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Navsource Online: Destroyer Escort Photo Archive

USS Douglas L. Howard (DE 138)


Flag Hoist/Radio Call Sign:
N - Z - D - C
Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons



Precedence of awards is from top to bottom, left to right
Top Row: American Campaign Medal - Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal
Second Row: European-Africa-Middle East Campaign Medal w/ 1 star - WWII Victory Medal - Navy Occupation Service Medal


Specifications:
Class: Edsall
Type: FMR (geared diesel, Fairbanks-Morse reverse gear drive, 3" guns)
Displacement: 1200 tons (light), 1590 tons (full)
Length: 300' (wl), 306' (oa)
Beam: 36' 10" (extreme)
Draft: 20' 6" (draft limit)
Propulsion: 4 Fairbanks-Morse Mod. 38d81/8 geared diesel engines, 4 diesel-generators, 6000 shp, 2 screws
Speed: 21 kts
Range: 9,100 nm @ 12 knots
Armament: 3 x 3"/50 Mk22 (1x3), 1 twin 40mm Mk1 AA, 8 x 20mm Mk 4 AA, 3 x 21" Mk15 TT (3x1), 1 Hedgehog Projector Mk10 (144 rounds), 8 Mk6 depth charge projectors, 2 Mk9 depth charge tracks
Complement: 8 / 201
Douglas L. Howard (DE 138) Building and Operational Data:
  • 08 December 1942: Keel laid by the Consolidated Steel Corp., Ltd., Orange, Tex.
  • 24 January 1943: Launched and christened, sponsored by Mrs. Donald I. (Anne) Thomas, daughter of Captain Howard
  • 29 July 1943: Commissioned at the City Dock, Orange, Tex., Lcdr. G. D. Kissam, USNR, in command
  • 17 June 1946: Decommissioned at Green Cove Springs, Fla. after 2 years and 10½ months of service
  • 01 October 1972: Struck from the NVR
  • 09 May 1974: Sold for scrapping to the Southern Scrap Materials Corp., New Orleans, La.
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    Size Image Description Contributed
    By And/Or Copyright
    Douglas L. Howard
    0613801

    Douglas L. Howard

    93k Douglas Legate Howard was born on 11 February 1885 in Annapolis, Md., the son of Naval officer Thomas B. Howard and the grandson of Abram Claude, the mayor of Annapolis. Following two years at St. John's Preparatory School, he entered the U. S. Naval Academy in 1901 as a member of the class of 1906. While at the Academy he was active in football, serving as captain of the 1905 team, and in boxing, as the heavy-weight champion. He was also received the Thompson Trophy Cup, awarded to the midshipman who had done the most to promote athletics. After fulfilling his service requirement as an Academy grad, he was, in February of 1911, selected as the 14th head coach of the Navy football program. In his first year as head coach, he led the 1911 Navy team to an undefeated 6 wins, 0 losses, 3 ties record. Remaining as head coach for four seasons, from 1911 until 1914, his overall coaching record at Navy was 25 wins, 7 losses and 4 ties.

    In 1915, following the outbreak of World War I, he returned to active duty. He was commanding officer of USS Drayton (DD 23), USS Rowan (DD 64), and USS Bell (DD 95) during World War I and was awarded the Navy Cross for his distinguished service on patrol and convoy escort duty in waters infested with submarines and mines. In 1919 he returned to the Academy as athletic director and Secretary-Treasurer of the Naval Athletic Association. Leaving the Academy in 1922, Howard was assigned as navigator of the battleship USS Texas (BB 35). In July 1923, he was transferred to USS Seattle (CA 11) as executive officer from 1925 to 1928. He then served as commander of Destroyer Division 27 of the Scouting Fleet, and then commander of Destroyer Division 33. He was next assigned to the Office of the Naval Intelligence. He attended the Navy War College from 1930 to 1931 and the Army War College in 1932. He retired from the Navy in 1933.

    After retiring from the Navy, Howard became the assistant to the president of St. John's College in Annapolis, and was appointed the dean at St. John's in July 1934. In September 1936 he resigned and became the president of the Annapolis Banking and Trust Company. Captain Howard died at Annapolis on 14 December 1936. His funeral was held in the Naval Academy Chapel, and he was buried at the United States Naval Academy Cemetery.

    USS Douglas L. Howard (DE 138) (1943-1946) was the first ship to be named in his honor.

    (Photo Courtesy of USNA Alumni Association thanks to Anne Sharpe)
    Bill Gonyo
    Downey, Cal.

    Assoc. Researcher
    Navsource
    D.L. Howard
    0613802
    61k undated wartime image
    Douglas L. Howard
    0613803
    57k undated wartime image Cathy Coates,
    daughter of
    Thomas Leroy Burgess, S2c
    D.L. Howard
    0613810
    191k 29 March 1944: Brooklyn, N. Y. - USS Douglas L. Howard (DE 138) moored at the New York Navy Yard. Howard had arrived on 19 March for scheduled maintenance and repairs following convoy duty. She departed the Yard on 30 March to conduct ASW exercises off Montauk Point and then on to Norfolk, Va. to pick u another convoy.

    (U.S. Navy photo #NA-19-N-65700 from the National Archives and Records Administration, College Park, Md.)
    John Chiquoine
    West Chester, Pa.
        and
    Rick E. Davis
    Springfield, Oh.
    D.L. Howard
    0613807
    129k 01 September 1944: New York, N.Y. - Two views of USS Douglas L. Howard (DE 138) in the East River wearing camouflage scheme MS32/3D (modified). She had departed the Brooklyn Navy Yard at 0757 and had just passed uder the Brooklyn Bridge. At 0953 she anchored in Sandy Hook Bay and loaded 143 Mk VIII depth charges and 3 Mk XVII torpedo warheads, plus assorted 3", 40mm, and 20mm ammunition that had been unloaded before her yard period. At 1643 she completed her ammunition onload and proceeded to anchor off Old Orchard Light to calibrate her HF/DF equipment. With her calibration completed at 1858, she left New York Harbor for Casco Bay, Maine in company with J.R.Y. Blakely (DE 140) and Hill (DE 141)in column astern. Howard didn't make it to Casco Bay. Either a large fish, or a submerged object, hit Howard's hull sonar gear (making it impossible to retract) and she was diverted to the Boston Navy Yard for repairs.

    (United States National Archives, Bureau of Shipping, Catalog No. BS 71831 and BS 71830, courtesy of C. Lee Johnson, at USN Dazzle).
    Mike Green
    Port Angeles, Wash.
    D.L. Howard
    0613808
    107k
    D.L. Howard
    0613804
    354k 22 March 1945: off Brooklyn, N.Y. - Two port and one starboard side views of Douglas L. Howard taken by the New York Navy Yard. Howard left the East Coast on 30 June 1945 and reported for duty in the Pacific Theater at Pearl Harbor on 08 August.

    (U.S. Navy photo #CP-DE-138 19-N-80875 from the National Archives and Records Administration, College Park, Md.; courtesy of  Chris Wright)


    (U.S. Navy photo #CP-DE-138 19-N-80878 from the National Archives and Records Administration, College Park, Md.; courtesy of  Chris Wright)


    (U.S. Navy photo #CP-DE-138 19-N-80874 from the National Archives and Records Administration, College Park, Md.; courtesy of  Chris Wright)
    Ed Zajkowski
    Narvon, Pa.
    D.L. Howard
    0613805
    369k
    D.L. Howard
    0613806
    357k
    D.L. Howard
    0613809
    87k circa 1945: location unknown - USS Douglas L. Howard (DE 138) Underway circa 1945, after being refitted with additional 40mm guns in place of her torpedo tubes.

    (U.S. Naval Historical Center photo #NH79830 from the Naval History and Heritage Command)
    Mike Smolinski
    Clifton, N.J.

    Navsource DE/FF/LCS
    Archive Manager

    Douglas L. Howard History
    View the USS Douglas L. Howard (DE 138) DANFS history entry located on the Naval History and Heritage Command web site.
    View the official War History of USS Douglas L. Howard as submitted by the ship at war's end.

    Douglas L. Howard's Commanding Officers
    Thanks to Wolfgang Hechler & Ron Reeves
    Dates of Command Commanding Officers
    1.) 29 Jul. 1943 - 26 Nov. 1943Lcdr. Gordon Denslow Kissam, USNR (Comm. CO) (New York, N.Y.)
    2.) 26 Nov. 1943 - 29 Aug. 1944Lcdr. William Farmer Stokey, USNR (Cincinatti, Oh.)
    3.) 29 Aug. 1944 - 05 Aug. 1945Lcdr. John Thomas Pratt Jr., USNR
    4.) 05 Aug. 1945 - 30 Nov. 1945Lt. Maurice B. Baker, USNR (Columbus, Oh.)
    5.) 01 Jan. 1946 - 01 Apr. 1946Lt. Alwynn J. Cronvich, USNR (Decomm. CO (New Orlaens, La.)

    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

    Tin Can Sailors
    The U.S. Navy Memorial
    The Destroyer Escort Historical Museum
    The Destroyer History Foundation
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    This Page Created And Maintained By Mike Smolinski
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    by Paul R. Yarnall, All Rights Reserved.
    Page Last Updated: 01 March 2023