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Navsource Online: Destroyer Escort Photo Archive

USS Bivin (DE 536)


Flag Hoist / Radio Call Sign:
N - T - F - R
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 - World War II Victory Medal - Philippine Liberation Ribbon
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
Biven (DE 536) Building and Operational Data:
  • 3 November 1943: Keel laid by the Boston Navy Yard, Charlestown, Mass.
  • 7 December 1943: Launched and christened, sponsored by Mrs. Ella Florence Bivin, the mother of Seaman 1st Class Bivin
  • 31 October 1944: Commissioned, Lcdr Monroe Kelly, Jr., in command
  • 15 January 1947: Decommissioned at San Diego, Cal.
  • 30 June 1968: Stricken from the NVR
  • 17 July 1969: Sunk as target off California
    Click On Image
    For Full Size Image    		 Size Image Description Contributed
    By And/Or Copyright
    Bivin 9k Vernard Eugene Bivin was born in Greenville, Kentucky, on 23 November 1921. He enlisted in the Navy at Louisville, Kentucky, on 26 March 1940. Seaman 1st Class Bivin served as trainer on one of the heavy cruiser Salt Lake City's (CA 25) 5"/25 guns during the Battle of Cape Esperance on the night of 11-12 October 1942, when Task Group 62.4, under Rear Admiral Norman Scott, engaged a Japanese force of three heavy cruisers and two destroyers bent on shelling Henderson Field. Although Salt Lake City and light cruiser Boise (CL 47) crippled Japanese heavy cruiser Furutaka during that fierce night engagement; both cruisers suffered damage in the fierce night action. S1c Bivin remained at his battle station, executing his duties so well that none of the other members of the gun’s crew knew he had been mortally wounded. Only when he collapsed during a lull in the battle, still trying to keep his pointers matched and the gun firing without cessation, did they learn of the extent of the young Kentuckian’s injuries that ultimately claimed his life. His courageous devotion to duty resulted in his being awarded, posthumously, the Navy Cross.

    USS Bivin (DE 536) (1944-1947) was the first ship to be named in his honor.

    (Photo © USS Salt Lake City Association courtesy of Sandy Eskew)    		 Bill Gonyo
    Bivin 92k undated wartime image John Klar
    View the USS Bivin (DE 536) DANFS history entry
    located on the Naval History and Heritage Command web site.
    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 or rosters available. Please see the Frequently Asked
    Questions section on NavSource's Main Page for that information.

    Additional Resources
    Destroyer Escort Sailors Association
    Tin Can Sailors Shipmate Registry - USS Biven
    The Destroyer History Foundation
    To The DE 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 12 April 2008