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Navsource Online: Destroyer Escort Photo Archive

USS La Prade (DE 409)


Flag Hoist / Radio Call Sign:
N - J - V - L
Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons


Precedence of awards is from top to bottom, left to right
Top Row: American Campaign Medal
Second Row: Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal w/ 1 star - World War II Victory Medal - Philippine Liberation 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
La Prade (DE 409) Building and Operational Data:
  • 18 November 1943: Keel laid by the Brown Shipbuilding Co., Houston, Tex.
  • 31 December 1943: Launched and christened, sponsored by Mrs. J. T. La Prade, mother of the late Lieutenant La Prade
  • 20 April 1944: Commissioned, Lcdr. C. M. Fellows in command
  • 11 May 1946: Decommissioned at San Diego, Cal. after 2 years and 1 month of service having steamed 110,403 miles
  • 19 July 1946: Inactivation completed at San Diego, Cal., assigned to Submarine Group Two, San Diego Group, Pacific Reserve Fleet
  • 15 January 1972: Struck from the NVR
  • 15 January 1973: Sold for scrapping
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    La Prade

    Hissem

    La Prade
    0640901
    114k


    233k
    Robert Maitland La Prade was born 04 August 1916 at Kennedy, Texas, the second son of James T. and Lillian (Newman) La Prade. He served for a short time in the Army prior to enlisting in the Marine Corps Reserve on 16 April 1940. A graduate of Rice University, he received his Bachelor of Arts degree on 01 June 1942. He was promoted to 1st lieutenant on 01 January 1943 while serving with L Company, 3rd Battalion, 6th Marines, 2nd Marine Division in the Solomon Islands Campaign. Wounded on a night patrol at Guadalcanal on 20 January 1943, he died of his wounds aboard USS Solace (AH 5) on 23 January.

    1st Lieutenant La Prade was awarded the Navy Cross..... "for extraordinary heroism and outstanding courage during action against enemy Japanese Forces at Guadalcanal 20 January 1943. Operating behind enemy lines, Lieutenant La Prade, was in command of a combat patrol which wiped out one enemy machinegun position and was critically wounded twice. Despite his insistence that they leave him behind, he was carried back to our lines where he, with unfaltering disregard for his own ebbing strength, continued to give directions and formation until he lost consciousness. His indomitable fighting spirit and inspiring devotion to the accomplishment of an important mission were in keeping with the highest traditions of the U.S. Naval Service."

    1st Lt. La Prade was buried near Auckland, New Zealand, but was returned to the United States after the war and laid to rest in the Kennedy Cemetery. His older brother, Lieutenant Colonel James L. La Prade, U.S. Army, a 1939 graduate of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, was killed in an artillery barrage at the Battle of the Bulge on 19 December 1944. He lies at rest in the West Point Cemetery. The La Prade family paid dearly for World War Two.

    USS La Prade (DE 409) (1944-1946) was the first ship to be named in his honor.

    (Photo from the Rice History Corner, Gleanings from the Rice University Archives)
    Mike Smolinski
    Clifton, N.J.

    Navsource DE/FF/LCS
    Archive Manager
    La Prade
    0640902
    56k undated, Ulithi Atoll Lewis Garnett

    La Prade History
    View the USS La Prade (DE 409) DANFS history entry located on the Naval History and Heritage Command web site.
    View the official War History of USS La Prade as submitted by the ship at war's end.

    La Prade's Commanding Officers
    Thanks to Wolfgang Hechler
    Dates of Command Commanding Officers
    1.) 20 Apr. 1944 – 14 Feb. 1945Lcdr. Carl Morton Fellows, USNR (Comm. CO) (USNA ‘36) (Fitchburg, Mass.)
    2.) 14 Feb. 1945 - .. Mar. 1946Lcdr. John Voorhees Cameron, USN (USNA ‘39) (Reno, Nev.)
    3.) .. Mar. 1946 – 11 May 1946Lt.(jg) Byron Carr King, 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
    Destroyer Escort Sailors Association
    The Destroyer Escort Historical Museum
    The Destroyer History Foundation
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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: 09 May 2020