USSDavison
 USSDavisonoff Charleston Navy Yard, 28 July 1945
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| History | |
|---|---|
 United States | |
| Name | Davison |
| Namesake | Gregory C. Davison |
| Builder | Federal Shipbuilding and Drydock Company |
| Laid down | 26 February 1942 |
| Launched | 19 July 1942 |
| Commissioned | 11 September 1942 |
| Decommissioned | 24 June 1949 |
| Stricken | 15 January 1972 |
| Fate |
|
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type | Gleaves-classdestroyer |
| Displacement | 1,630 tons |
| Length | 348 ft 3 in (106.15 m) |
| Beam | 36 ft 1 in (11.00 m) |
| Draft | 11 ft 10 in (3.61 m) |
| Propulsion |
|
| 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 |
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USSDavison(DD-618/DMS-37),aGleaves-classdestroyer,was named forLieutenant CommanderGregory C. Davison(1871–1935). Davison specialized intorpedo boatoperations.
Davisonwaslaunchedon 19 July 1942 byFederal Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Co.,Kearny, New Jersey;sponsored by Davison's widow, Alice Shepard Davison. The ship wascommissionedon 11 September 1942.
Service history
[edit]She clearedNew Yorkon 13 November 1942, screeningtransportscarrying reinforcement troops and supplies toSafi,French Moroccobetween 8 December and 18 December. She returned to New York on 10 January 1943. After two more voyages toNorth Africaas aconvoyescort between 8 February and 28 April, she sailed fromNorfolkon 6 June forOran,arriving on 22 June.
On 4 July she sortied with Task Force 85 (TF 85) for theinvasion of Sicilyon 10 July, acting as convoy escort and patrol vessel off the transport area until returning to Oran on 22 July. Six days later, she was en route to New York, arriving on 8 August, and sailing on 21 August for another convoy voyage toBizerte,then sailed again on 7 October to screen a convoy by way ofBelfast,Northern Ireland,toPalermo,Sicily.Davison's group came under heavy air attack fromGermanplanes based insouthern Franceon 6 November, while offAlgiers.Her crew shot down at least one enemy plane, and aided survivors of thetorpedoeddestroyerBeatty,and two merchantmen. She returned by way of Belfast to New York on 24 January 1944. She made two escort voyages to Northern Ireland andScotlandbetween 11 February and 21 April escorting convoys from Norfolk and New York toNaples,Marseilles,and Oran until 7 June 1945.
On 8 June 1945,Davisonreported toCharleston, South Carolina,for conversion to ahigh-speed minesweeper.She was reclassifiedDMS-37,23 June, and her crew was trained inmine-sweeping exercises inChesapeake Bayuntil 27 August. She then sailed from Norfolk for the western Pacific, arriving atOkinawaon 15 October. She swept mines in theYellow Sea,remaining in the Far East on occupation duty until 11 March 1946 when she leftYokosukaforSan Francisco,arriving the last day of the month.
Davisonserved in the western Pacific again from 12 September 1946 to 29 March 1947, calling atPearl Harbor,Eniwetok,Guam,variousChineseandKoreanports, andKwajalein.On 10 March 1948, she sailed west again, with a team from the Naval Research Laboratory for balloon tests in theMarshall Islands,returning toSan Diegoon 4 June.Davisonwas placed out of commission in reserve at San Diego on 24 June 1949.
On 15 July 1955, she was reclassifiedDD-618.Stricken from theNaval Vessel Registeron 15 January 1972,Davisonwas sold on 27 August 1973 andbroken upfor scrap.
Davisonreceived threebattle starsforWorld War IIservice.
References
[edit]
This article incorporates text from thepublic domainDictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships.The entry can be foundhere.
External links
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