USS ''Richey'' (DE-385) was an

Edsall-class The ''Edsall''-class destroyer escorts were destroyer escorts built primarily for ocean antisubmarine escort service during World War II. The lead ship, , was commissioned on 10 April 1943 at Orange, Texas. The class was also known as the FMR t ...

destroyer escort built for the U.S. Navy during World War II. She served in the Atlantic Ocean and the Pacific Ocean 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.

Namesake

Joseph Lee Richey was born on 8 June 1920 in

Barnard, Missouri Barnard is a city in Nodaway County, Missouri, United States. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 221. History Barnard was platted in 1870. The city was named for J. F. Barnard, a railroad official. A post office called Barnard has b ...

. He enlisted in the United States Naval Reserve on 28 October 1940 and was commissioned Ensign on 26 August 1941. Following training at the

Naval Air Station, Pensacola Naval Air Station Pensacola or NAS Pensacola (formerly NAS/KNAS until changed circa 1970 to allow Nassau International Airport, now Lynden Pindling International Airport, to have IATA code NAS), "The Cradle of Naval Aviation", is a United State ...

, Florida, that led to his designation as a naval aviator, he was assigned to Observation Squadron (VO) 2 on board the battleship . He was killed 7 December 1941 during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.

Construction and commissioning

She was laid down 19 April 1943 by

Brown Shipbuilding The Brown Shipbuilding Company was founded in Houston, Texas, in 1942 as a subsidiary of Brown and Root (now KBR) by brothers Herman and George R. Brown to build ships for the U.S. Navy during World War II. Brown Shipbuilding Company ranked 68th ...

Co., Houston, Texas; launched 30 June 1943; sponsored by Mrs. Joseph Lee Richey; and commissioned 30 October 1943.

World War II North Atlantic operations

Following

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, ...

off Bermuda USS Richey (DE-385) commenced convoy escort duty in the Atlantic. From January to July 1944, she escorted convoys from

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 * '' ...

and

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 ...

, 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 ...

, Morocco;

Oran Oran ( ar, وَهران, Wahrān) is a major coastal city located in the north-west of Algeria. It is considered the second most important city of Algeria after the capital Algiers, due to its population and commercial, industrial, and cultural ...

, Algeria; and

Bizerte Bizerte or Bizerta ( ar, بنزرت, translit=Binzart , it, Biserta, french: link=no, Bizérte) the classical Hippo, is a city of Bizerte Governorate in Tunisia. It is the northernmost city in Africa, located 65 km (40mil) north of the cap ...

, Tunisia. From September to October, she guarded convoys from New York to Belfast and Londonderry, Northern Ireland. From January 1945 to late May she escorted convoys between the United States, France, and Great Britain. That April, ''Richey'' rescued 32 men from two tankers that had collided and caught fire, SS Nasbulk and SS St. Mihiel.

Transferred to the North Pacific Theatre

Following arrival in New York in May and overhaul, she proceeded via Cuba and the Panama Canal to the Pacific where she reported in July to the North Pacific Fleet at Adak, Alaska. In September she occupied the Japanese naval base at Ominato, northern

Honshū , historically called , is the largest and most populous island of Japan. It is located south of Hokkaidō across the Tsugaru Strait, north of Shikoku across the Inland Sea, and northeast of Kyūshū across the Kanmon Straits. The island separa ...

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 ...

. After a return to Adak, she sailed via Okinawa to

Taku Taku may refer to: Places North America * the Taku River, in Alaska and British Columbia ** Fort Taku, also known as Fort Durham and as Taku, a former fort of the Hudson's Bay Company near the mouth of the Taku River ** the Taku Glacier, in Ala ...

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 ...

to assist the occupation forces.

Post-War decommissioning

In March 1950 she entered the Atlantic Reserve Fleet. Loaned to the

U.S. Coast Guard The United States Coast Guard (USCG) is the maritime security, search and rescue, and law enforcement service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the country's eight uniformed services. The service is a maritime, military, multi ...

1 April 1952, she was subsequently returned and entered the

Pacific 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 ...

in June 1954, where she remained until struck from the Navy list 30 June 1968, and sunk as a target.

References

External links

NavSource Online: Destroyer Escort Photo Archive - USS Richey (DE-385)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Richey (DE-385) Edsall-class destroyer escorts Ships built in Houston 1943 ships World War II frigates and destroyer escorts of the United States Ships transferred from the United States Navy to the United States Coast Guard Ships sunk as targets Shipwrecks of the California coast