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Navsource Online: Destroyer Escort Photo Archive

USS Donaldson (DE 44)


Flag Hoist / Radio Call Sign:
N - W - P - W
Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons

Precedence of awards is from top to bottom, left to right
American Campaign Medal - Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal w/7 stars - 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
Donaldson (DE 44) Building and Operational Data:
  • 12 January 1943: Keel laid as BDE-44 by the Puget Sound Navy Yard, Bremerton, Wash.
  • 1 August 1943: Launched and christened, sponsored by Mrs. J. J. Donaldson, mother of Lieutenant (junior grade) Donaldson; retained by the Navy
  • 1 December 1943: Commissioned, Lt. H. L. Plage, USNR, in command
  • 5 December 1945: Decommissioned at San Francisco, Cal.
  • 19 December 1945: Stricken from the NVR
  • 2 July 1946: Sold, scrapped
    Click On Image
    For Full Size Image    		 Size Image Description Contributed
    By And/Or Copyright
    Donaldson 185k 15 December 1943: Bremerton, Wash. - Donaldson off the Puget Sound Navy Yard. Ed Zajkowski
    Donaldson 131k undated wartime image (appears to be from same time as above photo) David Buell
    Donaldson 62k undated wartime image Jerry Church
    Donaldson 142k 1945: at sea - The destroyer escort USS Donaldson (DE 44) comes alongside an unknown aircraft carrier. (U.S. Navy Photo #NH 79823 from the Naval History and Heritage Command, Courtesy of Donald M. McPherson, 1974) Robert Hurst
    View the USS Donaldson (DE 44) 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.
    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
    Destroyer Escort Sailors Association
    Tin Can Sailors Shipmate Registry - USS Donaldson
    The Destroyer History Foundation
    To The DE Photo Index Page Back To The Main Photo Index

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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 13 December 2011