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Navsource Online: Destroyer Escort Photo Archive

USS Gendreau (DE 639)

Flag Hoist / Radio Call Sign:
N - K - Z - Y

Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons

Precedence of awards is from top to bottom, left to right
Top Row: Combat Action Ribbon (retroactive) - American Campaign Medal
Second Row: Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal w/ 2 stars - WWII Victory Medal - Navy Occupation 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

Gendreau (DE 639) Building and Operational Data:

01 August 1943: Keel laid by the Bethlehem Steel Shipyard Corp., San Francisco, Cal.

12 December 1943: Launched and christened, sponsored by Mrs. Josephine Gendreau, widow of Capt. Gendreau, with Mrs. Chester Nimitz, wife of CinCPac, as matron of honor

17 March 1944: Commissioned by Cap't W. P. Gaddis, USN (ret.), representing the Commandant, Twelfth Naval District: Lcdr. Alfred D. Kilmartin in command

13 March 1948: Decommissioned at San Diego, Cal. after 4 years of service

01 December 1972: Struck from the NVR

11 September 1973: Sold and broken up for scrap

Size	Image Description	Contributed By And/Or Copyright
35k	12 December 1943: San Francisco, Cal. - Mrs. Josephine Gendreau (holding the bouquet) and Mrs. Chester W. Nimitz at the christening of the future USS *Gendreau* (DE 639). On the other side of the photo is *Gendreau* heading down the building way during her launching.	Nick Tiberio Shelton, Conn.
385k	02 March 1944: San Francisco Bay - The future USS *Gendreau* (DE 639) underway for sea trials. (These two photos courtesy of Chris Wright)	Ed Zajkowski Narvon, Pa.
368k		Ed Zajkowski Narvon, Pa.
34k	date/location unknown - Shown in March 1944, just commissioned, she is finished in Measure 32 'crazy quilt' camouflage of Pale Gray, Haze Gray, Navy Blue and Ocean Gray. Note the two 20 mm Oerlikons on the fantail, and the good view of the torpedo tubes and stern depth charge rails. At the masthead are the are the aerials for the SC and SG radar sets. (Photo and text from "U.S. Destroyer Escorts of World War 2" by Peter Elliott)	Patrick Clancey HyperWar
45k	1959: USS *Gendreau* (DE 639) tied to mooring buoy at San Diego, California, as part of the Pacific Reserve Fleet. (Photo and text from the "Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships")	Bob Hurst Worksop, Nottinghamshire, England, United Kingdom

Gendreau History
View the USS Gendreau (DE 639) DANFS history entry located on the Naval History and Heritage Command web site.
View the official War History of USS Gendreau as submitted by the ship at war's end.

Gendreau's Commanding Officers
Thanks to Wolfgang Hechler

Dates of Command	Commanding Officers
1.) 17 Mar. 1944 – 12 Mar. 1945	Lcdr. Alfred Dunn Kilmartin, USN (USNA ‘34) (Detroit, Mich.)
2.) 12 Mar. 1945 – 07 Nov. 1945	Lt. / Lcdr. Martin Victor, USNR (Syosset, N.Y.)
3.) 07 Nov. 1945 - .. .... 1946	Lcdr. Thomas Nelson Coppedge Jr., USN
4.) .. .... 1946 - .. .... 1946	Lcdr. G. Y. More, USNR
5.) .. .... 1946 - .. .... 1947	Lt. Alfred C. Filiatrault Jr., USN (Duluth, Minn.)

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
Destroyer Escort Sailors Association
The Destroyer Escort Historical Museum
The Destroyer History Foundation
Tin Can Sailors Shipmate Registry - USS Gendreau

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