USS ''Marts'' (DE-174) was a built for the United States Navy. She served in the Atlantic Ocean in 1943-45 before being transferred to the Brazilian Navy. Renamed ''Bocaina'' (D-22), she was in service until 1975, when she was struck and scrapped.

Namesake

Alvin Lee Marts was born on 4 August 1923 at

Wilsonville, Nebraska Wilsonville is a village in Furnas County, Nebraska, United States. The population was 93 at the 2010 census. History Wilsonville was first settled in 1872 under the name “Wild Turkey”. A post office was established on April 18, 1873. On De ...

. He enlisted in the Navy at Denver, Colorado on 2 July 1941. He served on and survived its following the Battle of Midway. Transferred to he served as a fireman, second class. Early in the Battle of Tassafaronga, ''New Orleans'' took a torpedo hit in its port bow which exploded two magazines and blew off the forward part of the ship back to No. 2 turret. Assigned to the forward battle repair party, Marts was gravely injured by the blast and fires. However he assisted in carrying an injured medical officer to the battle dressing station amidships where he collapsed from loss of blood and exhaustion. He died from his wounds shortly afterward. He was posthumously awarded the Navy Cross.

History

The ship was laid down by

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Co., Newark, New Jersey, on 26 April 1943; launched on 8 August 1943; sponsored by Miss Betty Marts; and, commissioned on 3 September 1943.

U.S. Navy (1943–1945)

After

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off Bermuda, ''Marts'' departed

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on 4 November for convoy escort duty off the Atlantic coast of South America. She reached Trinidad, British West Indies, on 9 November, and during the next five months operated in the 4th Fleet escorting ships between Trinidad and Recife, Brazil. As escort for , she departed

Bahia, Brazil Bahia ( , , ; meaning "bay") is one of the 26 states of Brazil, located in the Northeast Region of the country. It is the fourth-largest Brazilian state by population (after São Paulo, Minas Gerais, and Rio de Janeiro) and the 5th-largest by ...

, on 23 May 1944 and patrolled the mid-Atlantic, south of the

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, in search of German U-boats, until returning to Bahia on 5 June. She made two more patrols during the next month; and, after escorting ''Omaha'' to

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on 13 July, she returned to Recife the 23rd. Between 24 July and 3 August ''Marts'' screened the British cable repair ship SS ''Cambria'' during repairs on communications cables off the Brazilian coast. Thence, she joined Escort Division 24 on

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patrols in the Atlantic. Operating with , she made four offensive ASW patrols out of Recife between 22 August and 12 November. After completing sonar repairs at Bahia, Brazil, she sailed to Trinidad, where she arrived on 5 December to resume convoy escort duty. From 6 to 18 December she screened a merchant convoy to Recife; thence, she continued escort duty between Brazilian Ports and Trinidad until the end of January 1945. ''Marts'' joined at Bahia on 1 February and escorted the

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on patrol in the South Atlantic until returning to Recife on 10 February.

Brazilian Navy (1945–1975)

Scheduled for transfer under lend lease to the Brazilian government, she steamed to the Brazilian naval base at Natal on 2 March, and there trained Brazilian sailors. ''Marts'' decommissioned on 20 March 1945 and recommissioned the same day in the Brazilian Navy as ''Bocaina'' (D-22). On 30 June 1953, she was returned to the United States and simultaneously transferred outright to Brazil under terms of the

Mutual Defense Assistance Program The Mutual Defense Assistance Act was a United States Act of Congress signed by President Harry S. Truman on 6 October 1949. For US Foreign policy, it was the first U.S. military foreign aid legislation of the Cold War era, and initially to Eur ...

. She continued to serve in the Brazilian Navy until struck and scrapped in 1975.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Marts (DE-174) Cannon-class destroyer escorts of the United States Navy Ships built in Kearny, New Jersey 1943 ships World War II frigates and destroyer escorts of the United States Bertioga-class destroyer escorts Cannon-class destroyer escorts of the Brazilian Navy World War II frigates of Brazil