 USSMason withdazzle camouflage | |
| History | |
|---|---|
 United States | |
| Name | Mason |
| Laid down | 14 October 1943 |
| Launched | 17 November 1943 |
| Commissioned | 20 March 1944 |
| Decommissioned | 12 October 1945 |
| Stricken | 1 November 1945 |
| Fate | Sold for scrap 1947 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class & type | Evarts-classdestroyer escort |
| Displacement | 1,140 short tons (1,030 tonnes) |
| Length | 289 ft 5 in (88.21 m) |
| Beam | 35 ft 1 in (10.69 m) |
| Draft | 8 ft 3 in (2.51 m) |
| Speed | 21 knots (39 km/h; 24 mph) |
| Complement | 156 officers and men |
| Armament |
|
USSMason (DE-529), anEvarts-classdestroyer escort, was the second ship of theUnited States Navy to be namedMason, though DE-529 was the only one specifically named for Ensign Newton Henry Mason. USSMason was one of two US Navy ships with largelyAfrican-American crews inWorld War II. The other wasUSS PC-1264, asubmarine chaser.[1] These two ships were manned by African Americans as the result ofa letter sent toPresident Roosevelt by theNAACP in mid-December 1941. Entering service in 1944, the vessel was used for convoy duty in theBattle of the Atlantic for the remainder of the war. Following the war,Mason was sold for scrap andbroken up in 1947.
Newton Henry Mason (24 December 1918 – May 1942) was aUnited States Navy fighter pilot who waskilled in action at theBattle of the Coral Sea.
Mason was born inNew York City on 24 December 1918. He enlisted as aseaman in theUnited States Naval Reserve on 7 November 1940 and on 10 February 1941 was appointed an aviation cadet. Assigned to U.S. NavyFighting Squadron 3 (VF-3) aboard theaircraft carrierUSS Saratoga as aGrumman F4F Wildcat fighter pilot in September 1941, he reported to VF-3 while it was stationed atMarine Corps Air Station Ewa,Territory of Hawaii, in January 1942 afterSaratoga had been damaged by aJapanesesubmarinetorpedo.[2]
Later reassigned toFighting Squadron 2 (VF-2),Ensign Mason's first and only aerial combat occurred during the Battle of the Coral Sea on 8 May 1942, when he disappeared during action withImperial Japanese Navy aircraft and was declaredmissing in action, probably the victim ofMitsubishi A6M Zero fighters from the Japanese aircraft carrierShōkaku.[3]
Mason was posthumously awarded theDistinguished Flying Cross for his skill and courage in battle.
Mason's keel was laid down in theBoston Navy Yard, on 14 October 1943. She waslaunched on 17 November 1943, sponsored by Mrs. David Mason, the mother of Ensign Mason, andcommissioned on 20 March 1944.
Following a shakedown cruise offBermuda,Mason departed fromCharleston, South Carolina, on 14 June, escorting aconvoy bound for Europe, arriving atHorta Harbor,Azores, on 6 July. She got underway fromBelfast, Northern Ireland, headed for theEast Coast on 26 July, arriving atBoston Harbor on 2 August for convoy duty off the harbor through August.
On 2 September, she arrived atNew York City to steam on 19 September in the screen for convoy NY.119.Mason reachedFalmouth, Cornwall, with part of the convoy 18 October, and she returned to New York fromPlymouth, England, and the Azores on 22 November.
On 18 October,Mason supported Convoy NY-119 in a severe North Atlantic storm.[4] The ship suffered and self-repaired critical structural damage and still rescued ships from the convoy. The crew ofMason was not awarded a letter of commendation until 1994 for meritorious service during this action.[5][6]
Mason joinedTask Force 64 atNorfolk, Virginia, on 17 December. Two days later she sailed in convoy for Europe, passing byGibraltar on 4 January 1945 to be relieved of escort duties. Continuing toAlgeria, she enteredOran on 5 January for the formation ofTask Group 60.11. The escort ship cleared Oran 7 January. Four days later theMason maderadar contact with a surface target. She rang up full speed with allbattle stations manned to attack the presumptivesubmarine, rammed, and droppeddepth charges. Unable to regain contact, the ship returned to the contact point, where searchlight revealed the target—a wooden derelict about 100 by 50 feet (30 by 15 m).Mason then steamed to Bermuda for repairs, enteringSt. George's Harbor on 19 January. Five days later she reached theNew York Navy Yard.
On 12 FebruaryMason departed Norfolk in convoy for theMediterranean Sea, arriving off Gibraltar on 28 February. She cleared Oran 8 March to guard a convoy to Bermuda andChesapeake Bay before returning to New York 24 March. Aftersonar exercises offNew London, Connecticut, and fighter-director training with naval aircraft fromQuonset Point, Rhode Island, she steamed from Norfolk 10 April with another convoy to Europe, leaving the convoy at Gibraltar 28 April.Mason was two days out of Oran en route to the East Coast when theend of World War II in Europe was announced on 8 May.
Mason arrived at New York on 23 May for operations along the East Coast into July. From 28 July to 18 August she served as a school ship for the Naval Training Center,Miami, Florida. On 20 August she arrived at New London to be outfitted for long-range underwater signal testing in the Bermuda area into September.Mason departed from Bermuda on 8 September for Charleston, arriving there two days later.Mason wasdecommissioned on 12 October, was struck from theNaval Vessel Register on 1 November 1945, and was sold and delivered toNew Jersey, on 18 March 1947 for scrapping.
TheArleigh Burke-classdestroyerUSS Mason (DDG-87) was named in honor ofMason's mostlyAfrican American enlisted crew,[7] and the 2004filmProud dramatizes their story.
This article incorporates text from thepublic domainDictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be foundhere.
Media related toUSS Mason (DE-529) at Wikimedia Commons
