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Navsource Online: Destroyer Escort Photo Archive

USS Peiffer (DE 588)


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



Precedence of awards is from top to bottom, left to right:
Top Row Row: Combat Action Ribbon - China Service Medal - American Campaign Medal
Second Row: Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal w/ 1 star - World War II Victory Medal - Navy Occupation Service Medal w/Asia clasp
Third Row: Philippine Republic Presidential Unit Citation - Philippine Liberation Medal w/ 1 star - Philippine Independence Ribbon
Specifications:
Class: Rudderow
Type: TEV (turbo-electric drive, long hull, 5" guns)
Displacement: 1,450 tons (light), 1,810 tons (full)
Length: 300' (wl), 306' (oa)
Beam: 36' 9" (extreme)
Draft: 13' 9" (draft limit)
Propulsion: 2 CE boilers, G.E. turbines with electric drive, 12000 shp, 2 screws
Speed: 24 kts
Range: 5,050 nm @ 12 knots
Armament: 2 - 5"/38 Mk30, 4 - 40mm Mk1 AA (2x2), 10 x 20mm/70 Mk 4 AA, 3 x 21" Mk15 TT (3x1), 1 Hedgehog Projector Mk10 (230 rounds), 8 Mk6 depth charge projectors (40), 2 Mk9 depth charge tracks (60)
Complement: 12 / 192
Peiffer (DE 588) Building and Operational Data:
  • 21 December 1943: Keel laid by the Bethlehem-Hingham Shipyard, Inc., Hingham, Mass.
  • 26 January 1944: Launched and christened, sponsored by Mrs. Frank W. Peiffer, mother of Ens. Peiffer
  • 15 June 1944: Commissioned, Lcdr W. F. Jones in command
  • 1 June 1946: Decommissioned at San Diego, Cal.
  • 1 December 1966: Stricken from the NVR
  • 16 May 1967: Sunk as a target off California
    Click On Image
    For Full Size Image    		 Size Image Description Contributed
    By And/Or Copyright
    Peiffer 122k Artist's conception of Peiffer by the renowned graphic illustrator John Barrett, with the text written by naval author and historian Robert F. Sumrall. Their company, Navy Yard Associates, offers prints of most destroyers, submarines and aircraft carriers in various configurations during the ship's lifetime. ALL the destroyer escorts ARE available in their WWII configuration. The prints can be customized with ship's patches, your photograph, your bio, etc. When you purchase artwork from them, please indicate that you heard about their work from Navsource. Navy Yard Associates
    Peiffer 110k Carl David Peiffer was born 18 September 1915, in Wilmington NC, and enlisted in the U.S. Naval Reserve on 13 December 1940. Appointed as an Aviation Cadet 5 March 1941 he was commissioned Ensign on 25 September 1941. Following training at Norfolk, Va. he was assigned to duty with Scouting Squadron 6 aboard USS Enterprise (CV 6) on 11 March 1942. Killed in action during the Battle of Midway on 4 June 1942, he was posthumously awarded the Navy Cross (for extraordinary heroism and courageous devotion to duty..." as he "pressed home his attacks in the face of a formidable barrage of anti-aircraft fire and fierce fighter opposition."

    USS Peiffer (DE 588) (1944-1946) was the first ship named in his honor.    		 Warren G. Brehm
    USS Peiffer Historian
    Peiffer 161k January 1944: Hingham, Mass. - USS Peiffer (DE 588) and USS Tinsman (DE 589) on the building ways of Bethlehem Steel Shipyard
    Peiffer 120k 26 January 1944: Hingham, Mass. - Peiffer is christened and launched.
    Peiffer 47k undated wartime image
    Peiffer 111k date / location unknown - Peiffer in rough weather (believed to be taken during a typhoon)
    Peiffer 107k December 1945: Peiffer departs the Philippine Islands enroute for the United States
    Peiffer 130k undated: Peiffer is "Homeward Bound."
    Peiffer 101k date / location unknown: Peiffer is tied up alongside USS Robert F. Keller (DE 419).
    Peiffer 183k 1 June 1946: San Diego, Cal. - Peiffer's decommissioning crew photographed at the Naval Repair Base.
    Peiffer 34k Fireman 1st Class Roy Wilton of Brooklyn NY, Peiffer's only wartime casualty. Roy was lost at sea on 11 December 1945.
    Peiffer Memorabilia
    Pages from First Logbook
    Crew Listing
    Peiffer
    Courtesy of
    Warren Brehm    		 List of Ports
    Peiffer
    Courtesy of
    Warren Brehm    		 War Cruise Map
    Peiffer
    Courtesy of
    Warren Brehm    		 Peiffer's Final Resting Place
    Peiffer
    Courtesy of
    Warren Brehm
    View the USS Peiffer (DE 588) DANFS history entry
    located on the Naval History and Heritage Command web site.
    View a short article on the design and development of the Evarts Class DE submitted by Bob Sables.
    Crew Contact And Reunion Information
    50th Annual Reunion, 25 - 29 July 2007
    Hampton Inn at Florence SC (843) 629-9900
    Hosted by: George & Nancy Magera
    Address: 312 East Proctor Street / Mullins SC 29574
    Telephone: (843) 464-8858 (H) or (843) 433-0184 (C)
    Contact Name: Warren G. Brehm
    Address: 1536B Oldtown Manor Apartments / Cumberland MD 21502-4452
    E-mail: W. G. Brehm
    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 Peiffer
    The Destroyer History Foundation
    To The DE Photo Index Page Back To The Main Photo Index

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    This Page Is Created And Maintained by Mike Smolinski
    This Page Created And Maintained by Mike Smolinski
    All pages copyright NavSource Naval History
    by Paul R. Yarnall, All Rights Reserved.
    Page Last Updated 10 October 2009