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Navsource Online: Destroyer Escort Photo Archive

USS Burke (DE 215 / APD 65)


Flag Hoist / Radio Call Sign:
N - F - K - E
Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons


Precedence of awards is from top to bottom, left to right
Top Row: American Campaign Medal - Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal w/ 1 star - European-Africa-Middle East Campaign Medal
Second Row: World War II Victory Medal - Navy Occupation Service Medal - Philippine Liberation Ribbon
Specifications:
Class: Buckley
Type: TE (turbine-electric drive, 3" guns)
Displacement: 1400 tons (light), 1740 tons (full)
Length: 300' (wl), 306' (oa)
Beam: 36' 9" (extreme)
Draft: 10' 6" (draft limit)
Propulsion: 2 "D" Express boilers, G.E. turbines with electric drive, 12000 shp, 2 screws
Speed: 24 kts
Range: 6,000 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 / 198
Burke (DE 215) Building and Operational Data:
  • 1 January 1943: Keel laid by the Philadelphia Navy Yard, Philadelphia, Pa.
  • 3 April 1943: Launched and christened, sponsored by Mrs. Miriam Katherine Burke, the widow of Lt. Comdr. Burke
  • 20 August 1943: Commissioned, Lcdr Edwin K. Winn in command
  • 25 January 1945: Conversion to APD begun at Sullivan's Drydock and Repair Corp., Brooklyn, N.Y., reclassified APD 65 (completed 8 April 1945)
  • 22 June 1949: Decommissioned at Green Cove Springs, Fla.
  • 1 June 1968: Stricken from the NVR
  • 12 August 1968: Transferred (MAP sale) to Colombia, renamed ARC Almirante Brion (DT-07) (stricken, scrapped, 1974)
    Click On Image
    For Full Size Image    		 Size Image Description Contributed
    By And/Or Copyright
    Burke 48k John Edward Burke was born on 24 January 1905 in Bismarck, N.D. He was commissioned ensign upon graduation from the Naval Academy in 1928. Burke saw service afloat before serving as aircraft gunnery observer with the Battle Force Torpedo School. Service in USS Wasp (CV 7) was followed by periods of training duty. On 2 February 1942 Lt. Comdr. Burke reported to South Dakota (BB 57) at the New York Shipbuilding Corp. in Camden, N.J., for duty as air defense officer. The battleship was commissioned on 20 March and, following shakedown training, headed for the Pacific. Just after midnight on 15 November 1942, South Dakota engaged a Japanese bombardment group under Admiral Kondo off Guadalcanal. South Dakota took 42 hits which killed 30 crewmen and caused considerable damage. Lt. Comdr. Burke was one of those killed. Lt. Comdr. Burke was posthumously awarded the Purple Heart.

    USS Burke (DE 215) (1943-1949) was the first ship to be named in his honor.

    (Photo from the US Naval Academy Yearbook; The Lucky Bag, Class of 1928.)    		 Bill Gonyo
    **Burke / Scott** 102k 3 April 1943: Philadelphia Naval Shipyard - USS Burke (DE 215) awaits her turn as USS Scott (DE 214) is launched. Robert Hurst
    Burke 63k June 1944 (USN photo #19N66900) Nick Tiberio
    Burke 442k undated wartime image Ed Zajkowski
    View the USS Burke (DE 215 / APD 65) DANFS history entry
    located on the Naval History and Heritage Command 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 12 December 2011