Oh boy, an open bridge for service in the North Atlantic, won't this be fun for December convoy runs.
stevewyckoff
The Evarts-class were the only "short hull" DEs, as they had a length of only 289 feet while all subsequent classes measured in at 306 feet. And those 17 feet could make more of a difference than one might think. I found this story while doing my deep dive into the history of USS England:
On the night of April 8, 1944, three DEs were sailing through rough seas en route to Espiritu Santo. Two "long hull" Buckley-class, USS England and USS George (who would go on to be an important and rather interesting 'character' in England's sub killing spree the following month), and the Evarts-class USS Seid; with England's captain, Walton Pendleton, serving as OTC.
Pendleton was in a rush to get to Espiritu Santo since England had a boiler cleaning availability, so the DEs were making 18-20 knots through the choppy seas. England and George were handling the swells just fine, Seid not so much. Around 2000 that night, Seid's captain Henry Vaughn, asked Pendleton if they could slow down to 13 knots, which Pendleton denied. Around 2015, Vaughn again requested they reduce speed, since Seid was now in danger of breaking longitudinals. Pendleton responded, *"Tell him 'bullshit.'"*
England's executive officer, John Williamson (who, if you know England's story, you know is a fucking wizard when it comes to ASW and all things DEs), knew Vaughn was a competent skipper and that Seid was a short-hull, and interjected, convincing Pendleton to at least let the three ships proceed independently. So finally, at 2041, they went their separate ways.
So England sped ahead to Espiritu Santo alone, though to his credit, Pendleton spent much of the following day waiting to see that Seid arrived in one piece. Which she did, much to his relief, albeit with three broken longitudinals. Seid's war diary noted that this was the third time she'd experienced something like this, but upon inspection, she was found to be seaworthy, though some of her welds were weak and had to be re-welded.
So yeah. Don't know what the point of me sharing that was, guess I just like blabbing about DEs and USS England.
GuardianViolet
My father served aboard a Cannon class DE, (DE 188 O'Neil ), which had a triple torpedo launcher. My dad always said he was in the "real" navy! Though DEs were not intended for anything except convoy duty they frequently did just about everything a destroyer could do, including scaring away Japanese battleships! No doubt the Japanese knew of their ferocious reputation! The O'Neil even stopped a kamikaze from hitting the USS Tennessee off Iwo Jima, which left a nasty scar on her bow.
bullettube
One can do nothing but admire the men who went to sea and fought on destroyers of all types during WW2. Living conditions were primitive and they not only had to fight the enemy, but the sea trying to dispatch them as well.
marcbondi
Later variants had steam turbine electric power as well as diesel electric.
The RN ended up with around a hundred all together.
Crews were sent to the USA to train on one ship set aside for the purpose then they brought their own ship back across the Atlantic as part of a convoy.
Their first stop was in to a shipyard where they received work to change them to RN standards, this included Removal of bunks and fitting of hammock rails, (More comfortable on a small ship and freed up a lot of space for more furniture like chairs and tables on the mess decks) Extra depth charge 'K' launchers and rails plus more depth charge stowage and changes to to bring electrical and mechanical systems in to line with RN standards.
Andy_Ross
I love the minimalist design of this and the flower class. Anti-sub frigates are so interesting to me.
aidanfarnan
Always glad to hear mention of the Captain Class, one of those lost being the last ship to bare my family name.
patrickl
That photo at 5:15 is beautiful. I love the little details like the cranes, railroad equipment, and the guy riding the bike along the dockyard at the left.
RCAvhstape
Thank you for posting this info on the USS Evarts Class DEs! My father served on the USS Donaldson DE44 from 1944 thru 1945 in the South Pacific.
johngamlin
Always love learning about a new class I never knew about.
kpdubbs
The large floating crane at the five minute point in this film I believe is yd-26 a crane I worked on and made many parts for (even climbing around the rotate rollers to measure all of them) it was sold but was still in around about 2010
ralphe
To further exacerbate the escort shortage Clemson and Wickes were also being converted to amphibious transports, minesweepers, minelayers, and seaplanes tenders (and some subsequently converted to APDs).
My cursory count was 66 conversions. Add in the 50 sent to the RN and you have 116 of the original 156 Clemsons already taken when the US entered WW2
Fulcrum
My grandfather served on one of these. HMS Grindall (K477).
AWMJoeyjoejoe
There is something refreshing about ship designs on a tight budget. You can't have everything the wrestling about what is needed gives the result a simple economical ship.
rossswenson
I always 'like' Drach's videos before even watching them. I already know they will be great.
chrisf
Interesting in that the Evarts class DE were somewhat like the shorter 173 foot long Patrol Craft series. These had only one 3"/50 gun forward with a "Mousetrap" forward mortar bomb thrower (The American version of the much better British "Hedgehog), one single 40mm AA Gun with 3 20mm Oerlikons abaft the open flying bridge. On the fantail were 2 K-Gun Depth Charge Throwers on each beam with 2 Depth Charge Racks facing aft. The difference was only 2 diesel engines were required for a similar 18-20 knot speed, and a crew of 5 Officers and 60 enlisted sailors. My Grandfather served aboard PC-564 which was involved and heavily damaged in the Granville Raid on 8-9 March, 1945 off the Port of Granville, France. Unfortunately he was killed during the engagement with 3 Kriegsmarine Artillery Barges just south of the Channel Islands. If only they had been aboard a vessel such as the Evarts class.... I would love to do a presentation on Drach's channel about these vessels and/or the Granville Raid some day. Cheers.
davidlavigne
My dad served on the USS Evarts (DE-5) in 1944-1945. Great to see more information on this type of ship.
fredgilligan
Love your work, as a son of a sea cook I applaud you
KeithFerguson-ye
I served on a US Navy ship DER 327. It was a converted WWII Destroyer Escort commissioned in December 1942 in Orange, Texas. Following the war, Brister was decommissioned. She was Recommissioned USS Brister DER 327 in the mid-1950s. Armament was 2, 3" 50mm gun mounts, triple torpedo mounts amidship port and starboard, a hedgehog mount between the enclosed bridge and the forward mount and 2, depth charge racks port and starboard aft. Our homeport was Apra Harbor, Guam assigned to patrol the Trust Territories of the Pacific under UN mandate. In November 1965 we began a homeward bound cruise via Sydney, Australia. After leaving Sydney we stopped in Pago Pago, Samoa. After leaving Pago Pago we embarked for a planned stop in Pearl Harbor. On arrival in Pearl Harbor orders for decommissioning were cancelled and we were ordered to proceed to the coast of South Vietnam where we patrolled from the DMZ to just south of Cambodia in the Gulf of Thailand. Brister remained there until 1968 when she was decommissioned.
MeLancer
Father served aboard the USS O'Toole (DE 527) an Evarts class Destroyer Escort as a Gunners Mate 2nd class manning the aft main battery gun. Fathers ears bled for 25 years after the war and had back problems after being blown out of his gun mount and falling 15 feet to the steel deck below.
The ship had quite a history but everything you find online about it seems it wasn't in the war much at all but after hearing dads accounts of where they went and what they did I have learned that the O'Toole's history is quite incomplete.
Would love to see Drachinifel document O'Toole's history to right the wrong done to this ship, particularly it's ordeal as an escort for Army Convoy NY119 & the Atlantic Hurricane they encountered.
