USS Hissem
USS Hissem (DER-400) as a radar picket ship
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History | |
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United States | |
Namesake | Joseph Hissem |
Builder | Brown Shipbuilding, Houston, Texas |
Launched | 26 December 1943 |
Commissioned | 13 January 1944 |
Decommissioned | 15 May 1970 |
Stricken | 1 June 1975 |
Fate | Sunk as a target off California on 24 February 1982 |
General characteristics | |
Class and type | Edsall-class destroyer escort |
Displacement |
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Length | 306 feet (93.27 m) |
Beam | 36.58 feet (11.15 m) |
Draft | 10.42 full load feet (3.18 m) |
Propulsion |
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Speed | 21 knots (39 km/h) |
Range |
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Complement | 8 officers, 201 enlisted |
Armament |
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USS Hissem (DE-400/DER-400) was an
Namesake
Joseph Metcalf Hissem was born on 31 December 1917 in
History
Hissem was launched by Brown Shipbuilding, Houston, Texas, 26 December 1943; sponsored by Miss Elizabeth D. Hissem, sister of Ensign Hissem; and commissioned 13 January 1944.
Following a shakedown cruise to Bermuda, Hissem steamed via Charleston, South Carolina to New York, where she arrived 20 March 1944. Her first combat duty was as an escort ship with convoy UGS-37, carrying vitally needed troops and supplies to the Mediterranean. The convoy departed Norfolk, Virginia 23 March and entered the Mediterranean Sea without attack. Then near Algiers the night of 11–12 April the Luftwaffe attacked. About 35 bombers and torpedo planes struck in a coordinated attack, and were repulsed by accurate gunnery and evasive chemical smoke. Hissem's gun crews splashed one torpedo plane and damaged another, as the escorts prevented damage to the huge convoy of transports. The only ship struck was escort ship USS Holder (DE-401), torpedoed but able to make port.
Subsequently, Hissem performed regular escort duty across the Atlantic interspersed with anti-submarine and anti-aircraft training on the East Coast of the United States. The ship transported over 500 paratroopers in March 1945, taking them on board in the Azores, transferring them to SS Althone Castle, and escorting the ship through submarine waters to Liverpool. Braving both the Germans and the heavy weather of the North Atlantic. Hissem made a total of seven convoy voyages from June 1944 until she returned to New York 28 May 1945.
With the war in
Hissem sailed for the United States 9 January 1946. Arriving San Pedro 25 January, she got underway 2 days later for the
Hissem was brought out of reserve in 1955 and converted for use as a radar picket ship at Boston Navy Yard. Equipped with the latest electronic detection devices, she recommissioned at Boston 31 August 1956. After shakedown the ship joined the Atlantic Barrier, cruising as a sea extension of the DEW line to strengthen the northern defenses of Canada and the United States. In the years that followed, first out of Boston and later Newport, Hissem alternated 1 month of lonely picket duty with a month of in-port or training time, often experiencing the characteristic heavy weather of the North Atlantic. In 1959 and 1962 she made visits to Northern European and Mediterranean ports. Hissem was a member of the Cuban Missile Crisis blockade. Oct 1962
Hissem saw varied duty in 1963. After two tours of picket duty she acted as command ship during the search for lost submarine
Hissem remained a member of Operation "Deep Freeze" from 19 September to 28 February 1964. She then returned to the Atlantic Fleet by way of the Mediterranean, arriving 15 May. Early in 1965 Hissem was transferred to the Pacific Fleet. After a 5-month training period at Pearl Harbor, she sailed for
Fate
Hissem was decommissioned on 15 May 1970 and struck from the Naval Vessel Register on 1 June 1975. She was sunk as a target off California on 24 February 1982.
Honors
American Campaign Medal
Europe, Middle East, and North Africa Campaign Medal,
Asia Pacific Campaign Medal,
WWII Victory Medal
WWII Navy Occupation Medal
National Defense Service Medal
Vietnam Campaign Medal
Vietnam Service Medal
References
- This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be found here.