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Navsource Online: Destroyer Escort Photo Archive

USS Christopher (DE 100)


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

Precedence of awards is from top to bottom, left to right
American Campaign Medal - WWII Victory Medal
Specifications:
Class: Cannon
Type: DET (diesel-electric tandem motor drive, long hull, 3" guns)
Displacement: 1240 tons (light), 1620 tons (full)
Length: 300' (wl), 306' (oa)
Beam: 36' 10" (extreme)
Draft: 10' 6" (draft limit)
Propulsion: 4 GM Mod. 16-278A diesel engines with electric drive, 6000 shp, 2 screws
Speed: 21 kts
Range: 10,800 nm @ 12 knots
Armament: 3 x 3"/50 Mk22 (1x3), 1 twin 40mm Mk1 AA, 8 x 20mm Mk 4 AA, 3 x 21" Mk15 TT (3x1), 1 Hedgehog Projector Mk10 (144 rounds), 8 Mk6 depth charge projectors, 2 Mk9 depth charge tracks
Complement: 15 / 201
Christopher (DE 100) Building and Operational Data:
  • 7 December 1942: Keel laid by the Dravo Corp., Wilmington, Del..
  • 19 June 1943: Launched and christened, sponsored by Mrs. Carl Christopher, mother of Ensign Christopher
  • 23 October 1943: Commissioned at Philadelphia, Penn., Lt. Archer W. Trench in command
  • 4 January 1944: Arrived at Recife, Brazil to commence service in the Caribbean and South Atlantic, operating primarily between Recife and Trinidad
  • 19 December 1944: Decommissioned, loaned to Brazil and renamed NAe Benevente (D-20) (stricken and scrapped in 1964)
  • 30 June 1953: Stricken from the NVR, title transferred outright to Brazil under the Mutual Assistance Program (MAP)
    Click On Image
    For Full Size Image    		 Size Image Description Contributed
    By And/Or Copyright
    Christopher 52k Harald Jensen Christopher was born in Dwight, Ill on 6 November 1919. He was commissioned ensign in the Naval Reserve 28 May 1941, and after training at the Naval Air Station, San Pedro, Calif., reported for duty in USS Nevada (BB 36) 5 August 1941. During the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, 7 December 1941, "Ensign Christopher, realizing that his services at his regular battle station were not needed at the time, upon his own initiative assumed duties on the 5-inch broadside battery and effectively controlled his part of that battery until killed by a bomb explosion." He was posthumously awarded the Navy Cross for "distinguished service, courage, devotion to duty and disregard for his own safety."

    USS Christopher (DE 100) (1943-1944) was the first ship named in his honor.

    (Photo from the Northwestern University Library)    		 Bill Gonyo
    Christopher 118k 19 June 1943: Wilmington, Del. - Christopher (DE 100) slides into the water after being christened at the Dravo Corp. (U.S. Navy Photo; from "The World Encyclopedia of Destroyers and Frigates" by Bernard Ireland) Robert Hurst
    Christopher 102k Undated port broadside view of Christopher at sea. The ship is painted in the MS22 camouflage scheme. (Photo from the U.S. Naval Recognition Manual, 1943-45 Ed.) Robert T. Baxter EM1, USNR

    and

    Mike Green
    Christopher 50k 19 December 1944: USS Christopher (DE 100), side by side with USS Herzog (DE 178) and their crews during ceremony transferring Christopher to the Brazilian Navy. Taken at the Natal Naval Station in Brazil. (Official U.S. Navy Photo) Luiz Brazil Cotta
    FT3 (Ret. Brazilian Navy)
    Christopher 65k undated: as CT Benevente (D-20), in service with the Brazilian Navy (Official Brazilian Navy Photo)
    Christopher 68k
    View the USS Christopher (DE 100) DANFS history entry
    located on the U.S. Naval Historical Center web site.
    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
    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 20 February 2011