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Navsource Online: Destroyer Escort Photo Archive

Ship's patches courtesy of Mike Smolinski

USS Vammen (DE 644)


Flag Hoist / Radio Call Sign:
N - T - A - C
Tactical Voice Radio Call: "Brentwood"
Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons



Precedence of awards is from top to bottom, left to right
Top Row: Combat Action Ribbon (retroactive) - American Campaign Medal - Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal w/ 1 star
Second Row: World War II Victory Medal - National Defense Service Medal w/ 1 star - Korean Service Medal w/ 1 star
Third Row: Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal - United Nations Korean Service Medal - Republic of Korea War Service Medal
"Paratus, Destruere, Protecere"
(Ready, To Destroy, To Protect)
Specifications:
Class: Buckley
Type: TE (turbine-electric drive, 3" guns)
Displacement: 1400 tons (light), 1740 tons (full)
Length: 300' (wl), 306' (oa)
Beam: 36' 9" (extreme)
Draft: 10' 6" (draft limit)
Propulsion: 2 "D" Express boilers, G.E. turbines with electric drive, 12000 shp, 2 screws
Speed: 24 kts
Range: 6,000 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: 15 / 198
Vammen (DE 644) Building and Operational Data:
  • 1 August 1943: Keel laid at the Bethlehem Steel Shipyard Corp., San Francisco, Cal.
  • 21 May 1944: Launched and christened, sponsored by Mrs. Earle Morgan, aunt of the late Ens. Vammen
  • 27 July 1944: Commissioned, Lcdr Lyman M. King, Jr., USNR, in command
  • 3 February 1947: Decommissioned at San Diego, Cal.
  • 1951: Underwent SCB-63A, ASW Upgrade
  • 12 February 1952: Recommissioned at the Mare Island Naval Shipyard, Vallejo, Cal., assigned to Pacific Destroyer Force at San Diego,Cal.
  • Oct. 1958 - Jan. 1959: Vammen and crew were used in filming the Jerry Lewis comedy Don't Give Up the Ship
  • 21 May 1960: Assigned to NRT, 11th Naval District at Long Beach, Cal.
  • 18 June 1960: Decommissioned, placed "in service" as a unit of the Select Reserve ASW Force
  • 2 October 1961: Recommissioned for the Berlin Crisis
  • 1 August 1962: Decommissioned and placed "in service"
  • 12 July 1969: Relieved as NRT ship by USS Maddox (DD 731), placed "out of service", struck from the NVR
  • 18 February 1971: Sunk as target during testing of the Condor missile
    Click On Image
    For Full Size Image    		 Size Image Description Contributed
    By And/Or Copyright
    Vammen 82k 21 May 1944: San Francisco, Cal. - USS Vammen (DE 644) is launched at the Bethlehem Steel Co. shipyard. Paul Rebold
    Vammen 294k 7 August 1944: Builder's photo taken by the Bethlehem Steel Co., San Francisco Yard George Wilson
    USS Vammen
    B Div., 1961-1963
    Vammen 251k undated wartime image
    Vammen 169k October 1944 (from the National Archives Collection) Dwayne Day
    Vammen 76k 15 February 1952: Mare Island Naval Shipyard - Photo of the re-commissioning ceremony aboard USS Vammen (DE 644) at Mare Island. (U.S. Navy photo #DE-644-12011-2-52) Darryl Baker
    Vammen 76k 1 March 1952: Mare Island NSY - Forward plan view of Vammen at Mare Island. (U.S. Navy photo #DE-644-12158-2-52)
    Vammen 76k 1 March 1952: Mare Island NSY - Aft plan view of Vammen at Mare Island. She was under conversion at the yard from 31 May 1951 to 15 March 1952. (U.S. Navy photo #DE-644-12156-2-52)
    Vammen 76k 3 December 1957: off San Francisco -
    Vammen 43k undated postwar image J. Stacy
    Vammen 135k 1957: San Francisco Bay (© Allied Photographers, San Francisco, Cal.) Robert M. Cieri
    Vammen 147k September 1957: San Francisco Bay (© Allied Photographers, San Francisco, Cal.)
    Vammen 88k undated, looking aft on Vammen (caption on back of photo reads "Looking for the torpedo") J. Stacy
    Vammen 76k circa 1957 (Ted Stone Photo; from "Jane's Fighting Ships, 1958 - 59") Robert Hurst
    Vammen 95k date / location unknown
    Vammen 122k circa 1959: USS Vammen (DE644) underway. (U.S. Navy Photo, from "Jane's Fighting Ships" 1960-61)
    Vammen 88k 1958 - 1959: Vammen was the ship used for the filming of "Don't Give Up the Ship", a comedy directed by Norman Taurog and starring Jerry Lewis. It was filmed from 21 October 1958 to 30 January 1959, and released on 3 July 1959 by Paramount Pictures. Click on the thumbnail to see a series of movie photos. Tommy Trampp
    Vammen 133k 1962: Pearl Harbor, Hi. - Ship's portrait of Vammen, with her crew at quarters for entering port, shot from Hospital Point at the Pearl Harbor Naval Station. George Wilson
    Vammen 41k 1962: Pearl Harbor, Hi. - Another portrait of Vammen with her crew at quarters for entering port.
    Vammen 37k August 1963: A photo of Vammen's bow following the "fender bender" with USS Tingey (DD 539) that cut short the August 1963 SelRes cruise to Hawaii. She's tied up inboard of USS Diachenko (APD 123).
    Vammen Memorabilia
    Recommissioning
    Program
    Vammen
    Courtesy of
    George Wilson    		 CortDiv 72
    Cruise Patch
    Vammen
    Courtesy of
    George Wilson    		 Page from Sep. 1962
    All Hands Magazine
    Vammen
    Courtesy of
    George Wilson    		 Ship's Plaque at the Nat'l
    Museum of the Pacific
    Vammen
    Courtesy of
    George Wilson
    View the USS Vammen (DE 644) DANFS history entry
    located on the Naval History and Heritage Command website.
    Crew Contact And Reunion Information
    Vammen's Most Recent Reunion
    October 2008 at Branson MO
    USS Vammen Association
    Contact: Kenneth Bazar, President
    Address: 933 Pigeon Forge Ave. / Henderson NV 89015
    Phone: (702) 558-5033 Cell: (702) 526-1006
    E-mail: kbazar@cox.net
    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
    USS Vammen Web Site
    Destroyer Escort Sailors Association
    Tin Can Sailors Shipmate Registry - USS Vammen
    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 13 February 2012