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Reginald Marbury Raymond was born in Sewanee, Tenn. on 20 May 1912. In 1924 his family moved to Shreveport, Louisiana, where in 1928 he graduated from Byrd High School. He
attended Centenary College before being appointed to the U.S. Naval Academy, from which he graduated and was commissioned as ensign on 01 June 1933. He reported to USS Chester
(CA 27) for duty. In June 1935 he was ordered to the Submarine School at New London, Connecticut. He rounded out his tour at submarine school by marrying Marjorie Woodcock, of New London, on
05 October 1935. His first tour in submarines began in February 1936 on board the USS Canopus (AS 9) with Submarine Squadron 5. He was soon detached and ordered to the
S-38 in March of the same year. He remained on board the S-38 until August 1938 when he was ordered to Groton, Connecticut for fitting out USS Saury
(SS 189) under construction by the Electric Boat Company. Saury went into commission early in 1939 and Raymond stayed with her until October 1941. He was then chosen to observe
the British prosecution of their submarine war in the Mediterranean and via a roundabout route he reported to Cairo, Egypt, as Naval Observer at the American Legation there. During this tour
in Egypt he worked with several British submarines and made several patrols on them in the Mediterranean.
In June 1942 he was ordered to the Navy Yard, Portsmouth, New Hampshire for duty in connection with the fitting-out of
USS Scorpion (SS 278). After commissioning on 01 October 1942
and his simultaneous promotion to lieutenant commander, Scorpion proceeded to the Pacific and her first war patrol. Departing Pearl Harbor on 05 April 1943, she was assigned the
mission of laying mines on the eastern side of Honshu. After laying her mines near Nakaminato and sinking 2 ships and 3 sampans, Scorpion received orders home on 28 April. Enroute.
on 29 April, she sighted and engaged a 100 ton patrol vessel, which she left burning to the waterline. On the morning of 30 April she stalked, fired on, and finally torpedoed and sank the 600
ton patrol ship Ebisu Maru No.5. Unfortunately, during the 105-minute fight, Scorpion received her first casualty. Lt. Cmdr. R. M. Raymond, executive officer and
prospective commanding officer, was hit and killed by gunfire during the 105-minute fight. As his body was being prepared for a burial at sea, Scorpion was attacked by an unseen
low-flying Japanese plane, and Lt. Cmdr. Raymond's body was lost from the gun platform in the crash-dive. For his participation and heroism in the gun battle he was awarded the Silver Star.
Lieutenant Commander Reginald M. Raymond is memorialized in Court One, Courts of the Missing, at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, in Hawaii.
USS Raymond (DE 341) (1944-1960) was the first ship to be named in his honor.
(Photo from the U.S. Naval Academy Yearbook; The Lucky Bag, Class of 1933.)
(U.S. Navy photo from the web site On Eternal Patrol) |
Bill Gonyo
Downey, Cal.
Assoc. Researcher
Navsource |
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08 January 1944: Orange, Tex. - The future USS Raymond (DE 341) leaves the building ways at the Consolidated Steel Corp. shipyard.
(U.S. Navy Photo Catalog No. 80-G-268315 from the United States National Archives) |
Mike Green
Port Angeles, Wash. |
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15 October 1944: USS Raymond (DE 341) approaching the USS Sangamon (CVE 26) to refuel. The rest of Carrier Division 22 is following astern.
(U.S. Navy Photo #80-G-295001 from the United States National Archives) |
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June 1950: San Diego, Cal. - A photo of the San Diego Mothball Fleet shows the USS Nicholas, (DDE 449),
USS O'Bannon (DDE 450), USS Walker (DDE 517) and
USS Sproston (DDE 577), returned to mothballs after being converted to the DDE ASW configuration. All four of these DDE's
were armed with of 2-5"/38cal, 5 Torpedo Tubes, Mk-15 ASW Projector, and provisions for 4x2-20mm guns. Also, seen is the USS
Killen (DD 593) and several DE's, including USS Raymond (DE 341), USS Dennis (DD 405), and
an APD.
(Cropped from USN Photo #80-G-428265 from the NARA photo files.) |
Rick E. Davis
Springfield, Oh. |
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Undated Postwar Image |
Nick Tiberio
Shelton, Conn. |
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Undated Postwar Image |
John Hummel |
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Undated Postwar Image
(original photo replaced by higher resolution copy) |
Robert Hurst /
David Buell |
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Summer 1953: Copenhagen, Denmark - Four destroyer escorts make a Scandinavian port visit during a North Atlantic Midshipman Cruise. From left to right: USS Raymond
(DE 341), USS Melvin R. Nawman (DE 416), and USS
Chester T. O'Brien (DE 421), with a fourth unidentified DE aft. This photo is part of the CT-DESA exhibit which is displayed at our CT-DESA chapter events.
(Photo from the Nick Palermo Collection) |
John N. Adriani, Sr.
Shelton, Conn. |
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circa 1956
(Official U.S. Navy Photo; From "Jane's Fighting Ships, 1958 - 59") |
Bob Hurst
Worksop, Nottinghamshire,
England, United Kingdom |
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1959: South Boston Naval Annex Raymond berthed at the Boston NSY.
(Photo © Richard Leonhardt) |
Richard Leonhardt
Bethlehem, Pa. |
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Winter 1972 - Spring 1973: Philadelphia, Pa. - A closer view of the Inactive Ship Basin taken from the corner of Intrepid Ave. and S. 16th St. Again we see
Oswald (DE 767), Melvin R. Nawman (DE 416),
Tabberer (DE 418), and Coffman. In this view we also see an unidentified decommissioned AGSS and
Raymond (DE 341). |
Jim Cunliffe
Frederica, Del. |
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Winter 1972 - Spring 1973: Philadelphia, Pa. - A closeup view of the starboard side of Raymond's bridge. |
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25 May 1973: Philadelphia, Pa. - A mothballed auxiliary submarine and destroyer escorts at the Inactive Ship Facility of the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard. From left to right;
Angler (IXSS 240), Raymond (DE 341), Oswald (DE 767), Melvin R. Nawman (DE 416), Tabberer (DE 418), and Coffman
(DE 191).
Note from Rick Davis: "Back in May 1973, Martin Holbrook (INRO Photo Collection), invited me for a tour of Philadelphia Naval Shipyard Mothball Fleet. Martin had been making trips to Philly
and other mothball sites for years and was one of the “old-timers” that had been taking photos of USN ships since before WWII in the New York City area. Anyway, when he picked me up in his
van, there were two other gents. One was Ted Stone (I thought the other one was Paul Silverstone, but when I had a chance to ask him a few years ago if it was, he said he didn’t recall a
photo trip to PhilNSY). Martin had enough “pull” that we were provided with an Admiral’s Gig! I had my brand-new Nikon F2 35-mm camera. Martin and Ted had larger format cameras. I felt
like a rank amateur and a kid in a candy store. I have seen some of the same photos of subjects that we all took photos from the same boat, show-up elsewhere. We were all excited that USS
Sigsbee (DD 502) was on the outside of a nest this trip. Martin had been trying to get good views of her for years. Ex-USS Gherardi (DD 637) ... built at PhilNY ...
was outside the reserve basin ready to be towed away for scrapping. We got photos of her as well". |
Rick E. Davis
Springfield, Oh. |
| Dates of Command | Commanding Officers |
| 1.) 15 Apr. 1944 – 27 Dec. 1944 | Lcdr. Aaron Frederick Beyer Jr., USNR (Comm. CO) (USNA ‘33) (Tyrone, Pa.) |
| 2.) 27 Dec. 1944 – 01 Dec. 1945 | Lcdr. John R. O’Meara, USNR (Wildwood, N.J.) |
| 3.) 01 Dec. 1945 – 27 May 1946 | Lt. George N. Epstein, USNR |
| 4.) 27 Apr. 1951 – 15 Feb. 1952 | Lcdr. Walter Frederick Toy, USN |
| 5.) 15 Feb. 1952 – 05 Jul. 1953 | Lcdr. Richard Norman Moss, USN |
| 6.) 05 July 1953 – 29 Jul. 1955 | Lcdr. Lawrence Davidson Caney, USN (USNA ‘43) (Gardiner, Me.) |
| 7.) 29 Jul. 1955 – 09 Mar. 1957 | Lcdr. Earl Joseph Alt, USN |
| 8.) 09 Mar. 1957 – 19 May 1958 | Lcdr. Raymond M. Chester, USN |
| 9.) 19 May 1958 – 22 Sep. 1958 | Lcdr. Ralph Leonard Volk Jr., USN (USNA ‘45) (Pittsfield, Mass.) |
| 10.) 22 Sep. 1958 – 18 Dec. 1959 | Lt. James Franklin Newman, USN (OinC) |
| 11.) 18 Dec. 1959 – 23 May 1960 | Lt. Douglas Warren Bel, USN (OinC) (Decomm. CO) (Springfield, Mo.) |
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