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Navsource Online: Destroyer Escort Photo Archive

USS Roche (DE-197)


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


Precedence of awards is from top to bottom, left to right
Top Row: Combat Action Ribbon (retroactive) - American Campaign Medal
Second Row: Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal - European-Africa-Middle East Campaign Medal - World War II Victory Medal
Class: Cannon      Type: DET (diesel-electric tandem motor drive, long hull, 3" guns)
Displacement: 1,240 tons (std) 1,620 tons (full)   Dimensions: 306' (oa), 300' (wl) x 36' 10" x 11' 8" (max)
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
Machinery: 4 GM Mod. 16-278A diesel engines with electric drive, 6000 shp, 2 screws
Speed: 21 knots   Range: 10,800 nm @ 12 knots   Crew: 15 / 201
Operational and Building Data
Laid down by Federal Shipbuilding, Port Newark NJ on 21 October 1943
Launched 9 January 1944, Commissioned 21 February 1944
Struck mine off Eniwetok, 22 September 1945
Found to be damaged beyond economical repair 18 October 1945
Stricken 1 June 1946
Fate: Scuttled off Yokosuka Japan 11 March 1946
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For Full Size Image		 Size Image Description Contributed
By And/Or Copyright
Roche 244k David John Roche was born in Hibbing, Minn. on 2 December 1918 and enlisted in the U.S. Naval Reserve as seaman second class on 13 November 1939. He was appointed aviation cadet effective 15 February 1940, designated naval aviator (heavier-than-air), 14 October, and became an ensign, USNR, effective 21 October 1940. Following training at the Naval Air Station Pensacola, Fla., he was assigned to Torpedo Squadron 3 and reported for duty on 1 December. He was officially reported missing in action as of 4 June 1942, when the plane he was piloting was shot down in the Battle of Midway. For pressing home his torpedo attack on Japanese naval units in the face of tremendous antiaircraft fire and overwhelming fighter opposition, he was posthumously awarded the Navy Cross.

USS Roche (DE-197) was the first ship to be named in his honor.

(US Navy photo #NH 95554 from the US Naval Historical Center)

Bill Gonyo
Roche 101k date / location unknown (© U.S. Naval Institute Photo Archives) NCC Eugene Grenier
View the USS Roche (DE-197), DANFS history entry
located on the US Naval Historical Center web site.
Crew Contact And Reunion Information
Contact Name: Mike Friel
Address: 110 North Road / Wilmington DE 19809-3019
Phone: (302) 764-7620
E-mail: macgouch@delinet.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 or rosters available. Please see the Frequently Asked
Questions section on NavSource's Main Page for that information.

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Page Last Updated 12 April 2008