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Navsource Online: Destroyer Escort Photo Archive

USS William T. Powell (DE 213)

Flag Hoist / Radio Call Sign:
N - X - V - U

Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons

Precedence of awards is from top to bottom, left to right
Top Row: American Campaign Medal
Second Row: European-Africa-Middle East Campaign Medal - World War II Victory Medal - National Defense Service Medal

Specifications:
Class: Buckley
Type: TE (turbine-electric drive, 3" guns)
Displacement: 1400 tons (light), 1740 tons (full)
Length: 300' (wl), 306' (oa)
Beam: 36' 9" (extreme)
Draft: 10' 6" (draft limit)
Propulsion: 2 "D" Express boilers, G.E. turbines with electric drive, 12000 shp, 2 screws
Speed: 24 kts
Range: 6,000 nm @ 12 knots
Armament: 3 x 3"/50 Mk22 (1x3), 1 twin 40mm Mk1 AA, 8 x 20mm Mk 4 AA, 3 x 21" Mk15 TT (3x1), 1 Hedgehog Projector Mk10 (144 rounds), 8 Mk6 depth charge projectors, 2 Mk9 depth charge tracks
Complement: 15 / 198

William T. Powell (DE 213) Building and Operational Data:

26 August 1943: Keel laid at the Charleston Navy Yard, Charleston, S.C.

27 November 1943: Launched and christened, sponsored by Mrs. Elsie V. Powell, mother of Gunner's Mate Powell

28 March 1944: Commissioned at Charleston, S.C., Lt. James L. Davenport, USNR, in command

15 June - 22 October 1945: Converted to a radar picket DE at the Brown Shipbuilding Co., Houston, Tex.

05 November 1948: Assigned to NRT, 4th Naval District, at Philadelphia, Pa.

18 March 1949: Reclassified DER 213

09 January 1949: Decommissioned at Green Cove Springs, Fla. after 4 years and 9⅓ months of service

28 November 1950: Recommissioned, resumed NRT duties at Philadelphia

01 December 1954: Reclassified back to DE 213

31 March 1955: While inbound to Philadelphia, collided with SS Mormacspruce off Cross Ledge Light in lower Delaware Bay, two crewmembers were injured

17 January 1958: Decommissioned at the U. S. Naval Base, Philadelphia, Pa. after 7 years and 1⅔ months of service; custody to CO, Philadelphia Group, U. S. Atlamtic Reserve Fleet

01 November 1965: Struck from the NVR with 12 total years of service

03 October 1966: Sold for scrapping to the North American Smelting Co., Wilmington, Del.

Click On Image For Full Size Image	Size	Image Description	Contributed By And/Or Copyright
0621302	163k	USS *William T. Powell* (DE 213) - a fine speed shot at 24 knots. The hull gave a greater impression of speed than the RN frigate types; note the smaller breadth on the forecastle, but still the most effective use of space. The H/F D/F mast is raked, and has a tripod support. [U.S. Navy photo from the book "Allied Escort Ships of World War II (A Complete Survey)" by Peter Elliott]	Edib Krlicbegovic Bosnia - Hercegovina
0621303	68k	Undated Wartime Image	-
0621304	53k	Undated Wartime Image	Bob Hurst Worksop, Nottinghamshire, England, United Kingdom
0621305	71k	Undated Late Wartime Image (Doug's Dad, Edward T. O'Rourke, served in *Powell* from 1945 to 1948)	Douglas O'Rourke
0621306	68k	Undated Late Wartime Image	Douglas O'Rourke
0621310	693k	09 July 1944: the Atlantic Ocean - *William T. Powell* photographed by a Weeksville, N.C. based blimp belonging to squadron ZP-24 at 1605 local time. She was aproximately 100 miles east of the mouth of Delaware Bay at a very low altitude of 130 feet. (U.S. Navy photos #CP-DE-213 80-G-239228 from the National Archives and Records Administration, College Park, Md.; courtesy of Chris Wright)	Ed Zajkowski Narvon, Pa.
0621308	55k	October 1945: Houston, Tex. - USS *William T. Powell* (DE 213) after conversion to a radar picket ship. She was the first DE converted to a DER. Five inch mountings, and eight 40 mm Bofors aft, have been added. The new, heavy after tripod mast, and the many new aerials, transform the appearance of this ship, though later DERs had comprehensive changes to the superstructure. (Photos and text taken from "American Destroyer Escorts of World War 2" by Peter Elliott)	Bob Hurst Worksop, Nottinghamshire, England, United Kingdom
0621307	31k	circa 1952: *William T. Powell* as a DER	Bob Hurst Worksop, Nottinghamshire, England, United Kingdom
0621309	409k	A plaque that's mounted on the quarterdeck of the William T. Powell Training Facility in San Diego, Cal. The building serves as a schoolhouse for weapons ratings (primarily GM's and FC's).	Carrie A. Tripp FCC(SW), USN

William T. Powell History
View the USS William T. Powell (DE 213) DANFS history entry located on the Naval History and Heritage Command web site.

William T. Powell's Commanding Officers
Thanks to Wolfgang Hechler & Ron Reeves

Dates of Command	Commanding Officers
1.) 28 Mar. 1944 - 02 Jun. 1045	Lcdr. James L. Davenport, USNR (Comm. CO)
2.) 02 Jun. 1945 - 31 Aug. 1945	Lt. Marvin W. Silvers, USNR (Philadelphia, Pa.)
3.) 31 Aug. 1945 - 18 Dec. 1945	Lt. Emory P. Boynton, USNR
4.) 18 Dec. 1945 - 26 Aug 1946	Lcdr. Calvert Burke Gill (USNA '40) (Baltimore, Md.)
5.) 26 Aug 1946 - .. .... ....	Lcdr. Charles Harry Borg Jr. (USNA ‘42) (Englewood, N. J.)
6.) 01 Feb 1947 - .. .... 1948	Lcdr. Thomas John LaForest (Detroit, Mich.)
7.) .. .... 1948 - .. .... ....	Lcdr. Thomas George Miskill (Washington, D.C.)
8.) .. .... .... - .. .... ....	Lcdr. Edward George Miller (USNA '41) (Lehighton, Pa.)
9.) .. .... .... - 17 Jan. 1958	Cmdr. Boykin Robinson Dodson (Decomm. CO)

Crew Contact And Reunion Information

None

Note About Contacts

Contact information is compiled from various sources over a period of time and may, or may not, be correct. Every effort has
been made to list the newest contact. However, our entry is only as good as the latest information that's been sent to us. We list
only a contact for the ship if one has been sent to us. We do NOT have crew lists, rosters, or deck logs available. Please see the
Frequently Asked Questions section on NavSource's Main Page for that information.

Additional Resources

Tin Can Sailors
The U.S. Navy Memorial
The Destroyer Escort Historical Museum
The Destroyer History Foundation

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