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NavSource Online: Mine Warfare Vessel Photo Archive
Courtesy of Tommy Trampp

Ellyson (DD 454)
ex-DMS-19


Call sign:
Nan - Item - How - Zebra

ex-DD-454


Ellyson served the Navies of the United States, Japan and the Republic of China
Benson Class Destroyer/Ellyson Class Highspeed Minesweeper:

  • Laid down 2 December 1940 by Federal Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Co., Kearny, NJ
  • Launched 25 July 1941
  • Commissioned USS Ellyson (DD-454), 28 November 1941
  • Reclassified and converted to Highspeed Minesweeper, DMS-19, 15 November 1944
  • Reclassified back to a Destroyer, DD-454, 4 May 1954
  • Decommissioned, 19 October 1954
  • Struck from the Naval Register, transferred to Japan 20 October 1954 and renamed Asakaze (DD 181)
  • Decommissioned in October 1969
  • Returned to U.S. custody in December 1969
  • Transferred to Taiwan in October 1970. Did not enter active service with Taiwan's navy, but was retained for spares and repair needs. Used as a prop in a 1976 Taiwanese naval action film and sunk as
    part of a 'sea battle' action scene.

    Specifications:

  • Displacement 1,630 t.(lt)
  • Length 348' 3"
  • Beam 36' 1"
  • Draft 13' 9"
  • Speed 38 kts.
  • Complement 272
  • Armament: Three 5"/38 dual purpose mounts and two quad 40mm mounts
  • Propulsion: Four Babcock and Wilcox boilers, two 50,000shp General Electric geared turbines, De Laval double reduction gear, two shafts.
    Click on thumbnail
    for full size image    		 Size Image Description Source
    Ellyson (DD 454)
    Ellyson 140k
    Namesake:

    Commander Theodore Gordon "Spuds" Ellyson, USN, 27 February 1885 - 27 February 1928, was the first U.S. Navy officer designated as an aviator ("Naval Aviator No. 1"). Ellyson served in the experimental development of aviation in the years before and after World War I. He also spent several years before the war as part of the Navy's new submarine service. A recipient of the Navy Cross for his aviation service in World War I, Ellyson died in 1928 when his aircraft crashed over the Chesapeake Bay
    Library of Congress photo

    Navy Cross Citation:

    The President of the United States of America takes pleasure in presenting the Navy Cross to Commander Theodore Gordon Ellyson, United States Navy, for distinguished service in the line of his profession as Assistant for Operations to Commander, Submarine Chaser Detachment 1, during World War I. Commander Ellyson was largely responsible for the development of successful subchaser tactics and doctrine

    		 Bill Gonyo
    Ellyson 117k 27 November 1941
    Federal Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Co., Kearny, NJ
    National Archives photo 19-N-26265A    		 Joe Radigan
    USS Ellyson (DMS 19)
    Ellyson 46k Matchbook cover Tommy Trampp
    Photo added 23 June 2021
    Ellyson 95k c. 1944
    Ellyson 42k Steaming off Boston, MA, 17 December 1944
    National Archives photo 80-G-382791    		 USS LCS(L)3 1-130 Association
    Ellyson 140k Original photo: Steaming off Boston, MA, 17 December 1944
    National Archives photo 80-G-382792
    Replacement photo: Ellyson (DMS 19) at Boston on 17 December 1944, wearing a camouflage pattern Design 32a/22D. The colors appear to be navy blue with either haze gray or light gray. The wear indicates that the painting was probably done some time before this date, possibly even before 5 December, when Boston was sent drawing 32a/29D for DMS-19. It is possible that Boston used another drawing to paint this camouflage, although no drawing for 32a/22D has yet been found
    National Archives photo 80-G-382792, courtesy of C. Lee Johnson, Ships of the U.S. Navy in WWII “Dazzle” Camouflage    		 Original photo: USS LCS(L)3 1-130 Association
    Replacement photo: Mike Green
    Ellyson 87k 27 August 1945
    Ellyson (DMS-19) high-lining Sr Lt M. Ito, IJNR to Revenge (AM 110) in preparation for entry into and minesweeping of Tokyo Bay the next day    		 Destroyers Online
    Asakaze (DD 181)
    Ellyson 61k c. September 1958
    Yokosuka, Japan    		 Derick S. Hartshorn
    Ellyson 28k c. 1966 Robert Hurst
    Commanding Officers
    01LCDR John Bartholomew Rooney, USN - Awarded the Legion of Merit (1943)
    Retired as Captain    		28 November 1941 - 1942
    02LCDR Frank Chester Layne, USN1942 - 6 February 1943
    03CDR Ernest William Longton, USN - USNA Class of 19316 February 1943 - November 1944
    04LCDR Robert W. Mountrey, USNRNovember 1944 - October 1945
    05LCDR Harold Theodore Goranson, USN - USNA Class of 1940October 1945 - December 1945
    06CDR Hugh Blanchard Vickery, USN - USNA Class of 1940
    Retired as Commander    		1950 - 1951
    07LCDR William Hughlett Hardcastle, Jr., USN - USNA Class of 1943July 1953 - July 1954
    08LCDR George Willis Kingston, USNJuly 1954
    Courtesy Joe Radigan, Wolfgang Hechler and Bill Gonyo
    View the Ellyson (DMS-19)
    DANFS History entry located on the Haze Gray & Underway Website
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