USS ''Cannon'' (DE-99) was a

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 ...

launched on 25 May 1943 by the

Dravo Corporation Dravo Corporation was a shipbuilding company with shipyards in Pittsburgh and Wilmington, Delaware. It was founded by Frank and Ralph Dravo in Pittsburgh in 1891. The corporation went public in 1936 and in 1998 it was bought out by Carmeuse for $1 ...

Wilmington, Delaware Wilmington ( Lenape: ''Paxahakink /'' ''Pakehakink)'' is the largest city in the U.S. state of Delaware. The city was built on the site of Fort Christina, the first Swedish settlement in North America. It lies at the confluence of the Christina ...

and was sponsored by Mrs. E. H. Cannon. ''Cannon'' was commissioned on 26 September 1943 and reported to the

United States Atlantic Fleet United may refer to: Places * United, Pennsylvania, an unincorporated community * United, West Virginia, an unincorporated community Arts and entertainment Films * ''United'' (2003 film), a Norwegian film * ''United'' (2011 film), a BBC Two fi ...

. The ship was named in honor of

George H. Cannon First Lieutenant George Ham Cannon, USMC, (November 5, 1915 – December 7, 1941) was the first U.S. Marine in World War II to receive the nation's highest military award—the Medal of Honor. He posthumously received the medal for "distingu ...

, a

Medal of Honor The Medal of Honor (MOH) is the United States Armed Forces' highest military decoration and is awarded to recognize American soldiers, sailors, marines, airmen, guardians and coast guardsmen who have distinguished themselves by acts of valor. ...

recipient.

Service history

On 30 November 1943, ''Cannon'' cleared

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 ...

for

Trinidad Trinidad is the larger and more populous of the two major islands of Trinidad and Tobago. The island lies off the northeastern coast of Venezuela and sits on the continental shelf of South America. It is often referred to as the southernmos ...

, where she arrived on 5 December to begin a year of duty escorting convoys from that oil rich island to

Recife That it may shine on all ( Matthew 5:15) , image_map = Brazil Pernambuco Recife location map.svg , mapsize = 250px , map_caption = Location in the state of Pernambuco , pushpin_map = Brazil#South A ...

and

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a b ...

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

. During this time, she made one voyage from Brazil to

Gibraltar ) , anthem = " God Save the King" , song = " Gibraltar Anthem" , image_map = Gibraltar location in Europe.svg , map_alt = Location of Gibraltar in Europe , map_caption = United Kingdom shown in pale green , mapsize = , image_map2 = Gib ...

, guarding convoys whose tankers carried the

fuel A fuel is any material that can be made to react with other substances so that it releases energy as thermal energy or to be used for work. The concept was originally applied solely to those materials capable of releasing chemical energy but ...

essential to the operations in 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 ...

. ''Cannon''s protection of the

Allied An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are called ...

fuel supply through the sea lanes of 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 ...

and the

Atlantic Narrows The Atlantic Narrows is a relatively narrow portion of the Atlantic Ocean between South America and West Africa. More specifically, it lies approximately at the Equator where by definition the North Atlantic meets the South Atlantic and roughl ...

ended on 4 December 1944, when she arrived at

Natal, Brazil Natal ( ) is the capital and largest city of the state of Rio Grande do Norte, located in northeastern Brazil. According to IBGE's 2021 estimate, the city had a total population o896,708 making it the 19th largest city in the country. Natal is a ...

to begin training a Brazilian crew in the operation of the ship. ''Cannon'' was decommissioned and transferred to Brazil on 19 December 1944 at Natal. She continued to serve in the

Brazilian Navy ) , colors= Blue and white , colors_label= Colors , march= "Cisne Branco" ( en, "White Swan") (same name as training ship ''Cisne Branco'' , mascot= , equipment= 1 multipurpose aircraft carrier7 submarines6 frigates2 corvettes4 amphibious warf ...

as ''Baependi'' until 1975.

Awards

References

* *

External links

NavSource.org – DE-99
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cannon (DE-99) Cannon-class destroyer escorts of the United States Navy Ships built in Wilmington, Delaware 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 Ships built by Dravo Corporation