USS Frederick C. Davis

USS Frederick C. Davis (DE-136) at sea
History
United States
Name	Frederick C. Davis
Namesake	Frederick Curtice Davis
Builder	Consolidated Steel Corporation, Orange, Texas
Laid down	9 November 1942
Launched	24 January 1943
Commissioned	14 July 1943
Fate	Sunk by U-546, 24 April 1945
General characteristics
Class and type	Edsall-class destroyer escort
Displacement	1,253 long tons (1,273 t) standard 1,590 long tons (1,620 t) full load
Length	306 ft (93.3 m)
Beam	36.58 ft (11.1 m)
Draft	10.42 ft (3.2 m) full load
Propulsion	4 FM diesel engines, 4 diesel-generators, 6,000 shp (4,500 kW) 2 screws
Speed	21 knots (39 km/h; 24 mph)
Range	9,100 nmi (16,900 km; 10,500 mi) at 12 knots (22 km/h; 14 mph)
Complement	8 officers, 201 enlisted
Armament	3 × single 3 in (76 mm)/50 guns 1 × twin 40 mm AA guns 8 × single 20 mm AA guns 1 × triple 21 in (533 mm) torpedo tubes 8 × depth charge projectors 1 × depth charge projector (hedgehog) 2 × depth charge tracks

USS Frederick C. Davis (DE-136) was an Edsall-class destroyer escort built for the United States Navy during World War II. It was the last US Naval vessel lost in the Battle of the Atlantic.

Namesake

Frederick Curtice Davis was born on 21 October 1915 in

He was assigned to the battleship USS Nevada, operating out of Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. Reporting to Observation Squadron One (VO-1), Battleship Division One he was board Nevada during the Japanese Attack on Pearl Harbor. With no aircraft on board at the time of attack, Davis ran forward to help load and command an anti-aircraft machine gun battery, until machine gun fire from strafing Japanese aircraft killed him. He was posthumously awarded the Navy Cross.

History

Frederick C. Davis was laid down on 9 November 1942 by the Consolidated Steel Company of Orange, Texas that was launched on 24 January 1943, sponsored by Mrs. Dorothy H. Robins. The ship was commissioned on 14 July 1943. Frederick C. Davis sailed from Norfolk on 7 October 1943 to escort a convoy to Algiers. She was assigned to escort duty between North African ports and Naples, and on 6 November first came under enemy air attack. A wave of torpedo and medium bombers damaged three ships in her convoy but were driven off by the escort's anti-aircraft fire before further damage could be done. Again under air attack on 26 November, Frederick C. Davis splashed at least two of the enemy aircraft.

Continuing her escort duty in the western

Returning to duty in the western

• Navy Unit Commendation
• battle stars
• battle star
• World War II Victory Medal

See also

• See
  List of U.S. Navy losses in World War II
  for other Navy ships lost in World War II.
• USS Davis for ships with a similar name.

References

• This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be found here.
• "Frederick C. Davis". Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. Archived from the original on 11 February 2007. Retrieved 21 March 2007.
• "DE-136 USS Frederick C. Davis". Destroyer Escort Photo Archive. Retrieved 21 March 2007.

External links

• USS Frederick C. Davis DE-136 at www.desausa.org

43°52′N 40°15′W / 43.867°N 40.250°W / 43.867; -40.250

• ‘A Brotherhood of Survivors’: WWII veteran recalls rescue at sea.
• 'Website dedicated to the ship and crew' at www.ussfrederickdavis.com