USS Ebert (DE-768)

History
United States
Name:	USS Ebert
Namesake:	Hilan Ebert
Builder:	Tampa Shipbuilding Company, Tampa, Florida
Laid down:	1 April 1943
Launched:	11 May 1944
Commissioned:	12 July 1944
Decommissioned:	14 June 1946
Stricken:	7 March 1951
Identification:	DE-768
Fate:	Transferred to Greece, 1 March 1951
Greece
Name:	Ierax
Acquired:	1 March 1951
Stricken:	1991
Identification:	D31
Fate:	Sunk as target, July 2002
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 Ebert (DE-768) was a Cannon-class destroyer escort in service with the United States Navy from 1944 to 1946. In 1951, she was transferred to Greece, where she served as Ierax (D31) until 1991. She was finally sunk as a target in 2002.

History

United States Navy (1944-1951)

USS Ebert was named in honor of Lieutenant Commander Hilan Ebert whose ship, the cruiser USS Northampton was torpedoed in the Battle of Tassafaronga off Guadalcanal. He was posthumously awarded the Navy Cross for his courage and disregard for his own safety beyond the call of duty until his ship was lost.

Ebert was launched on 11 May 1944 by Tampa Shipbuilding Co., Inc., Tampa, Florida; sponsored by Mrs. Hilan Ebert, widow of Lieutenant Commander Ebert; and commissioned on 12 July 1944, Lieutenant Commander F. Gibbs, USNR, in command.

Ebert guarded the passage of convoys carrying men and supplies vital to victory in Europe, to ports in Great Britain and France, between 6 October 1944 and 14 May 1945, then returned to New York City to prepare for duty in the Pacific.

She sailed on 8 June for Pearl Harbor, Eniwetok, and the Philippines. She escorted convoys carrying occupation troops to Japan, until 30 November when she left Manila for the United States.

Hellenic Navy (1951-2002)

Ierax in Amsterdam, 1958

Ebert was placed out of commission in reserve at Green Cove Springs, Florida, on 14 June 1946. Towed to Boston, Massachusetts, in November 1950, Ebert was transferred to Greece on 1 March 1951 under the Mutual Defense Assistance Program.

She served in the Greek Navy as Ierax (D31) (Hawk), and was stricken in 1991. In January 1998, reports emerged that she was laid up in terminal reserve at the port of Souda, in Crete. Ierax was sunk as part of a Naval exercise (combination of Penguin missile and torpedo attack) in July 2002. Ierax now rests on the seabed of the Aegean Sea close to the island of Crete, at a depth of 950 meters (3,120 ft), located at 35°56.5′N 24°25.1′E.

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References

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

External links

Photo gallery of USS Ebert at NavSource Naval History

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