USS Finch (DE-328)
USS Finch (DE-328) was an Edsall-class destroyer escort in the service of the United States Navy.
 USCGC Finch (WDE-428) | |
| History | |
|---|---|
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| Namesake: | Joseph W. Finch Jr. |
| Builder: | Consolidated Steel, Orange, Texas |
| Laid down: | 29 June 1943 |
| Launched: | 28 August 1943 |
| Commissioned: | 13 December 1943 |
| Decommissioned: | 4 October 1946 |
| History | |
 | |
| Commissioned: | 21 August 1951 as (WDE-428) |
| Decommissioned: | 23 April 1954 |
| History | |
| |
| Commissioned: | 17 September 1956 |
| Decommissioned: | 1 October 1973 |
| Reclassified: | as DER-328, 21 October 1955 |
| Stricken: | 1 February 1974 |
| Fate: | Scrapped, 27 September 1974 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type: | Edsall class destroyer escort |
| Displacement: |
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| Length: | 306 feet (93.27 m) |
| Beam: | 36.58 feet (11.15 m) |
| Draft: | 10.42 full load feet (3.18 m) |
| Propulsion: | 2-shaft Fairbanks Morse diesels, 6,000 bhp |
| Speed: | 21 knots |
| Range: | 10,800 nautical miles (20,000 km) at 12 knots (14 mph; 22 km/h) |
| Complement: | 186 |
| Armament: |
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Construction
She was named in honor of Lieutenant Joseph W. Finch Jr., USNR. Finch was first launched on 28 August 1943 at Orange, Texas, as DE-328; sponsored by Miss Grace Cushing, fiancée of Lieutenant Finch. She was commissioned three times. The ship was first commissioned on 13 December 1943, taking on its 182-man crew with USNR Lieutenant Commander Albert H. Nienau in command.[1]
World War II
Finch arrived at Curaçao on 7 March 1944, and escorted two oil tanker convoys to Casablanca and Algiers until 31 May. After training in the Caribbean and in Casco Bay, she departed from Norfolk on 28 July. Finch escorted shipping to Naples for Operation Dragoon, the Allied invasion of southern France. She returned to New York City on 31 August. The ship escorted five convoys from New York and Boston to Great Britain between 29 September 1944 and 8 May 1945.[1]
After the end of the war in the European theatre, Finch was transferred to the Pacific Fleet, arriving at Pearl Harbor on 12 July. She continued to Guam, becoming part of a carrier task force there on 13 August. Japan surrendered two days later, and Finch sailed to Leyte on 17 August. She participated in occupation duties, which included the evacuation of Allied prisoners of war in Korea[1] to Formosa during September 1945.
During her operation from 28 August 1943 until 6 March 1947, Finch entered 63 ports from the eastern and western ports of the USA through the Atlantic Ocean, the Mediterranean Sea, and the Pacific Ocean. Finch participated in 18 convoys as an escort for a variety of naval and commercial ships. Finch entered drydock at Green Cove Springs, Florida, on 4 October 1946 under the command of Lieutenant Commander R. L. Tully, but was not finally decommissioned until 6 March 1947.
In the movie Tora! Tora! Tora!, the ship was used to portray the USS Ward.
Fate
The ship was transferred to the USCG for service between 1951 and 1954 and redesignated WDE-428 cutter. She was stricken 1 February 1974, and sold for scrap 16 August 1974.
References
- "Finch II (DE-328)". Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. Navy Department, Naval History and Heritage Command. Retrieved 19 October 2016.
- This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be found here.
- This article includes information collected from the Naval Vessel Register, which, as a U.S. government publication, is in the public domain. The entry can be found here.
