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Navsource Online: Destroyer Escort Photo Archive

USS Janssen (DE 396)


Flag Hoist / Radio Call Sign:
N - T - Y - B
Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons


Precedence of awards is from top to bottom, left to right
Top Row: Combat Action Ribbon (retroactive) - Presidential Unit Citation
Second Row: American 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
Janssen (DE 396) Building and Operational Data:
  • 04 August 1943: Keel laid by the Brown Shipbuilding Co., Houston, Tex.
  • 04 October 1943: Launched and christened, sponsored by Mrs. Alfred Janssen, stepmother of Lieutenant (j.g.) Janssen
  • 18 December 1943: Commissioned at the Tennessee Coal and Iron Dock in Houston by Captain DeWitt Redgrave Jr., Lcdr. H. E. Cross in command
  • 12 April 1946: Decommissioned at Green Cove Springs, Fla. after 2 years and 4 months of service
  • 01 July 1972: Struck from the NVR
  • 15 October 1973: Sold for scrapping



    Click On Image
    For Full Size Image
    Size Image Description Contributed
    By And/Or Copyright
    Janssen
    0639601
    9k Ralph Wille Janssen was born in Chicago Heights, Illinois, 28 January 1915, and enlisted in the Naval Reserve 12 October 1940. He was later appointed Midshipman, undergoing training on board Arkansas and at the Naval Reserve Midshipman's School 1940-41. Upon commissioning, Janssen reported to destroyer Porter 02 August 1941, and served on her during the critical first months of the Pacific war. Promoted to Lieutenant (j.g.) 15 June 1942, he was killed 26 October 1942 when Porter was torpedoed by an enemy submarine during the Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands.

    USS Janssen (DE 396) (1943-1946) was the first ship to be named in his honor.

    Photo Courtesy of the University of Illinois thanks to Nancy Chism
    Bill Gonyo
    Downey, Cal.

    Assoc. Researcher
    Navsource
    Janssen
    0639604
    469k 01 May 1944: Brooklyn, N.Y. - Janssen at anchor in Lower New York Bay. She departed the New York Navy Yard at 0700 after completing a ten day yard availability for repairs, alterations, fueling, reprovisioning and recreation & leave for the crew. After anchoring off Fort Lafayette to load ammunition from lighters, she got underway to "swing ship" in Lower New York Bay to calibrate HF/DF and magnetic compasses. Finishing at 1440 she departed New York in company with Willis (DE 395) for the Naval Base at Norfolk, Va. Tim Rizzuto
    Ship's Superintendent
    DE Historical Museum
    USS Slater at Albany, N.Y.
    Janssen
    063602
    80k October 1945, Charleston, S.C. Walt Peterson
    S1C
    Janssen
    0639605
    335k undated: Philadelphia. Pa. - Janssen at the Naval Inactive Ship Maintenance Facility of the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard.
    (A Ted Stone photo that he donated to the Destroyer Escort Historical Museum collection)
    Tim Rizzuto
    Ship's Superintendent
    DE Historical Museum
    USS Slater at Albany, N.Y.
    Janssen
    0639603
    362k Winter 1972 - Spring 1973: Philadelphia, Pa. - A view of the Ship Basin at the Naval Inactive Ship Maintenance Facility of the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard. Looking north from the Intrepid Ave. side, there are rows and rows of mothballed destroyers and destroyers escorts. One of the few identifiable ships is Janssen, decommissioned at Green Cove Springs, Fla. in 1946 and later transferred and towed to Philadelphia. Forward of her is the destroyer Sigourney (DD 643). Jim Cunliffe
    Frederica, Del.
    Janssen
    0639606
    379k October 1973: Philadelphia, Pa. - ex-USS Janssen (DE 396) in mothballs at the Inactive Ship Maintenance Facility, U.S. Naval Shipyard, Philadelphia. She is nested with ex-Hilbert (DE 742), ex-Osberg (DE 538), and ex-Stockdale (DE 399), all to starboard.

    (Heilenday photo #II 0204A from the Heilenday Collection)
    Mark Heilenday
    Virginia Beach, Va.

    Captain, USN (ret.)
    June 1974 - July 2004
    Parks
    0616503
    344k October 1973: Philadelphia, Pa. - The ex-USS Janssen (DE 396), on the center, nested in a group of mothballed destroyer escorts at the Inactive Ship Maintenance Facility, U.S. Naval Shipyard, Philadelphia Pa. On Janssen's port side are ex-USS Parks (DE 165) and on her starboard side is ex-USS Stockdale (DE 399).

    (Heilenday photo #III 0425A from the Heilenday Collection)

    Janssen History
    View the USS Janssen (DE 396) DANFS history entry located on the Naval History and Heritage Command web site.
    View the official War History of USS Janssen as submitted by the ship at war's end.

    Janssen's Commanding Officers
    Thanks to Wolfgang Hechler & Ron Reeves
    Dates of Command Commanding Officers
    1.) 18 Dec. 1943 – 25 Sep. 1944Lcdr. Harold E. Cross, USNR (Comm. CO) (New London, Conn.)
    2.) 25 Sep. 1944 - 28 Mar. 1945Lcdr. Rupert Dexter Hawley, USNR
    3.) 28 Mar. 1945 - 13 Jan. 1946Lcdr. Sydney G. Rubinow, USNR (Alameda, Cal.)
    4.) 13 Jan. 1946 - 12 Apr. 1946Lt. Thomas B. Morgan, Jr., USNR (Decomm. CO)

    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
    The Destroyer Escort Historical Museum
    The Destroyer History Foundation
    Tin Can Sailors Shipmate Registry - USS Janssen
    To The DE, FF, LCS Photo Index Page
    Back To The Main Photo Index

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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: 16 September 2024