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Navsource Online: Destroyer Escort Photo Archive

USS Key (DE 348)


Flag Hoist / Radio Call Sign:
N - T - F - A
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 w/ 1 star
Second Row: European-Africa-Middle East Campaign Medal - World War II Victory Medal - Philippine Liberation Medal
Specifications:
Class: John C. Butler
Type: WGT (geared-turbine drive, 5" guns)
Displacement: 1350 tons (light), 1745 tons (full)
Length: 300' (wl), 306' (oa)
Beam: 36' 10" (extreme)
Draft: 11' 0" (draft limit)
Propulsion: 2 "D" Express boilers, 2 geared turbine engines, 12,000 shp, 2 screws
Speed: 24 kts
Range: 6,000 nm @ 12 knots
Armament: 2 - 5"/38 cal. DP guns (2x1), 4 - 40mm AA (2x2), 10 - 20mm AA, 3 - 21" TT, 1 Mk10 Hedgehog, 8 Mk6 Depth Charge Projectors, 2 Mk9 Depth Charge Stern Racks
Complement: 14 / 201
Key (DE 348) Building and Operational Data:
  • 14 December 1943: Keel laid by the Consolidated Steel Corp., Orange, Tex.
  • 12 February 1944: Launched and christened, sponsored by Mrs. Ira F. Key, mother of 1/Lt. Eugene M. Key, USMCR
  • 31 May 1944: Original scheduled commissioning date, accepted by the U.S. Navy Supervisor of Shipbuilding, Orange, Tex. this date*
  • 05 June 1944: Commissioned at Orange, Tex., Lcdr. F. D. Buckley in command
  • 09 July 1946: Decommissioned at Terminal Island, Cal. after 2 years and 1 month of service, having steamed 91,251 miles
  • 23 December 1946: Inactivation completed at San Diego, Cal., assigned to Submarine Group Two, San Diego Group, Pacific Reserve Fleet
  • 01 March 1972: Struck from the NVR
  • 19 December 1972: Sold for scrapping

    *Note: Key was incomplete on her scheduled commissioning date, however, in order to fulfill Consolidated Shipbuilding's incentive
    slogan, "A ship a day for the month of May", she was accepted by the Navy, and commissioned some five days later.

    Click On Image
    For Full Size Image    		 Size Image Description Contributed
    By And/Or Copyright
    Key 132k Two Undated Wartime Images Nick Tiberio
    Shelton, Conn.
    Key 170k
    Key 83k USS Key (DE 348) off San Francisco in 1945-46.

    (U.S. Naval Historical Center photo #NH 74292, Courtesy of Donald M. McPherson, 1971 from the Naval History and Heritage Command)    		 Mike Green
    Port Angeles, Wash.
    Key History
    View the USS Key (DE 348) DANFS history entry located on the Naval History and Heritage Command web site.
    View the official War History of USS Key as submitted by the ship at war's end.
    Key's Commanding Officers
    Thanks to Wolfgang Hechler & Ron Reeves
    Dates of Command Commanding Officers
    1.) 05 Jun. 1944 - 05 Jan. 1946Lcdr. Franklin Duerr Buckley, USN (Comm. CO) (USNA ‘37) (Philadelphia, Pa.)
    2.) 05 Jan. 1946 - 31 Jan. 1946Lt. H. W. Ranck, USN
    3.) 31 Jan. 1946 - 20 Mar. 1946Lt.(jg) John R. Boon Jr. , USNR
    4.) 20 Mar. 1946 – 09 Jul. 1946Lt.(jg) Ernest O. Svenson , USNR (Decomm. CO)
    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 Key
    To The DE, FF, LCS Photo Index Page
    Back To The Main Photo Index

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    This Page Created And Maintained By Mike Smolinski
    All pages copyright Navsource Naval History
    by Paul R. Yarnall, All Rights Reserved.
    Page Last Updated: 01 June 2020