USS ''Kirkpatrick'' (DE-318) was an Edsall-class

destroyer escort Destroyer escort (DE) was the United States Navy mid-20th-century classification for a warship designed with the endurance necessary to escort mid-ocean convoys of merchant marine ships. Development of the destroyer escort was promoted by th ...

built for the

U.S. 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 o ...

during

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 ...

. She served in the

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe ...

the

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and provided destroyer escort protection against

submarine A submarine (or sub) is a watercraft capable of independent operation underwater. It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability. The term is also sometimes used historically or colloquially to refer to remotely op ...

and air attack for Navy vessels and

convoys A convoy is a group of vehicles, typically motor vehicles or ships, traveling together for mutual support and protection. Often, a convoy is organized with armed defensive support and can help maintain cohesion within a unit. It may also be used ...

. Post-war, she was converted to a

radar picket A radar picket is a radar-equipped station, ship, submarine, aircraft, or vehicle used to increase the radar detection range around a nation or military (including naval) force to protect it from surprise attack, typically air attack, or from cr ...

ship to support the

DEW Line The Distant Early Warning Line, also known as the DEW Line or Early Warning Line, was a system of radar stations in the northern Arctic region of Canada, with additional stations along the north coast and Aleutian Islands of Alaska (see Proj ...

Namesake

Thomas L. Kirkpatrick was born on 5 July 1887, in

Cozad, Nebraska Cozad is a city in Dawson County, Nebraska, United States. The population was 3,977 at the 2010 census. The town is on the Great Plains of central Nebraska, along the Union Pacific Railroad and U.S. Route 30, just north of the Platte River. The ...

. He was appointed Acting

Chaplain A chaplain is, traditionally, a cleric (such as a Minister (Christianity), minister, priest, pastor, rabbi, purohit, or imam), or a laity, lay representative of a religious tradition, attached to a secularity, secular institution (such as a hosp ...

, U.S. Navy on 19 February 1918. After serving as chaplain to stations in the United States and abroad, he was assigned to the on 24 June 1919. For the next 20 years he served on , and in addition to duty at Samoa from 1935 to 1937. He reported to on 13 September 1940, and was commissioned Captain on 1 July 1941. He died when ''Arizona'' was sunk during the

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

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on 7 December 1941.

Construction and commissioning

She was launched 5 June 1943, by

Consolidated Steel Consolidated Steel Corporation (formed 18 December 1928) was an American steel and shipbuilding business. Consolidated built ships during World War II in two locations: Wilmington, California and Orange, Texas. It was created in 1929 by the merg ...

Corp.,

Orange, Texas Orange is a city and the county seat of Orange County, Texas, United States. As of the 2020 census, the city population was 19,324. It is the easternmost city in Texas, located on the Sabine River at the border with Louisiana, and is from Houst ...

, sponsored by Mrs. Genevieve Kirkpatrick, widow of Captain Kirkpatrick, and commissioned 23 October 1943.

World War II North Atlantic operations

After

shakedown Shakedown may refer to: * Shakedown (continuum mechanics), a type of plastic deformation * Shakedown (testing) or a shakedown cruise, a period of testing undergone by a ship, airplane or other craft before being declared operational * Extortion, ...

along the Atlantic Coast, ''Kirkpatrick'' arrived

Norfolk, Virginia Norfolk ( ) is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. Incorporated in 1705, it had a population of 238,005 at the 2020 census, making it the third-most populous city in Virginia after neighboring Virginia Be ...

, 23 December 1943, to commence

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escort duty. From January 1944 to May 1945 she made one

convoy A convoy is a group of vehicles, typically motor vehicles or ships, traveling together for mutual support and protection. Often, a convoy is organized with armed defensive support and can help maintain cohesion within a unit. It may also be used ...

escort mission to the

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the e ...

, and 10 crossings between the United States and the

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. On her third voyage, another escort in the convoy rammed the after the

U-boat U-boats were naval submarines operated by Germany, particularly in the First and Second World Wars. Although at times they were efficient fleet weapons against enemy naval warships, they were most effectively used in an economic warfare role ...

had sunk tanker . Eleven prisoners from the sunken enemy submarine were captured in this action of 16 April 1944.

Transfer to the Pacific Fleet

''Kirkpatrick'' returned

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

on completion of her final

escort mission 15 May 1945. After bombardment exercises in the

Caribbean The Caribbean (, ) ( es, El Caribe; french: la Caraïbe; ht, Karayib; nl, De Caraïben) is a region of the Americas that consists of the Caribbean Sea, its islands (some surrounded by the Caribbean Sea and some bordering both the Caribbean Se ...

, she sailed for the Pacific. She entered

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 ...

11 July, for tactics with submarines in

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an waters until 29 August when she departed on an escort cruise to the

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Departing

Sasebo is a core city located in Nagasaki Prefecture, Japan. It is also the second largest city in Nagasaki Prefecture, after its capital, Nagasaki. On 1 June 2019, the city had an estimated population of 247,739 and a population density of 581 persons p ...

2 November, ''Kirkpatrick'' arrived

Charleston, South Carolina Charleston is the largest city in the U.S. state of South Carolina, the county seat of Charleston County, and the principal city in the Charleston–North Charleston metropolitan area. The city lies just south of the geographical midpoint o ...

, 8 December 1945, via

and the

Panama Canal The Panama Canal ( es, Canal de Panamá, link=no) is an artificial waterway in Panama that connects the Atlantic Ocean with the Pacific Ocean and divides North and South America. The canal cuts across the Isthmus of Panama and is a conduit ...

. She arrived

Jacksonville, Florida Jacksonville is a city located on the Atlantic coast of northeast Florida, the most populous city proper in the state and is the largest city by area in the contiguous United States as of 2020. It is the seat of Duval County, with which the ...

, 5 days later and decommissioned 1 May 1946, at

Green Cove Springs, Florida Green Cove Springs is a city in and the county seat of Clay County, Florida, United States. The population was 5,378 at the 2000 census. As of 2010, the population recorded by the U.S. Census Bureau was 6,908. The city is named after the portio ...

Converted to Radar Picket Ship

''Kirkpatrick'' was reclassified a radar picket ship (DER-318) on 1 October 1951, and recommissioned 23 February 1952. After shakedown and training out of Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, ''Kirkpatrick'' reported to

Newport, Rhode Island Newport is an American seaside city on Aquidneck Island in Newport County, Rhode Island. It is located in Narragansett Bay, approximately southeast of Providence, Rhode Island, Providence, south of Fall River, Massachusetts, south of Boston, ...

, 11 July 1952, for radar picket operations on the Atlantic Barrier, the seaward extension of the Distant Early Warning (DEW) line across northern

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. She manned radar picket stations in the North Atlantic until 1960, a seaborne unit of the air defense system of the United States and

. Incidental to this service she visited ports of northern

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

in the summers of 1958 and 1959. The radar picket ship departed Newport 27 March 1960, and arrived

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

, Pennsylvania, 2 days later.

Final Decommissioning

She decommissioned there 24 June 1960, and entered the

Atlantic Reserve Fleet The United States Navy maintains a number of its ships as part of a reserve fleet, often called the "Mothball Fleet". While the details of the maintenance activity have changed several times, the basics are constant: keep the ships afloat and s ...

. She was struck from the

Navy list A Navy Directory, formerly the Navy List or Naval Register is an official list of naval officers, their ranks and seniority, the ships which they command or to which they are appointed, etc., that is published by the government or naval autho ...

on 1 August 1974 and was sold for scrapping 12 March 1975.

References

External links

Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kirkpatrick (DE-318) Edsall-class destroyer escorts Ships built in Orange, Texas 1943 ships World War II frigates and destroyer escorts of the United States