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Navsource Online: Destroyer Escort Photo Archive



Ship's Patches Courtesy of Mike Smolinski

USS Savage (DE 386)


N - T - X - P
Tactical Voice Radio Call: "Lake Charles"

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
Third Row: Navy Occupation Service Medal - National Defense Service Medal - Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal
Fourth Row: Vietnam Service Medal w/ 6 stars - Republic of Vietnam Gallantry Cross Unit Citation w/ 1 star - 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
Savage (DE 386) Building and Operational Data:
  • 30 April 1943: Keel laid by the Brown Shipbuilding Co., Houston, Tex.
  • 15 July 1943: Launched and christened, sponsored by Mrs. Walter S. Savage, Sr.
  • 29 October 1943: Commissioned, Lcdr. Oscar C. Rohnke, USCG, in command
  • 13 June 1946: Decommissioned at Green Cove Springs, Fla. after 2 years and 8 months of service
  • 03 September 1954: Redesignated DER 386
  • 28 October 1954: Commenced conversion to DER at The Boston Naval Shipyard
  • 18 February 1955: Recommissioned at Boston, Mass., Lcdr. Raymond E. Davis, USN, in command; assigned to Escort Squadron 5 at Seattle, Wash.
  • 04 August 1955: Arrived in her homeport serving as a barrier radar picket of the North American Continental Air Defense System
  • 29 December 1958: Departed Seattle, Homeport assignment changed to Pearl Harbor, Hi.
  • 17 October 1969: Decommissioned at San Francisco, Cal. after 14 years and 10 months of service
  • 01 June 1975: Struck from the NVR with a total of 17 years and 6 months of service
  • 25 October 1982: Sunk as target off California
    Click On Image
    For Full Size Image
    Size Image Description Contributed
    By And/Or Copyright
    Savage
    0638601
    61k Walter Samuel Savage, Jr., born in New Orleans, La., on 26 April 1919, was commissioned Ensign, USNR, on 10 June 1941. After instruction at the Navy Supply Corps School, Harvard University, Ensign Savage reported to USS Arizona (BB 39) for duty as Assistant Paymaster. Ensign Savage, with 46 other officers and 1,057 enlisted men, gave his life for his country on 07 December 1941 when Japanese forces attacked Pearl Harbor and sank Arizona.

    USS Savage (DE 386) (1943-1969) was the first ship to be named in his honor.

    (U.S. Navy photo #NH 92074 from the Naval History and Heritage Command)
    Bill Gonyo
    Downey, Cal.
    Savage
    0638602
    44k Undated Wartime Image Bob Hurst
    Worksop, Nottinghamshire,
    England, United Kingdom
    Savage
    0638611
    138k Two Undated Wartime Images Nick Tiberio
    Shelton, Conn.
    Savage
    0638612
    139k
    Savage 1.) 348k       Savage 2.) 393k       Savage 3.) 375k

    04 April 1945: off Brooklyn, N.Y. - A three view series of Savage photographed by aircraft from Naval Air Station, Floyd Bennett Field, New York. On this
    date Savage departed and returned to New York Navy Yard while conducting sea trials after a yard availability period to replace her number two main engine.
    (U.S. Navy Photos: 1.) #80-G-313295, 2.) #80-G-313297 3.) #80-G-313294 from the United States National Archives)
    David Wright
    Geneva, N.Y.

    Navsource DD
    Archive Manager
    Savage
    0638603
    62k Undated Postwar Image -
    Savage
    0638604
    26k Moored, Pier 91 Seattle, Wash., sometime between 1955 and 1957 Mel Kowal
    Lt. USNR (ret.)
    Savage
    0638605
    87k The Savage wardroom sometime in 1956
    Lcdr Ray Davis, CO; Lt. Thomas Fitzgerald, XO
    Savage
    0638613
    174k Savage ship portrait taken sometime between 1955 and 1959. Note her open gun mounts and AN/SPS-6C air search antenna. In 1959 her guns were enclosed and her air search radar upgraded to AN/SPS-29/37. Nick Tiberio
    Shelton, Conn.
    ***Carp / Savage***
    0833820a
    70k circa 1959: Pearl Harbor Naval Station - Bow on view of USS Carp (SS 338) passing USS O'Bannon (DD 450) in the foreground and Savage in the background. Ron Phillipi
    Savage
    0638606
    70k January 1969: Savage tied up to a mooring buoy at Hong Kong. She made a port visit to the Crown Colony from 01 to 13 January 1969. Bob Hurst
    Worksop, Nottinghamshire,
    England, United Kingdom
    Eichenberger
    0638605
    130k Sunday, 09 April 1972: Stockton, Cal, - USS Eichenberger (DE 202) laid up at the Stockton, California "Mothball Fleet". Nested with her are: USS Savage (DER 386) and USS Knudson (APD 101).

    (U.S. Naval Historical Center photo #NH 79828 courtesy of D. M. McPherson, 1974; from the Naval History and Heritage Command)
    Mike Smolinski
    Clifton, N.J.

    Navsource DE/FF/LCS
    Archive Manager
    Savage
    0638614
    165k 1981: the California Coast - The former U.S. Navy radar picket destroyer escort Savage (ex DER-386) with cameras and antennas positioned on its decks for use during the High Altitude Anti-Radiation Missile (HARM) project at the Pacific Missile Test Center off Point Mugu, California, in 1981. Savage was finally sunk on 25 October 1982.

    (U.S. Navy photo VIRIN #DN-SC-83-07728 by Lyle Humphrey from the Defense Visual Information Distribution Service)
    Bob Hurst
    Worksop, Nottinghamshire,
    England, United Kingdom
    Savage
    0638607
    71k 25 October 1982: Shown is the explosion of an AGM-88A Harm anti-radiation missile on the target ship USS Savage (ex-DER 386) in 1982. Her mast is visible on the left. Savage was finally sunk on 25 October 1982.

    (Photo from the U.S. Navy Naval Aviation News, May 1982 edition)

    Savage Memorabilia
    Ship's Plaque
    Savage
    Courtesy of
    Mike Smolinski
    CIC Patch
    Savage
    Courtesy of
    Mike Smolinski

    Savage History
    View the USS Savage (DE 386) DANFS history entry located on the Naval History and Heritage Command web site.
    View the official War History of USS Savage as submitted by the ship at war's end.

    Savage's Commanding Officers
    Thanks to Wolfgang Hechler & Ron Reeves
    Dates of Command Commanding Officers
    1.)  29 Oct. 1943 - 11 May 1944Lcdr. Oscar Carl (Gus) Rohnke, USCG (USCGA '32) (Jersey City, N.J.) (ret. as Radm.)
    2.)  11 May 1944 - 23 Dec. 1944Lcdr. Randolph Ridgely III (USCG)
    3.)  23 Dec. 1944 - 11 Sep. 1945Lcdr. James A. Norton (USCG)
    4.)  11 Sep. 1945 - 17 Sep. 1945Lcdr. Lewis W. Tibbits Jr. (USCG)
    5.)  17 Sep. 1945 - 13 Jun. 1946Lt. John M. Waters Jr. (USCG)
    6.)  18 Feb. 1955 - 23 Nov. 1956Lcdr. Raymond E. Davis
    7.)  23 Nov. 1956 - 04 Aug. 1958Lcdr. Bobby C. Brigotti
    8.)  04 Aug. 1958 - 10 Dec. 1959Lcdr. Floyd Dennis Richards
    9.)  10 Dec. 1959 - 17 Jun. 1961Lcdr. Robert Charles Peniston (USNA '47) (Wichita, Kan.)
    10.) 17 Jun. 1961 - 12 Jun. 1963Lcdr. John Donald Stensrud (McKanna, N.D.)
    11.) 12 Jun. 1963 - 01 Sep. 1965Lcdr. Gerald R. Bradford
    12.) 01 Sep. 1965 - 12 Jan. 1967Lcdr. John Emery Roe Jr.
    13.) 12 Jan. 1967 - 17 Sep. 1968Cdr. Daniel Theodore Holly Jr. (OCS '54) (Adrian, Ore.)
    14.) 17 Sep. 1968 - 17 Oct. 1969Cdr. Joseph Stanislaus Buggy Jr. (enl. '43 / OCS '56) (Philadelphia, Pa.)

    Crew Contact And Reunion Information

    Contact Name: Raymond C. Zachgo
    Address: 181 Denny Lane
    City/State: Winchester VA 22603
    Phone: (540) 662-6470
    E-mail: Raymond Zachgo
    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

    USS Savage Web Site
    Tin Can Sailors
    The U.S. Navy Memorial
    Destroyer Escort Sailors Association
    The Destroyer Escort Historical Museum
    The Destroyer History Foundation
    To The DE, FF, LCS Photo Index Page
    Back To The Main Photo Index

    Comments, Suggestions, E-mail: Webmaster.

    This Page Created And Maintained By Mike Smolinski
    All pages copyright Navsource Naval History
    by Paul R. Yarnall, All Rights Reserved.
    Page Last Updated: 02 October 2022