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NavSource Online: Mine Warfare Vessel Photo Archive

Rodman (DD 456)
ex-DMS-21



DMS-21 call sign:
Nan - Item - Zebra - Jig

ex-DD-456


Rodman served the Navies of the United States and the Republic of China.
Gleaves Class Destroyer/Ellyson Class Highspeed Minesweeper:

  • Laid down 16 December 1940 by the Federal Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Co., Kearny, NJ
  • Launched 26 September 1941
  • Commissioned USS Rodman (DD-456), 27 January 1942
  • Reclassified and converted to a Highspeed Minesweeper, DMS-21, 15 November 1944
  • Reclassified back to a Destroyer, DD-456, 15 January 1955
  • Decommissioned 28 July 1955, transferred to the Republic of China and renamed RCS Hsien Yang (DD-16)
  • Served until 1976 when the old destroyer was sunk for a motion picture.

    Specifications:

  • Displacement 1,630 t.(lt), 2,575 t.(fl)
  • Length 348' 3"
  • Beam 36' 1"
  • Draft 13' 9"
  • Speed 37.4 kts.
  • Complement 272
  • Armament: Three 5"/38 dual purpose gun mounts and two quad 40mm mounts
  • Propulsion: Four Babcock and Wilcox boilers, two 50,000shp General Electric turbines, De Laval double reduction gear, two shafts.
    Click on thumbnail
    for full size image    		 Size Image Description Source
    USS Rodman (DD 456)
    Rodman 114k Joseph Moore
    Rodman 461k Painted by Richard Van Zandt SM2/c, 1943/1946 .
    Rodman 69k 2 April 1943
    Off Boston, MA
    National Archives photo BS 42483 from the Bureau of Ships Collection    		 Joe Radigan
    USS Rodman (DMS 21)
    Rodman 78k
    Rodman 209k At Boston on 17 December 1944, wearing camouflage 32a/22D. The colors appear to be navy blue with either haze gray or light gray
    National Archives photos 19-LCM-DMS21-1 and 80-G-382794    		 Ships of the U.S. Navy in WWII “Dazzle” Camouflage
    Rodman 120k
    Rodman 123k
    Rodman 87k Photo from U.S. Naval Institute Photo Archives from Naval History Magazine Tommy Trampp
    Photo added 12 March 2020
    Rodman 213k c. April 1945
    Alongside repair craft after having had a hole blown through her forecastle
    National Archives photo from "Fire From The Sky" by Robert C. Stern    		 Robert Hurst
    Rodman 139k Photographed by Ted Stone while moored to a buoy, circa 1950
    Courtesy of the Mariners Museum, Newport News, Virginia. Ted Stone Collection
    Naval History and Heritage Command photo NH 66816
    Rodman 60k c. 1951
    Rodman 368k c. 1950s
    Genoa, Italy
    Photos by Augusto Nani    		 Giorgio Parodi
    Rodman 366k
    Rodman 282k
    Rodman 301k
    Rodman 384k 21 August 1954
    Genoa, Italy    		 Carlo Martinelli
    Commanding Officers
    01CDR William Giers Michelet, USN - USNA Class of 1924
    Retired as Captain    		27 January 1942 - 5 December 1942
    02CDR Joseph Ferrall Foley, USN - USNA Class of 1931
    Awarded the Silver Star (1944) and the Bronze Star with Combat V (1944) - Retired as Rear Admiral    		5 December 1942 - 14 October 1944
    03CDR William Henderson Kirvan, USN - USNA Class of 1930
    Awarded the Silver Star (1945) - Retired as Captain    		14 October 1944 - 3 July 1945
    03LCDR Donald M. Granstrom, USN - USNA Class of 1940
    Awarded the Legion of Merit with Combat V (1951)    		3 July 1945 - 8 October 1945
    03LCDR Robert Hastings White, USN8 October 1945 - 1 June 1947
    04LCDR Donald Alfred Dertien, USN1 June 1947 - July 1948
    05CDR James McCrorey, USNJuly 1948 - January 1950
    06CDR John Boone Schley, USNJanuary 1950 - March 1952
    07LCDR Chester Maurice Lee, USN - USNA Class of 1942May 1952 - October 1953
    08CDR William Morgan Montgomery, USN - USNA Class of 1942October 1953 - 28 July 1955
    Courtesy of Wolfgang Hechler, Ron Reeves and Joe Radigan
    View the Rodman (DMS-21)
    DANFS History entry located on the Haze Gray & Underway Website
    Additional Resources and Web Sites of Interest
    NavSource Destroyer Pages, USS Rodman (DD-456)
    Back to the Main Photo Index Back to the Mine Warfare Ship Photo Index Back to the Highspeed Minesweeper (DMS) Photo Index
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    This page was created by Gary P. Priolo & maintained by Joseph M. Radigan (of blessed memory) & Michael Mohl
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