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Navsource Online: Destroyer Escort Photo Archive

Ship's patches courtesy of Mike Smolinski

USS DeLong (DE 684)


Flag Hoist/Radio Call Sign:
N - T - Z - T
Tactical Voice Radio Call: "Bannister"
Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons


Precedence of awards is from top to bottom, left to right
Top Row: Navy Expeditionary Medal
Second Row: American Campaign Medal - World War II Victory Medal - National Defense Service Medal w/star
Specifications:
Class: Rudderow
Type: TEV (turbo-electric drive, long hull, 5" guns)
Displacement: 1,450 tons (light), 1,810 tons (full)
Length: 300' (wl), 306' (oa)
Beam: 36' 9" (extreme)
Draft: 13' 9" (draft limit)
Propulsion: 2 CE boilers, G.E. turbines with electric drive, 12000 shp, 2 screws
Speed: 24 kts
Range: 5,050 nm @ 12 knots
Armament: 2 - 5"/38 Mk30, 4 - 40mm Mk1 AA (2x2), 10 x 20mm/70 Mk 4 AA, 3 x 21" Mk15 TT (3x1), 1 Hedgehog Projector Mk10 (230 rounds), 8 Mk6 depth charge projectors (40), 2 Mk9 depth charge tracks (60)
Complement: 12 / 192
DeLong (DE 684) Building and Operational Data:
  • 19 October 1943: Keel laid by the Fore River Yard, Bethlehem Steel Co., Quincy, Mass.
  • 23 November 1943: Launched and christened, sponsored by Mrs. L. C. (Jetta) DeLong, mother of the late Corporal W. F. DeLong, USMCR
  • 31 December 1943: Commissioned, Lcdr R. C. Houston, USN, in command; assigned to Destroyer Escort Division 2
  • 15 August 1945: Reclassified as APD 137, reported to Charleston Navy Yard for conversion, conversion cancelled
  • .. January 1946: Decommissioned at Green Cove Springs, Fla. after 2 years of service
  • 07 February 1951: Recommissioned
  • 16 July 1958: Decommissioned, placed "in service" at the New York Naval Shipyard, assigned to NRT as a unit of the Select Reserve ASW Force, 3rd Naval District at New York City, N.Y.
  • October 1961: Recommissioned for the Berlin Crisis at Ft. Schuyler, N. Y., Cmdr. Bryan McCrave, USNR, in command, assigned to Escort Squadron 18 at Newport, R.I.
  • 01 August 1962: Decommissioned, placed back "in service" at Ft. Schuyler, returned to Third Naval District NRT duties as a unit of Reserve Destroyer Squadron 30
  • 08 August 1969: Placed "out of service" at the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard, struck from the NVR with a total of 20 years and 6 months of service; custody transferred to the Inactive Ship Maintenance Facility, Philadelphia
  • 19 February 1970: Sunk as target off Puerto Rico
    Click On Image
    For Full Size Image    		 Size Image Description Contributed
    By And/Or Copyright
    De Long 85k undated postwar images -
    De Long 54k
    De Long 105k underway, circa the 1950's or early 1960's

    (U.S. Naval Historical Center photo #NH 98909 from the Naval History and Heritage Command)     		Mike Green
    Port Angeles, Wash.
    De Long 35k date / location unknown Bob Hurst
    Worksop, Nottinghamshire,
    England, United Kingdom
    De Long 82k date / location unknown (late '50's, early '60's) Lon Finnerty
    De Long 29k
    De Long 20k 1957: drydocked
    De Long 480k 22 June 1958: Brooklyn, N.Y. - At the Brooklyn Navy yard, shortly before they started scrapping Enterprise (CV 6) by first cutting off her tripod mast; she was sold for scrapping 10 days later, on 02 July.  The carrier on the opposite side of the pier is USS Independence (CVA 62) nearing completion. Ships visible in the left foreground include (from front): USS DeLong (DE 684), USS Coates (DE 685) and USS Hoe (SS 258). Ten other destroyers are also present, as is a "Liberty" type ship.  The F. & M. Schaefer brewery is visible in the center background; the longest and last operating brewery in New York City (when it was closed in 1976), and America's oldest lager beer brewing company.

    (U.S. Navy photo #1036995 from the Naval History and Heritage Command)    		 Steve Whitby
    DeLong 256k early 1960's: Two excellent shots of USS DeLong (DE 684) underway. (0668411 appears to be a better copy of 0668406 above) Tim Rizzuto
    Ship's Superintendent
    DE Historical Museum
    USS Slater at Albany, N.Y.
    DeLong 392k
    DeLong 245k circa 1966: USS DeLong (DE 684) underway.

    (Official U.S. Navy photo; from "Jane's Fighting Ships, 1966-67")    		 Bob Hurst
    Worksop, Nottinghamshire,
    England, United Kingdom
    T. Parker 258k 03 February 1967: Newport, R.I. - Two views of four Third Naval District reserve training DE's alongside USS Yosemite (AD 19) for upkeep and repair. From left to right are: USS Thaddeus Parker (DE 369), stationed at the Military Ocean Terminal, Bayonne, N.J.; DeLong, stationed to the U.S. Navy & Marine Corps Reserve Center, Fort Schuyler, Bronx, N.Y.; USS Albert T. Harris (DE 447), stationed at the U.S. Naval Reserve Training Center at Whitestone, Queens, N.Y.; and last but not least USS Coates (DE 685), stationed at the Long Wharf in New Haven, Conn.

    (Both Photos ©Richard Leonhardt)    		 Richard Leonhardt
    Bethlehem, Pa.
    T. Parker 118k
    DeLong Memorabilia
    News Article
    October 1960
    A.C. Cockrell
    Courtesy of
    Navsource    		 Award Ceremony
    Booklet Cover
    DeLong
    Courtesy of
    Lon Finnerty    		 Ship's Lighter
    (ship design)
    DeLong
    Courtesy of
    Nick Tiberio    		 Ship's Lighter
    (ship design)
    DeLong
    Courtesy of
    Nick Tiberio    		 Ship's Crest
    (design artwork)
    DeLong
    Courtesy of
    Bob Hurst    		 Squadron
    Plaque
    DeLong
    Courtesy of
    Bob Hurst    		 Ship's
    Mug
    DeLong
    Courtesy of
    Nick Tiberio
    DeLong History
    View the USS DeLong (DE 684) DANFS history entry located on the Naval History and Heritage Command web site.
    DeLong's Commanding Officers
    Thanks to Wolfgang Hechler
    Dates of Command Commanding Officers
    1.))  31 Dec. 1943 – 09 Aug. 1944Lcdr. Robert Cecil Houston, USN (Comm. CO) (USNA ‘34) (Wheaton, Ill.)
    2.)  09 Aug. 1944 – 1945Lcdr. Albert Alexander Campbell, USNR
    3.)  1945 – Jan. 1946Lcdr. Joseph (Stormy) Alban Weber Jr., USNR (Chicago, Ill.) (ret. as Radm., USNR)
    4.)  07 Feb. 1951 – 1952Cmdr. Harold Norman Poulsen, USN (Recomm. CO)
    5.)  1952 – 1954Lcdr. Walter Daugherty McCord Jr., USN (USNA ‘43) (New Rochelle, N. Y.)
    6.)  1954 – 06 Jul. 1956Cmdr. Cecil Bradford Collins Jr., USN (USNA ‘43) (White Sulphur Springs, W. V.)
    7.)  06 Jul. 1956 – 28 Jan. 1958Lcdr. Robert D. Rinesmith, USN (Huntington, Ind.)
    8.)  28 Jan. 1958 – 16 Jul. 1958Lcdr. William Fergus Feely, USN (New York City, N. Y.)
    9.)  16 Jul. 1958 – 20 Feb. 1960Lt. G. H. Weeks, USN (OinC)
    10.) 20 Feb. 1960 – 01 Oct. 1961Lt. R. C. Beardslee, USN (OinC)
    11.) 01 Oct. 1961 – 26 Sep. 1962Cmdr. Bryan E. McCrave, USNR (Long Island City, N. Y.)
    12.) 26 Sep. 1962 – 11 Jun. 1965Lt. Anthony Paul Porcaro, USN (OinC)
    13.) 11 Jun. 1965 – Mar. 1968Lt. John W. Bitoff, USN (OinC) (Me. MA ‘58) (Brooklyn, N. Y.) (ret. as Radm.)
    14.) Mar. 1968 – 13 Mar. 1969Lt. W. H. Naumann, USNR (OinC)
    15.) 13 Mar. 1969 – 08 Aug. 1969Lt. R. L. Stover, USN (OinC)
    Crew Contact And Reunion Information
    DeLong Does Hold Reunions
    Contact Name: Juergen N. Peters
    Address: 3206 Romilly Road
    City/State: Wilmington DE 19810-3436
    Phone: (302) 478-4353
    E-mail: Juergen Peters
    Or
    Contact Name: Darrel Ruebsamen
    Address:13315 Heights Path
    City/State: San Antonio TX 78230-5866
    Phone: (210) 492-1895
    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
    Tin Can Sailors Shipmate Registry - USS DeLong
    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: 05 February 2023