USS Flaherty
History | |
---|---|
United States | |
Namesake | Francis C. Flaherty |
Builder | Consolidated Steel Corporation, Orange, Texas |
Laid down | 7 November 1942 |
Launched | 17 January 1943 |
Commissioned | 26 June 1943 |
Decommissioned | 17 June 1946 |
Stricken | 1 April 1965 |
Honours and awards | 4 battle stars plus a Presidential Unit Citation |
Fate | Sold 4 November 1966, scrapped |
General characteristics | |
Class and type | Edsall-class destroyer escort |
Displacement |
|
Length | 306 feet (93.27 m) |
Beam | 36.58 feet (11.15 m) |
Draft | 10.42 full load feet (3.18 m) |
Propulsion |
|
Speed | 21 knots (39 km/h) |
Range |
|
Complement | 8 officers, 201 enlisted |
Armament |
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USS Flaherty (DE-135) was an
History
The ship was named in honor of Francis Charles Flaherty, who was awarded the Medal of Honor when he sacrificed his life in the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor 7 December 1941. When his ship was being abandoned, he remained in a turret holding a flashlight so that all of his men could see their way in order to escape; however, Flaherty did not make it out.
Flaherty was launched 17 January 1943 by
Battle of the Atlantic
Between 4 September 1943 and 15 February 1944, Flaherty made three voyages from the east coast to Casablanca on convoy escort duty. At Norfolk on 7 March 1944, she joined the hunter-killer group formed around USS Guadalcanal, sailing for a patrol which took her group across to Casablanca. On the return passage, off Madeira on 9 April, Flaherty fired in the action which sank U-515, for which she shared in the credit with three other escorts and carrier aircraft.
Capture of U-505
Returning to
Sinking of U-546
Between 15 July 1944 and 7 November, Flaherty completed two more hunter-killer patrols with the Guadalcanal group, then served as
Flaherty returned to New York 11 May 1945, and 2 weeks later sailed on convoy escort duty to
Decommissioning and fate
There she was decommissioned and placed in reserve 17 June 1946. She was struck from the
Awards
In addition to the Presidential Unit Citation, Flaherty received four battle stars for World War II service.
References
This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be found here.