USS Chambers

USS Chambers (DE-391) was an Edsall-class destroyer escort in service with the United States Navy from 1943 to 1946 and from 1955 to 1960. From 1952 to 1954, she was loaned to the United States Coast Guard where she served as USCGC Chambers (WDE-491). She was finally scrapped in 1975.

History
United States
Name	Chambers
Namesake	Russell Franklyn Chambers
Builder	Brown Shipbuilding, Houston, Texas
Laid down	28 May 1943
Launched	17 August 1943
Commissioned	22 November 1943
Decommissioned	20 June 1960
Reclassified	DER-391, 28 October 1954
Stricken	1 March 1975
Fate	Sold for scrapping 24 September 1975
United States
Name	USCGC Chambers WDE-491
Commissioned	11 June 1952
Decommissioned	30 July 1954
Fate	Returned to USN, 30 July 1954
General characteristics
Class and type	Edsall-class destroyer escort
Displacement	1,253 tons standard 1,590 tons full load
Length	306 feet (93.27 m)
Beam	36.58 feet (11.15 m)
Draft	10.42 full load feet (3.18 m)
Propulsion	4 FM diesel engines, 4 diesel-generators, 6,000 shp (4.5 MW), 2 screws
Speed	21 knots (39 km/h)
Range	9,100 nmi. at 12 knots (17,000 km at 22 km/h)
Complement	8 officers, 201 enlisted
Armament	3 × single 3 in (76 mm)/50 guns 1 × twin 40 mm AA guns 8 × single 20 mm AA guns 1 × triple 21 in (533 mm) torpedo tubes 8 × depth charge projectors 1 × depth charge projector (hedgehog) 2 × depth charge tracks

Namesake

Russell Franklyn Chambers was born on 10 June 1914 in La Habra, California. He was appointed aviation cadet, United States Naval Reserve on 5 December 1938 and commissioned Ensign on 4 November 1939. On duty in the Philippines when the United States entered World War II, he was reported missing in action 27 December 1941 after an engagement with Japanese aircraft over Jolo. He was officially declared dead 28 December 1942.

History

Chambers was launched 17 August 1943 by Brown Shipbuilding Co., Houston, Texas; sponsored by Mrs. R. F. Chambers; commissioned 22 November 1943 and reported to the Atlantic Fleet.

World War II

After a period as training ship for prospective escort vessel crews, Chambers cleared Norfolk, Virginia, 13 February 1944 on the first of eight convoy escort crossings to North African ports from Norfolk, Virginia, and New York City. Steadfast to her important duty of guarding the men and materiel vital to the success of operations in the European theater, Chambers defied the hazards of the sea and the enemy to bring her charges safely to port.

On 8 July 1945 Chambers sailed from New York for Pearl Harbor, where she arrived 16 August to transport homeward bound servicemen to San Pedro, California. She put out to sea from San Pedro for the east coast 11 September, and on 22 April 1946, was decommissioned and placed in reserve at Green Cove Springs, Florida.

Cold War

U.S. Coast Guard service

Loaned to the United States Treasury Department, Chambers was commissioned as a Coast Guard ship 11 June 1952, and redesignated WDE-491. Operating from New Bedford, Massachusetts, she served on Atlantic weather patrols and made several cruises to Newfoundland until 30 July 1954, when the Coast Guard decommissioned her and returned her to the Navy. She also participated in the International Iceberg patrol.

Radar picket ship

Returned to reserve status, Chambers was reclassified DER-391 on 28 October 1954, and began conversion to a radar picket escort vessel. Chambers was recommissioned 1 June 1955 for radar picket duty out of Newport, Rhode Island She was assigned to the Atlantic Barrier Patrol in June 1956, with which she operated until placed out of commission in reserve 20 June 1960, at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Final disposition and fate

On 1 March 1975 she was struck from the Navy list, and was sold for scrap on 24 September 1975.

References

 This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be found here.

External links

• NavSource Online: Destroyer Escort Photo Archive - USS Chambers (DE-391)