Click On Image For Full Size Image	Size	Image Description		Contributed By And/Or Copyright
0601601a 0601601b	31k 79k	Edgar Griffith Chase was born 12 September 1910 in Washington, D.C., and graduated from the Naval Academy in 1932. Assigned to the battleship USS Texas (BB 35), he served in her until January of 1935 when he was transferred, placing USS Worden (DD 352) in commission. Promoted to Lieutenant Junior Grade aboard Worden he was transferred to the 16th Naval District in April 1936 and then to USS Stewart (DD 224) that July. In January of 1939 he was transferred to USS Constitution (IX 21) at Boston, Mass., and one year later in January of 1939 he moved on to the U.S. Naval Academy. He left the Academy in June of 1940 for USS Shaw (DD 373), where he was promoted to Lieutenant in November of 1940. In April of 1941 he was transferred to USS Meredith (DD 434) as her engineering officer and was soon serving as her executive officer. During the Battle for Guadalcanal, Meredith was attacked on 15 October 1942 and sunk by Japanese dive-bombers off the island of San Cristobal. Lt. Chase was lost on 17 October 1942, two days after Meredith was sunk. He and dozens of other survivors had not been rescued and he "had become increasingly disoriented, the result of the concussion he had sustained from a bomb explosion on the ship. Early on the second day, he stood up in the raft and said, "I think I'll get some cigarettes." Before he could be restrained, he dove off, swam away, and was never seen again." Lieutenant Edgar G. Chase is memorialized on the Tablets of the Missing - U.S. Navy, in the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial, the Philippine Islands. USS Edgar G. Chase (DE 16) (1943-1945) was the first ship named in his honor. (Kimberly's grandfather, Edgar Griffith Chase, pictured here.)		Kimberley B. Chase-Carter
0601609	366k	26 September 1942: Vallejo, Cal. - The future HMS Burges (BDE 16) slides down the building way at Mare Island Navy Yard. (U.S. Navy Photo)		Darryl Baker PNCM, USNR (ret.) Vallejo Naval & Historical Museum
0601610	227k	26 September 1942: Vallejo, Cal. - Burges (BDE 16) rests in the center of the channel after her launching at Mare Island Navy Yard. (U.S. Navy Photo )
0601602	186k	News clipping of the christening of the future HMS Burges (DE 16) at Mare Island Navy Yard on 26 September 1942. Caption on the article reads: Capt. Frederick Crisp, left and Radm W. L. Friedell, right, look on as Mrs. Ernest Wichels, center smashes bottle of champagne against bow of HMS Burges, British escort vessel launched yesterday afternoon at Mare Island Navy Yard. Mrs. Clarence Knott, matron of honor, looks on at extreme left.
0601603	119k	Actual photo used in above newspaper article.
0601605	220k	20 March 1943: The commissioning crew of USS Edgar G. Chase (DE 16) taken at Mare Island. Lcdr J. J. Morony, CO, and Mrs. Ernest H. Wichels, Sponsor, are seen in the middle of the second row. (U.S. Navy Photo #DE-16-1900-43)
0601606	130k	20 March 1943: The ships' officer and civilian guests salute at the commissioning ceremonies aboard USS Edgar G. Chase (DE 16) at Mare Island. I can only identify Mr. & Mrs. Ernest H. Wichels, right foreground in the photo. Mrs. Wichels was ship's sponsor. (U.S. Navy Photo #DE-16-1907-43) (Note from Cmdr. William H. Roberts, USN (ret.): There’s a lieutenant and two ensigns in the front row. The ensign in the middle of the row is my father, William Henry Roberts, then Ensign, USNR. He later served in USS Trumpeter (DE 180).
0601607	157k	20 March 1943: The flag is raised for the first time aboard Edgar G. Chase during her commissioning ceremonies at Mare Island. Shipyard records indicate that Edward C. Daly (DE17), inboard (only mast visible), and Gilmore (DE 18), outboard (without mast) are forward of the Chase. (U.S. Navy Photo #DE-16-1903-43)
0601608	77k	20 March 1943: Photo of the commissioning ceremonies aboard Edgar G. Chase at Mare Island. (U.S. Navy Photo #DE-16-1902-43)
0601604	74k	02 April 1943: Degaussing Range, San Francisco Bay		William H. Roberts, M.D. Commissioning crew First Lieutenant / USNR
0601612	382k	1943: San Francisco Bay - Undated overhead photo of USS Edgar G. Chase underway, shortly after her commissioning. The time of the photo is evidenced by her one color non-graded paint scheme and the fact that her hull identification number is complete, (DE 16). (U.S. Navy Photo #80-G-238903 from the United States National Archives)		Mike Green Port Angeles, Wash.
0601611	161k	1943: San Francisco Bay - The destroyer escort USS Edgar G. Chase (DE 16) in San Francisco Bay. Yerba Buena Island and the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge are in the background. (U.S. Navy photo #NH 54339 from the collections of the U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command)		Bob Hurst Worksop, Nottinghamshire, England, United Kingdom
0601613	196k	circa July 1944: at sea, the Pacific Ocean - The crew of Edgar G. Chase conducts 40mm gunnery practice with the Bofors mount trained on the beam to starboard. Note the helmets stored in racks welded onto the supporting structure for the gun director (R) and some of the observers with cotton in their ears. The presence of the sailor with the letters 'YORK' stenciled on the back hof is chambray shirt is somewhat of a mystery. The ship's muster rolls for the period show no one on board at that time, with that name, either listed as a passenger or on the ship's company with this name.  (Navsource Note: York, Philip Ray, SN 621-00-85, S2c, was a plankowner. He was inducted into the Navy on 05 September 1942 in Des Moines, Iowa and reported aboard Chase on 20 March 1943.) (U.S. Navy Photo #80-G-238903 from the United States National Archives)		Mike Green Port Angeles, Wash.
0601614	194k	circa 1944: no location - A sailor stands watch in Edgar G. Chase's after motor room monitoring the gauges at the propulsion control board. (U.S. Navy Photo #80-G-238886 from the United States National Archives)

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Additional Resources

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Tin Can Sailors
The U.S. Navy Memorial
Destroyer Escort Sailors Association
The Destroyer Escort Historical Museum
The Destroyer History Foundation

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