Laid down 14 October 1943 Decommissioned 16 October 1945 Construction started 14 October 1943 Displacement 1.297 million kg | Commissioned 4 April 1944 Struck 1 November 1945 Launched 17 November 1943 | |
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Name USS John M. Bermingham (DE-530) Namesake Lieutenant Commander John Michael Bermingham | ||
USS John M. Bermingham (DE-530) was an Evarts class destroyer escort constructed for the United States Navy during World War II. She was sent off into North Atlantic Ocean waters to protect convoys and other ships from German submarines and fighter aircraft. She performed escort and antisubmarine operations in battle areas before being retired and subsequently scrapped.
She was named after Lieutenant Commander John Michael Bermingham, who was awarded the Navy Cross, and went down with his ship when it was bombed by Japanese planes near Australia in 1942. The ship was laid down by Boston Navy Yard on 14 October 1943; launched on 17 November 1943; sponsored by Mrs. J. M. Bermingham, widow of Lieutenant Commander Bermingham; and commissioned 8 April 1944 Lieutenant M. Beerman in command.
World War II
The new destroyer escort conducted shakedown off Bermuda and arrived Charleston, South Carolina on 9 June to begin her vital convoy escort duty. Departing on 14 June, she escorted the ships to the English Channel; and, after steaming to Belfast on 23 July, she returned to Boston, Massachusetts on 2 August 1944. She then underwent further training in Casco Bay before arriving New York on 28 August to join an unusual convoy.
Bermingham sailed on 19 September with other escort vessels to convoy a large group of Army tugs and barges for use in the important captured ports of northern France. During the arduous crossing, rough weather claimed several tugs and many of the vitally-needed harbor barges. Only a heroic effort on the part of escorting ships brought the remainder of the convoy to safety at Plymouth on 20 October. After a week of searching for straggling barges, the ship joined a return convoy and arrived New York on 21 November.
After training, Bermingham was assigned to regular convoy runs between American ports and Oran, Algeria, in support of the giant land offensive underway in Europe. She made three voyages to Oran in the months that followed, arriving New York on 29 May 1945. Her mission in Europe completed with the fall of the Axis, the ship arrived on Miami, Florida, 20 July for duty as a school ship at the Naval Training Center.
Bermingham sailed to Charleston, South Carolina after V-J Day, arrived on 9 September, and decommissioned on 12 October. She was scrapped in March 1946.