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NavSource Online: Mine Warfare Vessel Photo Archive
Courtesy of STG2 Richard L. Herr, USN, Ret.

Gherardi (DD 637)
ex-DMS-30
ex-DD-637



Call sign:
November - Uniform - Mike - Xray
Gleaves Class Destroyer/Ellyson Class Highspeed Minesweeper:

  • Laid down 16 September 1941 by the Philadelphia Navy Yard, Philadelphia, PA
  • Launched 12 February 1942
  • Commissioned USS Gherardi (DD-637), 15 September 1942
  • Reclassified and converted to a Highspeed Minesweeper, DMS-30, 15 November 1944
  • Reclassified back to a Destroyer, DD-637, 15 July 1955
  • Decommissioned 17 December 1955 at Charleston, SC
  • Laid up in the Atlantic Reserve Fleet, Philadelphia Group
  • Struck from the Navy Register 1 June 1971
  • Disposed of as a target 1 June 1973.

    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, two quad 40mm mounts, five 20mm mounts, six depth charge projectors, two depth charge tracks
  • Propulsion: Four Babcock and Wilcox boilers, two 50,000shp General Electric geared turbines, De Laval double reduction gears, two shafts.
    Click on thumbnail
    for full size image    		 Size Image Description Source
    USS Gherardi (DD 637)
    Butler 131 Murphy (DD 603), Gherardi, Butler (DD 636), Herndon (DD 638) and Earle (DD 635)
    From the collection of Clifton Leon Prewitt, Fire Controlman Third Class    		 Bobby Kleinaman
    (C. L. Prewitt's grandson)
    Gherardi 92k 29 October 1942
    Off Philadelphia Navy Yard
    National Archives photo 19-N-40021    		 Joe Radigan
    Gherardi 83k New York Navy Yard, Brooklyn, New York. Dusk falls over the Navy Yard docks, circa June-September 1943. The ship in the center, just beyond the crane, is Gherardi. USS Luce (DD-522) is at left, with only her bow visible. USS Butler (DD-636) is at right, with only her stern visible. USS Doyle (DD-494) is in the right background. A British light cruiser, painted in yellow primer, is in the left background
    National Archives photo 80-G-K-3859    		 Naval Historical Center
    Gherardi 86k New York Navy Yard, Brooklyn, New York. Lights are turned on as night falls over the Navy Yard docks, circa June-September 1943. Gherardi is in the center, by the crane. USS Luce (DD-522) is at left
    National Archives photo 80-G-K-3860
    USS Gherardi (DMS 30)
    Gherardi 27k Don Strout, SO3, during Korean War
    Gherardi 148k ©John Robert Barrett
    Gherardi 148k From the collection of Clifton Leon Prewitt, Fire Controlman Third Class Bobby Kleinaman
    (C. L. Prewitt's grandson)
    Gherardi 118k Photographed circa the later 1940s or the early 1950s
    Courtesy of Donald M. McPherson, 1974
    U.S. Navy photo NH 81010    		 Naval Historical Center
    Gherardi 151k c. September 1952
    Refueling from Leyte (CV 32)    		 Robert Carey, AF2, USS Leyte (CV-32), 1952
    Gherardi 81k c. 1955
    Near Charleston, SC    		 Bill Fuzak
    Gherardi 148k Photo by A. & J. Pavia from the 1956/1957 edition of Jane's Fighting Ships Robert Hurst
    Gherardi 63k Valletta Harbor, Malta
    Photo by A & J Pavia from the 1960/1961 edition of Janes Fighting Ships
    Commanding Officers
    01LCDR John William Schmidt, USN15 September 1942 - 4 December 1943
    02CDR Neale Roland Curtin, USN4 December 1943 - 9 December 1944
    03LCDR William Wade Gentry, USNR9 December 1944 - June 1946
    04CDR Arnold Houghton Newcomb, USNJune 1946 - 1947
    05LCDR James Luther Redman, USN1947 - 1948
    06CDR James Albert Boorman, Jr., USN1948 - September 1949
    07LCDR Clay Harrols, USNSeptember 1949 - February 1951
    08LCDR Louis Leonard Meier, Jr., USN - USNA Class of 1942
    Awarded the Legion of Merit (1967) - Retired as Captain    		February 1951 - August 1953
    09CDR Adolphus G. Raht, USNAugust 1953 - December 1955
    Courtesy Wolfgang Hechler and Joe Radigan
    View the Gherardi (DMS-30)
    DANFS History entry located on the Haze Gray & Underway Website
    Additional Resources and Websites of Interest
    NavSource DD Pages, USS Gherardi (DD-637)
    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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