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Navsource Online: Destroyer Escort Photo Archive

USS Sims (DE 154 / APD 50)


Flag Hoist / Radio Call Sign:
N - X - S - X
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 - Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal w/ 1 star
Second Row: European-Africa-Middle East Campaign Medal - WWII Victory Medal - Navy Occupation Medal w/ Asia Clasp
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
Sims (DE 154) Building and Operational Data:
  • 07 September 1942: Keel laid by the Norfolk Navy Yard, Portsmouth, Va.
  • 06 February 1943: Launched and christened, sponsored by Mrs. Anne H. Sims, widow of Admiral Sims
  • 24 April 1943: Commissioned at Pier 2, St. Helena Annex of the Norfolk Navy Yard, Berkley, Va., Lcdr. Charles G. Raible, USNR, in command
  • 07 September 1944: Reclassified APD 50, converted at the Boston Navy Yard
  • 24 April 1946: Arrived at Green Cove Springs, Fla., reported to Commander, Florida Group, Sixteenth Fleet, for duty and inactivation
  • .. June 1946: Decommissioned at Green Cove Springs, Fla. after 3 years and 2 months of service
  • 01 June 1960: Struck from the NVR
  • 14 April 1961: Sold for scrapping to the North American Smelting Co., Wilmington, Del.
    Click On Image
    For Full Size Image    		 Size Image Description Contributed
    By And/Or Copyright
    Sims 96k William S. Sims, born in 1858 in Ontario, Canada, was appointed to the Naval Academy in 1876 and graduated in 1880. Seventeen years of sea duty were followed by assignments as Naval Attaché to Paris, St. Petersburg, and Madrid. Sims next served as Inspector of Target Practice; and, under his supervision, the naval gunnery system increased the rapidity of hits 100 percent and the general effectiveness of fire 500 percent. He also served as Naval Aide to President Theodore Roosevelt for two and one-half years.

    On 11 February 1917, Sims became President of the Naval War College. In March 1917, he was designated by the Secretary of the Navy as Representative of the Navy Department in London. With the entry of the United States into World War I in April, he was ordered to assume command of all American destroyers, tenders, and auxiliaries operating from British bases. In May, he was designated as Commander of United States Destroyers Operating from British Bases, with the rank of Vice Admiral; and, in June, his title was changed to Commander, United States Naval Forces Operating in European Waters. On 10 December 1917, he assumed additional duty as Naval Attaché, London, England. The North Sea Mine Barrage was laid under his direction.

    Admiral Sims again became President of the Naval War College in April 1919 and served in that capacity until his retirement on 15 October 1922. He died at Boston, Mass., on 25 September 1936.

    USS Sims (DE 154) (1943-1946) was the second ship named in his honor, preceded by DD 409 (1939-1942).    		 Bill Gonyo
    Downey, Cal.
    Reuben James 30k Date Unknown: Norfolk, Va. - Reuben James (DE 153) and Sims (DE 154) at Norfolk Navy Yard, Portsmouth, Va. Nick Tiberio
    Shelton, Conn.
    Sims  116k       Sims  112k       Sims  110k       Sims  123k       Sims  105k
    Sims  112k       Sims  123k       Sims  129k       Sims  111k       Sims  100k

    circa 1943 - 1944: A ten view series of various spaces in the ship's bridge area.
    (Photos from Warren J. Lusk, Ken's Dad, who was a Sims plankowner. Enlisting in the Navy on 12 December 1942 at St. Louis, Mo.; he reported aboard Sims on 24 April 1943 as a Seaman
    2nd Class at the Norfolk Navy Yard. On 06 February 1946, he transferred off Sims as a Machinist Mate 2nd Class, destined for the Personnel Separation Center in St. Louis, Missouri.)    		 Ken Lusk
    Sims 132k 03 June 1943: Bermuda - USS Sims is underway in Great Sound at Bermuda during shakedown exercises with USS Decker (DE 47).

    (Photo by Dmitri Kessel, Life Magazine. To be used for educational and non-commercial purpose only.)    		 John Chiquoine
    West Chester, Pa.
    Sims 216k 04 October 1943: Brooklyn, N. Y. - USS Sims moored at Pier C of the Brooklyn Navy Yard with the newly commissioned USS Reybold (DE 177) tied up on her port side. Sims had arrived in the Navy Yard on Monday, 28 September for scheduled maintenance and repair between convoys.

    (U.S. Navy photo #NA 19LCM-dd68 from the National Archives and Records Administration, College Park, Md.)
    		 John Chiquoine
    West Chester, Pa.
       and
    Rick E. Davis
    Springfield, Oh.
    Sims 351k 17 April 1944: New York Harbor - USS Sims (DE 154) in New York Harbor with a commercial barge and harbor tug alongside.

    (U.S. Navy Photo #19-N-64416 from the United States National Archives)     		Mike Green
    Port Angeles, Wash.
    Sims 263k 26 April 1944: The Atlantic Ocean - USS Sims (DE 154) underway southeast of New York Harbor (position 40 20'N, 73 46'W), as seen from a blimp of lighter than air squadron ZP-12.

    (U.S. Navy Photo #NH 107614 from the U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command)
    Sims
    Memorabilia
    Commissioning
    Pamphlet
    Sims
    Courtesy of
    Lela Lienhard Curtis
    Sims History
    View the USS Sims (DE 154 / APD 50) DANFS history entry located on the Naval History and Heritage Command web site.
    View the official War History of USS Sims as submitted by the ship at war's end.
    Sims' Commanding Officers
    Thanks to Wolfgang Hechler & Ron Reeves
    Dates of Command Commanding Officers
    1.) 24 Apr. 1943 - 29 Jul. 1943Lcdr. Charles G. Raible, USNR (Comm. CO) (Brooklyn, N.Y.)
    2.) 29 Jul. 1943 - 11 Jan. 1944Lt. James A. Moffett, USNR
    3.) 11 Jan. 1944 - 26 May 1944Lt. Lewis M. Andrews, Jr., USNR (New York, N.Y.)
    4.) 26 May 1944 - 06 Oct. 1945Lcdr. Frank M. Donahue, USNR
    5.) 06 Oct. 1945 - 03 May 1946Lcdr. Bernard Aloysius Lienhard, USNR (Ft. Scott, Kan.)
    6.) 03 May 1946 - .. May 1946Lt.(jg) Edward D. Lavelle, USNR
    7.) .. May 1946 - .. Jun. 1946 Ens. Robert George Hodson, USNR (Decomm. CO) (Brooklyn, N.Y.)
    Crew Contact And Reunion Information
    None
    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
    Navsource APD Pages, USS Sims (APD 50)
    Tin Can Sailors
    The U.S. Navy Memorial
    Destroyer Escort Sailors Association
    The Destroyer Escort Historical Museum
    The Destroyer History Foundation
    Tin Can Sailors Shipmate Registry - USS Sims
    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
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    by Paul R. Yarnall, All Rights Reserved.
    Page Last Updated: 04 April 2022