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Navsource Online: Destroyer Escort Photo Archive

USS Riddle (DE 185)


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


Precedence of awards is from top to bottom, left to right
Top Row: Combat Action Ribbon (retroactive) - American Campaign Medal
Second Row: Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal w/ 12 stars - World War II Victory Medal - Philippine Liberation Ribbon
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
Riddle (DE 185) 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. Anna B. Riddle
  • 17 November 1943: Commissioned at the New York Navy Yard by Radm. Monroe Kelley, Lcdr. Roland H. Cramer, USNR, in command
  • 08 June 1946: Decommissioned at Green Cove Springs, Fla. after 2 years and 6 months of service
  • 12 August 1950: Transferred to France (MDAP), renamed Kabyle (struck and scrapped in 1965)
  • 26 September 1950: Struck from the NVR
  • Note: With 12, Riddle earned more battle stars than any other DE in WWII
    Click On Image
    For Full Size Image    		 Size Image Description Contributed
    By And/Or Copyright
    Riddle
    0618502    		 226k 01 December 1943: the Atlantic Ocean - Commissioned on 17 November at the New York Navy Yard in Brooklyn, N.Y., Riddle (DE 185) undergoes post fitting out trials.

    (U.S. Navy photo #19-N-55496 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.
    Riddle
    0618503    		 131k date/location unknown, Riddle appears to be passing a line to another ship. Patrick Clancey
    HyperWar
    Riddle
    0618504    		 170k 16 December 1944: Riddle underway in the South Pacific.

    (U.S. Navy photo #80-G-419688 from the National Archives and Records Administration, College Park, Md.)    		 Nick Tiberio
    Shelton, Conn.
    Riddle History
    View the USS Riddle (DE 185) DANFS history entry located on the Naval History and Heritage Command web site.
    View the official War History of USS Riddle as submitted by the ship at war's end.
    Riddle's Commanding Officers
    Thanks to Wolfgang Hechler & Ron Reeves
    Dates of Command Commanding Officers
    1.) 17 Nov. 1943 - 12 Aug. 1944Lcdr. Roland Hans Cramer, USNR (Comm. CO) (London, England) (ret. as Radm., USNR)
    2.) 12 Aug. 1944 - 01 Jan. 1946Cmdr. Francis P. Steel, USNR (Philadelphia, Pa.)
    3.) 01 Jan. 1946 - 08 Jun. 1946Lt.(jg) Robert T. Swengel, USNR (Decomm. CO)
    Crew Contact And Reunion Information
    Contact Name: Robert Currie
    E-mail: Robert Currie
    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: 27 July 2024