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Navsource Online: Destroyer Escort Photo Archive

Ship's patch courtesy of Mike Smolinski

USS Chester T. O'Brien (DE 421)

Flag Hoist / Radio Call Sign:
N - H - W - G

Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons

Precedence of awards is from top to bottom, left to right
Top Row: American Campaign Medal - Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal
Second Row: Europe-Africa-Middle East Campaign Medal - WWII Victory Medal - National Defense 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

Chester T. O'Brien (DE 421) Building and Operational Data:

21 January 1944: Keel laid by the Brown Shipbuilding Co., Houston, Tex.

29 February 1944: Launched and christened, sponsored by Mrs. Jack Edington of Miami, Fla., sister of Platoon Sergeant Chester Thomas O'Brien

03 July 1944: Commissioned while moored to the Tennessee Coal and Iron Co. dock in the Houston River Ship Channel, Lcdr. R. D. White, USNR, in command

02 July 1946: Decommissioned at San Diego, Cal. after 2 years of service having steamed 79,747 miles

10 February 1947: Inactivation completed at San Diego, Cal., assigned to Submarine Group Two, San Diego Group, Pacific Reserve Fleet

28 March 1951: Recommissioned at San Diego, Cal.

22 June 1951: Homeport assignment changed to Newport, R.I. as a unit of Escort Squadron 12

05 March 1956: Homeport assignment changed to Key West, Fla. as a unit of Destroyer Division 601

25 April 1958: Unloaded ammunition at Naval Weapons Station, Earle N.J, prior to entering the New York Naval Shipyard the same day

29 April 1958: Shifted berths to the Bethlehem Steel Shipyard, 27th Street Yard, Brooklyn, N.Y. for a two month yard period

05 September 1958: Assigned to NRT, 3rd Naval District at New York City as a unit of Reserve Escort Squadron 2

21 February 1959: Decommissioned at the New York Navy Yard, status changed to "In Service", NRT assignment continued

25 May 1960: Placed "Out of Service, In Reserve" at the Naval Supply Center, Bayonne, N.J. after 9 years and 2 months of service

01 July 1972: Struck from the NVR with a total of 11 years and 2 months of service

04 April 1974: Sold for scrapping

Click On Image For Full Size Image	Size	Image Description	Contributed By And/Or Copyright
(0642103)	273k	undated wartime image	Nick Tiberio Shelton, Conn.
(0642104)	223k	early post-war image (note the 20mm AA guns just aft of the stack)	Nick Tiberio Shelton, Conn.
(0642102)	71k	late summer or early fall 1952, entering Havana, Cuba	Louis O. Schulte Lt.(jg, USN (ret.) July 1952 to January 1954. CIC Officer, then Chief Engineer
(0642106)	214k	Summer 1953: Copenhagen, Denmark - Four destroyer escorts make a Scandinavian port visit during a North Atlantic Midshipman Cruise. From left to right: USS *Raymond* (DE 341), USS *Melvin R. Nawman* (DE 416), and USS *Chester T. O'Brien* (DE 421), with a fourth unidentified DE aft. This photo is part of the CT-DESA exhibit which is displayed at our CT-DESA chapter events. (Photo from the Nick Palermo Collection)	John N. Adriani, Sr. Shelton, Conn.
(0642105)	549k	1959: Starboard broadside ship portrait of the destroyer escort USS *Chester T. O'Brien* (DE 421) underway, with sailors manning the rails. (U.S. Navy National Archives photo #USN 445115 from the Naval History and Heritage Command)	Mike Smolinski Clifton, N.J. Archive Manager DE / FF / LCS Archive Navsource

Chester T. O'Brien History
View the USS Chester T. O'Brien (DE 421) DANFS history entry located on the Naval History and Heritage Command web site.
View the official War History of USS Chester T. O'Brien as submitted by the ship at war's end.

Chester T. O'Brien's Commanding Officers
Thanks to Wolfgang Hechler

Dates of Command	Commanding Officers
1.) 03 Jul. 1944 – 27 Jul. 1945	Lcdr. Richard Daniel White, USNR (Comm. CO) (USNA '33) (Alexandria, Va.)
2.) 27 Jul. 1945 – 01 Mar. 1946	Lcdr. Robert Sherwood Tackaberry, USN (USNA ‘40) (Evanston, Ill.)
3.) 01 Mar. 1946 – 02 Jul. 1946	Lt.(jg) Richard Stuart Moore, USN (USNA '46) (San Bernardino, Cal.)
5.) ~1952	Lcdr. Ralph Frank Monger
6.) .. .... 1955 - 23 Jul. 1956	Lcdr. Elbert Medford Barton Jr. (Custer, Okla.)
7.) 23 Jul. 1956 - 23 Jul. 1958	Lcdr. Philip Harold Klepak (New York City, N.Y.)
8.) 23 Jul. 1958 - 21 Feb. 1959	Lcdr. William Fergus Feely (New York City, N. Y.)
9.) 21 Feb. 1959 – 07 Jan. 1960	Lt. Richard Lee Nichols (OinC) (Aurora, Mo.)
10.) 07 Jan. 1960 – 25 May 1960	Lt. Frederick Harold Elliott, USN (OinC)

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
Tin Can Sailors Shipmate Registry - USS Chester T. O'Brien

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