USS ''Daniel T. Griffin'' (DE-54/APD-38), a of the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

, was named in honor of Ordnanceman Daniel T. Griffin (1911–1941), who was killed in action during the

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

ese attack on the Hawaiian Islands.

Namesake

Daniel Thornburg Griffin was born on 25 March 1911 in

Allendale, Illinois Allendale is a village in Wabash Precinct, Wabash County, Illinois. The population was 475 at the 2010 census. History Allendale was founded in 1869, taking its name from Colonel C. M. Allen, a railroad official. 1989 tornado On January 7, 1 ...

. He enlisted in the Navy on 6 October 1930 and served continuously until his death in his

PBY Catalina The Consolidated PBY Catalina is a flying boat and amphibious aircraft that was produced in the 1930s and 1940s. In Canadian service it was known as the Canso. It was one of the most widely used seaplanes of World War II. Catalinas served wit ...

during the Japanese

Attack on Pearl Harbor The attack on Pearl HarborAlso known as the Battle of Pearl Harbor was a surprise military strike by the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service upon the United States against the naval base at Pearl Harbor in Honolulu, Territory of Hawaii, j ...

on 7 December 1941. Aviation Machinist's Mate First Class Griffin was cited by Commander-in-Chief, Pacific Fleet, for his prompt and efficient action and his utter disregard of personal danger in the defense of

Naval Air Station Kaneohe Bay Marine Corps Air Station Kaneohe Bay or MCAS Kaneohe Bay is a United States Marine Corps (USMC) airfield located within the Marine Corps Base Hawaii complex, formerly known as Marine Corps Air Facility (MCAF) Kaneohe Bay or Naval Air Station (NAS) ...

. He was first buried in Hawaii in December 1941 and was reinterred in Colorado Springs in October 1947.

Construction and commissioning

''Daniel T. Griffin'' was launched on 25 February 1943 by the Bethlehem-Hingham Shipyard, Hingham, Massachusetts, sponsored by Mrs. D. T. Griffin, and commissioned on 9 June.

Service history

After a voyage escorting a convoy to

Casablanca Casablanca, also known in Arabic as Dar al-Bayda ( ar, الدَّار الْبَيْضَاء, al-Dār al-Bayḍāʾ, ; ber, ⴹⴹⴰⵕⵍⴱⵉⴹⴰ, ḍḍaṛlbiḍa, : "White House") is the largest city in Morocco and the country's econom ...

French Morocco The French protectorate in Morocco (french: Protectorat français au Maroc; ar, الحماية الفرنسية في المغرب), also known as French Morocco, was the period of French colonial rule in Morocco between 1912 to 1956. The prote ...

, between 15 August and 24 September 1943 ''Daniel T. Griffin'' took up convoy duty between New York and

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

, making eight transatlantic voyages between 13 October 1943 and 23 September 1944. She arrived at

Staten Island Staten Island ( ) is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Richmond County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located in the city's southwest portion, the borough is separated from New Jersey by the Arthur Kill and the Kill Van Kull an ...

, New York on 22 October for conversion to a ''Charles Lawrence''-class

high speed transport High-speed transports were converted destroyers and destroyer escorts used in US Navy amphibious operations in World War II and afterward. They received the US Hull classification symbol APD; "AP" for transport and "D" for destroyer. In 1969, the ...

. She was reclassified APD-38 on 23 October 1944. Sailing from

Norfolk Norfolk () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in East Anglia in England. It borders Lincolnshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the west and south-west, and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the No ...

on 13 January 1945 ''Daniel T. Griffin'' arrived at

Pearl Harbor Pearl Harbor is an American lagoon harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu. It was often visited by the Naval fleet of the United States, before it was acquired from the Hawaiian Kingdom by the U.S. with the signing of the Re ...

on 6 February to serve with

Underwater Demolition Team Underwater Demolition Teams (UDT), or frogmen, were amphibious units created by the United States Navy during World War II with specialized non-tactical missions. They were predecessors of the navy's current SEAL teams. Their primary WWII func ...

s. She cleared on 14 February on convoy duty to

Ulithi Ulithi ( yap, Wulthiy, , or ) is an atoll in the Caroline Islands of the western Pacific Ocean, about east of Yap. Overview Ulithi consists of 40 islets totaling , surrounding a lagoon about long and up to wide—at one of the largest i ...

and

Kossol Passage Kossol Roads is a large body of reef-enclosed water north of Babeldaob in northern Palau at .Kossol Roads
a ...

, then arrived at San Pedro Bay,

Leyte Leyte ( ) is an island in the Visayas group of islands in the Philippines. It is eighth-largest and sixth-most populous island in the Philippines, with a total population of 2,626,970 as of 2020 census. Since the accessibility of land has be ...

, on 5 March for invasion rehearsals off Hononhan Island. On 19 March she got underway for

Kerama Retto The are a subtropical island group southwest of Okinawa Island in Japan. Geography Four islands are inhabited: Tokashiki Island, Zamami Island, Aka Island, and Geruma Island. The islands are administered as Tokashiki Village and Zamami Vill ...

, arriving on the 26th. During the assault on Okinawa, she screened ships at

and swept mines, delivered explosives to the

Okinawa is a prefecture of Japan. Okinawa Prefecture is the southernmost and westernmost prefecture of Japan, has a population of 1,457,162 (as of 2 February 2020) and a geographic area of 2,281 km2 (880 sq mi). Naha is the capital and largest city ...

beaches, and then acted as rescue ship until 18 May. On 6 April she fought off several suicide attacks destroying at least two enemy planes. When the

destroyer In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast, manoeuvrable, long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy or battle group and defend them against powerful short range attackers. They were originally developed in ...

was hit ''Daniel T. Griffin'' protected her against further attack assisted in putting out her fires, and escorted her into

. ''Daniel T. Griffin'' served on local escort duty at

Saipan Saipan ( ch, Sa’ipan, cal, Seipél, formerly in es, Saipán, and in ja, 彩帆島, Saipan-tō) is the largest island of the Northern Mariana Islands, a Commonwealth (U.S. insular area), commonwealth of the United States in the western Pa ...

between 20 May and 19 June 1945, then escorted a convoy back to Okinawa, and another from Okinawa to Ulithi. On 11 July she arrived in San Pedro Bay, Leyte, for varied duty in the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

until 22 September when she sailed with occupation troops to Kure, Japan, landing her passengers from 6 to 11 October. Returning to

Manila Manila ( , ; fil, Maynila, ), officially the City of Manila ( fil, Lungsod ng Maynila, ), is the capital of the Philippines, and its second-most populous city. It is highly urbanized and, as of 2019, was the world's most densely populate ...

on 16 October she redeployed troops in the Philippines until 2 December when she sailed for the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. She called briefly at

San Diego San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the List of United States cities by population, eigh ...

, arrived at Norfolk on 11 January 1946 and Green Cove Springs, Florida, on 4 March. She was placed out of commission in reserve there on 30 May 1946.

''Virgilio Uribe'' (APD-29)

''Daniel T. Griffin'' was transferred to

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...

on 15 November 1966, and renamed ''Luis Virgilio Uribe'' (APD-29). She was decommissioned and broken up for scrap in 1995.

Awards

''Daniel T. Griffin'' received one

battle star A service star is a miniature bronze or silver five-pointed star inch (4.8 mm) in diameter that is authorized to be worn by members of the eight uniformed services of the United States on medals and ribbons to denote an additional award or ser ...

for

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

service.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Daniel T. Griffin (DE-54) Buckley-class destroyer escorts Charles Lawrence-class high speed transports Ships built in Hingham, Massachusetts 1943 ships World War II frigates and destroyer escorts of the United States World War II amphibious warfare vessels of the United States Buckley-class destroyer escorts of the Chilean Navy