USS Tweedy

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

USS Tweedy (DE-532)
History
United States
NamesakeAlbert William Tweedy, Jr.
Laid down31 August 1943
Launched7 October 1943
Sponsored byMrs. Albert William Tweedy
Commissioned
  • 12 February 1944 – 10 May 1946 (in reserve)
  • 2 April 1952 – 20 June 1959 (in reserve)
  • 2 October 1961 – 1 August 1962 (in reserve)
Decommissioned30 June 1969
Stricken30 June 1969
FateSunk as target off Florida May 1970
General characteristics
Displacement1,350/1,745 tons
Length306 ft (93 m) (LOA)
Beam36 ft 10 in (11.23 m)
Draft13 ft 4 in (4.06 m) (max)
Propulsion2 boilers, 2 geared
turbine engines, 12,000 shp (8,900 kW), 2 screws
Speed24 knots (44 km/h; 28 mph)
Range6,000 nmi (11,000 km; 6,900 mi) at 12 knots (22 km/h; 14 mph)
Complement14 officers, 201 enlisted
Armament

USS Tweedy (DE-532) was a John C. Butler-class destroyer escort in service with the United States Navy from 1944 to 1946 and from 1952 to 1969. She was sunk as a target in 1970.

Namesake

Albert William Tweedy, Jr., was born on 22 March 1920 and attended public schools in Winnetka, Illinois and Hingham, Massachusetts. He enrolled at Williams College, Williamstown, Massachusetts, in late 1938. In the summer of 1939, he completed United States Marine Corps' Platoon Commander School at Marine Corps Base Quantico, Virginia and, at the end of his second year, left college to become a Marine Aviation Cadet. Following flight training at Naval Air Station Squantum, Massachusetts and Naval Air Station Pensacola, Florida, he was commissioned a Second Lieutenant in the United States Marine Corps Reserve on 14 October 1941.

Assigned to the 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing, Fleet Marine Force, he was stationed at San Diego and Hawaii before reporting for duty with Marine Scouter-Bomber Squadron (VMSB)-241 at Midway Atoll early in 1942. He served as Assistant Flight Officer and Assistant Communications Officer for the squadron before becoming its Communications Officer late in May.

Early on the morning of 4 June 1942, he took off from Midway in his

dive-bomber. Minutes later, the Battle of Midway commenced as planes from the Imperial Japanese Navy carriers pounded the Marine installations on Midway, and outdated American fighter planes based at Midway were dispatched by the newer and nimbler Japanese Mitsubishi A6M Zeros in the opening stages of the battle. VMSB-241 attempted a glide-bombing attack on the aircraft carrier Hiryū. Despite a fearsome antiaircraft barrage and repeated attacks by the numerically superior enemy fighter planes, Lt. Tweedy dove his aircraft to a perilously low altitude before releasing a bomb over the carrier. Japanese fighters then attacked and shot down Tweedy's plane. He was posthumously awarded the Navy Cross
.

History

Tweedy was laid down on 31 August 1943 by the Boston Navy Yard; launched on 7 October 1943; sponsored by Mrs. Albert William Tweedy, Lt. Tweedy's mother; and commissioned on 12 February 1944.

World War II North Atlantic operations

On completion of her fitting out, Tweedy departed Boston, Massachusetts, on 1 March and steamed for Bermuda where she conducted shakedown exercises through the end of the month. En route from Bermuda to Boston on 30 and 31 March, the destroyer escort conducted an unproductive 13-hour search for a German submarine known to be lurking in the coastal shipping lanes.

Assigned training ship duties

She began April moored in Boston, then moved south for firing tests in the Chesapeake Bay before arriving at Miami, Florida, on the 18th. There, she began the duties which were to occupy her throughout most of World War II. Assigned to the Naval Training Center, Miami, she operated off the Florida Keys, conducting indoctrination cruises for student officers and nucleus crews. Occasionally putting in at Charleston, South Carolina, for repairs or alterations, she continued in this essential but inconspicuous role, supplying the fleets with trained personnel, into the early months of 1945. In April 1945, she rescued six downed aviators from a Navy flying boat and conducted a submarine search north of San Salvador.

In June 1945, she put in at Charleston to undergo availability in preparation for assignment to Destroyer

Escort Division 63. From mid-June until late October, she participated in exercises in Casco Bay with that division. On 21 October, she moored at Boston for Navy Day activities. The ship got underway on 8 November, bound for Florida, and arrived at Green Cove Springs, Florida
, on the 11th. There, she prepared for inactivation. On 10 May 1946, she was decommissioned and placed in reserve.

Recommissioned as a training ship

Towed from her Florida berth late in March 1949, she underwent conversion and repairs at Charleston and

Key West, Florida
.

For the next three years, Tweedy conducted reserve training and

Mediterranean cruise and, before returning to Key West in November, participated in Operation Deepwater
.

Conversion to Naval Reserve training

In June 1958, Tweedy became a

6th Naval District. The ship was placed out of commission, in reserve, on 20 June 1959, but she conducted weekend training cruises out of Pensacola, Florida
, for over two years.

Reactivated during the Berlin crisis

In response to the

U.S. Coast Guard
representatives for assistance on their way to Miami.

On 1 August 1962, the destroyer escort was again decommissioned and returned to reserve training ship status. Operating out of Florida ports, she continued in that capacity until late in May 1969 when she departed St. Petersburg, Florida, for the last time.

Final decommissioning

On 29 May, she arrived at

Navy list
. In March 1970, she was assigned to Naval Air Atlantic for destruction as a target. She was sunk as target off Florida in May 1970.

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 Tweedy (DE-532).

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=USS_Tweedy&oldid=1121998097"