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I've had it. I am outta here!

O

OhioDude

Diamond Member
... until next Wednesday when I return from vacation. 😉🙂

I'm headed to Virginia Beach for the annual reunion of the USS Rich survivors. Click the link in my sig if you'd like to learn more about the USS Rich.

In my absence, Tarca will be handling the SETI race thread. Since he's on the west coast of the US, stats will be posted approximately three hours later than usual.

Thanks for taking over, Tom! 🙂

See y'all when I return.

OD
 
Take care and have fun w/your fellow shipmatees!

And toss one back for your ol' buds here (I kinda prefer Chix in the Va. Beach Hilton 🙂 )
 
Have a great vaction OD!! You deserve it!!

:beer: :music: :beer: :music::beer: :music: :beer: :music:

--LANMAN

 
Have a good time, George. CU when you get back (not really but you know what I mean 😛)

🙂
 
Enjoy your reunion. Thanks for your service for us. :beer::beer::beer:

If you don't mind, a question about DEs. Weren't they retired as a class in the 50's? I think my father served on one in that timeframe, and I recall that it was never fully accepted by the Navy.

I've been to the museum(s) in Arromanche, and also the cemetery in Villeneuve, but I don't recall the marker for the USS Rich. I'll have to look for it next time I go. It seems the focus is always on the soldiers who landed or parachuted in, and not much about the sailors who brought them there, and provided the support bombardment.
 
Enjoy your reunion. Thanks for your service for us.
Click to expand...
My father, who passed away in 1985, served aboard the USS Rich. The survivors tracked me down in 2000 after some of them came across a photo I had posted on the NavSource.org website of the USS Rich that my dad had taken when she launched in 1943. (The picture's on the website.) These wonderful men and their families basically "adopted" me into their group. I built and host websites for them and the Rich's sister ship, the USS Bunch, so that their service and sacrifices might hopefully be made known and remembered.

World War II veterans are passing on at the rate of over a thousand per day. So many young people today have no idea what these men did, what they gave, not only for their own countries, but for the world. Their histories must be preserved.

To answer your question regarding DE's, the US Navy was using destroyers (DD's) to escort convoys from the States to Europe early during the war. As the war escalated, the demand for escorts exceeded the supply of destroyers. Plus, DD's were best suited for battle and their firepower was needed elsewhere. DE's were built as a smaller version of a destroyer (normal crew complement was 189 - 216 officers and men) to take over the job of escorting the convoys. But, DE's also packed a pretty good wallop and could assume the role of a destroyer should the need arise. They were a dual role ship, hence the name Destroyer / Escort. Many of them saw intense battle operations in numerous theaters, most notably in the Pacific at Leyte Gulf and Okinawa. By mid-1943, shipyards could produce a DE every 20 days, from laying the keel to launching! A total of 565 DE's were built during and shortly after WWII, so I'd say that the Navy accepted them pretty well. 🙂

Following WWII, I'm not sure of the date but it was sometime in the late '40's or early '50's, the US Navy reclassified DE's as Frigates. Only one DE remains afloat today and that is the USS Slater which is a floating museum located in Albany, New York.

USS Slater Website
 
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