Please Report Any Broken Links Or Trouble You Might Come Across To The Webmaster
Please Take A Moment To Let Us Know So That We Can Correct Any Problems And Make Your Visit As Enjoyable And As Informative As Possible.

Navsource Online: Destroyer Escort Photo Archive

USS Parks (DE 165)


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

Precedence of awards is from top to bottom, left to right
American Campaign Medal - Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal w/ 4 stars - World War II Victory Medal
Specifications:
Class: Cannon
Type: DET (diesel-electric tandem motor drive, long hull, 3" guns)
Displacement: 1240 tons (light), 1620 tons (full)
Length: 300' (wl), 306' (oa)
Beam: 36' 10" (extreme)
Draft: 10' 6" (draft limit)
Propulsion: 4 GM Mod. 16-278A diesel engines with electric drive, 6000 shp, 2 screws
Speed: 21 kts
Range: 10,800 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 / 201
Parks (DE 165) Building and Operational Data:
  • 11 November 1942: Keel laid by the Federal Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Co., Port Newark, N.J.
  • 18 April 1943: Launched and christened, sponsored by Miss Patricia Yoder
  • 23 June 1943: Commissioned at the New York Navy Yard, Lcdr. Milford McQuilkin, USNR, in command
  • 29 November 1945: Reported to the Commander, 16th Fleet (Inactive), at Green Cove Springs, Fla.
  • March 1946: Decommissioned after 2 years and 8 months of service
  • 01 July 1972: Struck from the NVR
  • 15 October 1973: Sold for scrapping
    Click On Image
    For Full Size Image    		 Size Image Description Contributed
    By And/Or Copyright
    Parks
    0616501

    Parks

    		 65k Charles Wellman Parks, the son of Granville and Elizabeth Augusta (Carter) Parks, was on born 22 March 1863 at Woburn, Mass. After study and graduation at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in 1884, he served as chief engineer of the Denver, Memphis & Atlantic Railway. He then became the head electrical engineer at the Electrical Manufacturing Company in Troy, New York and followed as department head of physics at the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. He was commissioned Civil Engineer, U.S. Navy, on 19 July 1897. Moving through the ranks, he was appointed Chief of the Bureau of Yards and Docks with the rank of Rear Admiral on 11 January 1918. He served as Chief until December 1921 when he stepped down due to ill health. He remained on active duty until February 1922. Parks received the Distinguished Service Medal "for exceptionally meritorious service in a duty of great responsibility as Chief of the Bureau of Yards and Docks." He died on 25 June 1930 at Washington, D.C. and was laid to rest at Arlington National Cemetery.

    USS Parks (DE 165) (1943-1946) was the first ship to be named in his honor.

    		Bill Gonyo
    Downey, Cal.

    Assoc. Researcher
    Navsource
    Osterhaus
    0616410    		 125k 18 April 1943: Port Newark, N.J. - Left: Miss Patricia Yoder, grand-niece of the ship's namesake and sponsor for USS Parks (DE 165); Right: Miss Helen Osterhaus, sponsor of USS Osterhaus (DE 164).
    Parks
    0616502    		 80k undated wartime image (You have to look hard, but that's Jane's brother, Lcdr E. Reber Casstevens standing on the port bridge extension.) Jane Casstevens Ferguson
    Parks Memorabilia
    Launch Invitation

    Osterhaus
    Courtesy of
    S. Dale Hargrave    		 Launch Cover

    Parks
    Courtesy of
    S. Dale Hargrave    		 Shellback
    Certificate
    Parks
    Courtesy of
    Gale Petrecca
    Parks History
    View the USS Parks (DE 165) DANFS history entry located on the Naval History and Heritage Command web site.
    Parks' Commanding Officers
    Thanks to Wolfgang Hechler & Ron Reeves
    Dates of Command Commanding Officers
    1.) 23 Jun 1943 - 16 Jan 1944Lcdr. Milford McQuilkin, USNR (Comm. CO) (San Francisco, Cal.)
    2.) 16 Jan 1944 - 26 Apr 1945Lt. Emery Reber Casstevens, USN (USNA '41) (Beecher City, Ill.)
    3.) 26 Apr 1945 - 01 Feb 1946Lcdr. Paul Christian Huelsenbeck, USNR (USNA '37) (Newark, N.J.) (ret. as Radm.)
    4.) 01 Mar 1946 - 20 Jul 1946Lt. Richard J. Camp, USNR (Decomm. CO) (Antwerp, Oh.)
    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
    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

    Comments, Suggestions, E-mail: Webmaster.

    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 February 2023