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Navsource Online: Destroyer Escort Photo Archive

USS Sellstrom (DE 255)


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


Precedence of awards is from top to bottom, left to right
Top Row: Combat Action Ribbon (retroactive) - China Service Medal - American Campaign Medal
Second Row: Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal - European-Africa-Middle East Campaign Medal w/ 1 star - World War II Victory 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
Sellstrom (DE 255) Building and Operational Data:
  • 16 March 1943: Keel laid by the Brown Shipbuilding Co., Houston, Tex.
  • 12 May 1943: Launched and christened, sponsored by Miss Geneyieve Dahl, fiancé of Ensign Sellstrom
  • 12 October 1943: Commissioned, Lcdr William L. Maloney, USCG, in command
  • :13 June 1946 Decommissioned at Green Cove Springs, Fla.
  • 21 October 1955: Reclassified DER 255,
  • 1 November 1955: Moved to the Brooklyn NSY for conversion
  • 1 October 1956: Recommissioned
  • June 1960: Decommissioned at the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard
  • 1 November 1965: Stricken from the NVR
  • April 1967: Sold for scrapping to the Peck Iron & Metalworks, Portsmouth, Va.
    Click On Image
    For Full Size Image    		 Size Image Description Contributed
    By And/Or Copyright
    Sellstrom 8k Edward Robert Sellstrom was born in Gowrie, Iowa on 19 July 1916, and graduated from Gustavus Adolphus College, St. Peter, Minnesota in 1939. He enlisted in the Naval Reserve as Seaman second class at Minneapolis on 14 January 1941 and was appointed Aviation Cadet at Pensacola, Fla., on 20 March 1941. On 15 September 1941, he was commissioned Ensign, USNR. After duty in the Advanced Carrier Training Group, Pacific Fleet, he was assigned to Fighter Squadron 3, on board carrier Lexington. On 20 February 1942, Ensign Sellstrom intercepted an enemy four-engined bomber, determinedly pursued it through clouds and rain, and assisted in shooting it down despite heavy machine gun and cannon fire. Later that day, he intercepted and shot down another aircraft during an attack directed at his carrier by nine enemy bombers. As a result of his "skillful marksmanship and courage," he was awarded the Navy Cross. Ensign Sellstrom was killed in an airplane crash on 21 June 1942.

    USS Sellstrom (DE 255) (1943-1960) was the first ship to be named in his honor.

    (Photo Courtesy of the Gustavus Adolphus College Alumni Association thanks to Philly Kauffmann)    		 Bill Gonyo
    Sellstrom 77k Rec'd 16 Sept. 1944 (Official USN photo #USN-177791 from the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter List Mike Green
    Sellstrom 162k undated: as DER-255 Dean J. Frazer
    View the USS Sellstrom (DE 255) 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
    US Coast Guard Cutter List - USS Sellstrom
    Destroyer Escort Sailors Association
    Tin Can Sailors Shipmate Registry - USS Sellstrom
    The Destroyer History Foundation
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    Page Last Updated 21 December 2009