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USS Frament (APD-77)
Encyclopedia
USS Frament (DE-677/APD-77) was a Buckley-class
destroyer escort
in the United States Navy
. She was named for Pharmacist's Mate Third Class Paul S. Frament
(1919–1942), who was posthumously awarded the Silver Star
for heroism in the Guadalcanal campaign
.
Frament was launched
on 28 June 1943 by Bethlehem Steel Company's Fore River Shipyard
, Quincy, Massachusetts
; sponsored by Mrs. Edward A. Frament, mother of Pharmacist's Mate Third Class Frament; and commissioned
on 15 August 1943, Lieutenant Commander S. T. McAdam, Jr., in command.
escort on 19 October 1943, when she sailed from New York
to escort tanker
s to Curaçao
and thence to Derry
, Northern Ireland
. Sailing out of New York, and occasionally Boston, she escorted six convoys to Northern Ireland, one to Cherbourg, France
, and one to Gibraltar
, in the period from 15 December 1943 to 3 December 1944.
At 02:23 hrs on 15 November 1944, at 36°11′N 19°45′W (in the North Atlantic about 700 nmi (1,296.4 km) west of Gibraltar), Frament mistakenly rammed and sank the Italian
submarine
Luigi Settembrini which Frament was escorting to Bermuda
, where the Italians were to provide aid in anti-submarine warfare
training. Of the 42-strong crew of the Settembrini, only 14 survivors were rescued by Frament.
USS Scott
(DE-214) was detached from a convoy bound for the Mediterranean to help search for Italian survivors, and then escorted Frament back to Boston, arriving on 3 December.
After training on both coasts, Frament arrived at Pearl Harbor
on 3 April 1945 for duty training with underwater demolition team
s in the Hawaiian Islands
. Convoy escort duty took her to Eniwetok, Ulithi
, and Leyte in May, and on the 29th she arrived at Okinawa, where she joined the outer patrol screen guarding the great number of ships off the island.
Assigned to rescue duty in June, she proved herself on the 10th, when she and several smaller craft saved every man of William D. Porter
(DD-579), when that destroyer
was sunk by a suicide plane. Returning to the Philippines
at the close of July, Frament trained for the planned invasion
of the Japanese home islands, and at the close of the war, took up duty with minesweeper
s operating in the Yellow Sea
. She served on occupation duty until 1 January 1946, when she sailed from Shanghai
for the east coast. On 30 May 1946 Frament was placed out of commission in reserve at Green Cove Springs, Florida
.
Stricken from the Navy Register on 1 June 1960, the former Frament was transferred to Ecuador
in July 1961 for use as a power hulk.
Buckley class destroyer escort
The Buckley class destroyer escorts were 102 destroyer escorts launched in the United States in 1943 - 1944. They served in World War II as convoy escorts and anti-submarine warfare ships. The lead ship was USS Buckley which was launched on 9 January 1943. The ships had General Electric steam...
destroyer escort
Destroyer escort
A destroyer escort is the classification for a smaller, lightly armed warship designed to be used to escort convoys of merchant marine ships, primarily of the United States Merchant Marine in World War II. It is employed primarily for anti-submarine warfare, but also provides some protection...
in the United States Navy
United States Navy
The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...
. She was named for Pharmacist's Mate Third Class Paul S. Frament
Paul S. Frament
Paul Stanley Frament, born 4 February 1919 at Cohoes, New York, enlisted in the United States Naval Reserve on 29 December 1941. Frament died 19 November 1942 of wounds received in action while serving as pharmacist's mate third class with the United States Marine Corps on Guadalcanal...
(1919–1942), who was posthumously awarded the Silver Star
Silver Star
The Silver Star is the third-highest combat military decoration that can be awarded to a member of any branch of the United States armed forces for valor in the face of the enemy....
for heroism in the Guadalcanal campaign
Guadalcanal campaign
The Guadalcanal Campaign, also known as the Battle of Guadalcanal and codenamed Operation Watchtower by Allied forces, was a military campaign fought between August 7, 1942 and February 9, 1943 on and around the island of Guadalcanal in the Pacific theatre of World War II...
.
Frament was launched
Ship naming and launching
The ceremonies involved in naming and launching naval ships are based in traditions thousands of years old.-Methods of launch:There are three principal methods of conveying a new ship from building site to water, only two of which are called "launching." The oldest, most familiar, and most widely...
on 28 June 1943 by Bethlehem Steel Company's Fore River Shipyard
Fore River Shipyard
The Fore River Shipyard of Quincy, Massachusetts, more formally known as the Fore River Ship and Engine Building Company, was a shipyard in the United States from 1883 until 1986. Located on the Weymouth Fore River, the yard began operations in 1883 in Braintree, Massachusetts before being moved...
, Quincy, Massachusetts
Quincy, Massachusetts
Quincy is a city in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States. Its nicknames are "City of Presidents", "City of Legends", and "Birthplace of the American Dream". As a major part of Metropolitan Boston, Quincy is a member of Boston's Inner Core Committee for the Metropolitan Area Planning Council...
; sponsored by Mrs. Edward A. Frament, mother of Pharmacist's Mate Third Class Frament; and commissioned
Ship commissioning
Ship commissioning is the act or ceremony of placing a ship in active service, and may be regarded as a particular application of the general concepts and practices of project commissioning. The term is most commonly applied to the placing of a warship in active duty with its country's military...
on 15 August 1943, Lieutenant Commander S. T. McAdam, Jr., in command.
DE-677 — Atlantic
Frament began the demanding tasks of Atlantic convoyConvoy
A convoy is a group of vehicles, typically motor vehicles or ships, traveling together for mutual support and protection. Often, a convoy is organized with armed defensive support, though it may also be used in a non-military sense, for example when driving through remote areas.-Age of Sail:Naval...
escort on 19 October 1943, when she sailed from New York
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
to escort tanker
Tanker (ship)
A tanker is a ship designed to transport liquids in bulk. Major types of tankship include the oil tanker, the chemical tanker, and the liquefied natural gas carrier.-Background:...
s to Curaçao
Curaçao
Curaçao is an island in the southern Caribbean Sea, off the Venezuelan coast. The Country of Curaçao , which includes the main island plus the small, uninhabited island of Klein Curaçao , is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands...
and thence to Derry
Derry
Derry or Londonderry is the second-biggest city in Northern Ireland and the fourth-biggest city on the island of Ireland. The name Derry is an anglicisation of the Irish name Doire or Doire Cholmcille meaning "oak-wood of Colmcille"...
, Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...
. Sailing out of New York, and occasionally Boston, she escorted six convoys to Northern Ireland, one to Cherbourg, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, and one to Gibraltar
Gibraltar
Gibraltar is a British overseas territory located on the southern end of the Iberian Peninsula at the entrance of the Mediterranean. A peninsula with an area of , it has a northern border with Andalusia, Spain. The Rock of Gibraltar is the major landmark of the region...
, in the period from 15 December 1943 to 3 December 1944.
At 02:23 hrs on 15 November 1944, at 36°11′N 19°45′W (in the North Atlantic about 700 nmi (1,296.4 km) west of Gibraltar), Frament mistakenly rammed and sank the Italian
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
submarine
Submarine
A submarine is a watercraft capable of independent operation below the surface of the water. It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability...
Luigi Settembrini which Frament was escorting to Bermuda
Bermuda
Bermuda is a British overseas territory in the North Atlantic Ocean. Located off the east coast of the United States, its nearest landmass is Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, about to the west-northwest. It is about south of Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, and northeast of Miami, Florida...
, where the Italians were to provide aid in anti-submarine warfare
Anti-submarine warfare
Anti-submarine warfare is a branch of naval warfare that uses surface warships, aircraft, or other submarines to find, track and deter, damage or destroy enemy submarines....
training. Of the 42-strong crew of the Settembrini, only 14 survivors were rescued by Frament.
USS Scott
USS Scott (DE-214)
USS Scott , a of the United States Navy, was named in honor of Machinist's Mate First Class Robert R. Scott USS Scott (DE-214), a of the United States Navy, was named in honor of Machinist's Mate First Class Robert R. Scott USS Scott (DE-214), a of the United States Navy, was named in honor of...
(DE-214) was detached from a convoy bound for the Mediterranean to help search for Italian survivors, and then escorted Frament back to Boston, arriving on 3 December.
APD-77 — Pacific
After a hasty decommissioning, Frament began conversion to a high-speed transport; she was reclassified APD-77 on 15 December 1944.After training on both coasts, Frament arrived at Pearl Harbor
Pearl Harbor
Pearl Harbor, known to Hawaiians as Puuloa, is a lagoon harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu. Much of the harbor and surrounding lands is a United States Navy deep-water naval base. It is also the headquarters of the U.S. Pacific Fleet...
on 3 April 1945 for duty training with underwater demolition team
Underwater Demolition Team
The Underwater Demolition Teams were an elite special-purpose force established by the United States Navy during World War II. They also served during the Korean War and the Vietnam War...
s in the Hawaiian Islands
Hawaiian Islands
The Hawaiian Islands are an archipelago of eight major islands, several atolls, numerous smaller islets, and undersea seamounts in the North Pacific Ocean, extending some 1,500 miles from the island of Hawaii in the south to northernmost Kure Atoll...
. Convoy escort duty took her to Eniwetok, Ulithi
Ulithi
Ulithi is an atoll in the Caroline Islands of the western Pacific Ocean, about 191 km east of Yap. It consists of 40 islets totalling , surrounding a lagoon about long and up to wide—at one of the largest in the world. It is administered by the state of Yap in the Federated States of...
, and Leyte in May, and on the 29th she arrived at Okinawa, where she joined the outer patrol screen guarding the great number of ships off the island.
Assigned to rescue duty in June, she proved herself on the 10th, when she and several smaller craft saved every man of William D. Porter
USS William D. Porter (DD-579)
USS William D. Porter , a Fletcher-class destroyer, was a ship of the United States Navy named for Commodore William D. Porter .William D...
(DD-579), when that destroyer
Destroyer
In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast and maneuverable yet long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy or battle group and defend them against smaller, powerful, short-range attackers. Destroyers, originally called torpedo-boat destroyers in 1892, evolved from...
was sunk by a suicide plane. Returning to the Philippines
Philippines
The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...
at the close of July, Frament trained for the planned invasion
Operation Downfall
Operation Downfall was the Allied plan for the invasion of Japan near the end of World War II. The operation was cancelled when Japan surrendered after the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and the Soviet Union's declaration of war against Japan. The operation had two parts: Operation...
of the Japanese home islands, and at the close of the war, took up duty with minesweeper
Minesweeper (ship)
A minesweeper is a small naval warship designed to counter the threat posed by naval mines. Minesweepers generally detect then neutralize mines in advance of other naval operations.-History:...
s operating in the Yellow Sea
Yellow Sea
The Yellow Sea is the name given to the northern part of the East China Sea, which is a marginal sea of the Pacific Ocean. It is located between mainland China and the Korean Peninsula. Its name comes from the sand particles from Gobi Desert sand storms that turn the surface of the water golden...
. She served on occupation duty until 1 January 1946, when she sailed from Shanghai
Shanghai
Shanghai is the largest city by population in China and the largest city proper in the world. It is one of the four province-level municipalities in the People's Republic of China, with a total population of over 23 million as of 2010...
for the east coast. On 30 May 1946 Frament was placed out of commission in reserve at Green Cove Springs, Florida
Green Cove Springs, Florida
Green Cove Springs is a city in Clay County, Florida, United States. The population was 5,378 at the 2000 census. As of 2010, the population recorded by the U.S. Census Bureau is 6,908. It is the county seat of Clay County....
.
Stricken from the Navy Register on 1 June 1960, the former Frament was transferred to Ecuador
Ecuador
Ecuador , officially the Republic of Ecuador is a representative democratic republic in South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and by the Pacific Ocean to the west. It is one of only two countries in South America, along with Chile, that do not have a border...
in July 1961 for use as a power hulk.