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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) - 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


Class: Edsall      Type: FMR (geared diesel, Fairbanks-Morse reverse gear drive, 3" guns)
Displacement: 1,200 tons (std) 1,590 tons (full)   Dimensions: 306' (oa), 300' (wl) x 36' 10" x 12' 3" (max)
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
Machinery: 4 Fairbanks-Morse Mod. 38d81/8 geared diesel engines, 4 diesel-generators, 6000 shp, 2 screws
Speed: 21 knots   Range: 9,100 nm @ 12 knots   Crew: 8 / 201

Operational and Building Data
Laid down by Brown Shipbuilding, Houston TX on 30 April 1943, Launched 15 July 1943
Commissioned 29 October 1943, Decommissioned 13 June 1946
Reclassified and converted DER-386, 28 October 1954
Recommissioned 18 February 1955, Decommissioned 17 October 1969
Stricken 1 June 1975

Fate: sunk as target off California on 25 October 1982

Click On Image
For Full Size Image
Size Image Description Contributed
By And/Or Copyright
Savage 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 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 7 December 1941 when Japanese forces attacked Pearl Harbor and sank Arizona.

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

(US Navy photo #NH 92074 from the US Naval Historical Center)
Bill Gonyo
Savage 44k undated wartime image Robert Hurst
Savage 62k unknown -
Savage 26k Moored, Pier 91 Seattle WA, sometime between 1954 and 1957 Mel Kowal
Lt. USNR (ret.)
Savage 87k The Savage wardroom sometime in 1956
Lcdr Ray Davis, CO; Lt. Thomas Fitzgerald, XO
Savage 70k January 1969: Savage tied up to a mooring buoy. (Hong Kong??) Robert Hurst

View the USS Savage (DE-386), DANFS history entry
located on the US Naval Historical Center's web site.

Crew Contact And Reunion Information

Contact Name: Raymond C. Zachgo
Address: 181 Denny Lane / 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 or rosters available. Please see the Frequently Asked
Questions section on NavSource's Main Page for that information.


Additional Resources

DER Group on MSN
Destroyer Escort Sailors Association

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This Page Is Created And Maintained by Mike Smolinski
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Page Last Updated 17 October 2008