Name USS Evarts Commissioned 15 April 1943 Fate Scrapped 12 July 1946 Launched 7 December 1942 | Laid down 17 October 1942 Decommissioned 2 October 1945 Construction started 17 October 1942 | |
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Class and type Evarts-class destroyer escort | ||
USS Evarts (DE-5) was the lead ship of her class of destroyer escorts in the United States Navy. She was named for Milo Burnell Evarts.
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Evarts was launched on 7 December 1942 at the Boston Navy Yard in Boston, Massachusetts, as BDE-5, intended for transfer to Britain. Instead, she was retained for use in the U.S. Navy, and commissioned on 15 April 1943, with Lieutenant Commander C. B. Henriques, USNR, in command.
Service history
After anti-submarine warfare training and experiments with radar in Chesapeake Bay, Evarts began steady service as a convoy escort, during much of which she flew the flag of Commander, Escort Division 5 (CortDiv 5). After five voyages to Casablanca, she sailed from Norfolk, Virginia, on 22 April 1944 on her first run to Bizerte. Two days before reaching that port, her convoy came under heavy attack by enemy torpedo bombers, and Evarts joined in the protective anti-aircraft barrage which shot down many of the attackers.
During the homeward bound passage of this same voyage, on 29 May, Evarts was detached from the convoy to aid the escort carrier Block Island and destroyer escort Barr, both of whom had been torpedoed by a German submarine. She arrived at the given position to find Block Island had sunk, but screened Barr, under tow, to safety at Casablanca. A second voyage to Bizerte was uneventful, as were the one to Palermo and the three to Oran which followed.
Completing her convoy escort duties on 11 June 1945, Evarts acted as target in exercises with submarines at New London, Connecticut, until arriving at New York on 11 September. There she was decommissioned on 2 October 1945, and was scrapped starting on 12 July 1946.
Awards
Evarts also received one battle star for her World War II service.