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Navsource Online: Destroyer Escort Photo Archive

USS Wyffels (DE 6)


Flag Hoist / Radio Call Sign:
N - Q - C - M
Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons


Precedence of awards is from top to bottom, left to right
Top Row: Combat Action Ribbon (retroactive)
Second Row: American Campaign Medal - European-Africa-Middle East Campaign Medal w/ 1 star - WWII Victory Medal
Specifications:
Class: Evarts
Type: GMT (diesel-electric tandem motor drive, short hull, 3" guns)
Displacement: 1,140 tons (light), 1,430 tons (full)
Length: 283' 6" (wl), 289' 5" (oa)
Beam: 35' 0" (extreme)
Draft: 11' 0" (draft limit)
Propulsion: 4 GM Model 16-278A diesel engines with electric drive, 6000 shp, 2 screws
Speed: 19 kts
Range: 4,150 nm @ 12 knots
Armament: 3 - 3"/50 Mk22 (1x3), 1 - 1.1"/75 cal. Mk2 quad AA (4x1), 9 x 20mm Mk 4 AA, 1 Hedgehog Projector Mk10 (144 rounds), 8 Mk6 depth charge projectors, 2 Mk9 depth charge tracks
Complement: 15 / 183
Wyffels (DE 6) Building and Operational Data:
  • 17 October 1942: Keel laid by the Boston Navy Yard, Charlestown, Mass.
  • 07 December 1942: Launched as BDE 6
  • 25 January 1943: Retained by USN
  • 19 February 1943: Renamed USS Wyffels (DE 6)
  • 15 April 1943: Commissioned, Lt. Robert Messinger Hinckley, Jr., in command
  • 28 August 1945: Decommissioned after 2 years and 4 months of service, leased to the Republic of China, renamed ROCS T'ai Kang (F-21)
  • 12 March 1948: Struck from the NVR
  • July 1949: As part of the Nationalist Chinese Navy, she carried Chiang Kai-shek to Taiwan
  • 1972: Sold, scrapped
    Click On Image
    For Full Size Image    		 Size Image Description Contributed
    By And/Or Copyright
    Wyffels
    0600601

    Wyffels

    		 46k Lawrence Edward Wyffels was born on 20 January 1915 in Marshall, Minn. and enlisted in the United States Navy on 17 March 1936. He served in Enterprise (CV 6); and was advanced to carpenter on 25 June 1942. He was killed in enemy action on 26 October 1942 when Enterprise suffered bomb damage during the Battle of Santa Cruz Island. Disregarding his own safety, Carpenter Wyffels courageously fought the blaze ignited by bombs and repeatedly entered burning compartments to rescue the wounded trapped inside. Carpenter Wyffels was posthumously awarded the Silver Star for his intrepid devotion to duty.

    USS Wyffels (DE 6) (1943-1945) was the first ship named in his honor.    		 Bill Gonyo
    Downey, Cal.

    Assoc. Researcher
    Navsource
    Wyffels
    0600607    		 186k 26 April 1943: Boston Harbor - Starboard bow view of the newly commissioned USS Wyffels (DE 6), off the Boston Navy Yard, where she was built.

    (U.S. Navy Photo from the United States Navy, 1st Naval District Command)     		Mike Green
    Port Angeles, Wash.
    Wyffels
    0600605    		 283k 26 April 1943: off the Boston Navy Yard. David Buell
    Wyffels
    0600602    		 28k USS Wyffels (DE 6) on 30 August 1944 in Boston Harbor.

    (U.S. Navy Photo #80-G-382818 from the United States National Archives)     		Richard W. Jefferis
    Seaman 1c
    Wyffels
    0600606    		 143k 06 September 1944: the Atlantic Ocean - USS Wyffels (DE 6) underway east of Cape Cod, Massachusetts (41 47'N, 69 10'W). She is wearing Camouflage Measure 31, Design 3D and was photographed from a ZP-11 blimp.

    (U.S. Navy Photograph #80-G-280022, now in the collections of the National Archives)    		 Bob Hurst
    Worksop, Nottinghamshire,
    England, United Kingdom
    Wyffels
    0600603    		 60k ROCS Tai Kang (F-21) underway, date / location unknown
    Wyffels
    0600604    		 72k 04 February 1954: T'ai Kang (F-21) moored inboard of ROCS T'ai Ping (ex-USS Decker DE 47).
    Wyffels History
    View the USS Wyffels (DE 6) DANFS history entry located on the Naval History and Heritage Command web site.
    View a short article on the design and development of the Evarts Class DE submitted by Bob Sables.
    Wyffels' Commanding Officers
    Thanks to Wolfgang Hechler & Ron Reeves
    Dates of Command Commanding Officers
    1.) 15 Apr. 1943 - 12 Oct. 1943Lt. Robert Messinger Hinckley, Jr., USNR (Comm. CO)
    2.) 12 Oct. 1943 - 22 Feb. 1944Lt. Claude Singley Farmer, USNR
    3.) 22 Feb. 1944 - 07 Mar. 1945Lt. Stanley Norman Gleis, USNR
    4.) 07 Mar. 1945 - 28 Aug. 1945Lt. Leroy Charles Hand, Jr., USNR (Decomm. CO) (Chadburn, N.C.)
    Crew Contact And Reunion Information
    None
    Note About Contacts

    Contact information is compiled from various sources over a period of time and may, or may not, be correct. Every effort has been
    made to list the newest contact. However, our entry is only as good as the latest information that's been sent to us. We list only
    a contact for the ship if one has been sent to us. We do NOT have crew lists or rosters available. Please see the Frequently Asked
    Questions section on Navsource's Main Page for that information.

    Additional Resources
    Tin Can Sailors
    The U.S. Navy Memorial
    Destroyer Escort Sailors Association
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    The Destroyer History Foundation
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    This Page Created And Maintained By Mike Smolinski
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    by Paul R. Yarnall, All Rights Reserved.
    Page Last Updated: 19 August 2018