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Navsource Online: Destroyer Escort Photo Archive

USS Spangler (DE 696)


Flag Hoist / Radio Call Sign:
N - K - Z - E
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 w/ 2 stars - WWII Victory Medal - National Defense Service 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
Spangler (DE 696) Building and Operational Data:
  • 28 April 1943: Keel laid by the Defoe Shipbuilding Co., Bay City, Mich.
  • 15 July 1943: Launched and christened, sponsored by Mrs. Myrtle Spangler, mother of Lt. Spangler
  • 31 October 1943: Commissioned, Lcdr W. A. Burgett in command
  • At war's end, Spangler was assigned to the Pacific Fleet Cruiser-Destroyer Force at San Diego, Cal.
  • 8 October 1958: Decommissioned at Astoria, Oreg., placed in the Columbia River Group of the Pacific Reserve Fleet
  • :1 March 1972 Stricken from the NVR
  • 20 November 1972: Sold for scrapping to the Zidell Explorations, Inc. of Portland, Ore.
    Click On Image
    For Full Size Image    		 Size Image Description Contributed
    By And/Or Copyright
    Spangler 6k Donald Hays Spangler was born in Albion, Ind., on 29 May 1918. He was appointed midshipman at the Naval Academy on 8 July 1938 and commissioned ensign on 19 December 1941. Ensign Spangler reported for duty in USS Atlanta (CL 51) at Boston, Mass., on 3 January 1942. He was promoted to the rank of lieutenant (junior grade) to date from 1 October 1942. Lt. (jg.) Spangler was killed in action when Atlanta was heavily damaged during the night action off Savo Island in the Solomons on 13 November 1942.

    USS Spangler (DE 696) (1943-1958) was the first ship to be named in his honor.

    (Photo Courtesy of the U.S. Naval Academy thanks to Nell Horn)    		 Bill Gonyo
    Spangler 167k An undated newspaper clipping with a photo of Mrs. Myrtle E. Spangler and Capt. C.D. Swain, Supervisor of Shipbuilding at DeFoe Shipbuilding, just prior to Spangler's launching.
    Spangler 65k 23 August 1947: San Francisco, Cal. - Stern view of USS Spangler (DE 696) at the South end of Mare Island. (U.S. Navy photo #DE-696-1572-47) Darryl Baker
    Spangler 97k 23 August 1947: San Francisco, Cal. - Stern view of Spangler at the South end of Mare Island. (U.S. Navy photo #DE-696-1573-47)
    Spangler 440k 20 September 1951: Vallejo, Cal. - Stern view of Spangler tied up at Mare Island. Three unidentified Jeep carriers are moored ahead of her.
    Spangler 57k circa 1951: San Francisco, Cal. - steaming under the Golden Gate Bridge, (Photo © Allied Photographers, San Francisco, Cal.) Robert Ellis SO2
    Spangler 107k circa 1951: Ship's Portrait Bill Hager
    1950 - 1953
    Spangler 84k 1952: M Division portrait
    Spangler 119k 1953: M Division portrait
    Spangler 82k undated, mainmast indicates later date than previous ship's portrait
    View the USS Spangler (DE 696) DANFS history entry
    located at the Naval History and Heritage Command web site.
    Crew Contact And Reunion Information
    Contact Name: David D. Norris
    E-mail: David Norris
    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
    Wayne Dorough's USS Spangler Website
    Destroyer Escort Sailors Association
    Tin Can Sailors
    The Destroyer History Foundation
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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 26 December 2011