|
Virtual Tour |
|
| This collection of photos represents the "best-of-the-best" and includes a few rare wartime color photos. Almost every section of the ship is represented in the photos, to include the thinly-documented sick bay and pharmacy. | |
|
The USS Brennan (DE-13), an Evarts-class
ship, was the first Destroyer Escort Commissioned on 20 Jan 1943 (actually
tied for first with DE-1 which transferred to the UK as "HMS
Bayntun (K-310")). The Brennan was the third keel laid in
the DE buildup (28 Feb 42), barely three months after the U.S. entered the
war on 8 December 1941, the day after the Japanese attacked Pearl
Harbor. Prior to US entry into WW2 the DEs were being manufactured
for the UK under the lend-lease program. Following the US entry into
WW2, the program accelerated manufacture of DEs and suspended many of the
UK transfers because the US needed escort vehicles badly. The USS
Brennan was originally to be named "HMS Bentinick (K-311)"
and transferred to the UK but this transfer was canceled (Four months
later the UK later received the USS Bull #1 (DE-52) as a replacement). The Brennan had a short life as a school ship in the Submarine Chaser Training Center in Miami, FL. She was decommissioned just two months after V-J day on 9 October 1945 and scrapped on 12 July 1946. National Archives #80-GK-13260A (Bottom photo) |
|
|
Aboard the USS Brennan (DE-13) two
unidentified crewmen relax on their bunks.
National Archives #80-GK-13262 |
|
|
Aboard the USS Brennan (DE-13) two unidentified radiomen sit at
their posts.
National Archives #80-GK-13270 |
|
| The pictures in this section (blue background) were taken aboard the the Buckley-class USS Sims (DE-154) on 21 May 1943, just after fitting out. She had been commissioned a month earlier on 23 May 1943 in the Norfolk Navy Yard, Norfolk, VA. The Sims would serve in CortDiv 6 and survive the December 1943 typhoon that would capsize and sink the USS Hull (DD-350) and USS Spence (DD-512). The Sims was converted to a fast attack transport (APD) in September 1944 and finally decommissioned on 23 April 1946. The Sims was held in mothballs until she was sold and scrapped on 16 April 1961. | |
|
Chart room looking forward. Obviously brand new
installations because the desk drawer and squawk box still have the USN
tags attached. The bridge is visible on the far right through the doorway.
National Archives #80-G-100104 |
|
|
Flying bridge looking forward. No rust
here... If only I knew something about the Norfolk Navy Shipyard
layout in 1943, we could ID some of the scenery in the background.
National Archives #80-G-100105 |
|
|
Flying bridge looking aft. The loudspeaker is
visible mounted on the mast, right behind the Mark 52 Gun Fire Control
System (GFCS) and the ranging radar dish mounted on its front, which was
covered up for security reasons (remember, this was taken in 1943!).
National Archives #80-G-100112 |
|
|
Flying bridge looking starboard. Again, the newness
is apparent by the USN equipment tag on the squawk box on the left.
National Archives #80-G-100107 |
|
|
Interior of the bridge looking out the port doorway.
A shipyard worker's tool belt lies on the table on the right.
National Archives #80-G-100106 |
|
|
Bridge portside looking aft with a better view of
the control panels.
National Archives #80-G-100110 |
|
|
Sound Room looking port with the attack plotter on
the right, sound recorder mounted on the wall and the sonar equipment
stacked behind it. Notice the voice tube cones on the floor in front
of the sound recorder.
National Archives #80-G-100108 |
|
|
Sound Room looking starboard. Notice the manual
sonar transducer indicator (white dial and hand crank) that the operator
turned to "look" in different directions with the sonar. A
workman's penciled notes are on the side of the equipment noting the
wiring configuration. Also note the waxed equipment wrapping paper
discarded on the floor under the attack plotter. National Archives #80-G-100109 |
|
|
Bridge looking port. The data plate on top of the
telegraph reads "Engine order Standby Signals: 1 Bell - Ahead Slow, 2
Bells - Stop, 3 Bells - Back, 4 Bells - Ahead Full." A ball-peen hammer sits atop the equipment behind the telegraph, probably belonging to the workman courteously standing out of the way during the photography session whose hand is at the top right. National Archives #80-G-100111 |
|
|
Bridge, forward port quarter. These DEs came with everything,
even a pen for the desk... A workman's rule leans against the
speaker.
National Archives #80-G-100113 |
|
|
Bridge, looking to the starboard side. The bundle of
wires hanging next tot he starboard squawk box reveal this ship is not
quite ready for combat...
National Archives #80-G-100115 |
|
|
These two photos (red background) were taken aboard
the USS Sturtevant (DE-239), an Edsall-class ship, in March 1954. The
Sturtevant was commissioned on 31 May 1943 and was not decommissioned
until 31 October 1956, just after receiving the radar picket ship (DER)
conversion. The Sturtevant remained in mothballs until scrapped in
September 1973.
In this photo Lowell L. Lundberg, HMC, USN works in sick bay. National Archives #80-G-636916 |
|
|
In this photo Lowell L. Lundberg, HMC, USN gives a
heat lamp treatment to David L. Quinlant (SKSN).
National Archives #80-G-636917 |
|
|
Aboard the USS Robert F. Keller (DE-419) Robert S.V.
Hull (HMC) compounds medicines in the sick bay of the ship in March 1954.
National Archives #80-G-636581 |
|
|
The photos below were taken aboard the USS Charles E. Brannon
(DE-446), a Butler-class ship during a 28-day Naval Reservist training
cruise to Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. The photos are undated but were probably
taken in the mid-1950s. The Charles E. Brannon was commissioned on 1 November 1944 and served in the Pacific for the remainder of the war supporting convoys. The ship convoyed assault forces and provided support gunfire during landings in Tarakan, Borneo and Brunei Bay. Following the war she continued escorting convoys off the China coast. The ship was decommissioned on 18 June 1960 and finally sold for scrap on 1 October 1969. |
|
|
B.F. Morris, QMSN, on the signal bridge passing a
message to another ship.
National Archives #80-G-444364 |
|
|
W.G. Pearson, SA, at the helm in the after-steering
room awaiting orders.
National Archives #80-G-444365 |
|
|
R.E. Mathews, SA, lowers his binoculars as E.J.
Wisdom, SA, takes a bearing at a repeater compass during lookout duty.
National Archives #80-G-444366 |
|
|
W.J. Jones, EN2 (right) receives instructions on
controlling steam pressure by use of a micrometer valve from H.M. Skinner,
BT1, in the boiler room.
National Archives #80-G-444367 |
|
|
T.N. Craig, FA, at the switches in the engine room.
National Archives #80-G-444369 |
|
|
Left to Right: R.P. Mathews, SR, R.L. Hilt,
SA, George S. Smith, SA, and Wayne G. Pearson, SA, firing the 20mm gun.
National Archives #80-G-444372 |
|
