USSFair

History
United States
Name	Fair
Builder	Mare Island Navy Yard
Laid down	24 February 1943
Launched	27 July 1943
Commissioned	23 October 1943
Decommissioned	17 November 1945
Stricken	28 November 1945
Fate	Transferred to the Army on 20 May 1947 for loan to Canada, returned to USN in 1948 and scrapped in 1949
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	4General MotorsModel 16-278Adiesel engineswith electric drive; 6000 shp; 2screws;
Speed	21 kn (39 km/h)
Range	4,150nm
Complement	15 officers, 183 enlisted
Armament	3 ×3 in (76 mm)cal Mk 22 (1×3)dual-purpose guns,4 ×1.1-inch/75-caliber gun(4×1), 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

USSFair(DE-35)was an Evarts-classdestroyer escortof theUnited States Navy.

Namesake

Victor Norman Fair, Jr. was born on 15 August 1921 inLincoln County, North Carolina.He enlisted in theUnited States Naval Reserveon 15 August 1940, and was commissionedensignon 14 March 1941. Serving onUSSGregory,Lieutenant, junior gradeFair was wounded when his ship was sunk by Japanese gunfire in theSolomon Islandson 5 September 1942, and he died four days later.

Construction and commissioning

Fairwas launched on 27 July 1943 byMare Island Navy Yard;sponsored by Mrs. V. N. Fair, Jr., widow of Lieutenant Fair; and commissioned on 23 October 1943.

Service history

World War II

Fairescorted aconvoyfromSan FranciscotoPearl Harbor,where she arrived on 9 January 1944. She put to sea nine days later to conduct anantisubmarinepatrol offTarawa,and late on 4 February, joinedCharretteto develop a contact previously made by thedestroyer.Attacks by both ships led to the sinking of what was probablyJapanese submarineI-175the next morning.Fairreturned to Pearl Harbor on 17 February, and sailed on 25 February forMajuro,where from 5 March – 12 June, she patrolled the entrance to the lagoon, and escorted ships to and from ocean rendezvous andRoi Namur.On 14 June, she arrived atEniwetokwith three oilers, and for the next 2 weeks, screened them in the fueling area off theMariana Islandsas they fueled ships serving in the assault and capture ofSaipan.

The escort vessel served on patrol out of Eniwetok from 1–14 July, then returned to screen the logistics group during the assaults onTinianandGuam.She returned to Pearl Harbor on 31 August for a brief overhaul and to take part in training operations. On 13 October,Fairwas back at Eniwetok for duty escorting convoys toUlithiuntil 19 January 1945. She continued her escort duty from Eniwetok toManus,Guam, andGuadalcanaluntil 24 March, when she arrived at Ulithi to stage for the assault onOkinawa.

Guarding a convoy composed primarily ofLSTs,Fairput out from Ulithi on 27 March, and after the initial assault on 1 April, put intoKerama Retto.On 6 April, before getting underway for Saipan with unladen transports, she fired on the massive wave ofkamikazeswhich attacked shipping off the island, splashing one. After her voyage to Saipan,Fairpatrolled offChimu Wan,Okinawa until 12 May, then screened the transport area, firing on attacking aircraft and suicide boats for 10 days. Her next assignment was a convoy escort voyage to Saipan and Guam, returning to Okinawa on 10 June for local escort duty and patrol.

Faircleared Okinawa on 5 July 1945 for a West Coast overhaul. She was decommissioned atPortland, Oregonon 17 November, and transferred to theUnited States Armyon 20 May 1947.