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Navsource Online: Destroyer Escort Photo Archive

USS Andres (DE 45)


Flag Hoist / Radio Call Sign:
N - X - D - J

Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons

Precedence of awards is from top to bottom, left to right
American Campaign Medal - Europe-Africa-Middle East Campaign Medal - 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
Andres (DE 45) Building and Operational Data:
  • 12 February 1942: Keel laid as Capel BDE-15 by the Philadelphia Navy Yard, Philadelphia, Pa.
  • 24 July 1942: Launched and christened, sponsored by Miss Mary Elizabeth Schumacher, the daughter of Capt. Theodore L. Schumacher, USN, who was assigned to the Philadelphia Navy Yard
  • 25 January 1943: Reclassified as DE 45 when the ship was reallocated to the United States Navy
  • 04 March 1943: Renamed Andres
  • 15 March 1943: Commissioned, Lcdr. Clayton R. Simmers in command
  • 18 October 1945: Decommissioned at Charleston, S.C. after 2 years and 7 months of service
  • 01 November 1945: Struck from the NVR
  • February 1946: Sold for scrapping
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    By And/Or Copyright
    Andres
    0604501
    74k Eric Theodore Andres was born on 12 May 1915 in Flint, Mich., to Reverend Theodore and Vera Marie Andres. The family moved to Valparaiso, Ind., when Rev. Andres accepted a position at Valparaiso University. Eric enrolled in the university in 1933. While he was a student, he participated in athletics, extracurricular activities and student government. During his freshman year, he made the football team, securing the postion of quarterback and joined the Phi Delta Kappa fraternity. In his junior year, Andres was elected to the university student council. The following year, he became the Chairman of the Lecture and Entertainment Committee, President of the Liberal Arts College and Vice President of the Commerce Club. According to a profile of Andres in The Torch, the university newspaper, he expressed that he feared “punching a time-clock twice daily, when, in reality, he yearns to sling a pack over his shoulder and tramp of across country or slip onto a tramp steamer to Honolulu.” In June 1933, he earned a Bachelor of Arts in Business after which he accepted a position with Sears Roebuck in Chicago, Illinois.

    Andres enlisted in the U.S. Naval Reserve as an apprentice seaman on 25 October 1941. In January 1942, he entered the U.S. Naval Reserve Midshipmen’s School at Northwestern University in Chicago. On 13 February 1942, Andres was appointed as a midshipman to begin his officer training which he completed (15 May) and was appointed ensign in the U.S. Naval Reserve. Upon commissioning, he was assigned to the heavy cruiser USS Astoria (CA 34) of the Pacific Fleet. Astoria was serving as part of Task Force (TF) 17 formed around the carrier Yorktown (CV 5). She had returned to Pearl Harbor after Yorktown had been badly damaged in the Battle of Coral Sea (04-08 May 1942). On 30 May, Andres put to sea in Astoria as TF-17 returned to combat to confront the Japanese at Midway, after which Andres’ ship was back in Pearl Harbor (13 June 1942), awaiting her next combat assignment.

    In August, Astoria was reassigned to Task Group 62.3 (TG 62.3), a Fire Support Group, for the amphibious assault on Guadalcanal. Late on 08 August, while Astoria steamed off the coast of Guadalcanal, a Japanese force under the command of Rear Adm. Mikawa Gunichi transited the waters off Savo Island and surprised the Allied Forces. Astoria and her sister ships Quincy (CA 39) and Vincennes (CA 44), the Australian heavy cruiser HMAS Canberra, and the destroyers Helm (DD 388) and Wilson (DD 408) were caught entirely off guard. The attack proved quick and brutal, giving the ships little time to return fire before Japanese retired. A short time into the engagement, Astoria had sustained mortal damage and was almost fully ablaze. After a valiant attempt by the crew to save her, Astoria sank at 1215 on 09 August 1942, taking Andres and 215 of his shipmates with her. In a memorial ceremony at Andres’ alma mater, Capt. William Greenman, Astoria’s commanding officer, stated that Andres, “unquestionably died at his post of duty with the single thought of inflicting maximum damage on the enemy with entire disregard to his personal safety.”

    USS Andres (DE 45) (1943-1945) was the first ship to be named in his honor.          (Photo from the Archives Department of the Valparaiso University Library)
    Bill Gonyo
    Downey, Cal.
    Andres
    0604507
    354k February 1942: Philadelphia, Pa. - Keels for the future USS Andres (DE 45) and HMS Drury (BDE 46) are forming on the shipways at the Philadelphia Navy Yard.

    (Photo by George Strock, Life Magazine. To be used for educational and non-commercial purpose only.)
    John Chiquoine
    West Chester, Pa.
    Andres
    0604504
    187k 25 March 1943: Philadelphia, Pa. - Andres (DE45) at the Philadelphia Navy Yard. In the background, to the right, lie USS Olympia (IX 40) and the hulk of USS Taylor (DD 94).

    (Photo from the Naval History and Heritage Command, RG-19-LCM. Photo # NH 92285 as printed in "The Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships")
    Bob Hurst
    Worksop, Nottinghamshire,
    England, United Kingdom
    Andres
    0604506
    95k 25 March 1943: Philadelphia, Pa. - The destroyer escort USS Andres (DE 45) at the Philadelphia Navy Yard.

    (U.S. Navy Photo #NH 107305 from the Naval History and Heritage Command)
    Andres
    0604502
    80k starboard side, 17 October 1943 Edward M. Eastman
    Andres
    0604503
    158k overhead, underway, 12 July 1944
    Andres
    0604505
    89k National Archives photo used to illustrate Ms 22 camouflage

    Andres History
    View the USS Andres (DE 45) 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.

    Andres' Commanding Officers
    Thanks to Wolfgang Hechler & Ron Reeves
    Dates of Command Commanding Officers
    1.) 15 Mar. 1943 - 01 Jun. 1943Lcdr. Clayton Roger (Joe) Simmers, USN (Comm. CO) (USNA '32) (Navy Jr., Brooklyn, N.Y.)
    2.) 01 Jun. 1943 - 01 Sep. 1943Lcdr. Jasper Newton McDonald, USN (USNA '36) (Douglas, Ga.) (ret. as Radm.)
    3.) 01 Sep. 1943 - 04 Jul. 1944Lcdr. Carroll W. Brigham, USNR (NROTC '35) (Berkeley, Cal.)
    4.) 04 Jul. 1944 -18 Oct. 1945Lcdr. Harold E. Waller, USNR (Decomm. CO)

    Crew Contact And Reunion Information

    Contact Name: Edward M. Eastman
    E-mail: edeastmansr at embarqmail.com
    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, rosters, or deck logs 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
    The Destroyer Escort Historical Museum
    The Destroyer History Foundation
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    Page Last Updated: 12 March 2020