Ordered 1942 Construction started 6 February 1943 Length 93 m | Commissioned 11 August 1943 Launched 8 May 1943 | |
Name USS George W. Ingram (DE-62) Namesake George Washington Ingram Builder Bethlehem Hingham Shipyard Laid down 6 February 1943 as Buckley-class destroyer escort | ||
USS George W. Ingram (DE-62/APD-43), a Buckley-class destroyer escort of the United States Navy, was named in honor of Seaman George Washington Ingram (1918–1941), who was killed in action during the Japanese attack on the Hawaiian Islands.
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George W. Ingram was laid down on 6 February 1943 at the Bethlehem-Hingham Shipyard, Inc., in Hingham, Massachusetts; launched on 8 May 1943, sponsored by Mrs. James L. Ingram, mother of Seaman Second Class Ingram, and commissioned on 11 August 1943, with Lieutenant Commander Ernest R. Perry in command.
World War II, 1943–1945
After shakedown off Bermuda, George W. Ingram departed New York on 13 October for convoy escort duty in the Atlantic. Steaming via the West Indies, she escorted a supply convoy to North Africa, where she arrived at Algiers, Algeria, on 7 November. She departed four days later, as convoy escort, and returned via the West Indies and the Panama Canal Zone to New York, arriving on 4 December. Between 26 December 1943 and 12 July 1944, she made five round-trip trans-Atlantic escort voyages (four from New York and one from Boston) to Northern Ireland.
After additional escort duty along the eastern seaboard, she departed Charleston, South Carolina, on 6 November to escort slow-moving convoy CK-4 to Plymouth, England. She arrived on 5 December, then sailed a week later, escorting ships and landing craft damaged during the Normandy invasion, back to the United States. On 20 December, German submarine U-870 attacked the slow-moving convoy northeast of the Azores, sinking LST-359 and damaging the destroyer escort Fogg (DE-57); but prompt action by the escorts drove off the U-boat, preventing further damage. George W. Ingram reached New York on 12 January 1945.
After escorting a captured Italian submarine from Portsmouth, New Hampshire to New London, Connecticut, George W. Ingram was re-designated APD-43 on 23 February. During the next few months, she underwent conversion to a Charles Lawrence-class high speed transport at Tompkinsville, New York. Shortly after V-E Day, she departed New York and sailed via the Panama Canal and San Diego to Pearl Harbor, where she arrived on 20 June for training with Underwater Demolition Teams.
With UDT-26 embarked, she departed Pearl Harbor on 24 August and sailed via Eniwetok and Okinawa to Jinsen, Korea, where on 8 September, she supported the initial landings of American occupation troops in Korea. She steamed to Taku Bar, China, on 26 September, and from 29 September to 1 October, UDT-26 surveyed and sounded the approaches of the Peking River in preparation for landings by the III Marine Amphibious Corps. She supported additional landings by American troops at Chefoo and Tsingtao, China, before departing Tsingtao on 17 October. She steamed via Okinawa, Eniwetok, and Pearl Harbor to the West Coast, arriving at San Diego on 11 November.
Decommissioning and sale to the Republic of China
Remaining at San Diego, George W. Ingram decommissioned on 15 January 1947, and entered the Pacific Reserve Fleet at Bremerton, Washington. George W. Ingram was struck from the Navy List on 1 January 1967.
Acquired by the Republic of China Navy on 19 September 1967, ex-George W. Ingram was commissioned as frigate ROCS Kang Shan (PF-43). With a different hull number, 323, she was discarded in 1978.