.jpg) USSEarle, January 1943 at New York Navy Yard. | |
| History | |
|---|---|
 United States | |
| Name | Earle |
| Namesake | Ralph Earle |
| Builder | Boston Navy Yard |
| Laid down | 14 June 1941 |
| Launched | 10 December 1941 |
| Commissioned | 1 September 1942 |
| Decommissioned | 17 May 1947 |
| Stricken | 1 December 1969 |
| Fate | Sold October 1970 and broken up for scrap |
| General characteristics | |
| Class & type | Gleaves-classdestroyer |
| Displacement | 1,630 tons |
| Length | 348 ft 3 in (106.15 m) |
| Beam | 37 ft 0 in (11.28 m)[1] |
| Draft | 11 ft 10 in (3.61 m) |
| Propulsion |
|
| Speed | 37.4 knots (69 km/h) |
| Range | 6,500 nmi (12,000 km; 7,500 mi) at 12 kn (22 km/h; 14 mph) |
| Complement | 16 officers, 260 enlisted |
| Armament |
|
USSEarle (DD-635/DMS-42), aGleaves-classdestroyer, is the only ship of theUnited States Navy to be named forRear AdmiralRalph Earle.
Earle waslaunched on 10 December 1941 byBoston Navy Yard; sponsored by Mrs. John F. Hines Jr., daughter of Rear Admiral Earle; andcommissioned on 1 September 1942.
Between 12 December 1942 and 28 April 1943,Earle escorted threeconvoys carrying essential men and supplies toCasablanca. On her first voyage, she made two night attacks on surfacedsubmarines. Sailing fromNorfolk on 8 June she arrived atOran on 22 June to prepare for theinvasion of Sicily, and screened the transport area offScoglitti on 10 July. Two days later she carried on an inspection of the beach area, and then served on escort duty betweennorth Africa ports andSicily until 11 August when she got underway for New York, arriving the 22nd.
From 6 December 1943 to 1 May 1944,Earle escorted convoys betweenBoston andNew York and theUnited Kingdom, making four such voyages. She crossed toNaples, arriving 31 May for a summer of general escort duty and training in theMediterranean between 19 November 1944 and 11 June 1945.
Earle arrived at Norfolk on 20 June 1945 for conversion to adestroyer minesweeper, and was reclassifiedDMS-42 on 23 June 1945. Ordered to the Pacific at the war's end, she left Norfolk 27 August and called atSan Diego,Pearl Harbor, andEniwetok before arriving atOkinawa on 15 October. She served in theFar East on occupation duty until 18 March 1946, sweepingminefields offKorea, later in a team directing Japanese minesweepers in their home waters. Arriving atSan Francisco on 9 April,Earle was placed out of commission in reserve on 17 May 1947. Her classification reverted toDD-635, 15 July 1955.
Earle was stricken from theNaval Vessel Register on 1 December 1969, sold October 1970, and broken up for scrap.
Earle received twobattle stars for World War II service.
This article incorporates text from thepublic domainDictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be foundhere.
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