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NavSource Online: Mine Warfare Vessel Photo Archive

Breese (DM 18)



Call sign:
Nan - Easy - Sugar - Mike

ex-Breese (DD 122)
ex-Breese (Destroyer No. 122)



Call sign (1919):
George - Tare - Boy - Rush
Wickes Class Destroyer/Stribling Class Light Minelayer:

  • Laid down 10 November 1917 by the Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Corp., Newport News, VA
  • Launched 11 May 1918
  • Commissioned USS Breese, Destroyer No. 122, 23 October 1918
  • Designated DD-122, 17 July 1920
  • Decommissioned 17 June 1922 at San Diego, CA and laid up in the Pacific Reserve Fleet
  • Reclassified as a Light Minelayer, DM-18, 5 January 1930
  • Recommissioned 1 June 1931
  • Placed out of commission, in reserve, 12 November 1937 at San Diego
  • Recommissioned 25 September 1939
  • Decommissioned 15 January 1946 at New York
  • Struck from the Naval Register 7 February 1946
  • Sold for scrap 16 May 1946.

    Specifications:

  • Displacement 1,090 t.
  • Length 314' 4"
  • Beam 30' 10"
  • Draft 9' 2"
  • Speed 34 kts.
  • Complement 103
  • Armament: Four 4"/50 mounts, one 3"/23 mount, one depth charge projector and two depth charge tracks
  • Propulsion: Four Yarrow/Thornycroft boilers, two Curtis 24,200shp geared turbines, two shafts.
    Click on thumbnail
    for full size image    		 Size Image Description Source
    USS Breese (Destroyer No. 122)
    Breese 81k
    Namesake:

    Kidder Randolph Breese (14 April 1831 - 13 September 1881)
    See biography at: Naval History and Heritage Command website

    		 Tommy Trampp
    Photos added 18 January 2021
    Gamble 147k Newport News Ship Building Company, Newport News, Virginia
    USS Breese (Destroyer No. 122) and USS Gamble (Destroyer No. 123) on the ways between November 1917 and May 1918
    Naval History and Heritage Command photo NH 43018
    USS Breese (DM 18)
    Breese 310k Breese (DM-18) underway on 11 December 1943
    Naval History and Heritage Command photo NH 107270    		 Mike Green
    Breese 194k 22 April 1944
    Off Aitape, New Guinea
    National Archives photo SC259984    		 John Chiquoine
    Commanding Officers
    01LTJG Joseph McEvers Bayard Smith, USN - USNA Class of 1911
    Awarded the Navy Cross (1918)- Retired as Lieutenant Commander    		23 October 1918 - 14 June 1919
    02CDR Frank Nathaniel Ecklund, USN14 June 1919
    03LCDR Robert Ward Hayler Sr., USN - USNA Class of 1914
    Awarded three Navy Crosses (1942/1943/1944), the Silver Star (1943) and two Legions of Merit (1943/1944) - Retired as Vice Admiral    		May 1921 - November 1921
    04LCDR Stuart Earl Bray, USN1 June 1931 - 1932
    05LCDR Seabury Cook, USN1932 - 1934
    06LCDR Pal Lamar Meadows, USN1936 - 12 November 1937
    07LCDR William Jenkins Longfellow, USN - Awarded the Legion of Merit (1945)
    Retired as Captain    		25 September 1939 - 1941
    08LCDR Herald Franklin Stout, USN - USNA Class of 1926
    Awarded two Navy Crosses (1943), the Navy Distinguished Service Medal (1953) and two Silver Stars (1943/1944) - Retired as Rear Admiral    		1941 - 20 September 1942
    09LCDR Alexander Bacon Coxe, Jr., USN - USNA Class of 1932
    Awarded the Silver Star (1945) and the Bronze Star with Combat V (1943) - Retired as Captain    		20 September 1942 - 31 March 1944
    10LT David Barney Cohen, USN31 March 1944 - 7 December 1944
    11LT George W. McKnight, USNR7 December 1944 - 24 July 1945
    12LT David James Pikkaart, USNR24 July 1945 - 23 October 1945
    13LT Fred Lyman Conger, USNR23 October 1945 - 15 January 1946
    Courtesy Wolfgang Hechler, Ron Reeves and RA Moody
    View the Breese (DM-18)
    DANFS History entry located on the Haze Gray & Underway Website
    Additional Resources and Web Sites of Interest
    NavSource Destroyer Pages, USS Breese (DD-122)
    Back to the Main Photo Index Back to the Mine Warfare Ship Photo Index Back to the Light Minelayer (DM) Photo Index
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    This page was created by Gary P. Priolo & maintained by Joseph M. Radigan (of blessed memory) & David Wright
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