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NavSource Online: Mine Warfare Vessel Photo Archive

Palmer (DMS 5)



Call sign:
Nan - Easy - Charlie - Victor

ex-DD-161
ex-Destroyer No. 161

Sunk 7 January 1945
Wickes Class Destroyer/Dorsey Class Highspeed Minesweeper:

  • Laid down 29 May 1918 at Fore River Shipbuilding Corp. (Bethlehem Steel Co.), Quincy, MA
  • Launched 18 August 1918
  • Commissioned USS Palmer, Destroyer No. 161, 22 November 1918
  • Designated DD-161, 17 July 1920
  • Decommissioned 31 May 1922 at San Diego, CA and laid up in the Pacific Reserve Fleet, San Diego
  • Recommissioned 7 August 1940
  • Reclassified and converted to Highspeed Minesweeper, DMS-5, 19 November 1940
  • Sunk by enemy aircraft 7 January 1945 at Lingayen Gulf, Philippines
  • Struck from the Naval Register 8 February 1945.

    Specifications:

  • Displacement 1,090 t.
  • Length 314' 4"
  • Beam 30' 10"
  • Draft 9' 2"
  • Speed 34 kts.
  • Complement 103
  • Armament: Four 4"/50 mounts, two 3"/23 mounts, three .30 cal. machine guns and one depth charge projector
  • Propulsion: Four White-Foster boilers, two 24,200shp Bethlehem Steel geared turbines, two shafts.
    Click on thumbnail
    for full size image    		 Size Image Description Source
    Palmer 126k Mine Division NINETEEN (MINDIV 19) plaque. MINDIV 19 consisted of Palmer, Hogan (DMS 6), Howard (DMS 7), Stansbury (DMS 8) and
    Hamilton (DMS 18)
    From the collection of CAPT R. Roy Sampson    		 Bob Sampson
    Palmer 175k Shortly after refitting as DMS-5 from DD-161
    National Archives Photo    		 Everett N. Schrader SoM1/c, former crew member of USS Ira
    Jeffery DE-63
    Commanding Officers
    01CDR Ralph Roderick Stewart, USN - USNA Class of 1907
    Awarded the Navy Cross (1917) - Retired as Commander    		22 November 1918 - 10 June 1919
    02LCDR Thomas Baxter, USN - USNA Class of 1911
    Awarded the Navy Cross (1918) - Retired as Commander    		10 June 1919 - 1 October 1919
    03LCDR John Franklin McClain, USN1 October 1919 - 20 December 1919
    04LT Powell McCellan Rhea, USN - USNA Class of 1915
    Awarded two Silver Stars (1944) - Retired as Rear Admiral    		20 December 1919 - 9 January 1920
    05LT Leon Sangster Fiske, USN - USNA Class of 1916
    Awarded the Legion of Merit (1945), the Bronze Star and two Navy Commendation Ribbons - Retired as Vice Admiral    		9 January 1920 - 21 February 1921
    06LT Victor Cameron Barringer, Jr., USN - USNA Class of 1917
    Awarded the Legion of Merit (1945), the Bronze Star and the Purple Heart - Retired as Rear Admiral    		21 February 1921 - 31 May 1922
    07LCDR John Stuart Blue, USN7 August 1940 - 21 February 1942
    08LCDR Joshua Winfred Cooper, USN - USNA Class of 1927
    Awarded the Navy Cross (1944) and the Legion of Merit with Combat V (1952) - Retired as Rear Admiral    		21 February 1942 - 12 November 1942
    09LCDR Lester Cameron Conwell, USN - USNA Class of 1933
    Awarded the Silver Star (1943), Legion of Merit with Combat V (1953) and two Bronze Stars with Combat V (1945/1951) - Retired as Captain    		12 November 1942 - 27 September 1943
    10LCDR Robert Hampson Thomas, USN - Awarded the Navy Commendation Medal
    Retired as Captain    		27 September 1943 - 31 July 1944
    11LT William Edward McGuirk, Jr., USN - USNA Class of 193931 July 1944 - 7 January 1945
    Courtesy Wolfgang Hechler, Joseph M. Radigan (of blessed memory) and Darryl Baker
    View the Palmer (DMS-5)
    DANFS History entry located on the Haze Gray & Underway Website
    Additional Resources and Websites of Interest
    Booklet of General Plans
    from the Historic Naval Ships Association website
    NavSource Destroyer Pages, USS Palmer (DD-161)
    Back to the Main Photo Index Back to the Mine Warfare Ship Photo Index Back to the Highspeed Minesweeper (DMS) Photo Index
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