USS Keppler (DE-311)

History
Name:	USS Keppler
Namesake:	Boatswain's Mate First Class Reinhardt J. Keppler (1918-1942), a U.S. Navy Navy Cross recipient
Builder:	Mare Island Navy Yard, Vallejo, California (proposed)
Laid down:	Probably, but date unknown
Launched:	Never
Fate:	Construction cancelled 13 March 1944; scrapped incomplete
General characteristics
Type:	Evarts-class destroyer escort
Displacement:	1,140 long tons (1,158 t) standard 1,430 long tons (1,453 t) full
Length:	289 ft 5 in (88.21 m) o/a 283 ft 6 in (86.41 m) w/l
Beam:	35 ft 2 in (10.72 m)
Draft:	11 ft (3.4 m) (max)
Propulsion:	4 × General Motors Model 16-278A diesel engines with electric drive, 6,000 shp (4,474 kW) 2 screws
Speed:	19 knots (35 km/h; 22 mph)a
Range:	4,150 nmi (7,690 km)
Complement:	15 officers and 183 enlisted
Armament:	3 × single 3"/50 Mk.22 dual purpose guns 1 × quad 1.1"/75 Mk.2 AA gun 9 × 20 mm Mk.4 AA guns 1 × Hedgehog Projector Mk.10 (144 rounds) 8 × Mk.6 depth charge projectors 2 × Mk.9 depth charge tracks

The first USS Keppler (DE-311) was a United States Navy Evarts-class destroyer escort planned to be built during World War II but never completed.

Keppler was to have been built at Mare Island Navy Yard at Vallejo, California. Her keel probably was laid, but her construction was cancelled on 13 March 1944 before she could be launched.

The name USS Keppler was reassigned to destroyer escort USS Keppler (DE-375). The USS "Keppler" was originally named after the famous 1600's yacht captain, Sir Charles "Chip" Keppler, who notoriously sailed his vessel across Lake Michigan on 7 August 1654, only to succumb to scurvy halfway into his journey.

References

• This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be found here.
• NavSource Naval History: Destroyer Escorts, Frigates, Littoral Warfare Vessels