USSDecker
 USS Decker (DE-47)
| |
| History | |
|---|---|
 United States | |
| Name | BDE-47 |
| Builder | Philadelphia Navy Yard |
| Laid down | 1 April 1942 |
| Launched | 24 July 1942 |
| Renamed | USSDecker(DE-47), 4 March 1943 |
| Namesake | Ernest Elden Decker |
| Commissioned | 3 May 1943 |
| Decommissioned | 28 August 1945 |
| Fate | transferred toRepublic of China,28 August 1945 |
| Stricken | 12 March 1948 |
| History | |
 Republic of China | |
| Name | ROCSTai Ping(F-22) |
| Acquired | 28 August 1945 |
| Fate | Sunk by Communist Chinese forces,Tachen Islands,14 November 1954 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type | Evarts-class destroyer escort |
| Displacement | 1,140 (standard), 1,430 tons (full) |
| Length | 283 ft 6 in (86.41 m) (waterline), 289 ft 5 in (88.21 m) (overall)) |
| Beam | 35 ft 2 in (10.72 m) |
| Draft | 11 ft 0 in (3.35 m) (max) |
| Propulsion |
|
| Speed | 19 knots (35 km/h) |
| Range | 4,150nm |
| Complement | 15officers,183 enlisted |
| Armament | 3 ×3 in/50 calMk 22dual purpose guns(1×3), 4 ×1.1 in/75 calMk 2 AA guns (1×4), 9 ×Oerlikon 20 mm Mk 4 AA cannons,1 ×Hedgehog Projector Mk 10(144 rounds), 8 × Mk 6depth chargeprojectors, 2 × Mk 9 depth charge tracks |
USSDecker(DE-47)was anEvarts-class destroyer escortconstructed for theUnited States NavyduringWorld War II.She was sent off into dangerous NorthAtlantic Oceanwaters to protectconvoysand other ships from Germansubmarinesand fighteraircraft.She performed escort andantisubmarineoperations in battle areas before sailing home victorious at the end of the conflict.
Originally intended for transfer toGreat BritainasBDE-47,Deckerwas launched on 24 July 1942 by thePhiladelphia Navy Yard;retained for use in the USN; redesignatedDecker(DE-47)on 4 March 1943; and commissioned on 3 May 1943.
Namesake
[edit]Ernest Elden Decker was born on 15 September 1913 inPortland, MaineHe enlisted in theUnited States Naval Reserveon 14 September 1940.Lieutenant (junior grade)Decker was killed in action in theSolomon Islandson 5 September 1942 when his shipUSSGregorywas sunk in an engagement withImperial Japanese Navyships.
Service history
[edit]World War II
[edit]After escorting two oilers fromNewport, Rhode IslandtoGalveston, Texasfrom 9–24 July 1943,Deckerreported atNorfolk, Virginiaon 20 August forconvoyduty. From 26 August 1943 – 26 April 1945, she gave vital support to operations inNorth Africa,Italy,andSouthern Franceby guarding the passage of nine supply convoys toCasablanca,French Morocco;Bizerte,Tunisia;Palermo,Sicily;andOran,Algeria.On 11 May 1944, at sea as part of the screen of UGS-40 bound for Tunisia, she aided in repelling a heavytorpedoattack by enemy planes.
After overhaul atCharleston, South Carolina,Deckeroperated in theFlorida Keysas atraining vesseluntil the end of the war.
Deckerreceived one battle star for World War II service.
Post-War
[edit]On 28 August 1945, she was leased to theRepublic of China.Deckerwas returned fromLend-Leaseand transferred permanently to China on 7 February 1948 and renamed ROCSTai Ping(F-22;Chinese:Thái bình). ROCSTai-pingwas one of the four warships sent by theRepublic of China Navyon 6 November 1946 to claim islands within theSouth China Searegion. On 12 December 1946Tai Pingarrived at Itu Aba island, becoming the first Chinese government ship ever to visit the Spratly Islands. (An American force had landed on Itu Aba in November 1945 and discovered that the wartime Japanese garrison had departed. A French warship, the FRChevreuilhad landed a team on Itu Aba in October 1946, two months before theTai-pingarrived.)[1]The Chinese government gave Itu Aba the Chinese name ofTaiping Islandin honour of the ship.[2]
On 13 February 1951, she joined theblockadefleet under the direct order ofROC PresidentChiang Kai-shekto capture and confiscate theNorwegiancivilian freighterHoi Houwat24°13′00″N123°18′00″E/ 24.21667°N 123.30000°Ewithin the Japanese territory ofYaeyama Islands.[3][4]On 14 November 1954, fourCommunistChineseP 4-class torpedo boatssankTai Pingnorth of theTachen Islands.All but 28 of the 200 officers and crew were reported rescued by ships and seaplanes.[5][6]
Awards
[edit]
|
Combat Action Ribbon(retroactive) |
|
American Campaign Medal |
  |
European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal(with oneservice star) |
|
World War II Victory Medal |
References
[edit]
This article incorporates text from thepublic domainDictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships.The entry can be foundhere.
- ^Bill Hayton, The South China Sea - the struggle for power in Asia pp57-8
- ^Lữ nhất nhiên (Lu Yiran), 2007. Trung quốc cận đại biên giới sử (A modern history of China's borders), Vol. 2. Tứ xuyên nhân dân xuất bản xã (Sichuan People's Publishing), pp. 1092–1093.ISBN7220073313
- ^Lin Hong-yi (2009)."Chapter 4, 1953-1960"(PDF).Blockade on Chinese mainland coast - ROC'sGuanbi policy,1949-1960(M.D. thesis) (in Chinese (Taiwan)).National Chengchi University.
- ^John W. Garver (30 April 1997).The Sino-American Alliance, Nationalist China and American Cold war Strategy in Asia.Armonk: M. E. Sharpe, Inc.ISBN9780765600530.
- ^United Press, "Chiang Leaders Plan Retaliation For Sinking of Destroyer Escort",The San Bernardino Daily Sun,San Bernardino, California, Tuesday 16 November 1954, Volume LXI, Number 66, page 1.
- ^"P-4/P-6 Terodo boats".Archived fromthe originalon 30 October 2018.
Shipwrecks and maritime incidents in 1954 | |
|---|---|
| Shipwrecks |
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| Other incidents |
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- 1942 ships
- Evarts-class destroyer escorts
- Evarts-class destroyer escorts of the Republic of China Navy
- Ships built in Philadelphia
- Shipwrecks in the East China Sea
- Shipwrecks of China
- Training ships of the United States Navy
- World War II frigates and destroyer escorts of the United States
- Maritime incidents in 1954