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Navsource Online: Destroyer Escort Photo Archive

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USS Walton (DE 361)


Flag Hoist / Radio Call Sign:
N - T - O - U
Tactical Voice Radio Call: "Otis"
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 - World War II Victory Medal - National Defense Service Medal w/ 1 star
Third Row: - Korea Service Medal w/ 2 stars - Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal - Republic of Korea Presidential Unit Citation
Fourth Row: Philippine Liberation Medal - UN Korean Service Medal - Republic of Korea War Service Medal
Specifications:
Class: John C. Butler
Type: WGT (geared-turbine drive, 5" guns)
Displacement: 1350 tons (light), 1745 tons (full)
Length: 300' (wl), 306' (oa)
Beam: 36' 10" (extreme)
Draft: 11' 0" (draft limit)
Propulsion: 2 "D" Express boilers, 2 geared turbine engines, 12,000 shp, 2 screws
Speed: 24 kts
Range: 6,000 nm @ 12 knots
Armament: 2 - 5"/38 cal. DP guns (2x1), 4 - 40mm AA (2x2), 10 - 20mm AA, 3 - 21" TT, 1 Mk10 Hedgehog, 8 Mk6 Depth Charge Projectors, 2 Mk9 Depth Charge Stern Racks
Complement: 14 / 201
Walton (DE 361) Building and Operational Data:
  • 21 March 1944: Keel laid at the Consolidated Steel Corp., Orange, Tex.
  • 20 May 1944: Launched and christened, sponsored by Mrs. Clara Olson, the mother of the late Sergeant Walton
  • 4 September 1944: Commissioned, Lcdr Wilbur S. Wills, Jr., in command
  • 31 May 1946: Decommissioned at San Diego, Cal.
  • 26 January 1951: Recommissioned at San Diego, Cal., Lcdr John D. Brink in command
  • 4 November 1951: Homeport reassigned to Pearl Harbor as a unit of CortDiv 92 (with DE's 440, 699, and 700)
  • 20 July 1958: Assigned to NRT, 12th Naval District at San Francisco, Cal. as a unit of Reserve CortDiv 12
  • 1 October 1961: Activated for the Berlin Crisis, reassigned to Pearl Harbor
  • 1 August 1962: Returned to San Francisco, deactivated, returned to the NRT Program as a unit of ResDesRon 27
  • 20 September 1968: Decommissioned
  • 23 September 1968: Struck from the NVR
  • 7 August 1969: Sunk as target off California
    Click On Image
    For Full Size Image    		 Size Image Description Contributed
    By And/Or Copyright
    Walton 41k 20 May 1944: Orange, Tex. - Walton being side-launched. Nick Tiberio
    Walton 60k undated (1950's) -
    Walton 419k circa 1962: Pearl Harbor, Hi. - An official U.S. Navy photo of Walton passing Hospital Point at Pearl Harbor. Ken W. Sayers
    Lt., USNR
    Walton 471k circa 1962: off the coast of Pearl Harbor - An official U.S. Navy photo of Walton at sea. This photo and the one prior were probably taken during Walton's last deployment to the Pacific.
    Walton 202k 3 October 1965: Alameda, Cal. - Walton in drydock during an overhaul at Todd Shipyard.
    Walton 156k 1 February 1966: Treasure Island, Cal. - Walton moored at Treasure Island Naval Station, pier 14N.
    Walton 138k 28 August 1966: Treasure Island, Cal. - Walton returning to Pier 14N after Cruise 8E-RC to San Diego.
    Walton 172k
    Walton 198k December 1966: Treasure Island, Cal. - Walton breasting out from Pier 14N.
    Walton 162k 7 May 1967: San Francisco Bay - Walton serving as the flagship for San Francisco’s annual Blessing of the Fleet event in Racoon Strait. Note the Mk 32 torpedo tubes near the stack, which had been installed only a week earlier.
    Walton 306k
    Walton 305k 7 May 1967: San Francisco Bay - Pleasure boats inspecting Walton while she served as the flagship for the Blessing of the Fleet festival in Racoon Strait.
    Walton 224k
    View the USS Walton (DE 361) DANFS history entry
    located on the Naval History and Heritage Command web site.
    Crew Contact And Reunion Information
    Next Reunion:
    25 September 2013 at Portland, Ore.
    Contact: Jerry and Mary Hudson
    Address: 4750 Co Road 480 / Tebbetts MO 65080
    Phone: (573) 291-1922
    E-mail: marjer67 at ktis.net
    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
    Ed Whitehead's USS Walton Web Site
    Destroyer Escort Sailors Association
    Tin Can Sailors Shipmate Registry - USS Walton
    The Destroyer History Foundation
    To The DE Photo Index Page Back To The Main Photo Index

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    This Page Created And Maintained by Mike Smolinski
    All pages copyright NavSource Naval History
    by Paul R. Yarnall, All Rights Reserved.
    Page Last Updated 15 May 2013