 USSSlater during World War II | |
| History | |
|---|---|
 United States | |
| Name | USSSlater |
| Namesake | Frank O. Slater |
| Builder | Tampa Shipbuilding Company,Tampa, Florida |
| Laid down | 9 March 1943 |
| Launched | 13 February 1944 |
| Commissioned | 1 May 1944 |
| Decommissioned | 26 September 1947 |
| Stricken | 7 March 1951 |
| Identification | DE-766 |
| Fate | Transferred toGreece, 1 March 1951 |
 Greece | |
| Name | Aetos |
| Acquired | 1 March 1951 |
| Decommissioned | 5 July 1991 |
| Identification | D01 |
| Fate | Returned to US and preserved as memorial inAlbany, New York |
| General characteristics | |
| Class & type | Cannon-classdestroyer escort |
| Displacement | 1,240long tons (1,260 t) |
| Length | 306 ft (93 m) |
| Beam | 36 ft 8 in (11.18 m) |
| Draft | 8 ft 9 in (2.67 m) |
| Propulsion |
|
| Speed | 21knots (39 km/h; 24 mph) |
| Range | 10,800 nmi (20,000 km; 12,400 mi) at 12 kn (22 km/h; 14 mph) |
| Complement | 15 officers, 201 enlisted |
| Armament |
|
USSSlater (Destroyer Escort) | |
   | |
| Location | Port of Albany,Albany, New York |
| Coordinates | 42°38′34.6″N73°44′58.3″W / 42.642944°N 73.749528°W /42.642944; -73.749528 |
| Built | 1944 |
| Architect | Tampa Shipbuilding |
| NRHP reference No. | 98000393[1] |
| Significant dates | |
| Added to NRHP | 7 May 1998 |
| Designated NHL | 2 March 2012 |
USSSlater (DE-766) is aCannon-classdestroyer escort that served in theUnited States Navy and later in theHellenic (Greek) Navy. Following service duringWorld War II, the ship was transferred to Greece and renamedAetos.Decommissioned in 1991, the destroyer escort was returned to the United States.
USSSlater is now amuseum ship on theHudson River inAlbany, New York. As of 2020, fewer than 12 destroyer escorts survive, withSlater the only one in its wartime configuration and the only one afloat in the United States.[2][3]Slater was designated aNational Historic Landmark on 2 March 2012.[4]
USSSlater was struck by the Hudson River touring shipDutch Apple on 10 September 2019. A mechanical problem aboardDutch Apple was blamed for the collision.[5]
Frank Olga Slater was born on 19 December 1920 inKennamer Cove, Alabama, one of twelve children of James Lafayette Slater, asharecropper and Lenora (Morgan) Slater. He grew up inFyffe, Alabama.[6] He enlisted in theUnited States Naval Reserve on 10 February 1942. Upon completion of his basic training, he was transferred to the Receiving Station atPearl Harbor, and assigned to the heavy cruiserUSS San Francisco on 4 April 1942. On 12 November 1942 he was killed in action at his battle station during theNaval Battle of Guadalcanal. He was posthumously awarded theNavy Cross.
USSSlater waslaid down on 9 March 1943, she was christened on 20 Feb 1944 by Lenora Slater, mother of Frank Olga Slater andlaunched on 13 February 1944. The ship wascommissioned on 1 May 1944. She was built at the Tampa Shipbuilding Company inTampa, Florida for an estimated cost of $3,399,000 (adjusted for inflation, roughly $54,777,341.00 in 2022).[7]
After a shakedown cruise nearBermuda in June 1944,Slater assisted with the transfer of torpedoes from the captured German submarineU-505, from Bermuda to Maryland. She was then sent toKey West where she served as a sonar school ship. On 3 October 1944,Slater reported for convoy duty in Brooklyn, New York; she would spend the next 7 months alternating between convoy duty and additional training in Portland, Maine. By the end of the war in Europe,Slater escorted a total of five convoys to theUnited Kingdom, listed below:
| Dates | Ports |
|---|---|
| 17–20 October 1944 | Brooklyn, New York to Liverpool, England |
| 21 October 1944 | Milford Haven, Wales |
| 14–19 December 1944 | Glasgow, Scotland (Greenock) |
| 22–28 January 1945 | Cardiff, Wales |
| 10–14 March 1945 | Cardiff, Wales |
| 28 April - 4 May 1945 | Cardiff, Wales |
In June 1945Slater headed for the Pacific, stopping at theUS Virgin Islands,Guantánamo Bay Naval Base andCoco Solo, Panama. She went through thePanama Canal on 28 June 1945 and stopped atSan Diego before sailing toPearl Harbor. From there she joined Task Unit 33.2.4 atManila in September and escorted it toYokohama.Slater engaged in support operations in the Pacific through the remainder of the year. She made another passage through the Canal on her way toNorfolk for deactivation.Slater was placed in the reserve fleet atGreen Cove Springs, Florida in 1947.
On 1 March 1951,Slater was transferred to theHellenic Navy under theTruman Doctrine, and renamedAetos ("Eagle") (D01). Along with three otherCannon-class ships, she made up what was known as the "Wild Beasts" Flotilla. The ship did patrol duty in the easternAegean and theDodecanese and also served as a training vessel for naval cadets.[8]Aetos was decommissioned in 1991, andGreece donated the ship to the Destroyer Escort Sailors Association.
Destroyer escort sailors from around the nation donated more than $250,000 ($577,144 today[9]) to bringSlater back to the United States as a museum ship. In 1993, a Russian ocean-going tugboat towed the ship fromCrete toNew York City, where it was docked next to theaircraft carrierUSS Intrepid. Volunteers began restoring the ship and seeking a permanent home for her; Albany, New York, was decided upon. On 26 October 1997,Slater arrived at thePort of Albany. In January 2006, a welder accidentally started a fire aboardSlater which caused some minor damage to the ship. Repairs were completed within a few months. Restoration of the ship remains an ongoing project.
On 7 May 1998,Slater was listed on theNational Register of Historic Places.[10][11]
Slater was refitted several times during her long service with two navies. One of her depth-charge racks and four "K-gun" depth charge launchers have been removed. Two twinBofors 40 mm guns have been added, and the ten single20 mm guns have been replaced with nine twin mounts.
Slater has been featured in three motion pictures. The ship was seen inThe Guns of Navarone (1961) andI Aliki sto Naftiko (Η Αλίκη στο Ναυτικό/Alice in the Navy, filmed in 1961) while in Greek service.[12]
In August 2008 part of the Japanese filmLast Operations Under the Orion (2009) was filmed on board.[13] Although the film depicts a battle between a Japanese submarine and a US Navy destroyer,Slater was used instead despite being a destroyer escort. Scenes were filmed on board, and a to-scale model of the ship was built and used for CGI shots at sea.
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