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Navsource Online: Destroyer Escort Photo Archive

               
     
Ship's patches courtesy of Nick Tiberio                  Ship's patches courtesy of Mike Smolinski

USS Coates (DE 685)


Flag Hoist/Radio Call Sign:
N - T - R - G
Tactical Voice Radio Call: "Carbondale"
Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons


Precedence of awards is from top to bottom, left to right
Top Row: Navy Expeditionary Medal
Second Row: American Campaign Medal - World War II Victory Medal - National Defense Service Medal w/ 1 star
"On The Way"
Specifications:
Class: Rudderow
Type: TEV (turbo-electric drive, long hull, 5" guns)
Displacement: 1,450 tons (light), 1,810 tons (full)
Length: 300' (wl), 306' (oa)
Beam: 36' 9" (extreme)
Draft: 13' 9" (draft limit)
Propulsion: 2 CE boilers, G.E. turbines with electric drive, 12000 shp, 2 screws
Speed: 24 kts
Range: 5,050 nm @ 12 knots
Armament: 2 - 5"/38 Mk30, 4 - 40mm Mk1 AA (2x2), 10 x 20mm/70 Mk 4 AA, 3 x 21" Mk15 TT (3x1), 1 Hedgehog Projector Mk10 (230 rounds), 8 Mk6 depth charge projectors (40), 2 Mk9 depth charge tracks (60)
Complement: 12 / 192
Coates (DE 685) Building and Operational Data:
  • 08 November 1943: Keel laid at the Bethlehem Steel Corp., Quincy, Mass.
  • 12 December 1943: Launched and christened, sponsored by Mrs. A. M. Bledsoe, wife of Captain Bledsoe
  • 24 January 1944: Commissioned, Lt. W. S. Wills, USNR, in command
  • Planned conversion to APD 138 cancelled
  • 08 April 1944 to 15 September 1945: Served as school ship for student officers and nucleus crews at Miami, Fla.
  • 25 October 1945: Celebrated "Navy Day" at Wilmington, N.C. in company with Dashiell (DD 659), Harlan R. Dickson (DD 708), Greenling (SS 213), and Quillback (SS 424)
  • 16 April 1946: Decommissioned at Green Cove Springs, Fla. after 2 years and 3 months of service
  • 07 February 1951: Recommissioned at Savannah, Ga., assigned to the U.S. Atlantic Fleet at Norfolk, Va. as a unit of Escort Squadron 8
  • 22 November 1957: Assigned to NRT, 3rd Naval District, at the New York Naval Shipyard, Brooklyn, N.Y. as a unit of Reserve Escort Squadron 2
  • 16 August 1958: Decommissioned, placed "in service" at Brooklyn, N.Y., Lt. P. J. Goldman, USN, in command (detached as CO, reported as OinC)
  • 17 September 1960: Third Naval District NRT assignment shifted to Long Wharf Pier, New Haven, Conn.
  • 01 October 1961: Recommissioned for the Berlin Crisis at New Haven, Conn., Cmdr. W. D. Hoyt, USNR, in command; assigned to Escort Squadron 8 at Newport, R. I.
  • 01 August 1962: Decommissioned, placed "in service" at New Haven, Conn., returned to NRT duty, Cmdr. W. D. Hoyt, USNR, in command as OinC
  • 27 January 1970: Decommissioned at the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard after 18 years and 11¾ months of service, Struck from the NVR with a total of 21 years and 2¾ months of service
  • 19 September 1971: Sunk as target
    Click On Image
    For Full Size Image    		 Size Image Description Contributed
    By And/Or Copyright
    Coates
    0668502    		 124k undated WWII photo

    (on back: "Printed by E.E. Hilderbrandt")    		 Nick Tiberio
    Shelton, Conn.
    USS Coates
    (5/65-9/67, 1/69-1/70)
    Coates
    0668503    		 72k undated wartime image J. T. Wammack
    CM/1c, USNR
    Coates
    0668508    		 142k 1950: Savannah, Ga. - Coates in drydock prior to recommissioning. Nick Tiberio
    Shelton, Conn.
    USS Coates
    (5/65-9/67, 1/69-1/70)
    Coates
    0668509    		 144k
    Coates
    0668510    		 140k
    Coates
    0668504    		 156k undated: early post-war photo, note dual depth charge racks on fantail
    Coates
    0668505    		 114k circa '50's: note single depth charge rack aft.
    Coates
    0668512    		 420k early 1950's: Havana, Cuba - Coates entering Havana Harbor for a port visit.
    Coates
    0668513    		 420k early 1950's: Coates underway in Lynnhaven Roads heading for Norfolk.
    Coates
    0668514    		 35k mid-1950's: Coates underway off Key West, Fla.
    Coates
    0668515    		 139k late 1950's: Portsmouth, Va. - Coates moored at the Norfolk Naval Shipyard.
    De Long
    0668410    		 480k 22 June 1958: Brooklyn, N.Y. - At the Brooklyn Navy yard, shortly before they started scrapping Enterprise (CV 6) by first cutting off her tripod mast; she was sold for scrapping 10 days later, on 02 July.  The carrier on the opposite side of the pier is USS Independence (CVA 62) nearing completion. Ships visible in the left foreground include (from front): USS DeLong (DE 684), USS Coates (DE 685) and USS Hoe (SS 258). Ten other destroyers are also present, as is a "Liberty" type ship.  The F. & M. Schaefer brewery is visible in the center background; the longest and last operating brewery in New York City (when it was closed in 1976), and America's oldest lager beer brewing company.

    (U.S. Navy photo #1036995 from the Naval History and Heritage Command)    		 Steve Whitby
    Coates
    0668516    		 120k early 1960's: Coates underway in Long Island Sound off the Connecticut coast. Nick Tiberio
    Shelton, Conn.
    USS Coates
    (5/65-9/67, 1/69-1/70)
    Coates
    0668506    		 118k circa 1960's: Hampton Roads, Va.

    (Photo © Nobe Smith, Atlantic Fleet Sales)
    Coates
    0668519    		 273k circa 1960's: the Atlantic Ocean - Coates underway off the Connecticut coast.

    Coates
    0668507    		 126k 1965: New Haven, Conn.
    Coates
    0668511    		 190k 1965: Long Island Sound - Coates underway.
    T. Parker
    0636912    		 258k 03 February 1967: Newport, R.I. - Four Third Naval District reserve training DE's alongside USS Yosemite (AD 19) for upkeep and repair. From left to right are: USS Thaddeus Parker (DE 369), stationed at the Military Ocean Terminal, Bayonne, N.J.; DeLong, stationed to the U.S. Navy & Marine Corps Reserve Center, Fort Schuyler, Bronx, N.Y.; USS Albert T. Harris (DE 447), stationed at the U.S. Naval Reserve Training Center at Whitestone, Queens, N.Y.; and last but not least Coates (DE 685), stationed at the Long Wharf in New Haven, Conn.

    (Photo ©Richard Leonhardt)    		 Richard Leonhardt
    Bethlehem, Pa.
    Coates
    0668517    		 38k 1969: New Haven, Conn. - Coates moored at the Long Wharf Pier on New Haven Harbor, her home since September 1960. Nick Tiberio
    Shelton, Conn.
    USS Coates
    (5/65-9/67, 1/69-1/70)
    Coates
    0668518    		 248k undated: location unknown - An undated view of Coates underway.

    (U.S. Naval Historical Center photo #L45-53.08.01 from the Naval History and Heritage Command)    		 Mike Smolinski
    Clifton, N.J.

    Archive Manager
    DE / FF / LCS Archive
    Navsource
    Coates Memorabilia
    Ship's Emblem
    Decal
    Coates
    Courtesy of
    Nick Tiberio    		 Ship's
    Lighter
    Coates
    Courtesy of
    Nick Tiberio    		 Ship's
    Matchbook
    Coates
    Courtesy of
    Nick Tiberio    		 Squadron
    Plaque, late '50's
    DeLong
    Courtesy of
    Bob Hurst    		 Squadron
    Patch, 1960's
    Coates
    Courtesy of
    Nick Tiberio
    Coates History
    View the USS Coates (DE 685) DANFS history entry located on the Naval History and Heritage Command web site.
    View the official War History of USS Coates as submitted by the ship at war's end.
    Coates' Commanding Officers
    Thanks to Wolfgang Hechler
    Dates of Command Commanding Officers
    1.)  24 Jan. 1944 – 25 Jun. 1944Lt. Wilbur Summers Wills Jr., USN (Comm. CO) (Washington, D. C.)
    2.)  25 Jun. 1944 – 30 Jul. 1945Lcdr. Frederick W. Maennle, USNR (Richmond Hills, N. Y.)
    3.)  30 Jul. 1945 – 12 Nov. 1945Lcdr. James R. Hinton Jr., USNR
    4.)  12 Nov. 1945 – 16 Apr. 1946Lt.(jg) Sion Alford Boney, USNR (Decomm. CO) (Greensboro, N. C.)
    5.)  07 Feb. 1951 – Apr. 1951Lcdr. Alden Webster Whitney, USN (Recomm. CO) (USNA ‘42) (Orono, Me. / Culver. Ind.)
    6.)  Apr. 1951 – May 1952Lcdr. Donald Stanley Cramer, USN
    7.)  May 1952 – Aug. 1953Lcdr. Walter Browne Woodson Jr. (USNA ‘42) (Washington, D. C.)
    8.)  Sep. 1954 – 21 Dec. 1956Lcdr. William Calhoun Singletary, USN
    9.)  21 Dec. 1956 – 16 Jul. 1958Lcdr. / Cmdr. Leon Ivan Smith Jr., USN (USNA ‘44) (San Diego, Cal.)
    10.) 16 Jul. 1958 – 16 Aug. 1958Lt. Peter Joseph Goldman, USN (CO) (USNA '48A) (New York City, N. Y.)
           16 Aug. 1958 – 07 Oct. 1958Lt. / Lcdr. Peter J. Goldman, USN (OinC)
    11.) 07 Oct. 1958 – 24 Oct. 1960Lt. / Lcdr. Thomas Howard McGlaughlin, USN (OinC) (USNA ‘50) (Pittsburgh, Pa.)
    12.) 24 Oct. 1960 – 31 Aug. 1961Lt. Fredric Jonasz, USN (OinC)
    13.) 31 Aug. 1961 – 02 Oct. 1961Lt. Paul Lawrence Gruendl, USN (OinC)
    14.) 02 Oct. 1961 – 28 Sep. 1962Cmdr. / Cap’t Wilfred Dresser Hoyt, USNR
    15.) 28 Sep. 1962 – 08 Apr. 1965Lt. Donald Thomas Linch, USN (OinC)
    16.) 08 Apr. 1965 – May 1967Lt. Lowell Harold Klosky, USN (OinC) (Brooklyn, N. Y.)
    17.) May 1967 – 17 Sep. 1969Lt. William Harry Judson, USN (OinC)
    18.) 17 Sep. 1969 – 27 Jan. 1970Lt. Raymond Frey, USN (OinC) (USNA ‘64) (New York City, N. Y.)
    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 Coates
    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: 04 February 2023