USS Sloat (DE-245)

History
United States
Namesake	John Drake Sloat
Builder	Brown Shipbuilding Houston, Texas
Laid down	21 November 1942
Launched	21 January 1943
Commissioned	16 August 1943
Decommissioned	6 August 1947
Stricken	2 January 1971
Fate	Sold for scrapping 10 April 1972
General characteristics
Class and type	Edsall-class destroyer escort
Displacement	1,253 tons standard; 1,590 tons full load;
Length	306 feet (93.27 m)
Beam	36.58 feet (11.15 m)
Draft	10.42 full load feet (3.18 m)
Propulsion	4 FM diesel engines,; 4 diesel- generators,; 6,000 shp (4.5 MW),; 2 screws;
Speed	21 knots (39 km/h)
Range	9,100 nmi. at 12 knots; (17,000 km at 22 km/h);
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 Sloat (DE-245) was an

U.S. Navy during World War II. She served in the Atlantic Ocean the Pacific Ocean and provided destroyer escort protection against submarine and air attack for Navy vessels and convoys

.

She was named in honor of

John Drake Sloat (1781–1867). She was laid down on 21 November 1942 by Brown Shipbuilding Co., Houston, Texas; launched on 21 January 1943; sponsored by Mrs. J. B. Deason; and commissioned on 16 August 1943, Lt. Comdr. Edmund Ernest García

in command.

World War II North Atlantic operations

Sloat moved to

CortDiv) 7, stood out of New York with convoy UGS-24 bound for Norfolk and North Africa. The convoy arrived at Casablanca

on 2 December, and the escort picked up GUS-26 there, five days later, and returned to New York on 25 December 1943.

Under attack by Luftwaffe aircraft

On 10 January 1944, Sloat joined UGS-30 en route to Casablanca and returned with GUS-29 on 22 February. The escort joined the New York section of convoy UGS-36 on 10 March and sailed to Norfolk where it rendezvoused with the main body. The convoy, consisting of 72 merchant ships and 18 LST's, was guarded by Task Force (TF) 64. En route to Bizerte, Tunisia, the convoy was attacked by the Luftwaffe on 1 April, approximately 56 miles west of Algiers. Two planes were shot down and two damaged while only one ship in the convoy was damaged. The convoy arrived at Bizerte on 3 April. Eight days later, Sloat joined another convoy and returned to New York on 1 May.

Following training exercises in

U-boats in the North Atlantic. Sloat returned to the East Coast and operated from New York to the Caribbean until 15 July when she was ordered to San Diego

, California, and duty with the Pacific Fleet.

Transferred to the Pacific Fleet

Sloat arrived at San Diego, California on 26 July 1945, and was ordered to sail for

Eniwetok, the Caroline Islands, Iwo Jima, and Shanghai. She returned to San Pedro, Los Angeles, on 1 May 1946 and was routed to Charleston, South Carolina, arriving on 20 May. On 12 September 1946, she sailed to Green Cove Springs, Florida, for inactivation. She was placed in reserve, out of commission, in January 1947. Sloat was struck from the Navy List on 2 January 1971 and sold to Peck Equipment Co., Portsmouth, Virginia

, on 5 April 1972 for scrap.

Awards

Sloat received one battle star 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.

World War II North Atlantic operations

Under attack by Luftwaffe aircraft

Transferred to the Pacific Fleet

Awards

References

External links