_underway_in_September_1944_(19-LCM-DE172-1).jpg) | |
| History | |
|---|---|
 United States | |
| Name | USSCooner |
| Namesake | Bunyan Randolph Cooner |
| Builder | Federal Shipbuilding and Drydock Company,Newark, New Jersey |
| Laid down | 22 February 1943 |
| Launched | 23 July 1943 |
| Commissioned | 21 August 1943 |
| Decommissioned | 25 June 1946 |
| Stricken | 1 July 1972 |
| Fate | Sold for scrap, 1 November 1973 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class & type | Cannon-classdestroyer escort |
| Displacement |
|
| Length | |
| Beam | 36 ft 10 in (11.23 m) |
| Draft | 11 ft 8 in (3.56 m) |
| Propulsion | 4 × GM Mod. 16-278Adiesel engines with electric drive, 6,000 shp (4,474 kW), 2screws |
| Speed | 21knots (39 km/h; 24 mph) |
| Range | 10,800 nmi (20,000 km) at 12 kn (22 km/h; 14 mph) |
| Complement | 15 officers and 201 enlisted |
| Armament |
|
USSCooner (DE-172) was aCannon-classdestroyer escort in service with theUnited States Navy from 1943 to 1946. She was sold for scrap in 1973.
Bunyan Randolph Cooner was born on 27 February 1914 atColumbia, South Carolina. He enlisted in theUnited States Naval Reserve on 12 June 1939. After flight training, he was commissionedEnsign on 3 September 1941 and served withBombing Squadron 3 (VB-3) on the aircraft carrierUSS Saratoga. He won theNavy Cross for service in theBattle of Midway, participating in vigorous and repeated attacks againstImperial Japanese Navy warships. He was killed in a plane crash during flight operations out ofPearl Harbor on 16 June 1942.
Cooner was launched 23 July 1943 byFederal Shipbuilding and Drydock Co.,Kearny, New Jersey; sponsored by Mrs. I. Cooner; and commissioned 21 August 1943.
Between 1 November 1943 and 9 May 1945,Cooner made nine voyages escorting convoys between New York and North African ports.
With the winning of victory ofEurope, the veteran of theAtlantic Ocean was ordered to thePacific Ocean, and on 28 June 1945 arrived atPearl Harbor. She sailed on toUlithi, where between 8 and 20 August she had patrol andradar picket duty. After escorting a transport toGuam and putting intoOkinawa, she returned to Ulithi to load troops, whom she carried to Guam for further transportation to theUnited States. She herself sailed toSaipan, where from 23 September to 1 November, she stood ready to perform air-sea rescues during the heavy traffic carrying men home from the western Pacific. Homeward bound, she called at Pearl Harbor andSan Diego, California, en route toCharleston, South Carolina, where she arrived 4 December.
There she was decommissioned and placed in reserve 25 June 1946. She was struck on 1 July 1972 and sold on 1 November 1973 and scrapped.
This article incorporates text from thepublic domainDictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be foundhere.
