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USS Schmitt (DE 676 / APD 76)


Flag Hoist / Radio Call Sign:
N - K - Y - R
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
Second Row: Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal w/ 1 star - European-Africa-Middle East Campaign Medal - World War II Victory Medal
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
Shmitt (DE 676) Building and Operational Data:
  • 22 February 1943: Keel laid by the Bethlehem Steel (Fore River Yard) Shipyard, Inc., Quincy, Mass.
  • 19 May 1943: Launched and christened, sponsored by Mrs. Elizabeth Buchheit
  • 24 July 1943: Commissioned, Lcdr T. D. Cunningham in command
  • 20 January 1945: Entered the U.S. Naval Frontier Base, Tompkinsville, Staten Island, N.Y. for conversion to APD
  • 24 January 1945: Redesignated APD 76
  • 03 April 1945: Conversion completed
  • 28 June 1949: Decommissioned at Charleston, S.C. after 5.9 years of service
  • 01 May 1967: Struck from the NVR
  • 18 February 1969: Transferred to Taiwan, renamed ROCS Lung Shan (PF-44) (stricken, scrapped, 1976)
    Click On Image
    For Full Size Image    		 Size Image Description Contributed
    By And/Or Copyright
    Schmitt 70k Aloysius H. Schmitt was born on 4 December 1909 in St. Lucas, Iowa. He was appointed Acting Chaplain with rank of Lieutenant (jg.) in the United States Navy on 28 June 1939. He was serving on board the battleship USS Oklahoma (BB 37) when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941. When his ship capsized, he became entrapped, along with other members of the crew, in a compartment where only a small porthole provided outlet for escape. He assisted a number of men through the porthole, and then gave up his own chance to escape so that more men might be rescued. He received the Navy and Marine Corps Medal posthumously for his courage and self-sacrifice.

    USS Schmitt (DE 676) (1943-1949) was the first ship named in his honor.

    (Photo from the book: "These Men Shall Never Die" by Lowell Thomas (Philadelphia: John C. Winston Co., 1943), p. 10.)    		 Bill Gonyo
    Schmitt 24k undated wartime image Jerry Church
    Schmitt 71k undated wartime images, from Peter's Father, Lt(jg) Joseph A. Fernandez, Jr. Peter Fernandez
    Schmitt 147k
    View the USS Schmitt (DE 676 / APD 76) DANFS history entry
    located on the Naval History and Heritage Command web site.
    Schmitt's Commanding Officers
    Thanks to Wolfgang Hechler & Ron Reeves
    Dates of Command Commanding Officers
    1.) 24 Jul. 1943 - 29 Nov. 1943Lcdr. Thomas Donald Cunningham (comm.)
    2.) 29 Nov. 1943 - 14 Dec. 1944Lt. Nicholas Biddle, USNR
    3.) 14 Dec. 1944 - 01 Feb. 1946Lcdr. Thomas Andrerw Melusky, USNR
    4.) 01 Feb. 1946 - .. .... 1947Lcdr. James Joseph Seelig, USNR
    5.) .. .... 1947 - 28 Jun. 1949Lt. Robert James Loomis (decomm.)
    Crew Contact And Reunion Information
    Contact Name: Alton R. Blanks
    Address: 6524 Merrill Road / Columbia SC 29209
    Phone: (803) 776-5148
    E-mail:Alton Blanks
    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
    Navsource APD Pages, USS Schmitt (APD 76)
    Destroyer Escort Sailors Association
    Tin Can Sailors
    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
    All pages copyright NavSource Naval History
    by Paul R. Yarnall, All Rights Reserved.
    Page Last Updated 26 October 2013