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USS Keith (DE-241)
Encyclopedia
USS Keith (DE-241) was an of the United States Navy
named in honor of Ellis Judson Keith, Jr., who was killed in action on 11 June 1942, Seaman Keith was posthumously awarded the Air Medal
.
Keith was originally laid down as Scott but renamed Keith on 8 December 1942, and was launched
21 December 1942 by the Brown Shipbuilding Company in Houston, Texas
. Keith was sponsored by Mrs. Ellis J. Keith, Sr., the mother of Seaman Keith; and commissioned
19 July 1943 at Houston, Texas, with Lieutenant D. Cochran in command.
After shakedown and training exercises out of Bermuda
, Keith sailed from Norfolk, Virginia
14 September 1943 on the first of three voyages escorting convoy
s from East Coast
ports to Gibraltar
.
After returning from convoy escort duty 22 February 1944, Keith underwent extensive refresher training and participated in antisubmarine warfare exercises before sailing on 15 March as part of escort carrier 's newly formed hunter-killer group. With this group she patrolled the Atlantic Ocean
from Brazil
to Newfoundland in search of enemy submarine
s.
In July, she joined a similar group operating with escort carrier . On 30 August, Core’s hunter-killer group contacted an enemy submarine. Keith, assisting in the search, made two hedgehog attacks with inconclusive results.
Keith continued to operate with the hunter-killer group patrolling the waters of the Atlantic, escorting convoys from "mid-ocean point" to ports in Brazil, Bermuda
, Newfoundland, Cuba
, and the United States
. On 23 April 1945, the hunter-killer group, operating as a combined force against a large wolfpack of U-boat
s, spotted a partially submerged submarine but could not locate it after it dived. While searching the next day, , a destroyer escort in company, was torpedoed and sunk. Keith and a task group ships headed to the position where the Frederick C. Davis had gone down and launched a depth charge
attack that lasted some 12 hours before U-546 was forced to surface. The destroyer escorts opened fire on the submarine; and Keith made two direct hits before the U-boat sank. After the engagement, Keith rescued four survivors from the submarine.
In mid-July, Keith departed Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, for duty in the Pacific Ocean
. Keith found herself in Pearl Harbor
at the end of hostilities with the Japan
ese and got underway for Saipan
to perform escort duty and mop-up operations. Shortly after arriving, 31 August, she was assigned an air-sea rescue station between Iwo Jima
and Japan. At the end of the year Keith sailed for China
, arriving Shanghai
on the last day of December. She remained there patrolling and escorting vessels until sailing for the United States on 10 April 1946 via Pearl Harbor and the Panama Canal
arriving at Charleston, South Carolina
on 15 May 1946. Keith was towed to Green Cove Springs, Florida
, where she was decommissioned and placed in reserve 20 September 1946. By the late 1960s she was still in reserve and berthed at Orange, Texas
being
stricken from the Naval Vessel Register
on 1 November 1972 and sold for scrap on 1 December 1973.
Keith received one battle star for World War II
service.
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...
named in honor of Ellis Judson Keith, Jr., who was killed in action on 11 June 1942, Seaman Keith was posthumously awarded the Air Medal
Air Medal
The Air Medal is a military decoration of the United States. The award was created in 1942, and is awarded for meritorious achievement while participating in aerial flight.-Criteria:...
.
Keith was originally laid down as Scott but renamed Keith on 8 December 1942, and 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...
21 December 1942 by the Brown Shipbuilding Company in Houston, Texas
Houston, Texas
Houston is the fourth-largest city in the United States, and the largest city in the state of Texas. According to the 2010 U.S. Census, the city had a population of 2.1 million people within an area of . Houston is the seat of Harris County and the economic center of , which is the ...
. Keith was sponsored by Mrs. Ellis J. Keith, Sr., the mother of Seaman Keith; 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...
19 July 1943 at Houston, Texas, with Lieutenant D. Cochran in command.
After shakedown and training exercises out of 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...
, Keith sailed from Norfolk, Virginia
Norfolk, Virginia
Norfolk is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. With a population of 242,803 as of the 2010 Census, it is Virginia's second-largest city behind neighboring Virginia Beach....
14 September 1943 on the first of three voyages escorting convoy
Convoy
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...
s from East Coast
East Coast of the United States
The East Coast of the United States, also known as the Eastern Seaboard, refers to the easternmost coastal states in the United States, which touch the Atlantic Ocean and stretch up to Canada. The term includes the U.S...
ports 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...
.
After returning from convoy escort duty 22 February 1944, Keith underwent extensive refresher training and participated in antisubmarine warfare exercises before sailing on 15 March as part of escort carrier 's newly formed hunter-killer group. With this group she patrolled the Atlantic Ocean
Atlantic Ocean
The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's oceanic divisions. With a total area of about , it covers approximately 20% of the Earth's surface and about 26% of its water surface area...
from Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
to Newfoundland in search of enemy 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...
s.
In July, she joined a similar group operating with escort carrier . On 30 August, Core’s hunter-killer group contacted an enemy submarine. Keith, assisting in the search, made two hedgehog attacks with inconclusive results.
Keith continued to operate with the hunter-killer group patrolling the waters of the Atlantic, escorting convoys from "mid-ocean point" to ports in Brazil, 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...
, Newfoundland, Cuba
Cuba
The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...
, and the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. On 23 April 1945, the hunter-killer group, operating as a combined force against a large wolfpack of U-boat
U-boat
U-boat is the anglicized version of the German word U-Boot , itself an abbreviation of Unterseeboot , and refers to military submarines operated by Germany, particularly in World War I and World War II...
s, spotted a partially submerged submarine but could not locate it after it dived. While searching the next day, , a destroyer escort in company, was torpedoed and sunk. Keith and a task group ships headed to the position where the Frederick C. Davis had gone down and launched a depth charge
Depth charge
A depth charge is an anti-submarine warfare weapon intended to destroy or cripple a target submarine by the shock of exploding near it. Most use explosives and a fuze set to go off at a preselected depth in the ocean. Depth charges can be dropped by either surface ships, patrol aircraft, or from...
attack that lasted some 12 hours before U-546 was forced to surface. The destroyer escorts opened fire on the submarine; and Keith made two direct hits before the U-boat sank. After the engagement, Keith rescued four survivors from the submarine.
In mid-July, Keith departed Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, for duty in the Pacific Ocean
Pacific Ocean
The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic in the north to the Southern Ocean in the south, bounded by Asia and Australia in the west, and the Americas in the east.At 165.2 million square kilometres in area, this largest division of the World...
. Keith found herself in 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...
at the end of hostilities with the Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
ese and got underway for Saipan
Saipan
Saipan is the largest island of the United States Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands , a chain of 15 tropical islands belonging to the Marianas archipelago in the western Pacific Ocean with a total area of . The 2000 census population was 62,392...
to perform escort duty and mop-up operations. Shortly after arriving, 31 August, she was assigned an air-sea rescue station between Iwo Jima
Iwo Jima
Iwo Jima, officially , is an island of the Japanese Volcano Islands chain, which lie south of the Ogasawara Islands and together with them form the Ogasawara Archipelago. The island is located south of mainland Tokyo and administered as part of Ogasawara, one of eight villages of Tokyo...
and Japan. At the end of the year Keith sailed for China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
, arriving 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...
on the last day of December. She remained there patrolling and escorting vessels until sailing for the United States on 10 April 1946 via Pearl Harbor and the Panama Canal
Panama Canal
The Panama Canal is a ship canal in Panama that joins the Atlantic Ocean and the Pacific Ocean and is a key conduit for international maritime trade. Built from 1904 to 1914, the canal has seen annual traffic rise from about 1,000 ships early on to 14,702 vessels measuring a total of 309.6...
arriving at Charleston, South Carolina
Charleston, South Carolina
Charleston is the second largest city in the U.S. state of South Carolina. It was made the county seat of Charleston County in 1901 when Charleston County was founded. The city's original name was Charles Towne in 1670, and it moved to its present location from a location on the west bank of the...
on 15 May 1946. Keith was towed to 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....
, where she was decommissioned and placed in reserve 20 September 1946. By the late 1960s she was still in reserve and berthed at Orange, Texas
Orange, Texas
Orange is a city in Orange County, Texas, United States. As of the 2000 census, the city population was 18,643. It is the county seat of Orange County, and is the easternmost city in Texas. Located on the Sabine River at the border with Louisiana, it is part of the Beaumont–Port Arthur...
being
stricken from the Naval Vessel Register
Naval Vessel Register
The Naval Vessel Register is the official inventory of ships and service craft in custody of or titled by the United States Navy. It contains information on ships and service craft that make up the official inventory of the Navy from the time a vessel is authorized through its life cycle and...
on 1 November 1972 and sold for scrap on 1 December 1973.
Keith received one battle star for World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
service.