USS Schmitt (DE-676/APD-76) was a 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...

, named for Father Aloysius H. Schmitt.

Schmitt was laid down on 22 February 1943 by the Bethlehem Shipbuilding Company of 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...

; launched on 29 May 1943, sponsored by Mrs. Elizabeth Buchheit; and commissioned on 24 July 1943, under the command of Lieutenant Commander

Lieutenant Commander

Lieutenant Commander is a commissioned officer rank in many navies. The rank is superior to a lieutenant and subordinate to a commander...

 T. D. Cunningham.

World War II, 1943–1945

After shakedown in 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...

 and repairs at New York, Schmitt departed from New York on 19 October 1943 escorting a 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...

 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...

 in the West Indies, and then made her first trans-Atlantic crossing with a convoy from Curaçao to Derry, Northern Ireland

Londonderry Port

Londonderry Port at Lisahally is a port near Derry, Northern Ireland. It is the United Kingdom’s most westerly port, has capacity for 30,000 ton vessels and accepts cruise ships. The current port is on the east bank of the River Foyle at the southern end of Lough Foyle, by the small village of...

. She served on the Derry-New York convoy route until 30 September 1944, crossing the ocean 16 times without incident. Between voyages, the escort underwent anti-submarine training at Derry or at Casco Bay, Maine, and received repairs made necessary by the rough North Atlantic weather.

On 21 October, Schmitt began a convoy voyage from Norfolk

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....

 to Bizerte

Bizerte

Bizerte or Benzert , is the capital city of Bizerte Governorate in Tunisia and the northernmost city in Africa. It has a population of 230,879 .-History:...

 and other Mediterranean ports, returning to New York on 10 December. Between 16 December 1944 and 19 January 1945, she served as training ship for submarines at New London, Connecticut

New London, Connecticut

New London is a seaport city and a port of entry on the northeast coast of the United States.It is located at the mouth of the Thames River in New London County, southeastern Connecticut....

, and then on 20 January arrived at the United States Naval Frontier Base, Tompkinsville, Staten Island, New York

Tompkinsville, Staten Island

Tompkinsville is a neighborhood in northeastern Staten Island in New York City in the United States. Though the neighborhood sits on the island's eastern shore, along the waterfront facing Upper New York Bay — between St...

, for conversion to a Charles Lawrence-class high speed transport

High speed transport

High Speed Transports were converted destroyers and destroyer escorts used to support amphibious operations in World War II and afterward. They received the US Hull classification symbol APD; "AP" for transport and "D" for destroyer....

. Her designation was changed to APD-76 on 24 January 1945.

Schmitt completed conversion on 3 April 1945, and once again underwent shakedown, this time out of Norfolk. She departed Hampton Roads

Hampton Roads

Hampton Roads is the name for both a body of water and the Norfolk–Virginia Beach metropolitan area which surrounds it in southeastern Virginia, United States...

 on 19 April and 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 16 May. She embarked 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 there and carried out six days of exercises with them at Maui

Maui

The island of Maui is the second-largest of the Hawaiian Islands at and is the 17th largest island in the United States. Maui is part of the state of Hawaii and is the largest of Maui County's four islands, bigger than Lānai, Kahoolawe, and Molokai. In 2010, Maui had a population of 144,444,...

 before sailing for the Southwest Pacific on 4 June. The fast transport arrived off Balikpapan, Borneo, on 23 June, and screened the bombardment group of cruisers and destroyers during shore bombardment missions between 23 and 28 June. Her UDT personnel carried out night reconnaissance operations on 25 and 28 June, with the ship resuming escort duties during the day. On 1 July, Schmitts boat led the first 17 waves of landing craft to the beach. The ship left Balikpapan on 3 July, disembarking her UDT personnel at Oceanside, California

Oceanside, California

-2010:The 2010 United States Census reported that Oceanside had a population of 167,086. The population density was 3,961.8 people per square mile...

, on 2 August; and, while the ship was under repair at San Pedro

San Pedro, Los Angeles, California

San Pedro is a port district of the city of Los Angeles, California, United States. It was annexed in 1909 and is a major seaport of the area...

 from 4 to 18 August, the war in the Pacific came to an end.

Post-war activities, 1945–1949

Schmitt reembarked UDT personnel and departed from San Pedro on 19 August. She arrived at Sasebo, Japan, on 20 September and carried out four days of beach reconnaissance there followed by two more days on nearby islands. She got underway from Japan on 27 September and returned on 19 October to San Diego. Between 17 November and 30 November, she made one round-trip voyage to Pearl Harbor, bringing troops home to the United States, and then sailed through 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...

 and proceeded to join the Atlantic Fleet at Norfolk on 16 December.

For the next three and a half years, Schmitt conducted peacetime training and upkeep along the Atlantic Coast, highlighted by refresher training and shore bombardment practice in the Caribbean and amphibious landing exercises in Newfoundland and Labrador

Newfoundland and Labrador

Newfoundland and Labrador is the easternmost province of Canada. Situated in the country's Atlantic region, it incorporates the island of Newfoundland and mainland Labrador with a combined area of . As of April 2011, the province's estimated population is 508,400...

. She varied her normal routine between 12 June and 7 July 1948 when she escorted four Naval Academy

United States Naval Academy

The United States Naval Academy is a four-year coeducational federal service academy located in Annapolis, Maryland, United States...

 sailing yawls

Yawl

A yawl is a two-masted sailing craft similar to a sloop or cutter but with an additional mast located well aft of the main mast, often right on the transom, specifically aft of the rudder post. A yawl (from Dutch Jol) is a two-masted sailing craft similar to a sloop or cutter but with an...

 in the Newport to Bermuda race.

Decommissioning and sale

On 16 April 1949, the fast transport arrived 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...

, for inactivation, and was decommissioned and placed in reserve there on 28 June. Schmitt was struck from the Navy List

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 May 1967, and transferred in February to Taiwan

Taiwan

Taiwan , also known, especially in the past, as Formosa , is the largest island of the same-named island group of East Asia in the western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. The island forms over 99% of the current territory of the Republic of China following...

as ROCS Lung Shan (PF-44). She was subsequently scrapped in 1976.

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