USS Lansing

History
United States
Namesake	William Henry Lansing
Builder	Brown Shipbuilding, Houston, Texas
Laid down	15 May 1943
Launched	2 August 1943
Commissioned	10 November 1943
Decommissioned	21 May 1965
Stricken	1 February 1974
Fate	Sold for scrapping, 16 August 1974
General characteristics
Class and type	Edsall-class destroyer escort
Displacement	1,253 tons standard; 1,590 tons full load;
Length	306 feet (93.27 m)
Beam	36.58 feet (11.15 m)
Draft	10.42 full load feet (3.18 m)
Propulsion	4 FM diesel engines,; 4 diesel-generators,; 6,000 shp (4.5 MW),; 2 screws;
Speed	21 knots (39 km/h)
Range	9,100 nmi. at 12 knots; (17,000 km at 22 km/h);
Complement	8 officers, 201 enlisted
Armament	3 × single 3 in (76 mm)/50 guns ; 1 × twin 40 mm AA guns ; 8 × single 20 mm AA guns ; 1 × triple 21 in (533 mm) torpedo tubes ; 8 × depth charge projectors; 1 × depth charge projector (hedgehog); 2 × depth charge tracks;

Last updated April 12, 2023

USS Lansing (DE-388), an Edsall-class destroyer escort, was the only ship of the United States Navy to be named for Aviation Machinist Mate First Class William Henry Lansing.

Namesake

William Henry Lansing was born on 7 March 1914 in Amsterdam, New York. He enlisted in the United States Naval Reserve on 14 February 1933. He joined the regular United States Navy on 8 May 1934 and was assigned to USS Lexington in August. In December 1941, Aviation Machinist Mate First Class Lansing joined Patrol Squadron 43, serving at San Diego, California and Alameda, California. Following the entry of the United States into World War II, his squadron was dispatched to the Aleutian Islands for the aviation buildup in the North Pacific. On 11 June 1942 as plane captain, he participated in a divebombing and strafing attack on Japanese shipping in Kiska Harbor. While manning his exposed and unprotected station at the engine controls, he was killed by enemy fire.

Construction and commissioning

Her keel was laid down on 15 May 1943 by Brown Shipbuilding of Houston, Texas. She was launched on 2 August 1943 sponsored by Mrs. Alberta L. Lansing, widow of AD1 Lansing, and commissioned on 10 November 1943.

History

After shakedown, Lansing departed Norfolk, Virginia, on 13 February 1944 on her first transatlantic cruise escorting convoy UGS 33 bound to Casablanca, the first of eight voyages to north African ports protecting convoys loaded with vital war material. During Lansing's second cruise, a convoy ship G. S. Walden was damaged by a torpedo fired from a U-boat on 12 May.

Arriving Boston, Massachusetts, on 12 June 1945 from her final transatlantic mission, the destroyer escort prepared for service in the Pacific. She transited the Panama Canal 2 August and was en route to Pearl Harbor when she received news of the Japanese surrender. Lansing returned New York 26 September, and decommissioned at Green Cove Springs 25 April 1946, joining the Atlantic Reserve Fleet.

She was transferred to the Coast Guard in June 1952. Upon her return to the Navy in 1954 Lansing was converted to a radar picket escort ship and given the hull classification symbol DER-388 21 October 1955. She was recommissioned 18 December 1956.

Lansing joined the Pacific Barrier 2 June 1957 for operations out of Pearl Harbor as a radar picket. From 1957 until 1965 she made regular patrols, ready to provide early warning in the event of an enemy attack. Lansing participated in the atomic tests at Johnston Island in the summer of 1958 and again in the fall of 1962. She sailed on Far East cruises during 1961 and 1963 and engaged in search operations for a downed Air Force Globemaster in January 1964.

Fate

Arriving Bremerton, Washington, 22 February 1965, Lansing decommissioned there 21 May and entered the Pacific Reserve Fleet.

Fiction

A fictional submarine USS Lansing (SSN-795), a Virginia-class submarine named for Lansing, Michigan, is the setting of the 2001 made-for-TV movie Danger Beneath the Sea . SSN-975, Lansing a Virginia class submarine, appears in the direct to video film Solar Attack .

Related Research Articles

USS Hissem (DE-400/DER-400) was an Edsall class destroyer escort of the United States Navy. Hissem was constructed in 1943 as DE-400. In 1955, the vessel was equipped with modern radars, and the designation was changed to DER-400. The special purpose of DER ships was the detection of aircraft. Their chief role was to extend the DEW line out into the N. Atlantic and the N. Pacific oceans.

USS Atherton (DE-169), a Cannon-class destroyer escort, was the only ship of the United States Navy to be named for Lt. (jg) John McDougal Atherton, who died when USS Meredith sank near Guadalcanal during World War II.

USS Cabana (DE-260) was an Evarts-class destroyer escort constructed for the United States Navy during World War II. The namesake of this ship, Napoleon Joseph Cabana, was born in Fairhaven, Massachusetts on 26 March 1911, Cabana enlisted in the Navy on 17 March 1930 and was appointed machinist on 2 February 1941. As assistant safety engineer of the Cavite Navy Yard, Philippines, he was killed in action during Japanese attacks on that base on 12 December 1941.

USS Hemminger (DE-746) was a Cannon-class destroyer escort in service with the United States Navy from 1944 to 1946 and from 1950 to 1958. In 1959, she was transferred to Thailand, where she serves as HTMS Pin Klao. She is the only Cannon-class destroyer escort still in service.

USS Fessenden (DE-142/DER-142) was an Edsall-class destroyer escort built for the U.S. Navy during World War II. She served in the Atlantic Ocean and the Pacific Ocean and provided destroyer escort protection against submarine and air attack for Navy vessels and convoys.

USS Blair (DE-147) was an Edsall-class destroyer escort in service with the United States Navy from 1943 to 1946 and from 1951 to 1960. She was scrapped in 1974. Blair was named in honor of Chief Machinist's Mate Eugene Blair, who was awarded the Silver Star posthumously for his brave actions when his ship was attacked and bombed by Japanese planes near Port Darwin, Australia, in mid-February 1942.

USS Otterstetter (DE-244) was an Edsall-class destroyer escort built for the U.S. Navy during World War II. She served in the Atlantic Ocean the Pacific Ocean and provided destroyer escort protection against submarine and air attack for Navy vessels and convoys.

USS Harveson (DE-316) was an Edsall-class destroyer escort built for the U.S. Navy during World War II. She served in the Atlantic Ocean the Pacific Ocean and provided destroyer escort protection against submarine and air attack for Navy vessels and convoys.

USS Joyce (DE-317) was originally commissioned as a US Coast Guard Edsall-class destroyer escort built for the U.S. Navy during World War II. She served in the Atlantic Ocean and the Pacific Ocean and provided destroyer escort protection against submarine and air attack for Navy vessels and convoys. During its World War II service, on two different engagements with enemy submarines, the Joyce rescued survivors of the tanker SS Pan- Pennsylvania and its sister ship USS Leopold. Joyce received one battle star for its service during World War II.

USS Kirkpatrick (DE-318) was an Edsall-class destroyer escort built for the U.S. Navy during World War II. She served in the Atlantic Ocean the Pacific Ocean and provided destroyer escort protection against submarine and air attack for Navy vessels and convoys. Post-war, she was converted to a radar picket ship to support the DEW Line.

USS Falgout (DE-/DER-324) was an Edsall-class destroyer escort built for the U.S. Navy during World War II. She served in the Atlantic Ocean and provided destroyer escort protection against submarine and air attack for Navy vessels and convoys. Post-war, she was borrowed by the U.S. Coast Guard and also served as a radar picket ship on the Distant Early Warning Line. She was reclassified DER-324 on 28 October 1954.

USS Koiner (DE-331) was an Edsall-class destroyer escort built for the U.S. Navy during World War II. She served in the Atlantic Ocean and the Pacific Ocean and provided destroyer escort protection against submarine and air attack for Navy vessels and convoys. Post-war, she was loaned to the U.S. Coast Guard, and also reclassified as a radar picket ship.

USS Roy O. Hale (DE-336) was an Edsall-class destroyer escort in service with the United States Navy from 1944 to 1946 and from 1957 to 1963. She was scrapped in 1975.

USS Martin H. Ray (DE-338) was an Edsall-class destroyer escort built for the U.S. Navy during World War II. She served in the Atlantic Ocean and the Pacific Ocean and provided destroyer escort protection against submarine and air attack for Navy vessels and convoys.

USS Ramsden (DE-382) was an Edsall-class destroyer escort built for the U.S. Navy during World War II. She served in the Atlantic Ocean and the Pacific Ocean and provided destroyer escort protection against submarine and air attack for Navy vessels and convoys. Post-war, she performed other tasks with the U.S. Coast Guard and with the U.S. Navy as a radar picket ship.

USS Mills (DE-383) was an Edsall-class destroyer escort built for the U.S. Navy during World War II. She served in the Atlantic Ocean and the Pacific Ocean and provided destroyer escort protection against submarine and air attack for Navy vessels and convoys. Post-war, she performed additional duties for the Navy, including those of a radar picket ship and a safety and support ship for Operation Deep Freeze.

USS Calcaterra (DE-390) was an Edsall-class destroyer escort built for the U.S. Navy during World War II. She served in the Atlantic Ocean and the Pacific Ocean and provided destroyer escort protection against submarine and air attack for Navy vessels and convoys. Post-war she was called up again for duty, this time as a radar picket ship.

USS Haverfield (DE-393) was an Edsall-class destroyer escort built for the U.S. Navy during World War II. She served in the Atlantic Ocean and the Pacific Ocean and provided destroyer escort protection against submarine and air attack for Navy vessels and convoys.

USS Woodson (DE-359) was a John C. Butler-class destroyer escort acquired by the United States Navy during World War II. The primary purpose of the destroyer escort was to escort and protect ships in convoy, in addition to other tasks as assigned, such as patrol or radar picket.

USS Johnnie Hutchins (DE-360) was a John C. Butler-class destroyer escort acquired by the U.S. Navy during World War II. The primary purpose of the destroyer escort was to escort and protect ships in convoy, in addition to other tasks as assigned, such as patrol or radar picket. She served in the Pacific Ocean, and, post-war, she returned home with a Navy Unit Commendation awarded to her for her battle with Japanese midget submarines on 9 August 1945.

References

This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships .The entry can be found here.
SSN-774 Virginia class

External links

NavSource.org - DE-388

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.