USS Earle (DD-635)

USS Earle (DD-635/DMS-42), a Gleaves-class destroyer, is the only ship of the United States Navy to be named for Rear Admiral Ralph Earle.

USS Earle, January 1943 at New York Navy Yard.
History
United States
Name: Earle
Namesake: Ralph Earle
Builder: Boston Navy Yard
Laid down: 14 June 1941
Launched: 10 December 1941
Commissioned: 1 September 1942
Decommissioned: 17 May 1947
Stricken: 1 December 1969
Fate: Sold October 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: 37 ft 0 in (11.28 m)[1]
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:

Earle was launched on 10 December 1941 by Boston Navy Yard; sponsored by Mrs. John F. Hines, Jr., daughter of Rear Admiral Earle; and commissioned on 1 September 1942, Lieutenant Commander H. W. Howe in command.

Service history

Between 12 December 1942 and 28 April 1943, Earle escorted three convoys carrying essential men and supplies to Casablanca. On her first voyage, she made two night attacks on surfaced submarines. Sailing from Norfolk on 8 June she arrived at Oran on 22 June to prepare for the invasion of Sicily, and screened the transport area off Scoglitti on 10 July. Two days later she carried on an inspection of the beach area, and then served on escort duty between north Africa ports and Sicily until 11 August when she got underway for New York, arriving the 22nd.

From 6 December 1943 to 1 May 1944, Earle escorted convoys between Boston and New York and the United Kingdom, making four such voyages. She crossed to Naples, arriving 31 May for a summer of general escort duty and training in the Mediterranean between 19 November 1944 and 11 June 1945.

Earle arrived at Norfolk on 20 June 1945 for conversion to a destroyer minesweeper, and was reclassified DMS-42 on 23 June 1945. Ordered to the Pacific at the war's end, she left Norfolk 27 August and called at San Diego, Pearl Harbor, and Eniwetok before arriving at Okinawa on 15 October. She served in the Far East on occupation duty until 18 March 1946, sweeping minefields off Korea, later in a team directing Japanese minesweepers in their home waters. Arriving at San Francisco on 9 April, Earle was placed out of commission in reserve on 17 May 1947. Her classification reverted to DD-635, 15 July 1955.

Earle was stricken from the Naval Vessel Register on 1 December 1969, sold October 1970, and broken up for scrap.

Awards

Earle received two battle stars for World War II service.

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References
  1. Andrew C. Toppan. "DD-635". Haze Gray & Underway. Archived from the original on 2013-02-05. Retrieved 2013-01-21.

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

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