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Navsource Online: Destroyer Escort Photo Archive

USS Bright (DE 747)


Flag Hoist / Radio Call Sign:
N - Z - W - Q
Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons


Precedence of awards is from top to bottom, left to right
Top Row: Combat Action Ribbon (retroactive)
Second Row: American Campaign Medal - Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal w/ 1 star - World War II Victory Medal
Specifications:
Class: Cannon
Type: DET (diesel-electric tandem motor drive, long hull, 3" guns)
Displacement: 1240 tons (light), 1620 tons (full)
Length: 300' (wl), 306' (oa)
Beam: 36' 10" (extreme)
Draft: 10' 6" (draft limit)
Propulsion: 4 GM Mod. 16-278A diesel engines with electric drive, 6000 shp, 2 screws
Speed: 21 kts
Range: 10,800 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 / 201
Bright (DE 747) Building and Operational Data:
  • 09 June 1943: Keel laid by the Western Pipe & Steel Corp., San Pedro, Cal.
  • 26 September 1943: Launched and christened, sponsored by Mrs. Miriam Engle Bright, Lt.(jg) Bright’s widow
  • 30 June 1944: Commissioned at berth 120, Yard #6, Lcdr. William A. McMahan, USNR, in command
  • 19 April 1946: Decommissioned at Green Cove Springs, Fla. after 1 year and 10⅔ months of service
  • 11 November 1950: Transferred (MDAP) to France at the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard, renamed Touareg (F.721) (in reserve 1960, struck May 1964)
  • 20 December 1950: Struck from the NVR
  • May 1965: sold to Compagnie Métallurgique et Minière, of Paris for scrapping
    Click On Image
    For Full Size Image    		 Size Image Description Contributed
    By And/Or Copyright
    Bright 52k Born on 04 September 1912 in Wilkinsburg, Pa., Graham Paul Bright grew up in Pittsburgh. He was appointed a midshipman at the Naval Academy on 17 June 1931 and graduated on 06 June 1935. After service in Idaho (BB 42) and study at the Naval Finance and Supply School at the Philadelphia Navy Yard, Bright transferred from the unrestricted line to the Supply Corps in June 1937 and reported to his first fiscal billet as disbursing officer for Destroyer Division (DesDiv) 24, Battle Force, on 15 June 1937. Advanced to lieutenant (junior grade) a year later, Bright served as disbursing officer for DesDiv 11, Battle Force, from 15 October 1938 to 12 July 1939 and then become disbursing and commissary officer at the Anacostia Naval Air Station in Washington, D.C. Eventually becoming assistant to the supply officer at Anacostia in the summer of 1940, Bright served for a month with the 12th Naval District before reporting to Guam on 19 August 1941. When war came to that lightly defended American possession, Lt.(jg) Bright was serving as assistant supply officer with the naval government of Guam, working in the administrative unit at Agana. He was killed by machinegun fire during the fighting that followed the Japanese landing on 10 December 1941. Lt.(jg) Bright was posthumously awarded the Purple Heart.

    USS Bright (DE 747) (1944-1946) was the first ship to be named in his honor.

    (Photo from the U.S. Naval Academy Yearbook; The Lucky Bag, Class of 1935. )    		 Bill Gonyo
    Downey, Cal.
    Bright 227k 26 September 1943: The future USS Bright (DE 747) at her launching at Western Pipe & Steel Corp., San Pedro, Cal.

    (U.S. Navy Photo #80-G-202291 from the United States National Archives)    		 Mike Green
    Port Angeles, Wash.
    Bright 66k date unknown: This is USS Bright (DE 747) at Puget Sound, Washington. My father was the XO, and also served as XO of PC 1208. Albert G. Morris
    Bright 47k as Touareg (F.721), date / location unknown Bob Hurst
    Worksop, Nottinghamshire,
    England, United Kingdom
    Bright 46k as Touareg (F.721), circa 1953
    Bright 57k as Touareg (F.721) underway, location unknown, photo source unkown
    Bright History
    View the USS Bright (DE 747) DANFS history entry located on the Naval History and Heritage Command web site.
    Bright's Commanding Officers
    Thanks to Wolfgang Hechler
    Dates of Command Commanding Officers
    1.) 30 Jun. 1944 - .. Nov. 1945Lcdr. William Alva McMahan, USNR (Comm. CO)
    2.) .. Nov. 1945 - .. Mar. 1946Lt.(jg) Leonard J. Smith, USNR
    3.) .. Mar. 1946 – 19 Apr. 1946Lt.(jg) Rueben T. Farrar, USNR (Decomm. CO)
    Crew Contact And Reunion Information
    Contact Name: M. Edward Arnold
    Address: 3235 Ames Avenue
    City/State: Kingman AZ 86401
    Phone: (928) 692-9190
    E-mail: DD547@citlink.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
    Destroyer Escort Sailors Association
    The Destroyer Escort Historical Museum
    The Destroyer History Foundation
    Tin Can Sailors Shipmate Registry - USS Bright
    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: 02 May 2019