History of the USS Bauer (DE-1025)

USS Bauer (DE-1025): History, Patrols, Crews

Commissioning

The USS Bauer was a member of the Dealey class of destroyer escorts. She was named in honor of Marine Lt. Col. Harold W. Bauer, who was awarded the Medal of Honor for heroism during the Battle of Guadalcanal.

The order to build the Bauer was awarded to the Bethlehem Steel’s San Francisco facility. Her keel was laid on Dec. 1, 1955; she was launched on June 4, 1957. She was commissioned on Nov. 21, 1957, and joined the Pacific Fleet.

Underway

Assigned to Escort Squadron 3, the Bauer was based in San Diego. In June 1958, she made her first Western Pacific deployment joining an anti-submarine warfare (ASW) task force in the East China Sea. She would stay in the region for the next five months before returning to San Diego in early December.

In September 1958, the Bauer re-deployed to the Western Pacific and made port visits in Japan, South Korea and Taiwan as part of President Eisenhower’s “People to People” program. In October, the Bauer visited Tacloban City in the Philippines to take part in the annual celebration commemorating the U.S. landings on Leyte on Oct. 20, 1944.

The Bauer would deploy to the Western Pacific a third time in March 1961 and conducted ASW exercises and routine patrols of the waters of the Far East. In March 1962, she entered drydock at San Diego as part of an overhaul and upgrade program. She left drydock in June and was re-deployed to the Far East in November. She spent seven months in the Western Pacific, spending time as an escort to the aircraft carrier USS Yorktown and patrolling the South China Sea. In April 1963, she took part in Operation Sea Serpent with ships from the navies of Great Britain, Australia, Thailand and Pakistan.

In June 1964, the Bauer began her latest deployment to the Western Pacific. She arrived in the waters of the Gulf of Tonkin and took up a position at Yankee Station on August 11, providing ASW protection and search and rescue missions for the U.S. fleet. With the exception of brief ports of call in the Philippines, Japan and Hong Kong, the Bauer stayed on station until Nov. 30.

In March 1966, the Bauer deployed to the waters of Alaska, arriving at Attu on April 17 and conducting special operations in the Bering Sea for the next five weeks. In November, she was ordered to the Western Pacific once more, arriving in Japan on Dec. 8. She patrolled the Taiwan Straits for nearly a month, from Dec. 17 to Jan. 12, 1967, before moving to the Gulf of Tonkin. She remained there for 10 weeks, providing screen and plane guard support to the carrier battle group.

In September 1967, the Bauer headed to the waters off Alaska, mooring at Adak on the 13th with the intention of riding out a storm. On Sept. 14, however, the storm pushed a harbor tug into the side of the Bauer, punching a hole in her hull. She was further damaged on the 15th, when rough seas slammed her into the pier. After one day of operations in the area, the Bauer headed south and returned to San Diego on Oct. 8.

On Aug. 30, 1968, the Bauer was reassigned to Reserve Destroyer Squadron 27 in San Diego. For the remainder of her career, her primary mission would the training of naval reservists. The Bauer, like other members of the Dealey class, was designed to test mass production requirements in the event of a war with the Soviet Union. By July 1973, her numerous material deficiencies led to her failing her service inspection and a recommendation for rapid disposal.

Decommissioning

The Bauer was decommissioned on Dec. 3, 1973 and struck from the Naval Vessel Register the same day. She was sold for scrap on Aug. 22, 1974.

Characteristics of the USS Bauer (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:

Name: USS Bauer
Namesake: Harold W. Bauer
Laid down: 1 December 1955
Launched: 7 June 1957
Commissioned: 21 November 1957
Decommissioned: 3 December 1973
Struck: 3 December 1973
Fate: Sold for scrap

Timeline:

December 1955: Keel of USS Bauer laid down
June 1957: USS Bauer launched
November 1957: USS Bauer commissioned
1964: USS Bauer makes first of two combat tours in the Gulf of Tonkin during the Vietnam War
December 1973: USS Bauer decommissioned

Crewmembers of the USS Bauer:

An unofficial list of crew members that served on the USS Bauer 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=2009

Roger Marcet, served 1965-70
Marc Avery, served February 1968—June 1970
Joe Humble, served June 1968—February 1971

Links:
http://www.mesotheliomaweb.org/destroyerspostwwii.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Bauer
http://navysite.de/crewlist/commandlist.php?commandid=2009
http://www.navsource.org/archives/06/06021025a.htm

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