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NavSource Online: Mine Warfare Vessel Photo Archive

Shannon (MMD 25)
ex-DM-25
ex-DD-737



Call sign:
November - Hotel - Whiskey - Kilo
Allen M. Sumner Class Destroyer/Robert H. Smith Light Minelayer:

  • Laid down 14 February 1944 by Bath Iron Works, Bath, Maine as Shannon (DD-737)
  • Launched 24 June 1944
  • Reclassified as a Light Minelayer, DM-25, 20 July 1944
  • Delivered and commissioned USS Shannon (DM-25), 8 September 1944
  • Decommissioned 14 October 1955 at Charleston, SC and laid up in the Atlantic Reserve Fleet, Charleston Group
  • Reclassified as a Fast Minelayer, MMD-25, 14 August 1968
  • Struck from the Navy Register 1 November 1970
  • Sold for scrap in May 1973 by the Defense Reutilization and Marketing Service to Boston Metals Co. of Baltimore, MD.

    Specifications:

  • Displacement 2,380 t.(lt), 3370 t.(fl)
  • Length 376' 6"
  • Beam 40' 10"
  • Draft 18' 10"
  • Speed 34 kts.
  • Complement 363
  • Armament: Three twin 5"/38 dual purpose gun mounts, six twin 40mm gun mounts, eleven 20mm guns, two .50 cal machine guns, two depth charge tracks and four depth charge projectors
  • Propulsion: Four Babcock and Wilcox boilers, two 60,000shp General Electric Corp. geared turbines, two shafts.
    Click on thumbnail
    for full size image    		 Size Image Description Source
    Shannon 66k
    Namesake:

    Harold Douglas Shannon was born in Chicago, Illinois, on 16 September 1892. He enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps in 1913 and became a commissioned officer in 1917. Serving in France during the First World War, he was decorated for his role in the Battle of Belleau Wood. He continued his Marine Corps service during peacetime, including service in the Caribbean and Central America. Promoted to Colonel in May 1942, he commanded Marine defensive units at Midway Atoll during the Battle of Midway. Colonel Shannon later served at Pearl Harbor and at San Diego, where he passed away on 16 February 1943
    National Archives photo 80-G-318249
    Colonel Harold D. Shannon, USMC, photographed circa Autumn 1942
    Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives

    		Bill Gonyo/Tommy Trampp
    Photo added 23 February 2022
    Shannon 127k
    Thomas E Fraser 35k Shannon (DM-25), Bauer (DM-26), Fraser (DM-24) and Shea (DM-30) USS Thomas E. Fraser (DM 24)
    Association
    Shannon 106k Bureau of Ships Collection
    Shannon 51k Robert Hurst
    Shannon 352k Ed Zajkowski
    Shannon 335k Contributed by Ken Thompson for his Aunt Margaret R. Gorning who is a former WAVE Dan Wilmes
    Shannon 64k c. September 1944
    Shannon 99k In Boston Harbor on 23 September 1944, in camouflage 32/3d scheme. The colors are dull black, ocean gray and light gray
    National Archives photo 80-G-382859 and 80-G-382863, courtesy of C. Lee Johnson, Ships of the U.S. Navy in WWII “Dazzle” Camouflage    		 Mike Green
    Shannon 122k
    Shannon 245k Shannon steams past task forces gathering for the Okinawa Operation, circa March 1945. Location is probably Ulithi Atoll. Ships in the near background include USS Flint (CL-97), in left center, and USS Miami (CL-89), at right. Three Essex class aircraft carriers are anchored in the middle distance. USS Enterprise (CV-6) is at the far left.
    U.S. Navy photo 80-G-K-3816    		 Original photo: Naval Historical Center
    Replacement photo: Robert Hurst
    Shannon 191k c. Late 1940's. Copenhagen, Denmark
    (Inscription on bottom left is Danish spelling of Copenhagen)    		 John Osbeck
    Shannon 184k c. 1950 Victor Barnaby
    Shannon 162k c. Early 1950s
    From the collection of LT Frank Lucas    		 John Chiquoine
    Shannon 230k 23 October 1950
    In front of the Parthenon, Athens, Greece
    Second from the right (in civvies) is LTJG James Sheppard, third man from the right is the Greek tour guide    		 Victor Barnaby
    Shannon 109k 17 November 1950
    Taranto, Italy
    Shannon 85k c. 1954
    U.S. Navy photo from All Hands magazine    		 Mike Green
    Commanding Officers
    01CDR Edward Lee Foster, USN - USNA Class of 1931
    Awarded the Silver Star (1945) and two Bronze Stars with Combat V (1944/1945) - Retired as Captain    		8 September 1944 - 10 June 1945
    02CDR William Thomas Ingram, II, USN - USNA Class of 1937
    Awarded the Legion of Merit (1945)    		10 June 1945 - 15 December 1945
    03LCDR William Robins Crenshaw, USN15 December 1945 - 2 July 1947
    04CDR Robert Alonzo Phillips, USN - USNA Class of 19352 July 1947 - May 1949
    05CDR James Starr Shilson, USN - USNA Class of 1934May 1949 - July 1951
    06CDR George Clifton Ellerton, Jr., USN - USNA Class of 1937July 1951 - July 1953
    07CDR William Linsay Poindexter, USN - USNA Class of 1939July 1953 - March 1955
    08CDR Francis Joseph Berry, USN - USNA Class of 1942March 1955 - 14 October 1955
    Courtesy of Wolfgang Hechler, Ron Reeves, Jim Swank and Joe Radigan
    View the Shannon (MMD 25)
    DANFS History entry located on the Haze Gray & Underway Website
    Additional Resources and Websites of Interest
    NavSource Destroyer Pages, USS Shannon (DD-737)
    Back to the Main Photo Index Back to the Mine Warfare Ship Photo Index Back to the Fast Minelayer (MMD) Photo Index
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