miles (20,000 km) at 12 knots (22 km/h) |
| Complement: | 186 |
| Armament: |
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The Edsall class destroyer escorts were built primarily for ocean anti-submarine escort service during World War II. The lead ship, USS Edsall (DE-129) was commissioned on 10 April 1943 at Orange, Texas. The class was also known as the FMR type from their Fairbanks-Morse reduction-geared diesel drive, with a type of engine used in the submarines of the time. The FMR's substitution for a diesel-electric power plant was the essential difference from the predecessor Cannon ("DET") class.[1] This was the only World War II DE class in which all the ships originally ordered were completed as United States Navy destroyer escorts.[2] Destroyer escorts were regular companions escorting the vulnerable cargo ships. Late in the war, plans were made to replace the 3" guns with 5" guns but only USS Camp (DE-251) was refitted (after a collision). In total, all 85 were completed by three shipbuilding companies: Beth Staten Island (47), Consolidated Orange (18), and Houston (20). Most were en route to the Pacific Theater when Japan surrendered. One of the ships participated in Operation Dragoon and two were attacked by German guided missiles
Hull Numbers
A total of 85 Edsall class destroyer escorts were built.
- DE-129 through DE-152 Beth Staten Island
- DE-238 through DE-255 Consolidated Orange
- DE-316 through DE-338 Beth Staten Island
- DE-382 through DE-401 Houston
Destroyed or damaged in combat
- USS Frederick C. Davis (DE-136) - sunk 24 April 1945 by U-546 in the North Atlantic
- USS Fiske (DE-143) - sunk 2 August 1944 by U-804 north of the Azores
- USS Leopold (DE-319) - torpedoed 9 March 1944 by U-371 south of Iceland
- USS Menges (DE-320) - torpedoed 20 April 1944 by U-371 off Algiers, damaged
- USS Holder (DE-401) - damaged 11 April 1944 off Algiers by German aircraft
Transferred to US Coast Guard from 1951 to 1954
- USS Newell (DE-322) - redesignated WDE-422
- USS Falgout (DE-324) - redesignated WDE-424
- USS Lowe (DE-325) - redesignated WDE-425
- USS Finch (DE-328) - redesignated WDE-428
- USS Koiner (DE-331) - redesignated WDE-431
- USS Forster (DE-334) - redesignated WDE-434
- USS Ramsden (DE-382) - redesignated WDE-482
- USS Richey (DE-385) - redesignated WDE-485
- USS Vance (DE-387) - redesignated WDE-487
- USS Lansing (DE-388) - redesignated WDE-488
- USS Durant (DE-389) - redesignated WDE-489
- USS Chambers (DE-391) - redesignated WDE-491
Transferred to other countries
- USS Hurst (DE-250) - transferred to the Mexican Navy as Comodoro Manuel Azueta Perillos (E-30)
- USS Camp (DE-251) - transferred to South Vietnam as Tran Hung Dao. Later, to Philippines as BRP Rajah Lakandula (PF-4)
- USS Thomas J. Gary (DE-326) - transferred to Tunisia
- USS Forster (DE-334) - transferred to South Vietnam as Tran Khanh Du. Later, captured by North Vietnam and used as training vessel
Notable ships of class
- USS Pillsbury (DE-133) sister ship of USS Pope. Was in TG 22.3 with Pope and participated in the capture of U-boat U-505.
- USS Joyce (DE-317) Participated in the sinking of U-boat U-550.
- USS Pope (DE-134) was in Task Force 22.3 that was centered on escort carrier USS Guadalcanal, which captured German U-boat U-505.
- USS Flaherty (DE-135) was in TG 22.3 with Pope, Pillsbury and Chatelain and participated in the capture of U-505.
- USS Frederick C. Davis (DE-136) and USS Herbert C. Jones (DE-137) each received a Navy Unit Commendation for action during the Anzio campaign.
- USS Frost (DE-144) sank 5 German U-boats and awarded Presidential Unit Citation, 7 battle stars.
- USS Chatelain (DE-149) was in TG 22.3 with Pope and Pillsbury and participated in the capture of U-505.
- USS Stewart (DE-238) - the sole surviving example of the Edsall-class; a museum ship in Galveston, Texas.
- USS Kretchmer (DE-329) received a Navy Unit Commendation for action three days after the war ended.
References
- ↑ Rivet, Eric; Stenzel, Michael (22 April 2011). "Classes of Destroyer Escorts". History of Destroyer Escorts. Destroyer Escort Historical Museum. Retrieved 8 July 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.
- ↑ U.S. Destroyers, an illustrated design history by Norman Friedman, ISBN 1-55750-442-3 Chapter 7
External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Edsall class destroyer escort. |
- List of Edsall Class Destroyer Escorts
- USS Fessenden DE/DER-142
- Destroyers OnLine: The Destroyer Escorts
- Edsall class at Destroyer History Foundation
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