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Navsource Online: Destroyer Escort Photo Archive

USS Bray (DE 709 / APD 139)

Flag Hoist / Radio Call Sign:
N - T - A - B

Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons

Precedence of awards is from top to bottom, left to right
American Campaign Medal - World War II Victory Medal

Specifications:
Class: Rudderow
Type: TEV (turbo-electric drive, long hull, 5" guns)
Displacement: 1,450 tons (light), 1,810 tons (full)
Length: 300' (wl), 306' (oa)
Beam: 36' 9" (extreme)
Draft: 13' 9" (draft limit)
Propulsion: 2 CE boilers, G.E. turbines with electric drive, 12000 shp, 2 screws
Speed: 24 kts
Range: 5,050 nm @ 12 knots
Armament: 2 - 5"/38 Mk30, 4 - 40mm Mk1 AA (2x2), 10 x 20mm/70 Mk 4 AA, 3 x 21" Mk15 TT (3x1), 1 Hedgehog Projector Mk10 (230 rounds), 8 Mk6 depth charge projectors (40), 2 Mk9 depth charge tracks (60)
Complement: 12 / 192

Bray (DE 709) Building and Operational Data:

27 January 1944: Keel laid by the Defoe Shipbuilding Co., Bay City, Mich.

15 April 1944: Launched and christened, sponsored by Mrs. Mattie M. Bray, mother of Corporal Raymond Leon Bray

04 September 1944: Commissioned at Naval Station New Orleans, La., Cmdr. James A. Heatherington III, USNR, in command

16 July 1945: Reclassified as APD 139 during her conversion at the Charleston Navy Yard

10 May 1946: Decommissioned at Green Cove Springs, Fla. after 1 year and 8 months of service

01 June 1960: Struck from the NVR

26 March 1963: Sunk as a target

Click On Image For Full Size Image	Size	Image Description		Contributed By And/Or Copyright
0670901	43k	undated wartime image		-
0670902	44k	undated wartime image		Gary Priolo

Bray History
View the USS Bray (DE 709) DANFS history entry located on the Naval History and Heritage Command web site.
View the official War History of USS Bray as submitted by the ship at war's end.

Bray's Commanding Officers
Thanks to Wolfgang Hechler

Dates of Command	Commanding Officers
1.) 04 Sep. 1944 - 05 Oct. 1945	Lcdr. James A. Heatherington II, USNR
2.) .. Dec. 1945 – 15 Mar. 1946	Lcdr. Daniel V. Jakomas, USNR
3.) 15 Mar. 1946 – 10 May 1946	Lt.(jg) Samuel Miller, USNR
4.) 15 May 1946 – 10 May 1946	Lt.(jg) Robert Louis Tench, USNR

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

Navsource APD Pages, USS Bray (APD 139)
Tin Can Sailors
The U.S. Navy Memorial
The Destroyer Escort Historical Museum
The Destroyer History Foundation

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