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Navsource Online: Destroyer Escort Photo Archive


Ship's patches courtesy of Mike Smolinski

USS Cromwell (DE 1014)


Flag Hoist/Radio Call Sign:
N - C - S - G
Tactical Voice Radio Call: "West Haven"

Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons

Precedence of awards is from top to bottom, left to right
National Defense Service Medal - Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal


"Protect - Detect - Deploy - Destroy"
Specifications:
Class: Dealey
Type: SCB No. 72 / 1952 - 53
Number in Class: 3
Displacement: 1,314 tons (light), 1,940 tons (full)
Length: 308' (wl), 314' 6" (oa)
Beam: 36' 0" (extreme)
Draft: 18' 10" (draft limit)
Propulsion: 2 Foster-Wheeler boilers; 1 De Laval geared turbine; 20,000 shp; 1 shaft
Speed: 27 kts
Range: 6,000 nm @ 12 knots
Complement: 12 / 161
Guns: 4 - 3"/50 (76mm) Mk33 Guns (2x2)
ASW Weapons: 1 Squid ASW mortar (none in DE 1015), 6 - 12.75" (324mm) Mk 32 torpedo tubes (2x3) / Mk 46 torpedos
Radars: AN/SPS-5 (surface), AN/SPS-6C (air)
Sonars: AN/SQS-4
Fire Control Systems: Mk63 Gun FCS, Mk105 Underwater Battery FCS
Cromwell (DE 1014) Building and Operational Data:
  • 03 August 1953: Keel laid at the Bath Iron Works, Bath, Maine
  • 20 August 1954: Launched and christened, sponsored by Miss A. Cromwell
  • 24 November 1954: Commissioned, Lcdr E. J. Cummings, Jr., in command
  • 05 July 1972: Decommissioned and struck from the NVR after 17 years and 7⅓ months of service
  • 15 June 1973: Scheduled for transfer to New Zealand, cancelled; Sold for scrapping
    Click On Image
    For Full Size Image
    Size Image Description Contributed
    By And/Or Copyright
    Cromwell
    0602101401

    Cromwell
    85k John Philip Cromwell was born on 11 September 1901 in Henry, Illinois and appointed to the U.S. Naval Academy in 1920. He graduated in June 1924 and served initially in USS Maryland (BB 46). In 1926, he attended submarine school and was assigned to USS S-24 (SS 129) during 1927-29. He next had three year's diesel engineering instruction, followed by further tours of duty in submarines.

    Lieutenant Cromwell commanded USS S-20 (SS 125) in 1936-37, then served on the staff of Commander Submarine Division 4. He was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant Commander in 1939 and spent two years at the Bureau of Engineering and Bureau of Ships. In May 1941, he became Engineer Officer for the Pacific Fleet submarine force. During 1942-43, he commanded Submarine Divisions 203, 44 and 43.

    Following promotion to Captain, he went to sea in USS Sculpin (SS 191) as prospective commander of a mid-Pacific submarine wolf pack. While attacking a Japanese convoy on 19 November 1943, Sculpin was forced to the surface, fatally damaged in a gun battle and abandoned by her surviving crew members. Captain Cromwell, who knew secret details of the impending operation to capture the Gilbert Islands, deliberately remained on board as she sank. For his sacrificial heroism in preventing the enemy from obtaining this information, he was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor.

    USS Cromwell (DE 1014) (1954-1972) was the first ship named in his honor.      (US Navy photo #NH51733 from the Naval History and Heritage Command)
    Mike Smolinski
    Clifton, N.J.

    Navsource DE/FF/LCS
    Archive Manager
    Cromwell
    0602101402
    120k undated -
    Cromwell
    0602101411
    148k undated: the Atlantic Ocean - USS Cromwell underway.

    (U.S. Navy Photo #80-GK-45434 from the United States National Archives)
    Mike Smolinski
    Clifton, N.J.

    Navsource DE/FF/LCS
    Archive Manager
    Cromwell
    0602101405
    119k An undated postcard view of Cromwell.    (Postcard #37918-C © Arnold Art Store, Newport, R.I.; shown at 150% of original size)

    Caption reads: Named for Captain John Philip Cromwell. When his World War II submarine was scuttled, to prevent capture he remained on board rather than risk capture and endanger security of invasion plans. U.S.S. Cromwell, commissioned in 1954, is a 1280 ton destroyer type ship with a crew of 170. She served in the eastern Med during the Lebanon crisis in 1958.
    Cromwell
    0602101403
    70k April 1961: Boston Harbor

    (Photo © Richard Leonhardt)
    Richard Leonhardt
    Bethlehem, Pa.
    J.A. Furer
    0602101409
    202k undated: Newport, R.I. - Postcard view of Pier 1. USS Julius A. Furer (DEG 6) and USS Voge (DE 1047) are alongside USS Yosemite (AD 19). USS Dealey (DE 1006), Cromwell, and USS Compton (DD 705) are behind them nested alongside another tender.

    (Photo © The John Twomey Distributing Co., Newport, R.I.)
    Mike Smolinski
    Clifton, N.J.

    Navsource DE/FF/LCS
    Archive Manager
    Cromwell
    0602101410
    183k 1961: Panama Canal Zone - The U.S. Navy destroyer escorts USS Cromwell (DE 1014), USS Hammerberg (DE 1015), and USS Courtney (DE 1021) pass through the Pedro Miguel Locks of the Panama Canal.

    (U.S. Navy photo from All Hands Magazine)
    Cromwell
    0602101406
    139k 1967: Newport, R.I. - Taken from Cromwell's bow, looking aft. She was moored outboard of Dealey (DE 1006) at the time. Jerry Taylor
    BM3, 1966-68
    Cromwell
    0602101404
    185k late 1960's: Naples Harbor, Italy (this photo was given to me by a shipmate from that time period, Lcdr. John Foissett) F. J. McLaughlin
    Lcdr., USN (ret.)
    Cromwell
    0602101407
    137k 1969: the Atlantic Ocean - Two views of Cromwell. I was stationed on the USNS Muller (T-AG 171). We were one of the Intelligence ships of the day and Cromwell was our escort. From time to time she would come alongside and transfer things, such as movies, back and forth. Cameron C. Cook
    Columbia, Ill.
    CTR2, 1965 - 1969
    Cromwell
    0602101408
    172k
    Cromwell
    0602101409
    233k April 1970: the Atlantic Ocean - USS Cromwell underway off Newport, Rhode Island.

    (U.S. Naval Historical Center photo #NH 107518 by PH3 T.R. Mearsum from the Naval History and Heritage Command)
    Mike Smolinski
    Clifton, N.J.

    Navsource DE/FF/LCS
    Archive Manager

    Cromwell Memorabilia
    Matchbook
    Cover
    Cromwell
    Courtesy of
    Mike Smolinski
    Ship's
    Plaque
    Cromwell
    Courtesy of
    Mike Smolinski
    Ship's
    Plaque
    Cromwell
    Courtesy of
    Mike Smolinski

    Cromwell History
    View the USS Cromwell (DE 1014) DANFS history entry located on the Naval History and Heritage Command web site.

    Cromwell's Commanding Officers
    Thanks to Wolfgang Hechler & Ron Reeves
    Dates of Command Commanding Officers
    1.)  24 Nov. 1954 - 1956Lcdr. Edward Joseph Cummings, Jr. (Baltimore, Md.)
    2.)  1956 - 1958Lcdr. David Andre Webster (USNA '44) (Fresno, Cal.) (ret. as Radm.)
    3.)  1958 - Oct. 1959Lcdr. Albert L. Moore (Hatfield, Mo.)
    4.)  Oct. 1959 - Aug. 1961Lcdr. Herbert Herman Niehaus (Chicago, Ill.)
    5.)  Aug. 1961 - Jul. 1963Lcdr. Roy Francis Hoffmann (NROTC '46) (Crystal City, Mo.) (ret. as Radm.)
    6.)  Jul. 1963 - 06 Apr. 1965Cdr. Alvin Deon Branch (USNA '51) (Norfolk, Va.)
    7.)  06 Apr. 1965 - Jul. 1966Cdr. Charles Scudder Bird (USNA '52) (Scranton, Pa.)
    8.)  Jul 1966 - 1967Lcdr. James A. Major (Albuquerque, N.M.)
    9.)  1967 - 1968Lcdr. Edward Courtland Snyder Jr. (USNA '54) (Oklahoma City, Okla.)
    10.) 1968 - 1970Lcdr. David M. Foss
    11.) 1970 - 05 Jul. 1972Lcdr. Peter J. Mermagen (NROTC '60) (Rochester, N.Y.)

    Crew Contact And Reunion Information

    2022 Reunion for all Newport Based Dealeys
    Escort Squadrons 8, 10, 14

    15 - 18 September 2022 at Baltimore, Md.
    the Washington-Dulles Airport Hilton
    Chairman: Marc Arsenault
    Address: 98 Oxbow Road
    City/State: Charlton MA 01507
    Phone: (508) 248-5072
    E-mail: marc-a at charter.net
    or
    contact through Newport Dealey link below
    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

    Home of the Newport Dealeys
    Tin Can Sailors
    The U.S. Navy Memorial
    Destroyer Escort Sailors Association
    The Destroyer Escort Historical Museum
    The Destroyer History Foundation
    To The DE, FF, LCS Photo Index Page
    Back To The Main Photo Index

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    This Page Created And Maintained By Mike Smolinski
    All pages copyright Navsource Naval History
    by Paul R. Yarnall, All Rights Reserved.
    Page Last Updated: 22 May 2022