USS Tills

Tills on 11 October 1944
History
United States
Name	USS Tills
Namesake	Ensign Robert Tills
Builder	Western Pipe and Steel Company
Laid down	23 June 1943
Launched	3 October 1943
Sponsored by	Helen Irene Tills, sister of Robert Tills
Commissioned	8 August 1944
Decommissioned	June 1946
Recommissioned	21 November 1950
Decommissioned	18 October 1959
Recommissioned	1 October 1961
Decommissioned	23 September 1968
Stricken	23 September 1968
Homeport	Portland, Maine
Fate	Sunk as target off Virginia, 3 April 1969
General characteristics
Class and type	Cannon-class destroyer escort
Displacement	1,240 long tons (1,260 t) standard 1,620 long tons (1,646 t) full
Length	306 ft (93 m) o/a 300 ft (91 m) w/l
Beam	36 ft 10 in (11.23 m)
Draft	11 ft 8 in (3.56 m)
Propulsion	4 × GM Mod. 16-278A diesel engines with electric drive, 6,000 shp (4,474 kW), 2 screws
Speed	21 knots (39 km/h; 24 mph)
Range	10,800 nmi (20,000 km) at 12 kn (22 km/h; 14 mph)
Complement	15 officers and 201 enlisted
Armament	3 × single Mk.22 3"/50 caliber guns 1 × twin 40 mm Mk.1 AA gun 8 × 20 mm Mk.4 AA guns 3 × 21-inch (533 mm) torpedo tubes 1 × Hedgehog Mk.10 anti-submarine mortar (144 rounds) 8 × Mk.6 depth charge projectors 2 × Mk.9 depth charge tracks

USS Tills (DE-748) was a Cannon-class destroyer escort in service with the United States Navy from 1944 to 1946 and from 1950 to 1968. She was sunk as a target in 1969.

History

USS Tills was named in honor of

Tills weighed anchor on 5 February for a hunter-killer mission. In this, like the other operations staged from the Marshalls, the ship sailed easterly by day and westerly by night to a distance some 400 miles (640 km) east of Eniwetok. Her patrolling of this stretch of the Pacific between the Hawaiian Islands and the Marshalls continued for 10 days before Tills returned to Pearl Harbor for availability alongside tender Alcor (AD-34).

The ship conducted post-availability exercises off Oahu before screening for Sangamon (CVE-26) in late February, while the escort carrier's planes carried out night flight training operations. Returning to Pearl Harbor on 2 March, the ship two days later joined TG 19.3, formed around Kasaan Bay (CVE-69). Two five-day training cruises followed, before Tills was briefly reassigned to TG 19.2, whose nucleus was Tripoli (CVE-64).

After routine training and availability at Pearl Harbor, the destroyer escort embarked 2 Navy officers and 23 Navy and Marine enlisted men for transportation to the Marshalls. On 29 March, she rendezvoused with destroyer escorts Gilligan (DE-508) and Whitman (DE-24) which helped her to screen a 17-ship convoy, PD-355T, to Eniwetok. After making port on 6 April, Tills rejoined TG 12.3, which conducted hunter-killer operations between the Hawaiian Islands and the Marshalls.

Following her 14 April return to Eniwetok, the escort ship remained with TG 12.3, steaming on anti-submarine patrols east of the Marshalls. On 20 April, a typhoon upset the group's routine by grounding Corregidor's aircraft and pitching the small destroyer escorts in the heavy seas and 70-knot (130 km/h) winds. The storm finally abated three days later, and the battered task group returned to Eniwetok.

Designated Task Unit (TU) 96.6.7, Tills departed the Marshalls on 30 April and arrived at

Dropping anchor off

Following her duties with the transport screen off Okinawa, Tills was assigned to the screen of Carrier Division 22 which contained escort carriers

Four days later, the destroyer escort returned to hunter-killer operations and maintained antisubmarine patrols on a continuous basis until making port at Ulithi for availability alongside repair ship Oahu (ARG-5). For the remainder of July and into August, Tills continued antisubmarine operations on the sea lanes converging in the Western Caroline basin.

As the war progressed to its conclusion in the Pacific, Tills commenced a needed availability at

Reactivated early in 1947 to an "in-service status", the ship was towed to Miami, Florida, where she was partially fitted out. In July, she made a two-week training cruise to San Juan, Puerto Rico, with naval reservists on board. The following month, she entered the Charleston Naval Shipyard in South Carolina for overhaul. Refurbished by November, Tills was homeported at Miami and operated along the east coast from Boston, Massachusetts, to Panama and in the Caribbean, primarily training reservists.

Tills was placed back in full commission at

On 1 May 1958, Tills' home port was moved to Boston, Massachusetts, shifting the locus of her operations northward to the northeastern coast of the United States and to the Canadian provinces of

After making weekend reserve cruises through the summer of 1961, Tills was recommissioned on 1 October 1961 in response to the Cuban missile crisis (blockade) with Lt. Comdr.W. L. Rich, USNR, in command. Following a six-week repair period at

During 1964, Tills participated in a number of diverse and interesting events. After a tender availability alongside Grand Canyon (AD-28) from 22 March to 18 April, Tills returned to the Naval Reserve Training Center at South Portland, Maine, before getting underway for Boston on 13 June. A highlight of her reserve cruise was a four-day visit to the New York World's Fair.

After returning to her Maine base, the ship held an open house on 4 July and then visited Rockland, Maine, for the annual Rockland Seafood Festival on 3 August. On 28 August, Tills served as patrol ship for the annual Starboat Yacht Races off Winthrop, Massachusetts.

After subsequently participating in joint United States-Canadian antisubmarine exercises, the ship returned to the Naval Training Center at Portland for repairs before resuming her training cruises, a mission she faithfully carried out for the remainder of her career.

Decommissioning and fate

Found unfit for further service, Tills was struck from the Navy List on 23 September 1968. On 3 April 1969, the ship was sunk as a target off Virginia.

Awards

	Combat Action Ribbon (retroactive)
	Navy Expeditionary Medal (Cuba)
	American Campaign Medal
	Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal (with two battle stars )
	World War II Victory Medal
	National Defense Service Medal (with one service star)

References

• This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be found here.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to USS Tills (DE-748).

• Photo gallery of USS Tills (DE-748) at NavSource Naval History