Commissioning
The USS Hammerberg, (DE-1015: destroyer escort), was named for Navy Diver Francis Hammerberg, a Medal of Honor winner for his actions in the aftermath of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. Bath Iron Works of Bath, Maine, earned the contract and laid down her keel on November 12, 1953. Hammerberg launched on August 20, 1954. She was commissioned on March 2, 1954, carrying one hundred seventy enlisted men and officers, under the command of LTCDR Murray E. Draper.
Underway
After her commissioning at Bath Iron Works, Hammerberg sailed down the coast to her new homeport in Newport, Rhode Island. From April 1954 to September 1957, Hammerberg carried out antisubmarine warfare exercises, took part in convoy exercises and help to train new sonar operators at Fleet Sonar School in Key West, Florida.
Starting in September 1957, Hammerberg took part in NATO maneuvers and antisubmarine training in the Irish Sea. After port visits in England and France, she returned to Newport in October. In early 1958, she also conducted hunter-killer exercises with the aircraft carrier USS Tarawa. She steamed out of Newport in April to participate in exercises with the Norwegian Navy near Bodo, Norway, and made port in Boston in mid-May.
At the start of 1959, Hammerberg left Newport and made for Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, for refresher training. Early that spring, she also carried out antisubmarine warfare training with ships from the South American nations of Peru and Chile before returning home that April. Beginning in May of that year, she would continue into early 1960 with ASW training and exercises, along with short trips to Puerto Rico and Newfoundland, Canada. She took part in amphibious operations near Onslow Beach in North Carolina during March and April. She began another deployment to South America in August and sailed back into Newport in December.
Hammerberg’s third deployment to South America started in August of 1961. That November, she patrolled the Caribbean during the power struggle within the Dominican government to prevent civil strife and stop potential Soviet and Cuban influences. She returned to Newport on December 1 for repairs and holiday leave.
While Hammerberg spent most of 1962 with training sonar operators at Fleet Sonar School and conducting convoy escort operations, her priorities changed in November. While on her way to Mayport, Florida, she was ordered to patrol the coast of Florida during the tense days of the Cuban Missile Crisis. After three weeks of patrol duty, she sailed back to Newport and stayed for the rest of the year.
After undergoing a series of repairs and upgrades at the Boston Naval Shipyard during 1963, Hammerberg again deployed to South America in June. While sailing around the continent, she took part in antisubmarine operations with the navies of seven South American countries. She also took part in the exercises “UNITAS IV” near South America and “PHIBASWEX 1-63” near Guantanamo Bay. The latter exercise involved both amphibious and antisubmarine warfare operations with numerous other ships from the Atlantic Fleet. With her exercises completed and deployment at an end, she sailed back into Newport in mid-December for upkeep.
Hammerberg took part in several operations during 1964, including “Steel Pike”, “CANUS SILEX” and “Springboard”. These operations involved her carrying out such tasks as patrol, search and rescue, blockade enforcement, and antisubmarine tactics. In February 1965, she sailed out of Newport to join up with NATO forces to take part in the exercise “Pilot High”. That May, she left for Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, to serve in Operation “Pole Star”. She returned to Newport in July, and then sailed into the Boston Naval Shipyard, where she would stay for more than a year for overhaul and repairs.
HAMM left Boston in August 1966 for Guantanamo Bay for refresher training. Later that summer, she met with several other ships to take part in Operation “UNITAS VII” near Trinidad until mid-November.
Decommissioning
Hammerberg was decommissioned on December 14, 1973 and stricken from the Naval Register on the same day. She was sold for scrap on June 14, 1974.
Characteristics of the USS Hammerberg (Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)
Class and type: Dealey-class destroyer escort
Displacement: 1,877 long tons (1,907 t) full load
Length: 314 ft 6 in (95.9 m)
Beam: 36 ft 9 in (11.2 m)
Draft: 18 ft (5.5 m)
Propulsion: 2 × Foster-Wheeler boilers
1 × De Laval geared turbine
20,000 shp (15 MW)
1 shaft
Speed: 27 knots (31 mph; 50 km/h)
Range: 6,000 nmi (11,000 km) at 12 kn (14 mph; 22 km/h)
Complement: 170
Armament:
• 4 × 3″/50 caliber guns
• 1 × Squid ASW mortar
• 6 × 324 mm (12.8 in) Mark 32 torpedo tubes
• Mark 46 torpedoes
Career:
Namesake: Francis P. Hammerberg
Builder: Bath Iron Works
Laid down: 12 November 1953
Launched: 20 August 1954
Commissioned: 2 March 1955
Struck: 14 December 1973
Homeport: Naval Station Newport, RI
Fate: Sold for scrap, 14 June 1974
Timeline:
November 1953 – USS Hammerberg keel laid down
August 1954 – USS Hammerberg launched
March 1955 – USS Hammerberg commissioned
September 1957 – USS Hammerberg participated in NATO maneuvers
April 1958 – USS Hammerberg participated in exercises with Norwegian Navy
August 1958 – USS Hammerberg participated in Operation Argus
January 1959 – USS Hammerberg sailed to Guantanamo Bay for refresher training
Spring 1959 – USS Hammerberg deployed to South America
March 1960 – USS Hammerberg participated in amphibious operations at Onslow Beach, North Carolina
August 1960 – USS Hammerberg deployed to South America
November 1961 – USS Hammerberg patrolled Caribbean during Dominican crisis
November 1962 – USS Hammerberg patrolled Florida coast during Cuban Missile Crisis
June 1963 – USS Hammerberg participated in UNITAS IV
November 1963 – USS Hammerberg participated in PHIBASWEX 1-63
October 1964 – USS Hammerberg participated in Operation Steel Pike
February 1965 – USS Hammerberg participated in NATO exercise Pilot High
May 1965 – USS Hammerberg participated in Operation Pole Star
July 1965 – USS Hammerberg went into repair at Boston Naval Shipyard
August 1966 – USS Hammerberg participated in UNITAS VII
December 1973 – USS Hammerberg decommissioned
December 1973 – USS Hammerberg stricken from Naval Vessel Register
Crewmembers of the USS Hammerberg:
An unofficial list of crewmembers that served on the USS Hammerberg can be found on the unofficial navy website at: http://navysite.de. This list is compiled by former crewmembers that voluntarily register. Some quoted comments from former crewmembers are listed below; many more are available on the source website at the following web address:
http://navysite.de/crew.php?action=ship&ship=DE_1015
Richard Bozzuto: (Served from March 1954 – September 1956) “was plankowner when ship was in Newport RI. Never seemed to get out of the paint locker.”
Links:
http://www.mesotheliomaweb.org/mesothelioma/veterans/navy-destroyers-post-ww2/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Hammerberg_(DE-1015)
http://navysite.de/crew.php?action=ship&ship=DE_1015
http://www.navsource.org/archives/06/06021015.htm
