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History of the USS FRANCIS M. ROBINSON |
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National Archives photo dated 3 Feb '44. Position 36º 56' - 75° 00'. That put it about 35 miles East of Kitty Hawk, NC. She is still carrying the 3-tube 21" torpedo tubes and the 1.1" machine cannon. On the mast are the SL surface-search radar (white radome about 3/4 way up) and the HF/DF (Huff-Duff) direction finding antenna at the mast top. The HF/DF was designed to find U-boats as they completed daily communications each night. It took them over a year to discover how we were finding them. National Archives #80-G-215506. |
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Operational and Building Data |
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It's Here! Paul Campbell, Jr., the first Executive Officer (and second Commanding Officer) of the USS Francis M Robinson assembled a booklet titled "DE Tales and Other Stories." He printed only 12 copies and gave them away at the 1994 reunion. Robert Wilson had a copy and we scanned it. Paul Campbell may have passed away, but he's still sharing his memories. Click here. |
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| View Paul Campbell's separation letter. A touching tribute for honorable service. | |
| "Lucky Robbie's" close call. | |
| View the Robinson's 50th Anniversary citation from the USN for sinking the Jap sub RO-501. | |
Francis M. Robinson, born 28
October 1883 in Philadelphia, Pa., was a member of the Naval Academy
class of 1906. His varied career of distinguished service to his country
through the Navy included shipboard assignments, and duty ashore in
recruiting and with the Naval Reserve. He was awarded the Navy Cross for
his outstanding work as executive officer in minelayer BALTIMORE laying
the North Sea Mine Barrage in World War I. Commander Robinson retired 30
June 1934, but returned to active duty 10 September 1940 as Civilian
Personnel Officer for the Fourth Naval District. He thus served until
his death 3 November 1942, the same year the first Destroyer Escort keel
was laid. This was the beginning of the DE
Program build that, at it's peak, would produce 563 DEs by
1943. Today, there are no Destroyer Escorts in service. There are
no Buckley-class DEs in existence. The only two DEs in the United
States are museum ships. They are the USS Slater (DE 766, Cannon
class) in Albany New York, and USS Stewart (DE 238, Edsall
class) in Galveston, Texas. There are no remaining examples of the Evarts,
Rudderow, or John C. Butler class Destroyer Escorts. FRANCIS M. ROBINSON (DE-220) was launched 1 May 1943 by Philadelphia Navy Yard; sponsored by Mrs. Francis M. Robinson, widow of Commander Robinson; and commissioned 15 January 1944, Lieutenant J. E. Johansen, USNR, in command. After a period of service as escort along the east coast, FRANCIS M. ROBINSON arrived at Norfolk 2 May 1944 to join the escort carrier USS BOGUE (CVE-9) hunter-killer group, TG-22.2, an outstandingly successful antisubmarine force in whose Presidential Unit Citation FRANCIS M. ROBINSON was to share. Patrolling 500 miles west off the Cape Verde Islands on 13 May 1944, she made a positive contact, and mounted a deliberate attack using a Hedgehog barrage, followed with two patterns of depth charges which sank Japanese submarine RO-501, the former German U-1224 (Type IXC/40). The RO-501 was on its way from Kiel, Germany to Japan, one of a handful of U-boats transferred to the Japanese Navy. The RO-501 Story. Upon the return of the USS BOGUE group to New York 4 July, FRANCIS M. ROBINSON was detached. DE-220 served briefly to aid submarines in training out of New London, and on 2 August sailed from New York on the first of five convoy escort voyages to North African ports. During the fourth such voyage, on 17 February as the convoy formed up to pass eastward through the Straits of Gibraltar, two of the merchantmen were torpedoed. FRANCIS M. ROBINSON saw one sail off to port under her own power and remained with the other, the HMS REGENT LION, sending a damage control party on board to assist in stopping flooding, until a tug came out of Gibraltar. The HMS REGENT LION Story. Completing her convoy duty 15 May 1945, FRANCIS M. ROBINSON aided submarines training out of New London, and was school ship at the Naval Training Center at Miami, and from November through February 1946 served as plane guard for carriers training in Chesapeake Bay. She first arrived at Key West, her base for the remainder of her naval career on 6 February 1947. Re-designated EDE-220 (Experimental platform), and from that time conducted development operations in antisubmarine warfare. The USS Robinson the first ship to mount the triple-tube launcher and test the MK 34 acoustic torpedo. Her activities took her on cruises along the east coast and throughout the Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico, and were varied with participation in exercises of many types. FRANCIS M. ROBINSON was decommissioned, in reserve, at Philadelphia 20 June 1960. In addition to the Presidential Unit Citation, FRANCIS M. ROBINSON received one battle star for World War II service. Stricken from the Navy Register on 1 July 1972, FRANCIS M. ROBINSON was sold on 12 July 1973. Reference: K. Jack Bauer and Stephen S. Roberts, “Register of Ships of the U. S. Navy, 1775-1990,” p.230. Transcribed by Michael Hansen. |
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