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Navsource Online: Destroyer Escort Photo Archive
Ship's patches courtesy of Mike Smolinski

USS Camp (DE 251)


Flag Hoist / Radio Call Sign:
N - D - R - S
Tactical Voice Radio Call: "Rocky Mount"
Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons



Precedence of awards is from top to bottom, left to right
Top Row: Navy Expeditionary Medal - American Campaign Medal
Second Row: European-Africa-Middle East Campaign Medal - World War II Victory Medal - National Defense Service Medal
Third Row: Vietnam Service Medal w/ 7 stars - Republic of Vietnam Gallantry Cross Unit Citation w/ 4 stars - Republic of Vietnam Campaign Medal
Specifications:
Class: Edsall
Type: FMR (geared diesel, Fairbanks-Morse reverse gear drive, 3" guns)
Displacement: 1200 tons (light), 1590 tons (full)
Length: 300' (wl), 306' (oa)
Beam: 36' 10" (extreme)
Draft: 20' 6" (draft limit)
Propulsion: 4 Fairbanks-Morse Mod. 38d81/8 geared diesel engines, 4 diesel-generators, 6000 shp, 2 screws
Speed: 21 kts
Range: 9,100 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: 8 / 201
Camp (DE 251) Building and Operational Data:
  • 27 January 1943: Keel laid by the Brown Shipbuilding Co., Houston, Tex.
  • 16 April 1943: Launched and christened, sponsored by Mrs. O. H. Camp, mother of Ensign Camp
  • 16 September 1943: Commissioned, Lcdr P. B. Mavor, USCG, in command
  • 1 May 1946: Decommissioned
  • 21 October 1955: Reclassified DER 251
  • 31 July 1956: Recommissioned
  • 13 February 1971: Decommissioned, transferred to South Vietnam, renamed Tran Hung Dao (HQ-1), escaped with South Vietnamese forces to the Philippines in 1975.
  • 30 December 1975: Stricken from the NVR
  • 5 April 1976: To Philippines, renamed BRP Rajah Lakandula (PS-4), stricken 1988, still in use as stationary barracks ship in Subic Bay as of 1999
    Click On Image
    For Full Size Image    		 Size Image Description Contributed
    By And/Or Copyright
    Camp 109k 25 April 1945, off Boston Robert Hurst
    Camp 147k 31 July 1956, Recommissioning ceremony Gary Bee EN3
    Camp 85k As DER 251, undated
    Camp 145k
    Camp 103k floating dry-dock, undated
    Camp 197k July 1964: Boston Harbor (These five photos © Richard Leonhardt) Richard Leonhardt
    Camp 87k
    Camp 71k
    Camp 67k
    Camp 48k
    Camp 50k 28 July 1965: Pearl Harbor, Hawaii - USS Kretchmer (DER 329), Camp, and USS Hissem (DER 400) mooring at Pearl Harbor Naval Station. All three ships left Newport, R.I. on Wednesday 07 July 1965 headed for Operation Market Time in South Vietnam. (U.S. Navy Photo by Robert L. Ziesler PH3) Allan M. Wilson
    USS Kretchmer (DER329)
    1964 - 1968
    Camp 42k Off the coast of Oahu about 1970 Dennis Clark
    Camp 38k In the South Vietnamese Navy as Tran Hung Dao (HQ-1), undated William Toohey
    Camp 15k ex-USS Camp as HQVN Tran Hung Dao (HQ-1), undated Bang Le
    Camp 113k Republic of Vietnam Navy HQ-1 Tran Hung Dao, undated Thanh Duong
    Camp 15k In the Philippine Navy as the BRP Rajah Lakandula (PS-4), undated Joe Radigan
    Additional Memorabilia
    Ship's Reunion Patch


    Courtesy of John Gannon
    View the USS Camp (DE 251) DANFS history entry
    located on the Naval History and Heritage Command website.
    Crew Contact And Reunion Information
    Next Reunion: 9 - 13 September 2009 at Albany, N.Y.
    Contact Name: Rodney Hayes
    Address: 130 Brickhouse Road / Danielson CT 06239
    Phone: (860) 779-1266
    E-mail: Rodney Hayes
    or
    Contact Name: Larry Sweeden
    Address: 110 Mockingbird Lane / Oak Ridge TN 37830
    Phone: (865) 482-7981
    E-mail: Larry Sweeden
    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 Shipmate Registry - USS Camp
    The Destroyer History Foundation
    To The DE Photo Index Page Back To The Main Photo Index

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    This Page Is Created And Maintained by Mike Smolinski
    All Pages Copyright © 1996 - 2010 Paul R. Yarnall © 2010 Navsource Naval History. All Rights Reserved.
    Page Last Updated 25 May 2009