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Navsource Online: Destroyer Escort Photo Archive

Ship's patches courtesy
of Mike Smolinski

USS George (DE 697)


Flag Hoist / Radio Call Sign:
N - H - Q - J
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/ 2 stars - WWII Victory Medal - Philippine Liberation Ribbon
Specifications:
Class: Buckley
Type: TE (turbine-electric drive, 3" guns)
Displacement: 1400 tons (light), 1740 tons (full)
Length: 300' (wl), 306' (oa)
Beam: 36' 9" (extreme)
Draft: 10' 6" (draft limit)
Propulsion: 2 "D" Express boilers, G.E. turbines with electric drive, 12000 shp, 2 screws
Speed: 24 kts
Range: 6,000 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 / 198
George (DE 697) Building and Operational Data:
  • 22 May 1943: Keel laid by the Defoe Shipbuilding Co., Bay City, Mich.
  • 14 August 1943: Launched and christened, sponsored by Mrs. Harlow F. George, the mother of Seaman Second Class George
  • 20 November 1943: Commissioned at U.S. Naval Station, New Orleans, La., Lcdr. John E. Page, USNR, in command
  • At war's end, George was assigned to the Pacific Fleet Cruiser-Destroyer Force at San Diego, Cal.
  • 18 September 1957: Assigned as NRT ship, 12th Naval District, at San Francisco, Cal.
  • 08 October 1958: Decommissioned at San Francisco, Cal. after 13 years and 11 months of service, entered the Pacific Reserve Fleet at Stockton, Cal.
  • 01 November 1969: Struck from the NVR
  • 12 October 1970: Sold for scrapping
    Click On Image
    For Full Size Image    		 Size Image Description Contributed
    By And/Or Copyright
    George
    0669702    		 37k late 1944: Manus Islands Raymond A. LaBarr
    George
    0669703    		 64k date / location unknown George E. Underwood
    BR1c
    George 168k       George 170k       George 322k

    July 1945: Guam, the Mariana Islands - USS George (DE 697) and USS Tillman (DD 641) are up on blocks
    in sectional floating drydock USS ABSD-6 while at the Fleet Anchorage prior to heading for Okinawa.

    (Photos by Life Magazine photographer J.R. Eyerman)

    0669711       0669713       0669712

    		 John Chiquoine
    West Chester, Pa.
    George
    0669714    		 100k USS George (DE 697) photographed circa 1945.

    (U.S. Naval Historical Center photo #NH 74294, Courtesy of Mr. D. M. McPherson, Corte Madera California, 1971, from the Naval History and Heritage Command)    		 Mike Green
    Port Angeles, Wash.
    George
    0669704    		 84k 27 August 1947: San Francisco Bay - Bow on view of USS George (DE 697) off Mare Island.


    (U.S. Navy photo #DE-697-1590-47)    		 Darryl Baker
    PNCM, USNR (ret.)

    Vallejo Naval & Historical Museum
    George
    0669705    		 82k 27 August 1947: San Francisco Bay - Broadside view of USS George (DE 697) off Mare Island. She was in overhaul at the yard from 26 June to 08 September 1947.


    (U.S. Navy photo #DE-697-1592-47)
    George
    0669706    		 126k 27 August 1947: San Francisco Bay - Stern view of USS George (DE 697) off Mare Island.


    (U.S. Navy photo #DE-697-1594-47)
    George
    0669707    		 91k 1953 Raymond A. LaBarr
    George
    0669708    		 116k 1953: same as above without text.
    George
    0669710    		 367k 16 October 1956: Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada - USS George (DE 697) lies moored at Vancouver.


    (Photograph by Walter E. Frost) (Photo #AM1506-S3-3-: CVA 447-8716 from the City of Vancouver Archives)    		 Mike Green
    Port Angeles, Wash.
    George
    0669715    		 149k 04 October 1957: San Francisco, Cal. - Commander William C. Young turns the USS George (DE 697) over to 12th Naval District officer Lcdr. Peter Karonis, USN. Lcdr. Karonis will command the nucleus crew of George as the ship begins her new career serving the Naval Reserve as a training vessel. He would be George's last commanding officer. Darryl Baker
    PNCM, USNR (ret.)

    Vallejo Naval & Historical Museum
    George 107k 1958: San Francisco Bay

    (Photo © Allied Photographers, San Francisco, Cal.)    		 Robert M. Cieri
    George Memorabilia
    Ship's
    Lighter
    George
    Courtesy of
    Nick Tiberio
    George History
    View the USS George (DE 697) DANFS history entry located on the Naval History and Heritage Command web site.
    View the official War History of USS George as submitted by the Commanding Officer on 27 September 1945.
    George's Commanding Officers
    Thanks to Wolfgang Hechler
    Dates of Command Commanding Officers
    1.)  20 Nov. 1943 – 16 May 1944Lcdr. John Edward Pace, USNR (Comm. CO) (USNA ‘37) (Rye, N.Y.)
    2.)  16 May 1944 – .. .... 1945Lt./Lcdr. Fred W. Just, USNR (Mankato, Minn.)
    3.)  .. .... 1945 - Lcdr. Richard E. Warner, USNR (Oakland, Cal.)
    4.)  ~1946 Lcdr. Herbert Henry Anderson, USN (USNA ‘41) (Campbell, N.Y.) (ret. as Radm.)
    5.)  .. Jul. 1947 - .. Aug. 1948 Lcdr. James Bertram Hildreth, USN (ROTC ‘41) (Ukiah, Cal.) (ret. as Radm.)
    6.)  .. Aug. 1948 - .. Jun. 1949Lcdr. Vincent Mansfield Dickerson, USN (USNR Mid'n Sch. '41) (El Reno, Okla.)
    7.)  .. Jun. 1949 - Lcdr. David Michael Rubel, USN (USNA ‘41) (San Diego, Cal.) (ret. as Radm.)
    8.)  .. Aug. 1952 - .. Sep. 1955 Lcdr. Kenneth Carroll Wallace, USN (USNA ‘43) (Coronado, Cal.) (ret. as Radm.)
    9.)  .. Sep. 1955 - 04 Oct. 1957Cmdr. William Clarence Young, USN (Catasauqua, Pa.)
    10.) 04 Oct. 1957 - 08 Oct. 1958Lcdr. Peter Karonis, USN (Mass. MA '43) (Chelsea, Mass.)
    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
    The Destroyer Escort Historical Museum
    The Destroyer History Foundation
    Tin Can Sailors Shipmate Registry - USS George
    To The DE, FF, LCS Photo Index Page
    Back To The Main Photo Index

    Comments, Suggestions, E-mail: Webmaster.

    This Page Created And Maintained By Mike Smolinski
    All pages copyright Navsource Naval History
    by Paul R. Yarnall, All Rights Reserved.
    Page Last Updated: 17 February 2021