USS Clemson (DD-186)
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History | |
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Name | Clemson |
Namesake | Henry A. Clemson |
Builder | Newport News Shipbuilding & Dry Dock Company |
Laid down | 11 May 1918 |
Launched | 5 September 1918 |
Commissioned | 29 December 1919 |
Decommissioned | 30 June 1922 |
Reclassified | Small seaplane tender, AVP-17, 15 November 1939 |
Recommissioned | 12 July 1940 |
Reclassified |
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Decommissioned | 12 October 1945 |
Stricken | 24 October 1945 |
Fate | Sold for scrap 21 November 1946 |
General characteristics | |
Class and type | Clemson-class destroyer |
Displacement | 1,215 tons |
Length | 314 ft 5 in (95.83 m) |
Beam | 31 ft 9 in (9.68 m) |
Draft | 9 ft 10 in (3.00 m) |
Propulsion |
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Speed | 35 kn (65 km/h; 40 mph) |
Range | 4,900 nmi (9,100 km; 5,600 mi) at 15 kn (28 km/h; 17 mph) |
Boats & landing craft carried | 4 LCP landing craft |
Complement | 101 officers and enlisted |
Armament |
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USS Clemson (DD-186/AVP-17/AVD-4/APD-31) was the
As of 2019, she is the only ship in the United States Navy to have received the name Clemson.
Construction and commissioning
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/7b/USS_Clemson_%28DD_186%29_launching_at_Newport_News%2C_Virginia%2C_September_5%2C_1918_%2819985028121%29.jpg/300px-USS_Clemson_%28DD_186%29_launching_at_Newport_News%2C_Virginia%2C_September_5%2C_1918_%2819985028121%29.jpg)
Clemson was
Service history
1919–1922
Clemson cruised in
World War II
In the Atlantic
Reclassified AVP-17, 15 November 1939, and converted into a small aircraft tender, Clemson was recommissioned 12 July 1940. On 6 August, she was again reclassified, becoming AVD-4, and on 18 August reported to Commander, Aircraft,
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/3d/USS_Clemson_%28APD-31%29_off_the_Charleston_Navy_Yard_on_21_April_1944.jpg/220px-USS_Clemson_%28APD-31%29_off_the_Charleston_Navy_Yard_on_21_April_1944.jpg)
On 30 May 1943, she joined the pioneer American hunter-killer group built around Bogue. Clemson made eight patrols with the group during which it sank eight German submarines, a major contribution to victory in the Battle of the Atlantic. Clemson shared in the credit for the sinking of U-172 on 13 December at 26° 19' N., 29° 58' W. After an overhaul at New York early in 1944, she escorted a convoy to Casablanca and back between 25 January and 9 March. Once more, Clemson underwent conversion, this time to a high speed transport at Charleston Navy Yard (reclassified APD-31, 7 March 1944).
Clemson shared in the Presidential Unit Citation awarded the Bogue hunter-killer group.
In the Pacific
Clearing Charleston on 1 May 1944, the transport reached
Awards
Clemson received nine
References
This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be found here.
- Richard Worth (2001). Fleets of World War II. Da Capo Press. ISBN 0-306-81116-2.