On 2/4/2018 4:50 PM, wrote:
On Sun, 4 Feb 2018 16:17:18 -0500, "Mr. Luddite"
wrote:


I found this pic on the 'net. Large ship in the foreground (D-30) is a
Navy "oiler" from which other ships refuel at sea.

The little ship behind it with it's bow sticking up in the air
is the USS Van Voorhis (DE-1028), taking on fuel. The Van Voorhis the
first ship I was assigned to in the Navy and spent a little over a year
on board.

Yup. Just another day at the office Harry.

https://tinyurl.com/y982x86m


===

Looks like the Van Voorhis was only in commission for about 15 years.
Is that typical for a destroyer escort?


That was the normal lifetime for that class DE (Dealey class). They
were designed to be cheap to build and "expendable" if called upon in an
attack on a convoy or battle group.

DE's were primarily convoy escort destroyers designed for anti-submarine
operations. The two I was on were modified late in their lives to test
a new passive sonar system. The "DE" classification was changed to "FF"
(for "Frigate") in later classes.

The Dealey class DE's earned a reputation for being tough, sea going
ships for their size but weren't the most crew friendly. They were
slightly larger than early classes from WWII.