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Navsource Online: Destroyer Escort Photo Archive

USS Wesson (DE 184)


Flag Hoist / Radio Call Sign:
N - F - F - S
Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons


Precedence of awards is from top to bottom, left to right
Top Row: Combat Action Ribbon (retroactive)
Second Row: American Campaign Medal - Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal w/ 7 stars - World War II Victory Medal
Specifications:
Class: Cannon
Type: DET (diesel-electric tandem motor drive, long hull, 3" guns)
Displacement: 1240 tons (light), 1620 tons (full)
Length: 300' (wl), 306' (oa)
Beam: 36' 10" (extreme)
Draft: 10' 6" (draft limit)
Propulsion: 4 GM Mod. 16-278A diesel engines with electric drive, 6000 shp, 2 screws
Speed: 21 kts
Range: 10,800 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: 15 / 201
Wesson (DE 184) Building and Operational Data:
  • 29 July 1943: Keel laid by the Federal Shipbuilding and Drydock Corp., Port Newark, N.J.
  • 17 October 1943: Launched and christened, sponsored by Mrs. Eleanor Wesson
  • 11 November 1943: Commissioned, Cmdr. H. Reich in command
  • 25 July 1946: Decommissioned at Green Cove Springs, Fla. after 2 years and 8½ months of service
  • 26 March 1951: Struck from the NVR
  • 10 January 1951: Transferred to Italy, renamed Andromeda (F.592) (stricken and broken up, 1970)
    Click On Image
    For Full Size Image    		 Size Image Description Contributed
    By And/Or Copyright
    Wesson  162k     Wesson  130k     Wesson  191k

    17 October 1943: Port Newark, N.J. - Three views of Wesson's launch and christening. The left photo shows the christening party posing for
    a pre-ceremony portrait. The center photo shows Mrs. Eleanor Wesson, mother of Lt.(jg) Morgan Wesson, preparing to break the traditional
    champagne bottle over the ship's bow, and the third photo shows the future Wesson sliding down the building way into the Upper Newark Bay.

    (U.S. Navy photos #'s 19-N-99849, 19-N-99851, and 19-N-99852 from the National Archives and Records Administration, College Park, Md.; courtesy of  Chris Wright)

    0618407    -    0618408    -    0618409    		 Tim Rizzuto
    Ship's Superintendent
    DE Historical Museum
    USS Slater at Albany, N.Y.

           and

    Chris Wright
    Ocean City, N.J.
    Wesson  199k     Wesson  161k     Wesson  197k     Wesson  158k

    05 January 1944: Brooklyn, N.Y. - Four views of USS Wesson at the New York Navy Yard. After a commissioning shakedown cruise to Bermuda for crew
    training, she returned to New York for a post-shakedown cruise yard availability period. She was in the yard from 28 December 1943 to 09 January 1944
    to repair desrepancies that were found on shake-down. When finished, she departed for the Panama Canal and duty in the Pacific.

    (U.S. Navy photos #'s 19-N-99849, 19-N-99851, 19-N-99852, and 19-N-99852 from the National Archives and Records Administration, College Park, Md.; courtesy of  Chris Wright)

    0618410    -    0618411    -    0618412    -    0618413
    Wesson
    0618402    		 178k 26 June 1945: Mare Island Navy Yard, Vallejo, Cal. - Forward plan view of USS Wesson (DE 184) at Mare Island. She was in overhaul at the yard from 16 May to 01 July 1945. USS Blessman (APD 48) inboard of Wesson and USS Hazelwood (DD 531) is on the opposite side of the pier.

    (U.S. Navy photo #DE-184-4842-45)    		 Darryl Baker
    PNCM, USNR (ret.)

    Vallejo Naval & Historical Museum
    Wesson
    0618403    		 192k 26 June 1945: Mare Island Navy Yard, Vallejo, Cal. - Aft plan view of Wesson at Mare Island.

    (U.S. Navy photo #DE-184-4843-45)
    Wesson
    0618404    		 78k 01 July 1945: Mare Island Navy Yard, Vallejo, Cal. - Bow on view of Wesson at Mare Island.

    (U.S. Navy photo #DE-184-4897-45)
    Wesson
    0618405    		 91k 01 July 1945: Mare Island Navy Yard, Vallejo, Cal. - Stern view of Wesson at Mare Island.

    (U.S. Navy photo #DE-184-5001-45)
    Wesson
    0618414    		 189k 01 July 1945: San Francisco, Cal. - USS Wesson in San Francisco Bay after departing Mare Island Navy Yard.

    (U.S. Navy photos #19-N-85965, and 19-N-85967 from the National Archives and Records Administration, College Park, Md.; courtesy of  Chris Wright)    		 Tim Rizzuto
    Ship's Superintendent
    DE Historical Museum
    USS Slater at Albany, N.Y.

           and

    Chris Wright
    Ocean City, N.J.
    Wesson
    0618415    		 188k
    Wesson
    0618406    		 20k undated wartime image Jerry Church
    Wesson
    0618416    		 273k The Italian Navy frigate Andromeda (F 592, Ex-USS Wesson) underway at speed during a NATO Mediterranean exercise in 1972. Note new pentad mast, with new and heavier aerial arrays. There is also a strongback plate added to the hull below the hawse pipe.

    (Italian Navy Official Photo; scanned from American Destroyer Escorts of World War 2, by Peter Elliott)    		 Bob Hurst
    Worksop, Nottinghamshire,
    England, United Kingdom
    Wesson History
    View the USS Wesson (DE 184) DANFS history entry located on the Naval History and Heritage Command web site.
    Wesson's Commanding Officers
    Thanks to Wolfgang Hechler & Ron Reeves
    Dates of Command Commanding Officers
    1.) 11 Nov. 1943 - 13 May 1944Lcdr. Charles F. Havenmeyer, USNR (Comm. CO)
    2.) 13 May 1944 - 02 Jul. 1945Lcdr. Henry Sears, USNR
    3.) 02 Jul. 1945 - 06 Dec. 1945Lcdr. George O. Scarfe, Jr., USNR (Nevada City, Cal.)
    4.) 06 Dec. 1945 - 29 Dec. 1945Lt. John D. Calderwood, USNR
    5.) 29 Dec. 1945 - 06 Jan. 1946Lt. Michael N. Chetkovich, USNR (Decomm. CO) (Angels Cama, Cal.) (diary ends)
    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
    Destroyer Escort Sailors Association
    The Destroyer Escort Historical Museum
    The Destroyer History Foundation
    Tin Can Sailors Shipmate Registry - USS Wesson
    To The DE, FF, LCS Photo Index Page
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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: 19 December 2019