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Navsource Online: Destroyer Escort Photo Archive

USS Keith (DE 241)

Flag Hoist / Radio Call Sign:
N - X - D - O

Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons

Precedence of awards is from top to bottom, left to right
Top Row: China Service Medal
Second Row: American Campaign Medal - European-Africa-Middle East Campaign Medal w/ 1 star - World War II Victory 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

Keith (DE 241) Building and Operational Data:

04 August 1942: Keel laid as Scott by the Brown Ship Building Co., Houston, Tex.

08 December 1942: Renamed Keith

21 December 1942: Launched and christened, sponsored by Mrs. Ellis J. Keith, Sr., mother of Seaman Keith

19 July 1943: Commissioned at Houston, Tex., Lt. D. Cochran in command

20 September 1946: Decommissioned at Green Cove Springs, Fla. after 3 years and 2 months of service

01 November 1972: Struck from the NVR

18 January 1974: Sold for scrapping

Click On Image For Full Size Image	Size	Image Description		Contributed By And/Or Copyright
0624103	141k	25 August 1944: the Atlantic Ocean - USS *Keith* (DE 241) is transferring a pilot from a downed aircraft to USS *Core* (CVE 13). At 09:43 on the morning of August 25th, a VC-13 TBM torpedo bomber crewed by Lt.(jg) Paul M. Rockette, ARM3c Frederick Rettew, and AMM3c Gustav T. Johnson went down 3000 yards off *Keith's bow. At 09:52 the crew were taken aboard Keith* and at 11:03 they were transferred back to their carrier. (U.S. Navy Photo #80-G-269147 from the United States National Archives)		Mike Green Port Angeles, Wash.
0624102	23k	03 January 1946: USS *Keith* anchored in Shanghai, China. Small souvenir boats called 'sampans' or 'bumboats' surround her.		James E. Dunham Jr.

Keith History
View the USS Keith (DE 241) DANFS history entry located on the Naval History and Heritage Command web site.
View the official War History of USS Keith as submitted by the ship at war's end.

Keith's Commanding Officers
Thanks to Wolfgang Hechler

Dates of Command	Commanding Officers
1.) 19 Jul. 1943 – 12 Dec. 1943	Lt. / Lcdr. Drayton Cochran, USNR (Comm. CO) (New York, N.Y.)
2.) 12 Dec. 1943 – 15 Dec. 1944	Lt. / Lcdr. Jack Louis Rinn, USNR (Enid, Okla.)
3.) 15 Dec. 1944 – 05 Dec. 1945	Lt. W. W. Patrick, USNR
4.) 05 Dec. 1945 – 20 Sep. 1946	Lcdr. Edward Corbett Hines Jr., USN (Decomm. CO) (USNA ‘41) (Wilmington, N.C.)

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 Keith

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