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Navsource Online: Destroyer Escort Photo Archive

USS Gunason (DE 795)


Flag Hoist / Radio Call Sign:
N - Z - C - C
Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons


Precedence of awards is from top to bottom, left to right
Top Row: American Campaign Medal - Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal
Second Row: European-Africa-Middle East Campaign Medal - World War II Victory Medal - Philippine Liberation Ribbon
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
Gunason (DE 795) Building and Operational Data:
  • 09 August 1943: Keel laid by the Consolidated Steel Corp., Ltd., Orange, Tex.
  • 16 October 1943: Launched and christened, sponsored by Mrs. Mabel Meneley, mother of Lt.(jg) Robert W. Gunason
  • 01 February 1944: Commissioned at the City Dock in Orange, Tex., Cmdr. H. G. White, USNR, commanding
  • 13 March 1948: Decommissioned at the Mare Island Naval Shipyard, Vallejo, Cal. after 4 years and 1⅓ months of service
  • .. March 1948: towed from Mare Island, placed in the Stockton Group of the Naval Inactive Ship Facility
  • 01 September 1972: Struck from the NVR
  • .. November 1974: towed to Port Hueneme, Cal. for prepping as an ordnance test target
  • 15 December 1974: sunk as a target off San Clemente Island during Harpoon missile testing
    Click On Image
    For Full Size Image    		 Size Image Description Contributed
    By And/Or Copyright
    Gunason
    0679503    		 48k Port side view of USS Gunason (DE-795), as commissioned, wearing Measure 31/11D camouflage scheme. Note the lower contrast between the medium color, ocean gray and the light color, haze gray. This photo had a note that read, “DE-795 being repainted in Measure 22, assigned to the Atlantic 4/3/44”. The ship did operate with the Atlantic Fleet from April, 1944 through January, 1945 and left Boston for the Pacific on 27 January 1945. Note the HF/DF antenna at the masthead in place of the normal Air Search antenna.

    (U.S. Navy photo #19-LCM-DE795-1 from the National Archives and Records Administration, College Park, Md., courtesy of C. Lee Johnson, Ships of the U.S. Navy in WWII “Dazzle” Camouflage)    		 Mike Green
    Port Angeles, Wash.
    Gunason
    0679504    		 311k Undated photo of the USS Gunason (DE 795) underway in rough seas. The ship is equipped with a radio detection finder (RDF) main mast.

    (U.S. Navy photo from the Naval History and Heritage Command)
    Gunason
    0679502    		 136k 15 December 1974: The Pacific Ocean off San Clemente Island, Cal. - Two views of ex-USS Gunason (DE 795) taken after she was hit by a Harpoon missile. Shortly after the photos were taken and the damage assessment completed, she was scuttled by an EOD Crew from Pt. Mugu Naval Air Station. This facility was the site where most of the Navy's missiles were developed and tested during the 1950/1960 era, including the AIM-7 Sparrow family and the AIM-54 Phoenix air-to-air, Bullpup air-to-surface, and Regulus surface-to-surface missiles. Walter M. Hall
    /
    Ron Reeves
    Gunason
    0679505    		 128k
    Gunason History
    View the USS Gunason (DE 795) DANFS history entry located on the Naval History and Heritage Command web site.
    View the official War History of USS Gunason as submitted by the ship at war's end.
    Gunason's Commanding Officers
    Thanks to Wolfgang Hechler & Ron Reeves
    Dates of Command Commanding Officers
    1.) 01 Feb. 1944 – 30 Aug. 1944Cmdr. Harrison G. White, USNR (Comm. CO) (Springfield, Mass.)
    2.) 30 Aug. 1944 - .. Dec. 1945Lcdr. Malcolm B. Stone Jr., USNR (Milton, Mass.)
    3.) .. Dec. 1945 - .. Dec. 1946Lcdr. Robert Ross Carter, USN
    4.) .. Dec. 1946 - .. Jan. 1948Lcdr. Arden Eugene Baughman, USN (Wyandot County, Oh.)
    5.) .. Jan. 1948 – 13 Mar. 1948Lt. David Harrington Bagley (Decomm. CO) (USNA '44) (Raleigh, N.C.) (ret. as Adm.)
    Crew Contact And Reunion Information
    Contact Name: Walter M. Hall
    Address: 363 Harris Lane
    City/State: Freeman VA 23856-2611
    Phone: (434) 848-4221
    E-mail: Walter Hall
    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, rosters, or deck logs available. Please see the
    Frequently Asked Questions section on NavSource's Main Page for that information.

    Additional Resources
    USS Gunason Web Site
    Tin Can Sailors
    The U.S. Navy Memorial
    Destroyer Escort Sailors Association
    The Destroyer Escort Historical Museum
    The Destroyer History Foundation
    To The DE, FF, LCS 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: 09 October 2019