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USS SHIELDS (DD-596)


Flag Hoist/Radio Call Sign - NWFD

Tactical Voice Radio Call Sign (circa 1968) - GLEN POOL

CLASS - FLETCHER As Built.
Displacement 2924 Tons (Full), Dimensions, 376' 5"(oa) x 39' 7" x 13' 9" (Max)
Armament 5 x 5"/38AA, 10 x 40mm, 7 x 20mm AA, 10 x 21" tt.(2x5).
Machinery, 60,000 SHP; Westinghouse Turbines, 2 screws
Speed, 38 Knots, Range 6500 NM@ 15 Knots, Crew 273.
Operational and Building Data
Laid down by Puget Sound Navy Yard. August 10 1943.
Launched September 25 1944 and commissioned February 8 1945.
Decommissioned June 14 1946 and recommissioned July 15 1950.
Decommissioned July 1 1972.
Stricken July 1 1972.
To Brazil July 1 1972, renamed Maranhao.
Fate Stricken and scrapped at Santos, Brazil in July 1 1990.

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Size Image Description Contributed
By
Shields 153kThomas Shields, Purser, USN, was born in New Castle, Delaware, and appointed midshipman on 2 January 1804. He served in Congress and Constitution until 1807 and was attached to the naval station at Philadelphia and Baltimore. While in Constitution, he sustained an injury which rendered him physically incapable of performing all the duties .required of a line officer. He requested appointment as Purser, which he received on 14 April 1809. He served in Nautilus until March 1811 when he was ordered to the New Orleans Naval Station. On 18 January 1815, following the Battle of New Orleans, he led a small expedition to harass the retreating British. He and his party succeeded in capturing numerous prisoners and destroyed several vessels. Shields remained at the New Orleans Naval Station until his death on 22 May 1827.Bill Gonyo
Shields 30kUndated, location unknown.-
Shields 132kUndated, location unknown.K. Dupree, YNCS, USN(Ret)
Shields 125kUndated, location unknown.Richard Miller BMCS USNR RET.
Shields 126kUndated, location unknown.Richard Miller BMCS USNR RET.
Shields 88kCommissioning ceremony at Puget Sound Navy Yard, 08 February 1945.Tracy White
Shields 33kCommissioning ceremony at Puget Sound Navy Yard, 08 February 1945.Tracy White
Shields
0559638
60kUSS Shields (DD-596) at anchor in Puget Sound, 23 February 1945
National Archives photo 19-N-78504
Robert Hurst
Shields 48kUSS Metcalf and USS Shields on the Whangpoo River Shanghai, China, 05 December 1945.Albert Ferguson
Shields 28kUSS Shields on the Whangpoo River Shanghai, China, 1945.James Willis
Shields 185kUSS Shields (DD-596) May 1948, a San Francisco Examiner photo.David Buell
Shields
0559639
103kUSS Shields (DD-596) off the San Francisco Naval Shipyard, 10 September 1952, following a regular overhaul.
Bureau of Ships photo, National Archives identifier 24742345
Robert Hurst
Shields 59kUSS Shields (DD-596) and USS Colahan (DD-658) in the early 1950s in Yokosuka, Japan.Armand Richard
Shields 40kCirca 1955, location unknown.Ron Reeves
Shields 128kDestroyer Squadron 17, photographed at the foot of Broadway, San Diego, California, in March 1955. Destroyers in front row include (left to right): USS Twining (DD-540); USS Erben (DD-631); USS Halsey Powell (DD-686) and USS Gregory (DD-802). Behind them are (left to right): USS Shields (DD-596); USS Colahan (DD-658); USS Marshall (DD-676) and USS Porterfield (DD-682). USS Kearsarge (CVA-33) is tied up in the left distance, at Naval Air Station, North Island. Structure in the bottom center is the "Naval Destroyer Boat House". U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.Fred Weiss
Shields 154kUSS Shields (DD 596) circa 1957 with an aircraft carrier in the background, which appears to be the USS Oriskany (CVA 34). Photo from the file of the Vallejo Naval & Historical Museum.Darryl Baker
Shields 140kSan Diego, circa 1959-1960.John Cocoma
Shields
0559637
97kHead on view of USS Shields (DD-596), location unknown, 16 November 1961.
Bureau of Ships photo, National Archives identifier 24742363
Robert Hurst
Shields 270kThe USS Prairie (AD-15), USS Shields (DD-596), USS Agerholm (DD-826), USS Richard B. Anderson (DD-786) and an unidentified destroyer on August 20 1962, location unknown. NHC photo #94750.Ed Zajkowski
Shields 104kUSS Prairie (AD-15) with destroyers at San Diego, California, circa 20 August 1962. The ships alongside are USS Evans (DE-1023), USS Richard B. Anderson (DD-786), USS Agerholm (DD-826), and USS Shields (DD-596). U.S. Navy photo from the USS Prairie (AD-15) 1962-63 cruise book.Robert Hurst
Shields 82kOff the coast of Oahu, Hawaii, December 1962.Ed Velasquez
Shields 69kUSS Shields (DD-596) underway in 1966, location unknown. United States Navy, Official.Robert Hurst
Shields   Shields   Shields
Heavy weather off San Francisco during July 1966.
John Truesdale
Shields 156kDecember 28 1966, location unknown.Ed Zajkowski
Shields 151kUSS Shields (DD-596), with tug escort, underway off Vancouver BC on August 15 1967. Source: City of Vancouver Archives, Photo No. AM1506-S3-3-: CVA 447-8095.3, by Walter E. Frost.Mike Green
Shields 58kShip's patchMike Smolinski
Shields 123kDesRon 5 patchEd Velasquez
Shields 116kDesRon 27 patchEd Velasquez
Shields 129kDesRon 17 patchEd Velasquez
Shields 118kShip's patchMike Smolinski
Shields 116kShip's plaque as designed by the Shield's Captain, Robert L. Wessel, in 1961.Ed Velasquez
Shields 104kDesRon 5 plaque.Ed Velasquez
Shields 82kComCruDesPac plaque.Ed Velasquez
Shields 30kShip's Zippo.Richard Miller BMCS USNR RET.

USS SHIELDS DD-596 History
View This Vessels DANFS History Entry
(Located On The hazegray Web Site, This Is The Main Archive For The DANFS Online Project.)

Commanding Officers
Thanks to Wolfgang Hechler & Ron Reeves


CDR George Bernard Madden    Feb 8 1945 - Jun 12 1945

LCDR George Thornhill McDaniel Jr.    Jun 12 1945 - Oct 22 1945

LCDR Marcy Mathias DuPre III    Oct 22 1945 - Jun 14 1946

(Decommissioned Jun 14 1946 - Jul 15 1950)

LCDR Miles Rush Finley Jr.    Jul 15 1950 - Apr 2 1952

CDR William Sherman Kirkpatrick Jr.    Apr 2 1952 - Mar 20 1954

CDR Leigh Cosart (Early) Winters    Mar 20 1954 - Mar 23 1955

CAPT Robert Henderson Holmes    Mar 23 1955 - Apr 7 1955

CDR Albert Francis Hollingsworth    Apr 7 1955 - Apr 5 1957 (Later ADM)

CDR Richard Morgan Wright    Apr 5 1957 - Mar 8 1958

CDR Samuel Lewis Morton    Mar 8 1958 - Apr 4 1960

CDR Arthur LaGrange Battson Jr.    Apr 4 1960 - Mar 13 1961

CDR Joseph Lewis Sperandio    Mar 13 1961 - May 2 1961 (Acting)

CDR Arthur LaGrange Battson Jr.    May 2 1961 - Sep 13 1961

CAPT Robert Lee Wessel    Sep 13 1961 - Apr 18 1963

CDR Howard Jackson Ursettie    Apr 18 1963 - Sep 17 1964

CDR Victor Gordon Warriner    Sep 17 1964 - Oct 23 1965

CDR John Francis Tarpey    Oct 23 1965 - Apr 8 1967

CAPT Paul Walter Rohrer    Apr 8 1967 - Oct 28 1968 (Later RADM)

CDR Robert Joseph Forsyth    Oct 28 1968 - Jun 17 1970

CDR Billy Banks Traweek    Jun 17 1970 - Dec 10 1971

CDR William Frederick (Fritz) Wolff    Dec 10 1971 - Jul 1 1972


Crew Contact And Reunion Information

All Years
Contact Name: Edward Velasquez
Address: 6648 South Ammons Court, Littleton, CO 80123
Phone: 303-979-4114
E-mail: etvela5@aol.com
-or-
Korean War Years
Contact Name: A. D. Burchfield
Address: 415 Smythe Street, Kosciusko, MS 39090
Phone: (662)289-4745
E-mail: None


Note About Contacts.

The contact listed, Was the contact at the time for this ship when located. If another person now is the contact, E-mail me and I will update this entry. These contacts are compiled from various sources over a long period of time and may or may not be correct. Every effort has been made to list the newest contact if more than one contact was found.


Additional Resources and Web Sites of Interest
Tin Can Sailors Website
Destroyer History Foundation
Destroyers Online Website
Official U.S.Navy Destroyer Website

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This page was created by Fred Willishaw (ex ARG-4, AS-11 & DD-692) and is maintained by David L. Wright
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Last Updated 29 April 2022