USS Harold C. Thomas, in 1945 | |
History | |
---|---|
United States | |
Name | USS Harold C. Thomas |
Builder | Mare Island Naval Shipyard, Vallejo, California |
Laid down | 30 April 1942 |
Launched | 18 December 1942, as HMS Essington (BDE-21) |
Commissioned | 31 May 1943 |
Decommissioned | 26 October 1945 |
Renamed | USS Harold C. Thomas, 19 February 1943 |
Stricken | 28 November 1945 |
Honors and awards | 2 battle stars (World War II) |
Fate | Sold for scrapping, 25 November 1946 |
General characteristics | |
Type | Evarts-class destroyer escort |
Displacement |
|
Length | |
Beam | 35 ft (11 m) |
Draft | 11 ft (3.4 m) (max) |
Propulsion |
|
Speed | 19 knots (35 km/h; 22 mph) |
Range | 4,150 nmi (7,690 km) |
Complement | 15 officers and 183 enlisted |
Armament |
|
USS Harold C. Thomas (DE-21) was an Evarts-class destroyer escort constructed for the United States Navy during World War II. It was promptly sent off into the Pacific Ocean to protect convoys and other ships from Japanese submarines and fighter aircraft. At the end of the war, she returned to the United States with two battle stars.
She was launched on 18 December 1942 by the Mare Island Naval Shipyard, Vallejo, California, as HMS Essington (BDE-21) for the British Royal Navy; later designated for U.S. Navy use; and commissioned on 31 May 1943.
Harold Chester Tomas was born on 7 May 1907 in Gleo, Oklahoma. He enlisted in the Navy on 28 January 1927. He was appointed Carpenter on 8 February 1933 and served on various ships and at Cavite Naval Yard before being commissioned Chief Carpenter 24 March 1939. He reported to USS Boise on 14 May 1940 and was appointed Lieutenant (junior grade) on 1 September 1942. During the Battle of Cape Esperance, 11–12 October 1942, Boise was badly hit by Imperial Japanese Navy gunfire. He was killed while working with damage control parties to keep his ship in the battle, and was posthumously awarded the Navy Cross.
After three voyages escorting merchantmen from San Francisco, California, to Pearl Harbor, Harold C. Thomas served with ComSubTraPac from 2 to 20 November 1943. Sailing from Pearl Harbor on 20 November with a convoy of merchantmen and cargo ships, she reached Abemama, Gilbert Islands, on 28 November, a week after Vice Admiral Raymond A. Spruance began the occupation of those islands. Harold C. Thomas spent the rest of the year in the Gilberts on patrol and escort duty.
After undergoing availability early in 1944, Harold C. Thomas sailed as flagship for Escort Division 10, on 29 February. Reaching Eniwetok, Marshall Islands, on 11 March, she did escort work until 30 March when she became part of a hunter-killer carrier group on anti-submarine patrol east of the Marshalls. Returning to Pearl Harbor on 6 May, the destroyer escort spent the remainder of the year in the vital but unsung work of shepherding merchantmen, cargo ships, and transports through the back staging area, up to their assembly points for invasion forces. This duty took Harold C. Thomas to the Marshall, Admiralty, Palau, and Marianas Islands. She also performed some submarine training work at Pearl Harbor. On 21 November Harold C. Thomas rescued seven men from a PBM flying boat which had crashed at sea off Majuro Atoll.
Departing Pearl Harbor on 21 January 1945, she reached San Francisco, California, six days later and proceeded to San Diego, California, for badly needed repairs. Harold C. Thomas returned to Pearl Harbor on 5 April and spent the rest of the war in submarine training and escort duty.
The long Pacific war ended on 2 September with the signing of the unconditional surrender on board USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay, and Harold C. Thomas sailed for the United States 20 days later, putting into San Pedro, Los Angeles, on 27 September.
She decommissioned on 26 October 1945. She was sold to the Pacific Bridge Co., San Francisco, California, on 25 November 1946 and was scrapped on 26 March 1947.
Combat Action Ribbon (retroactive) | |
American Campaign Medal | |
Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal (with two service stars) | |
World War II Victory Medal |
Mahan-class destroyers of the United States Navy were a series of 18 destroyers of which the first 16 were laid down in 1934. The last two of the 18, Dunlap and Fanning, are sometimes considered a separate ship class. All 18 were commissioned in 1936 and 1937. Mahan was the lead ship, named for Rear Admiral Alfred Thayer Mahan, an influential historian and theorist on sea power.
USS David W. Taylor (DD-551), a Fletcher-class destroyer, was a ship of the United States Navy named for Rear Admiral David W. Taylor (1864–1940).
USS George (DE-697) was a Buckley-class destroyer escort. She was the second ship of the United States Navy named after Seaman Second Class Eugene F. George (1925–1942), who was posthumously awarded the Navy Cross for his heroism on USS San Francisco at the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal.
USS Doherty (DE-14) was an Evarts class destroyer escort constructed for the United States Navy during World War II. She was sent off into the Pacific Ocean to protect convoys and other ships from Japanese submarines and fighter aircraft. She performed escort and antisubmarine operations in dangerous battle areas and returned home safely at war's end.
USS Gilmore (DE-18) was an Evarts-class short-hull destroyer escort in the service of the United States Navy.
USS Burden R. Hastings (DE-19) was an Evarts-class destroyer escort of the United States Navy during World War II. Immediately after being built, she was crewed and sent to the Pacific Ocean to escort convoys and to protect them from air and submarine attack. During her wartime service, she was credited with having sunk one Japanese submarine and otherwise protecting numerous ships from danger. She was awarded four battle stars for her services in battle areas.
USS LeHardy (DE-20) was an Evarts-class destroyer escort constructed for the United States Navy during World War II. It was promptly sent off into the Pacific Ocean to protect convoys and other ships from Japanese submarines and fighter aircraft. At the end of the war, she had the honor of proceeding to Wake Island, as the Japanese commander surrendered, and raising a flagpole to fly the American flag once again.
USS Wileman (DE-22) was an Evarts-class destroyer escort constructed for the United States Navy during World War II. It was promptly sent off into the Pacific Ocean to protect convoys and other ships from Japanese submarines and fighter aircraft. At the end of the war, she returned to the United States proudly displaying four battle stars.
USS Whitman (DE-24) was an Evarts-class destroyer escort constructed for the United States Navy during World War II. It was promptly sent off into the Pacific Ocean to protect convoys and other ships from Japanese submarines and fighter aircraft. By the end of the war, when she returned to the United States, she had accumulated four battle stars.
USS Wintle (DE-25) was an Evarts-class destroyer escort constructed for the United States Navy during World War II. It was promptly sent off into the Pacific Ocean to protect convoys and other ships from Japanese submarines and fighter aircraft. By the end of the war, when she returned to the United States, she was awarded three battle stars.
USS Emery (DE-28) was an Evarts-class destroyer escort constructed for the United States Navy during World War II. It was promptly sent off into the Pacific Ocean to protect convoys and other ships from Japanese submarines and fighter aircraft. By the end of the war, she had accumulated three battle stars.
USS Stadtfeld (DE-29) was an Evarts-class destroyer escort constructed for the United States Navy during World War II. It was promptly sent off into the Pacific Ocean to protect convoys and other ships from Japanese submarines and fighter aircraft. By the end of the war, when she returned to the United States, she was awarded four battle stars.
USS Martin (DE-30) was an Evarts-class destroyer escort constructed for the United States Navy during World War II. The ship was promptly sent off into the Pacific Ocean to protect convoys and other ships from Japanese submarines and fighter aircraft. The vessel entered service in 1943 and spent its entire career in the Pacific Ocean. Following the surrender of Japan, Martin returned to the United States and by the end of 1945, was slated for scrapping, which began in 1946.
The second USS Sanders (DE-40) was an Evarts class destroyer escort constructed for the United States Navy during World War II. She was sent to the Pacific Ocean to protect convoys and other shipping from Japanese submarines and fighter aircraft. She performed dangerous work in major battle areas and was awarded four battle stars.
USS Brackett (DE-41) was an Evarts-class destroyer escort of the United States Navy during World War II. She was sent off into the Pacific Ocean to protect convoys and other ships from Japanese submarines and fighter aircraft. She performed escort and anti-submarine operations in dangerous battle areas and was awarded three battle stars.
USS William C. Miller (DE-259) was an Evarts-class destroyer escort constructed for the United States Navy during World War II. She was sent off into the Pacific Ocean to protect convoys and other ships from Japanese submarines and fighter aircraft. She performed escort and anti-submarine operations in dangerous battle areas and returned home with seven battle stars, a very high number for a ship of her type.
USS Dionne (DE-261) was an Evarts-class destroyer escort of the United States Navy during World War II. She was sent off into the Pacific Ocean to protect convoys and other ships from Japanese submarines and fighter aircraft. She performed escort and antisubmarine operations in dangerous battle areas and returned home with six battle stars, a high number for a ship of her type.
USS Canfield (DE-262) was an Evarts-class destroyer escort constructed for the United States Navy during World War II. She was sent off into the Pacific Ocean to protect convoys and other ships from Japanese submarines and fighter aircraft. She performed escort and antisubmarine operations in dangerous battle areas and returned home with four battle stars.
USS Lake (DE-301) was an Evarts-class destroyer escort of the United States Navy during World War II. She was sent off into the Pacific Ocean to protect convoys and other ships from Japanese submarines and fighter aircraft. She performed escort and antisubmarine operations in dangerous battle areas and returned home with two battle stars.
USS McCoy Reynolds (DE-440) 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. Post-war, after operating in the Pacific Ocean battle areas, her crew members returned home with four battle stars to their credit for World War II and one for the Korean War.
This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships .The entry can be found here.