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Navsource Online: Destroyer Escort Photo Archive

USS Booth (DE 170)


Ship's emblem, patch courtesy
of Don McGrogan, BMCS, USN (Ret.)


Flag Hoist / Radio Call Sign:
N - Q - D - P
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
Second Row: Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal - European-Africa-Middle East Campaign Medal - WWII 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
Booth (DE 170) Building and Operational Data:
  • 30 January 1943: Keel laid at the Federal Shipbuilding and Drydock Corp., Port Newark, N.J.
  • 21 June 1943: Launched and christened, sponsored by Mrs. Annie L. Booth; towed by ocean-going tug Sagamore (AT 20) to Norfolk, Va.
  • 18 September 1943: Commissioned at the Norfolk Naval Shipyard, Lcdr. Donald W. Todd, in command
  • 14 June 1946: Decommissioned at Green Cove Springs, Fla. after 2 years and 9 months of service
  • 15 December 1967: After a yard period at Brewer Drydock Co., Staten Island, N.Y., loaned to the Philippines, renamed BRP Datu Kalantiaw (PS-76)
  • 15 June 1978: Struck from the NVR
  • 21 September 1981: Lost during Typhoon Clara, 79 of her 97 man crew perished.
    Click On Image
    For Full Size Image    		 Size Image Description Contributed
    By And/Or Copyright
    Booth
    0617001    		 7k Robert Sinclaire Booth, Jr. was born in Hickory, N.C., on 25 January 1915. He attended the University of Maryland, College Park, Md., for three years, majoring in electrical engineering, and among his civilian jobs, worked as an ordinary seaman on ships of the Baltimore Mail and Isthmian Lines that visited ports in France, Germany, Egypt, Arabia, India, Malaya and South Africa. He enlisted in the naval reserve as an apprentice seaman at Washington, D.C., on 09 July 1940, and received training in the auxiliary (ex-battleship) Wyoming (AG 17) (15 July-09 August 1940), receiving an honorable discharge on 09 August 1940. The following day, Booth received an appointment as a midshipman in the Naval Reserve and reported for training duty at the Naval Reserve Midshipman’s School at New York quartered on board Illinois (IX 15). He completed his training on 13 November 1940 and received his commission as an ensign in the naval reserve on the 14th. On 01 December 1940, Ens. Booth reported for duty in Arizona (BB 39). One year later, he was still serving in the battleship in her E [Engineering] Division, with his battle station in the after distribution room on the first platform deck. He was among the 1,177 killed on board when Japanese bombs sank Arizona during the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor on 07 December 1941.

    USS Booth (DE 170) (1943-1946) was the first ship named in his honor.          (Photo from The USS Arizona BB 39 Web Site thanks to Nancy Nease)     		Bill Gonyo
    Downey, Cal.

    Assoc. Researcher
    Navsource
    Booth
    0617006    		 67k 21 June 1943: Newark, N.J. - Booth is launched. Tommy Trampp
    Benton City, Wash.
    Booth
    0617008    		 137k 26 April 1944: New York Harbor - USS Booth (DE 170) lays to off the Brooklyn Navy Yard.

    (U.S. Navy Photo #19-N-71078 from the United States National Archives)    		 Mike Green
    Port Angeles, Wash.
    Booth
    0617002    		 69k 27 October 1945: Truk Island, Navy Day DESA archives
    Booth
    0617007    		 543k 22 September 1981: Calayan Island, Philippines - The foundered frigate BRP Datu Kalantiaw (PS-76, ex-USS Booth) on 22 September 1981. She was driven aground during Typhoon Clara on 21 September 1981 on the rocky northern shore of Calayan Island, in the northern Philippines. 79 of the crew of 97 died.

    (U.S. Defense Imagery photo taken by SMSgt. R. Bagwell.)    		 Bob Hurst
    Worksop, Nottinghamshire,
    England, United Kingdom
    Booth
    0617003    		 87k 22 September 1981: Calayan Island, Philippines - An aerial view of the capsized Philippine destroyer escort BRP Datu Kalantiaw PS-76 (originally the USS Booth DE 170) during the Military Airlift Command`s Aerospace Rescue and Recovery Service rescue operations. Fred Weiss
    Booth
    0617004    		 64k 22 September 1981, as above
    Booth
    0617005    		 175k 22 September 1981: Calayan Island, Philippines - A view of the capsized Philippine destroyer BRP Datu Kalantiaw (ex-USS Booth DE 170). In the foreground, a crewman from the ammunition ship USS Mount Hood (AE 29) takes a break from salvage operations.

    (U.S. Navy photo DVID #DN-ST-83-00819 by PH2 Soutar from the Defense Visual Information Center)    		 Mike Smolinski
    Clifton, N.J.

    Navsource Archive Manager
    DE / FF / LCS Archive
    Booth
    Memorabilia
    Launch Button
    Booth
    Courtesy of
    Tom Kermen
    Booth History
    View the USS Booth (DE 170) DANFS history entry located on the Naval History and Heritage Command web site.
    View the official War History of USS Booth as submitted by the ship at war's end.
    Booth's Commanding Officers
    Thanks to Wolfgang Hechler & Ron Reeves
    Dates of Command Commanding Officers
    1.) 18 Sep. 1943 - 27 Jun. 1944Lcdr. Donald Whiley Todd (Comm. CO) (Annapolis, Md.)
    2.) 27 Jun. 1944 - 19 Jan. 1945Lt. Francis D. Moorman, USNR (New York City, N.Y.)
    3.) 19 Jan. 1945 - 03 Dec. 1945Lcdr. Jack Louis Rinn, USNR (Iahoma, Okla.)
    4.) 03 Dec. 1945 - 31 Dec. 1945Lcdr. George H. Merrin, USNR (Canonsburg, Pa.)
    5.) 31 Dec. 1945 - 01 Apr. 1946Lt. John W. Ryan, USNR
    6.) 01 Apr. 1946 - 14 Jun. 1946Lt.(jg) Harold D. Sherwood, USNR (Decomm. CO) (Hackensack, N.J.)
    Crew Contact And Reunion Information
    Contact Name: Harold Sherwood
    Address: 1206B Thornbury Lane
    City/State: Manchester NJ 08759-6509
    Phone: (732) 657-8015
    E-mail: H. Sherwood
    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 or rosters 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
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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: 01 September 2017