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NavSource Online: Mine Warfare Vessel Photo Archive

Emmons (DMS 22)
ex-DD-457



Call sign:
Nan - Uncle - Baker - Queen

Sunk 7 April 1945
Gleaves Class Destroyer/Ellyson Class Highspeed Minesweeper:

  • Laid down 14 November 1940 by Bath Iron Works Corp, Bath, Maine
  • Launched 23 August 1941
  • Commissioned USS Emmons (DD-457), 5 December 1941
  • Reclassified and converted to a Highspeed Minesweeper, DMS-22, 15 November 1944
  • Struck by kamakazie aircraft off Okinawa 6 April 1945
  • Sunk by gunfire from USS Ellyson (DMS 19), 7 April 1945 to prevent her from falling into enemy hands
  • Struck from the Naval Register 28 April 1945.

    Specifications:

  • Displacement 1,630 t. (lt), 2,575 t. (fl)
  • Length 348' 3"
  • Beam 36' 1"
  • Draft 13' 9"
  • Speed 37.4 kts.
  • Complement 272
  • Armament: Three 5"/38 dual purpose mounts and two twin 40mm mounts
  • Propulsion: Four Babcock and Wilcox boilers, two 50,000shp Westinghouse turbines, De Laval double reduction gear, two shafts.
    Click on thumbnail
    for full size image    		 Size Image Description Source
    Emmons
    11092206    		 NR Destroyer Emmons (DD-457)
    Is Launched at Bath     		Image and text provided by Library of Congress, Washington, DC.
    Text by Evening Star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 24 August 1941, Image 17, courtesy of chroniclingamerica.loc.gov.
    Emmons 66k 1 November 1943
    Norfolk Navy Yard
    National Archives photo BS 55046    		 Joe Radigan
    Emmons
    11092202    		 472k Emmons (DMS-22) twin 40mm mounts gun still pointing skyward underwater. Photo by piranha-divers
    Emmons
    11092203    		 484k Emmons (DMS-22) twin 40mm mounts gun still pointing skyward underwater. Photo by piranha-divers
    Emmons
    11092205    		 750k Down by the bow of the wreck of the Emmons (DMS-22). Photo by piranha-divers
    Emmons
    11092207    		 143k Emmons (DMS-22) wreckage with an urban look. Photo by piranha-divers
    Emmons
    11092208    		 795k The 2 forward 5 inch 38 mounts of Emmons (DMS-22). Photo by piranha-divers
    Emmons
    11092209    		 1.90k Divers pass through the Emmons (DMS-22). Photo by piranha-divers
    Emmons
    11092210    		 750k Down by the bow of the wreck of the Emmons (DMS-22). Photo by piranha-divers
    Emmons
    11092211    		 935k Marine growth on one of Emmons (DMS-22) two propellers . Photo by piranha-divers
    Emmons
    11092213    		 2.61k Marine growth on Emmons (DMS-22) propeller. Photo by piranha-divers
    Emmons
    11092204    		 904k Memorial Plaque of the Emmons (DMS-22) at the depth of 155 feet off of Okinawa, August 2015.
    In Memorium:

    In the Second Book of Shmuel (Samuel), 22nd chapter, 5th through the 20th verses, translated from the original in Hebrew and published by the Koren Publishers of Jerusalem, Israel, 1982, can perhaps aptly describe the fate of the crew and all other U.S. sailors who died defending their county:

    "When the waves of death compassed me / the floods of ungodly men made me afraid; / the bonds of She'ol encircled me; / the snares of death took me by surprise; / in my distress I called upon the Lord, / and cried to my G-D: / and he heard my voice out of his temple, / and my cry entered into his ears. / Then the earth shook and trembled; /the foundations of heaven moved / and shook because of his anger /...the heavy mass of waters, and thick clouds of the skies /... And the channels of the sea appeared, / the foundations of the world were laid bare, / at the rebuking of the Lord, at the blast at the breath of his nostrils. / He sent from above, he took me; / he drew me out of many waters; / he delivered me from my strong enemy, and from those who hated me; for they were too strong for me. / They surprised me in the day of my calamity: / but the Lord was my stay..."

    Dante's Prayer courtesy of Loreena McKennitt via quinlanroad.com.     		Photo by Shawn M. Miller.
    Image provided by flickr.com & okinawaphotos
    Commanding Officers
    01CDR Thomas Cameron Ragan, USN - USNA Class of 1924
    Retired as Vice Admiral    		5 December 1941 - 10 October 1942
    02CDR Harold Millar Heming, USN - USNA Class of 193010 October 1942 - 4 July 1943
    03LCDR Edward Baxter Billingsley, USN - USNA Class of 1932
    Awarded the Silver Star, the Bronze Star and the French Croix de Guerre - Retired as Rear Admiral    		4 July 1943 - 30 November 1944
    04LCDR Eugene Noble Foss, II, USNR30 November 1944 - 6 April 1945
    05LT John J. Griffin, Jr., USNR - Gunnery Officer, assumed command after CO blinded and XO missing-in-action6 April 1945 - 7 April 1945 (Acting)
    Courtesy of Wolfgang Hechler, Ron Reeves and R. A. Moody
    View the Emmons (DMS-22)
    DANFS History entry located on the Haze Gray & Underway Website
    Additional Resources and Web Sites of Interest
    NavSource Destroyer Pages, USS Emmons (DD-457)
    Naval Minewarfare Association
    Association of Minemen
    Back To The Main Photo Index Back To the Mine Warfare Ship Photo Index Back to the Highspeed Minesweeper (DMS) Photo Index
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    This page was created by Gary P. Priolo & maintained by Joseph M. Radigan (of blessed memory) & David Wright
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