USS ''Damon M. Cummings'' (DE-643) was a ''Buckley''-class destroyer escort in service with the United States Navy from 1944 to 1947. She was scrapped in 1973.

History

''Damon M. Cummings'' was named in honor of Lieutenant Commander Damon M. Cummings (1910–42), who was posthumously awarded the Navy Cross for his heroism on board during the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal. ''Damon M. Cummings'' was launched on 18 April 1944 by

Bethlehem Steel Co. The Bethlehem Steel Corporation was an American steelmaking company headquartered in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. For most of the 20th century, it was one of the world's largest steel producing and shipbuilding companies. At the height of its succe ...

, San Francisco, California; sponsored by Mrs. D. M. Cummings; and commissioned on 29 June 1944.

Pacific War

Clearing San Francisco on 8 September 1944 ''Damon M. Cummings'' escorted a convoy to Eniwetok and then sailed on to

Port Purvis A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as Ham ...

Florida Island The Nggela Islands, also known as the Florida Islands, are a small island group in the Central Province of Solomon Islands, a sovereign state (since 1978) in the southwest Pacific Ocean. The chain is composed of four larger islands and about ...

, in the Solomons, arriving on 15 October. She served in the Solomons until 6 November, and on 19 November she arrived at Funafuti, Ellice Islands, from which she patrolled shipping lanes until 2 January 1945. Returning to Port Purvis on 18 January 1945, ''Damon M. Cummings'' continued escort and patrol duty in the Solomons until 9 March. After repairs to her sound gear at Manus Island, she arrived at Leyte on 19 March to rendezvous with an LST group which she screened to the

invasion of Okinawa The , codenamed Operation Iceberg, was a major battle of the Pacific War fought on the island of Okinawa by United States Army (USA) and United States Marine Corps (USMC) forces against the Imperial Japanese Army (IJA). The initial invasion of ...

on 1 April. She remained on patrol off Okinawa until 1 May, then escorted convoys from Ulithi,

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 ...

, and San Pedro Bay. Leyte, to Okinawa until the end of the war. ''Damon M. Cummings'' remained in the Far East after the war, serving on air-sea rescue stations in the

Marianas The Mariana Islands (; also the Marianas; in Chamorro: ''Manislan Mariånas'') are a crescent-shaped archipelago comprising the summits of fifteen longitudinally oriented, mostly dormant volcanic mountains in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, betw ...

and visiting Tokyo from 3 to 12 October. On 1 November she cleared Saipan for an overhaul at Bremerton, Washington. She returned to the Western Pacific to provide services to the fleet at Tsingtao and Shanghai,

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

, and off Haiphong and

Saigon , population_density_km2 = 4,292 , population_density_metro_km2 = 697.2 , population_demonym = Saigonese , blank_name = GRP (Nominal) , blank_info = 2019 , blank1_name = – Total , blank1_ ...

, Indo-China, between 15 February and 16 September 1946.

Decommissioning and fate

''Damon M. Cummings'' was placed out of commission in reserve at Long Beach, California (USA) on 3 February 1947. She was stricken from Naval Vessel Register on 1 March 1972 and sold for scrapping on 18 May 1973.

Awards

''Damon M. Cummings'' received one battle star for World War II service.

References

External links

navsource.org: USS ''Damon M. Cummings''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Damon M. Cummings Buckley-class destroyer escorts Ships built in San Francisco 1944 ships