USS Stevenson

	USS Stevenson underway in December 1942.
History
United States
Name	Stevenson
Namesake	John H. Stevenson
Builder	Federal Shipbuilding and Drydock Company
Laid down	23 July 1942
Launched	11 November 1942
Commissioned	15 December 1942
Decommissioned	27 April 1946
Stricken	1 June 1968
Fate	Sold 2 June 1970 and broken up for scrap
General characteristics
Class and type	Gleaves-class destroyer
Displacement	1,630 tons
Length	348 ft 3 in (106.15 m)
Beam	36 ft 1 in (11.00 m)
Draft	11 ft 10 in (3.61 m)
Propulsion	50,000 shp (37,000 kW);; 4 boilers;; 2 propellers;
Speed	37.4 knots (69 km/h)
Range	6,500 nmi (12,000 km; 7,500 mi) at 12 kn (22 km/h; 14 mph)
Complement	16 officers, 260 enlisted
Armament	4 × DP guns; 4 × 40 mm (1.6 in) guns; 4 × 20 mm (0.79 in) AA guns,; 5 × 21 in (533 mm) torpedo tubes (5 Mark 15 torpedoes); 6 × depth charge projectors,; 2 × depth charge tracks;

USS Stevenson (DD-645), was a Gleaves-class destroyer of the United States Navy.

Namesake

John H. Stevenson was a native of New York City. He was appointed Volunteer Acting Assistant Paymaster and Clerk in the United States Navy on 19 September 1862 during the American Civil War.

While attached to

Brooklyn, New York

, on 14 June 1899.

The name Stevenson was assigned on 22 January 1941 to DD-503, an experimental 900-ton destroyer ordered on 9 September 1940 from the Federal Shipbuilding and Drydock Co., Kearny, N.J. However, the contract was cancelled on 10 February 1941 and replaced by a contract for the Gleaves class destroyer.

Construction and commissioning

Stevenson was

launched on 11 November 1942, sponsored by Miss Mary Stevenson, daughter of Pay Inspector Stevenson. The ship was commissioned

on 15 December 1942.

Service history

Stevenson commenced shakedown in late December immediately after commissioning, but, on 4 February 1943, she collided with SS Berwind Vale off Newport, Rhode Island, losing part of her bow. After repairs at the Brooklyn Navy Yard, she escorted five merchant convoys between the U.S. east coast and North African ports. During that period, March through December 1943, she made several attacks on suspected submarine contacts, but none resulted in a confirmed kill.

On 23 January 1944, Stevenson left

Seattle, Washington

, for overhaul.

Refresher training lasted until 27 January 1945, when she left

Typhoon Louise in Japan between 9–11 October, the destroyer sailed for home via Singapore and Cape Town. She arrived in Charleston, South Carolina

, on 20 January 1946, where she was decommissioned on 27 April 1946 and placed in reserve. She was struck from the Navy list on 1 June 1968.

Stevenson earned seven

battle stars for her World War II

service.