USS Savage (DE-386)
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

USS ''Savage'' (DE-386) was an built for the United States Navy during World War II.


Namesake

Walter Samuel Savage Jr. was born on 26 April 1919 in New Orleans, Louisiana. He was commissioned Ensign, United States Naval Reserve, on 10 June 1941. After instruction at the Navy Supply Corps School, Harvard University, Ensign Savage reported to the for duty as Assistant Paymaster. He died on the ''Arizona'' during the Japanese Attack on Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941.


Construction and commissioning

She was laid down 30 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 and launched on 15 July 1943. The ship was commissioned on 29 October 1943 manned by a Coast Guard crew. On 18 November 1943, she was underway for Bermuda, British West Indies, for her
shakedown cruise Shakedown cruise is a nautical term in which the performance of a ship is tested. Generally, shakedown cruises are performed before a ship enters service or after major changes such as a crew change, repair or overhaul. The shakedown cruise s ...
. Commencing Thanksgiving Day of 1943, the ship was subjected to a rigorous training schedule including gunnery practice, submarine warfare tactics, maneuvering, and the hundreds of other tasks demanded of a man-o-war. On 23 December 1943 she departed for the U.S. Navy Yard in
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 ...
for post-shakedown repairs.


World War II North Atlantic operations

On Christmas Day, ''Savage'' completed her training and ship and crew reported to
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 ...
as members of the Atlantic Fleet. In January 1944 the ship was assigned as one of six vessels composing Escort Division 23 of Task Force 63. This task force was engaged in escorting convoys of 60 to 80 merchant ships from United States ports to the Mediterranean Theatre. During the operations, lasting approximately seven weeks for each convoy, ''Savage'' and her
sister ship A sister ship is a ship of the same class or of virtually identical design to another ship. Such vessels share a nearly identical hull and superstructure layout, similar size, and roughly comparable features and equipment. They often share a ...
s safely escorted hundreds of ships loaded with vital war materials safely past the heavy enemy submarine and air concentrations in the Atlantic and Mediterranean. On 1 April 1944, Convoy UGS 36, whose escort included USS ''Savage'', was attacked by thirty enemy aircraft north of
Algiers Algiers ( ; ar, الجزائر, al-Jazāʾir; ber, Dzayer, script=Latn; french: Alger, ) is the capital and largest city of Algeria. The city's population at the 2008 Census was 2,988,145Census 14 April 2008: Office National des Statistiques ...
, Algeria. So intense was the gunfire of the escorting ships that the attack was repelled without a single allied vessel lost. Her only casualty during the action was a member of the
depth charge A depth charge is an anti-submarine warfare (ASW) weapon. It is intended to destroy a submarine by being dropped into the water nearby and detonating, subjecting the target to a powerful and destructive Shock factor, hydraulic shock. Most depth ...
crew who was struck in the ankle by shell fragments. During the latter half of 1944 and the first six months of 1945, USS ''Savage'' escorted high-speed troop convoys between New York and the British Isles to support the final assault on Nazi Germany. During eighteen crossings of the Atlantic, ''Savage'' and her sister ships safely brought through over 1,000 loaded troop and supply ships without a single loss despite the persistent threat of enemy vessels and treacherous weather conditions. Following the defeat of Nazi Germany, ''Savage'' sailed to the Brooklyn Navy Yard, where she was fitted with more anti-aircraft guns. She then sailed on 30 May 1945 for an intensive period of operational and gunnery training in the Caribbean off Culebra, Puerto Rico.


Transferred to the Pacific theater

After transiting the Panama Canal on 18 June 1945, she proceeded from San Francisco to the Aleutian Islands and arrived at
Adak Adak may refer to: Places *Adak Island, one of the Aleutian Islands ** Adak, Alaska, a town on the above island ** Adak Airport, airport serving the town ***Adak Army Airfield, original name of the airport (1942–c.1943) *** Davis Army Airfield, ...
on 8 July 1945. The ship and her crew reported to the Commander of North Pacific Fleets for escort duty.


End-of-war activity

After the hostilities in the Pacific ended, ''Savage'' escorted two convoys from Cold Bay, Alaska to Russian waters where the American escort ships were dismissed. One convoy departed Cold Harbor on 23 July 1945 and the other on 25 August 1945. During the interim, she escorted oilers to refuel Task Force 92, which had been bombarding shore installations in the Kuril Islands of Russia; then occupied by Japanese forces. On 27 September 1945 ''Savage'' departed Attu for Petropavlovsk, USSR, and arrived there on the morning of 2 October 1945. She delivered supplies and mail to then departed for Attu. At the end of hostilities with Japan, ''Savage'' was assigned liaison duty in the Far East. She shuttled between Okinawa, and
Qingdao Qingdao (, also spelled Tsingtao; , Mandarin: ) is a major city in eastern Shandong Province. The city's name in Chinese characters literally means " azure island". Located on China's Yellow Sea coast, it is a major nodal city of the One Belt ...
, China from December 1945 until February 1946 when she sailed for Pearl Harbor. In April 1946, she sailed for
Green Cove Springs Green Cove Springs is a city in and the county seat of Clay County, Florida, 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 ...
, Florida. She was decommissioned there on 13 June 1946; with her CO Captain John M. Waters, USCG in attendance. Also decommissioned at this location in June 1946 were the other five Coast Guard manned ships comprising CortDiv23. , , , and . With the exception of ''Richey'', all were recommissioned as Navy manned destroyer escort radar picket ships.


Conversion to radar picket ship

After World War II most, if not all, early warning networks had been dismantled. At the height of the
Cold War The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. The term '' cold war'' is used because the ...
, paranoia ran deep within the halls of the United States military establishment. By 1949, the USSR had developed the atomic bomb and the capacity to deliver it by air. The United States considered that it needed to protect itself from the Soviets, formerly allies. To this end, the US constructed early-warning stations. This system was called the Distant Early Warning system or 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 ...
, which was a state of the art product. There were 22 stations and the line spanned approximately . The DEW Line's radar stations could chart the path of the Soviet bombers toward the North American continent. It was hailed as "a bulwark" against the forces of communism. Radar picket escort destroyers were employed to detect these aircraft moving toward North America on a polar route. ''Savage'' was redesignated a radar picket escort destroyer (DER-386) on 3 September 1954 and recommissioned on 18 February 1955 in Boston, Massachusetts; with Lt. Cmdr. R. E. Davis, USN as commanding officer. Distinguished guests included Walter S. Savage Sr., father of Walter S. Savage Jr., USNR, and Captain Oscar C. Rohnke, USCG. In July 1955, she was transferred to the Pacific Fleet with her home port being Seattle, Washington. She arrived in Seattle on 6 August 1955. ''Savage'' served in this capacity until December 1958, when her home port was changed to Pearl Harbor. She operated as a radar picket ship of the mid-Pacific barrier from 12 January 1959 until March 1960. She then served as a search and rescue navigation aid ship until May 1965.


Vietnam operations

On 17 May 1965, ''Savage'' sailed for South Vietnam where she spent more time on station in
Operation Market Time Operation Market Time was the United States Navy, Republic of Vietnam Navy and Royal Australian Navy operation begun in 1965 to stop the flow of troops, war material, and supplies by sea, coast, and rivers, from North Vietnam into parts of Sout ...
than any other DER. She guarded against sea infiltration by North Vietnamese and assisted land forces by providing naval gunfire support. She had no periods out of Vietnam service until October when she made a five-day visit to Hong Kong. From October 1965 through October 1968 the ship made five more tours off Vietnam on
Operation Market Time Operation Market Time was the United States Navy, Republic of Vietnam Navy and Royal Australian Navy operation begun in 1965 to stop the flow of troops, war material, and supplies by sea, coast, and rivers, from North Vietnam into parts of Sout ...
, operating offshore, searching
junks A junk (Chinese: 船, ''chuán'') is a type of Chinese sailing ship with fully battened sails. There are two types of junk in China: northern junk, which developed from Chinese river boats, and southern junk, which developed from Austronesian ...
and small fishing boats for Viet Cong weapons and infrequently providing naval gunfire support with her two guns from 1 to 15 January, 12 June to 16 September 1966, 24 August to 8 September 1967, 16 September to 12 October and 2 to 18 December 1968. She made Taiwan Strait patrols in June, September, and December 1967; and in July and October 1968. During her 1967 and 1968 Market Time patrols, she also served as "mother ship" to 5 – 6 U.S. Navy PCF's (swift boats). All of ''Savage''s officers (except for the Executive Officer and Commanding Officer) functioned as additional officers to the two crews per Swift Boat (daytime and nighttime) covering the Mekong River Delta and the Mekong River in the "brown water navy". On 1 February 1969 she arrived back in Pearl Harbor and entered the naval shipyard for restricted availability and upkeep. On 7 July 1969 she departed for San Francisco and deactivation at Mare Island Naval Shipyard in Vallejo, California. On 17 October 1969, she was decommissioned for the last time and joined the inactive reserve fleet.


Post-war decommissioning

She was stricken on 1 June 1975 and sunk as a target off California on 25 October 1982.


Awards

USS ''Savage'' earned one battle star in World War II (Convoy UGS 36, 1 April 1944). * American Campaign Medal * European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal with one battle star * Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal * World War II Victory Medal *
Navy Occupation Service Medal The Navy Occupation Service Medal is a military award of the United States Navy which was "Awarded to commemorate the services of Navy, Marine Corps and Coast Guard personnel in the occupation of certain territories of the enemies of the U.S. durin ...
with "ASIA" clasp * China Service Medal * National Defense Service Medal * Vietnam Service Medal with six campaign stars * Republic of Vietnam Campaign Medal


References

*


External links


Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships


{{DEFAULTSORT:Savage (De-386) Edsall-class destroyer escorts Ships built in Houston 1943 ships World War II frigates and destroyer escorts of the United States Ships sunk as targets Maritime incidents in 1982 Shipwrecks of the California coast