USS Crowley

	USS Crowley off Mare Island Naval Shipyard on 2 April 1944
History
United States
Name	USS Crowley
Builder	Mare Island Navy Yard
Laid down	24 May 1943
Launched	22 September 1943
Commissioned	25 March 1944
Decommissioned	3 December 1945
Stricken	19 December 1945
Honors and; awards	5 battle stars (World War II)
Fate	Sold for scrapping, 21 December 1946
General characteristics
Type	Evarts-class destroyer escort
Displacement	1,140 long tons (1,158 t) standard; 1,430 long tons (1,453 t) full;
Length	289 ft 5 in (88.21 m) o/a; 283 ft 6 in (86.41 m) w/l;
Beam	35 ft 2 in (10.72 m)
Draft	11 ft (3.4 m) (max)
Propulsion	4 × General Motors Model 16-278A diesel engines with electric drive, 6,000 shp (4,474 kW); 2 screws;
Speed	19 knots (35 km/h; 22 mph)
Range	4,150 nmi (7,690 km)
Complement	15 officers and 183 enlisted
Armament	3 × single dual purpose guns; 1 × quad 1.1"/75 Mk.2 AA gun; 9 × 20 mm Mk.4 AA guns; 1 × Hedgehog Projector Mk.10 (144 rounds); 8 × Mk.6 depth charge projectors; 2 × Mk.9 depth charge tracks;

USS Crowley (DE-303) was an

battle stars

.

Namesake

Thomas Ewing Crowley was born on 18 April 1902 in

United States Naval Reserve, he was commissioned assistant dental surgeon from 23 December 1929 and served at naval stations at Great Lakes, Illinois, San Diego, California, Guantanamo Bay, Cuba and Lakehurst, New Jersey, as well as at sea. He reported to USS Arizona on 23 May 1941. Lieutenant Commander Crowley was killed in action during the Japanese Attack on Pearl Harbor

on 7 December 1941.

Construction and commissioning

Crowley was launched on 22 September 1943 by

Mare Island Navy Yard; sponsored by Mrs. T. E. Crowley, widow of Lieutenant Commander Crowley; commissioned on 25 March 1944 and reported to the Pacific Fleet

.

World War II Pacific Theater operations

Departing

anti-submarine training exercises in Hawaii until 12 August. Escorting a convoy, she arrived at Guadalcanal on 25 August, and with another convoy reached Manus

on 14 September.

Between 15 September and 18 November 1944, Crowley sailed out of Manus escorting shipping to the Palau Islands during the invasion and consolidation, with occasional voyages to Humboldt Bay, New Guinea, and the Solomons. On 26 September she joined Donaldson (DE-44) in giving assistance to the merchant ship SS Don Marquis rescuing her survivors and bringing her fires under control to save her war cargo.

Crowley based at

oilers in the assault on Iwo Jima

until 22 March.

Departing

Honshū

, on 9 September.

End-of-War decommissioning

Crowley departed Tokyo Bay on 16 September 1945 and arrived at San Francisco on 8 October. Crowley was decommissioned on 3 December 1945 and sold on 21 December 1946.

References

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

External links

Photo gallery of Crowley at NavSource Naval History