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Navsource Online: Destroyer Escort Photo Archive

Ship's Patches Courtesy of Mike Smolinski

USS Chambers (DE 391)

Flag Hoist / Radio Call Sign:
N - T - X - V

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 - World War II Victory Medal - National Defense 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

Chambers (DE 391) Building and Operational Data:

28 May 1943: Keel laid by the Brown Shipbuilding Co., Houston, Tex.

17 August 1943: Launched and christened, sponsored by Mrs. R. F. Chambers, mother of Ensign Chambers

22 November 1943: Commissioned, Cmdr. H. A. Loughlin, USCG, in command; assigned to the Atlantic Fleet

22 April 1946: Decommissioned at Green Cove Springs, Fla. after 2 years and 5 months of service

11 June 1952: Loaned to the U.S. Coast Guard and recommissioned as WDE-491; assigned to New Bedford, Mass.

30 July 1954: Decommissioned and returned to U.S. Navy custody after 2 years and 1½ months of service

28 October 1954: Reclassified as DER 391, commenced conversion

01 June 1955: Recommissioned; homeport changed to Newport, R.I. as a unit of Escort Squadron 16, on the Atlantic Barrier Patrol

20 June 1960: Decommissioned while berthed in the Back Bay Channel of the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard after 5 years and ½ month of service, custody transferred to the CO, Philadelphia Group, U. S. Atlantic Reserve Fleet

01 March 1975: Struck from the NVR with a total 9 years and 7 months of service

24 September 1975: Sold for scrapping

Click On Image For Full Size Image	Size	Image Description	Contributed By And/Or Copyright
0639102	224k	Official U.S. Coast Guard WWII Public Affairs photo of USS *Chambers* (DE 391), also included is the rear of the photo describing the ship in action. David's Dad, Bennie Hanus, was a wartime crewmember of *Chambers*.	David Hanus
0639107	357k	08 June 1944: Brooklyn, New York - A ship's portrait of *Chambers* (DE 391) taken off the New York Navy Yard. *Chambers* was in the yard from 01 to 09 June 1944 for scheduled yard availability.	Darryl Baker PNCM, USNR (ret.) Vallejo Naval & Historical Museum
0639103	102k	11 June 1952: Commissioning into USCG as WDE 491	-
0639104	48k	circa 1952: shortly after USCG commissioning	Bob Hurst Worksop, Nottinghamshire, England, United Kingdom
0639106	414k	undated: Port quarter view of the radar picket destroyer escort USS *Chambers* (DE 391) after her DER conversion. (U.S. Navy photo #L45-47.07.02 from the Naval History and Heritage Command)	Mike Smolinski Clifton, N.J. Navsource DE/FF/LCS Archive Manager
0639105	116k	02 April 1958: At Lisbon, Portugal	Karl A. Emrich RMC, USN (ret.)
0624410	405k	October 1973: Philadelphia, Pa. - The decommissioned USS *Chambers* (DER 391), second from laft, nested in a group of mothballed destroyer escorts at the Inactive Ship Maintenance Facility, U.S. Naval Shipyard, Philadelphia Pa. On *Chambers's starboard side is the decommissioned USS Wagner* (DER 539), and on her port side the decommissioned USS *Otterstetter* (DER 244) and the decommissioned USS *Mills* (DER 391). (Heilenday photo #III 0424A from the Heilenday Collection)	Mark Heilenday Virginia Beach, Va, Captain, USN (ret.) June 1974 - July 2004

Memorabilia
Ship's Lighter Courtesy of Mike Smolinski

Chambers History
View the USS Chambers (DE 391) DANFS history entry located on the Naval History and Heritage Command web site.

Chambers' Commanding Officers
Thanks to Wolfgang Hechler

Dates of Command	Commanding Officers
1.) 22 Nov. 1943 – 23 Oct. 1944	Cmdr. Harry Augustine Loughlin, USCG (USCGA '29)
2.) 23 Oct. 1944 -	Lcdr. Warner Keith Thompson Jr., USCG (USCGA '33)
3.) 01 Jun. 1955 – 05 Feb. 1957	Cmdr. George Kingsbury Dress, USN
4.) 05 Feb. 1957 – 26 Jun. 1958	Lcdr. / Cmdr. Robert J. Loomis, USN
5.) 26 Jun. 1958 – 22 Dec. 1959	Lcdr. C. T. McGrath, USN
6.) 22 Dec. 1959 – 20 Jun. 1960	Lcdr. Claiborne Sheldon Bradley, USN (USNA '48B) (Chicago, Ill.)

Crew Contact And Reunion Information

Next Reunion:
11 - 15 September 2011 at Plymouth Meeting, Pa.
Held in conjunction with the annual DESA Reunion

Contact Name: Curt Spangler
Address: 302 East Main Street
City/State: Hamburg NY 14075
Phone: 716-861-0455
E-mail: spang1039 at verizon.net

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
Tin Can Sailors Shipmate Registry - USS Chambers

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