Commissioning
The USS John Willis, (DE 1027: destroyer escort), was named for Navy corpsman John Harlan Willis, a Medal of Honor winner for his actions during the Battle of Iwo Jima. New York Shipbuilding Company of Camden, New Jersey, earned the contract and laid down her keel on July 5, 1955. John Willis launched on February 4, 1956. She was commissioned on February 21, 1957, at the Philadelphia Naval yard carrying one hundred seventy enlisted men and officers, under the command of LTCDR H. O. Anson, Jr.
Underway
John Willis made her homeport in Newport, Rhode Island, in April 1957 and joined the US Atlantic Fleet. After her shakedown and cruise to Northern Europe, she returned in mid-July. From there, she underwent antisubmarine warfare exercises for ten months along the east coast.
In May 1958, John Willis sailed out of Newport and joined the Sixth Fleet in the Mediterranean for NATO antisubmarine exercises. That July, she was sent to Lebanon to help stop an attempted coup d’etat of the US-friendly government. She would remain on patrol off the coast until September and returned home in October. Late in November, she pulled into the New York Shipyard to receive an experimental sonar system to aid in her antisubmarine duties.
John Willis went back into active service in February 1959 and spent twelve months testing the new equipment under various conditions. After this extensive testing, she demonstrated the new system at the Second Inter-American Naval Conference in Key West, Florida, in May 1960. The next month, she rejoined the Atlantic Fleet for Operations “Sword Thrust” and “Sea Spray” with other US and NATO ships for the rest of the summer. After participating in the NATO exercise “Pipe Down”, she sailed back to Newport and carried out coastal operations for several months.
In May 1961, John Willis patrolled the Caribbean near the Dominican Republic after the destabilization of the government and the assassination of President Rafael Trujillo. She also made another trip to the Caribbean in December to aid in the recovery effort of the Project Mercury MA-5 space capsule after it made two earth orbits with a chimpanzee named Enos on board.
The year 1962 saw John Willis sail for England and the North Sea. She aided British Navy ships in a search and rescue mission for the damaged ship Eystein, a Norwegian naval vessel. John Willis made it to Horton, Norway, in late January and visited several of that nation’s ports. She also shared information with the Norwegian Navy regarding her design. She arrived back in Newport that March and carried out several antisubmarine and convoy escort exercises that spring and summer. Late that year, she underwent an overhaul that would last well into the early months of 1963.
John Willis took part in the NATO antisubmarine exercise “New Broom Eleven” in April 1963. She assisted with a search and rescue operation in September for a MATS plane that went down in the North Atlantic. She also prepared for the amphibious landing exercise “Phibaswex” as well as carrying out several training missions.
While conducting east coast and Caribbean operations, John Willis participated in the exercises UNITAS V in 1964 and UNITAS VI in 1965. For the first half of 1966, she underwent overhaul at the Boston Naval Shipyard, then took refresher training for the rest of the year. She deployed for the North Sea in May 1967 with Escort Squadron 8 until the end of November.
Decommissioning
John Willis was decommissioned on July 14, 1972 and stricken from the Naval Register on the same day. She was sold for scrap on June 14, 1974.
Characteristics of the USS John Willis (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: John Harlan Willis
Builder: New York Shipbuilding Company
Laid down: 5 July 1955
Launched: 4 February 1956
Commissioned: 21 February 1957
Struck: 14 July 1972
Fate: Sold for scrap
Timeline:
July 1955 – USS John Willis keel laid down
February 1956 – USS John Willis launched
February 1957 – USS John Willis commissioned
July 1958 – USS John Willis patrolled Mediterranean during Lebanon crisis
November 1959 – USS John Willis received experimental sonar equipment Variable Depth Sonar (VDS)
December 1961 – USS John Willis participated in recovery operations for Project Mercury MA-5 space capsule
January 1962 – USS John Willis participated in search and rescue operations for Norwegian vessel Eystein
April 1963 – USS John Willis participated in exercise New Broom Eleven
September 1963 – USS John Willis participated in search and rescue operations for downed MATS plane
August 1964 – USS John Willis participated in exercise UNITAS V
August 1965 – USS John Willis participated in exercise UNITAS VI
January 1966 – USS John Willis underwent overhaul at Boston Naval Shipyard
May 1967 – USS John Willis deployed to Northern Europe with Escort Squadron 8
July 1972 – USS John Willis decommissioned
July 1972 – USS John Willis stricken from Naval Vessel Register
Crewmembers of the USS John Willis:
An unofficial list of crewmembers that served on the USS John Willis 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/crewlist/commandlist.php?commandid=2011
Richardu Smithr: (Served from Sept 1956 – June 1958) “i was a 3rd class bt and was a plank owner but never received a part of the ship as is tradition.”
Robert Vezina: (Served from 1962 – 1964) “I am filling this out for my father. I don’t have all of his information but his email is correct and I’m sure he will want to fill in the rest after receiveing some mail from your group. He still lives in MA and would love to learn more about”
Robert Schneider: (Served from March 1970 – July 1972) “Chased Russian Subs around the Atlantic, Unitas Xl, and Cienfuegos Cuba incident.”
Links:
http://www.mesotheliomaweb.org/mesothelioma/veterans/navy-destroyers-post-ww2/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_John Willis_(DE-1027)
http://navysite.de/crewlist/commandlist.php?commandid=2011
http://www.navsource.org/archives/06/06021027.htm
