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Navsource Online: Destroyer Escort Photo Archive

Ship's Name Tab Courtesy of Al Grazevich, Ship's Patch courtesy of Mike Smolinski

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 Genevieve 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. after 2 years and 8 months of service
  • 21 October 1955: Reclassified DER 255
  • 01 November 1955: Moved to the New York Naval Shipyard, Brooklyn, N. Y. for conversion to DER
  • 01 October 1956: Recommissioned at the New York Naval Shipyard, Brooklyn, N. Y., Lcdr. W. H. Shaw, USN, in command, assigned to Newport, R. I. as a unit of Escort Squadron 18
  • 24 June 1960: Decommissioned at the U. S. Naval Station, Orange, Tex. after 3 years and 8 months of service; custody to CO, Texas Group, U. S. Atlantic Reserve Fleet
  • 01 November 1965: Struck from the NVR with a total of 6 years and 4 months of service
  • 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
    0625501

    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
    Downey, Cal.

    Assoc. Researcher
    Navsource
    Sellstrom
    0625502    		 318k 24 July 1944: off Boston, Mass. - A starboard beam view of Sellstrom taken near the Boston Navy Yard.

    (U.S. Navy photo #CP-DE-255 19-N-68621 from the National Archives and Records Administration, College Park, Md.; courtesy of  Chris Wright)    		 Ed Zajkowski
    Narvon, Pa.
    Sellstrom
    0625503    		 77k Rec'd 16 Sept. 1944 (Official USN photo #USN-177791 from the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter List Mike Green
    Port Angeles, Wash.
    Sellstrom
    0625504    		 281k undated: A photo of the radar picket escort ship USS Sellstrom (DER 255) underway, location unknown. Note the full-width amidships deckhouse and modified bridge. She has a unshielded twin 3"/50 mount forward, and her hedgehog is uncovered.

    (U.S. Navy Photo; from "The World Encyclopedia of Destroyers and Frigates" by Bernard Ireland)    		 Bob Hurst
    Worksop, Nottinghamshire,
    England, United Kingdom
    Sellstrom
    0625505    		 99k A Lockheed WV-2 Warning Star (BuNo 141310) of early warning squadron VW-15 flies over the radar picket destroyer escort USS Sellstrom (DER 255) off the coast of Newfoundland, Canada, in March 1957. The WV-2 141310 disappeared on 20 February 1958 300 km north of the Azores in the Atlantic Ocean. No trace of the aircraft or the crew of 22 was ever found.

    (U.S. Navy photo taken by Mahlon K. Miller. U.S. Navy photograph on VP Navy.
    Sellstrom
    0625506    		 245k late 1950's: Brooklyn, N.Y. - USS Sellstrom (DER 255) at the New York Naval Shipyard, with floating workshop YR-64 moored behind her. The Williamsburg Bridge is seen in the distance. Loren Finnerty
    Sellstrom History
    View the USS Sellstrom (DE 255) DANFS history entry located on the Naval History and Heritage Command web site.
    Sellstrom's Commanding Officers
    Thanks to Wolfgang Hechler
    Dates of Command Commanding Officers
    1.) 10 Dec. 1943 - no date 1944Lcdr. William Louis Maloney, USCG (Comm. CO) (USCGA '30)
    2.) no date 1944 - Aug. 1945Lcdr. William Llewelyn Morrison, USCG (USCGA '39) (Smithfield, R. I.)
    3.) Aug. 1945 - 19 Jan. 1946Lcdr. Carlton J. Schmidt, USCG
    4.) 19 Jan. 1946 - 12 Jun. 1946Lt. Marcus Harper McGarity, USCG (Decomm. CO)
    5.) 01 Oct. 1956 - no dateLcdr. W. H. Shaw, USN (Recomm. CO)
    6.) no date - 01 Sep. 1958Lcdr. Robert Stiles Shaw, USN (New York City, N. Y.)
    7.) 01 Sep. 11958 - 01 Feb. 1960Lcdr. Everett Austin Parke, USN (USNA ‘45) (Grand Junction, Colo.)
    8.) 01 Feb. 1960 - 24 Jun. 1960Lcdr. James Whitney Martin, USN (Decomm. CO) (Lowell, Mass.)
    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, rosters, or deck logs available. Please see the
    Frequently Asked Questions section on NavSource's Main Page for that information.

    Additional Resources
    Tin Can Sailors
    The U.S. Navy Memorial
    Destroyer Escort Sailors Association
    The Destroyer Escort Historical Museum
    The Destroyer History Foundation
    Tin Can Sailors Shipmate Registry - USS Sellstrom
    To The DE, FF, LCS Photo Index Page
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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: 27 January 2023