USS Engstrom

27 February 1945: Broadside view of Engstrom. She was under overhaul at Mare Island from 19 January until 27 February 1945.
History
United States
Name	USS Engstrom (DE-50)
Builder	Philadelphia Navy Yard
Laid down	1 April 1942
Launched	24 July 1942 as HMS Drury (BDE-50)
Commissioned	21 June 1943 as USS Engstrom (DE-50)
Decommissioned	19 December 1945
Stricken	8 January 1946
Fate	Sold for scrap on 26 December 1946
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	4 General Motors Model 16-278A diesel engines with electric drive 6,000 shp 2 screws
Speed	19 kn (35 km/h)
Range	4,150 nm
Complement	15 officers, 183 enlisted
Armament	3 × 3 in (76 mm) cal Mk 22 dual purpose guns (1×3), 4 × 1.1"/75 caliber gun (1×4), 9 × Oerlikon 20 mm Mk 4 AA cannons, 1 × Hedgehog Projector Mk 10 (144 rounds), 8 × Mk 6 depth charge projectors, 2 × Mk 9 depth charge tracks

USS Engstrom (DE-50) was an Evarts class destroyer escort constructed for the United States Navy during World War II. She was sent off into the Pacific Ocean to protect convoys and other ships from Japanese submarines and fighter aircraft. She performed escort and antisubmarine operations in dangerous battle areas and returned home safely to the States.

She was launched on 24 July 1942 by Philadelphia Navy Yard as HMS Drury (BDE-50); reallocated to the USN; assigned the name Engstrom on 4 March 1943; and commissioned on 21 June 1943.

Namesake

Warren Leonard Engstrom was born on 5 January 1921 in Superior, Wisconsin. He was a member of the United States Naval Academy class of 1942, which was graduated in December 1941. He reported for duty on USS Northampton on 5 February 1942, and was killed in action 30 November 1942 when his ship was damaged in the Battle of Tassafaronga. Just prior to his death he had been appointed Lieutenant (junior grade).

Service history

World War II

Engstrom sailed from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on 20 August 1943 for Norfolk, Virginia, where she joined a convoy bound for the Panama Canal Zone and San Diego, California, arriving on the west coast on 9 September. On the 27th, she got underway for Adak and over a year of duty in northern waters. Often fighting weather almost as dangerous as the enemy, she escorted combatant and auxiliary ships, acted as radar picket ship for air operations between Attu and Paramushiro, and screened surveying ships.

The escort vessel returned to Mare Island, California, on 19 January 1945 for overhaul and, after training at Pearl Harbor, sailed on convoy duty to Eniwetok and Saipan, her base from 31 March through the end of the war for escort assignments to Eniwetok, Ulithi, Guam, and Iwo Jima. The men and supplies, whose movement she guarded, saw action on Okinawa.

Postwar

From 12 September-11 October 1945, Engstrom patrolled out of Guam. She reached San Pedro, Los Angeles on 24 October, and was decommissioned on 19 December 1945, being sold on 26 December 1946.

Awards

	American Campaign Medal
	Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal
	World War II Victory Medal

References

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

External links

• NavSource Online: Destroyer Escort Photo Archive - USS Engstrom (DE-50)

This page was last edited on 29 February 2024, at 15:29