USS Vammen (DE-644) was a of 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 in honor of Ensign Clarence E. Vammen, Jr.

Clarence E. Vammen, Jr.

Clarence Earl Vammen, Jr. was a United States Navy aviator during World War II.Vamman was born in Aberdeen, Washington, on 17 October 1919. He attended Pomona Junior College in California before enlisting in the Naval Reserve on 17 February 1941 at Long Beach, Calif...

 (1919–1942), a naval aviator

United States Naval Aviator

A United States Naval Aviator is a qualified pilot in the United States Navy, Marine Corps or Coast Guard.-Naming Conventions:Most Naval Aviators are Unrestricted Line Officers; however, a small number of Limited Duty Officers and Chief Warrant Officers are also trained as Naval Aviators.Until 1981...

 who died in the Battle of Midway

Battle of Midway

The Battle of Midway is widely regarded as the most important naval battle of the Pacific Campaign of World War II. Between 4 and 7 June 1942, approximately one month after the Battle of the Coral Sea and six months after Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor, the United States Navy decisively defeated...

.

Vammen was laid down on 1 August 1943 at San Francisco, Calif.

San Francisco, California

San Francisco , officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the financial, cultural, and transportation center of the San Francisco Bay Area, a region of 7.15 million people which includes San Jose and Oakland...

, by the Bethlehem Steel Corporation; 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 21 May 1944, sponsored by Mrs. Earle Morgan, aunt of the late Ensign Vammen; 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 27 July 1944, with 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...

 L. M. King, Jr., USNR, in command.

World War II

Following commissioning, Vammen fitted out through mid-August 1944 and later conducted her shakedown out of San Diego, California

Naval Station San Diego

Naval Base San Diego is the largest base of the United States Navy on the west coast of the United States, in San Diego, California. Naval Base San Diego is the principal homeport of the Pacific Fleet, consisting of 54 ships and over 120 tenant commands. The base is composed of 13 piers stretched...

, into late September before undergoing a post-shakedown availability at her builder's yard. Underway for 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...

, Territory of Hawaii

Territory of Hawaii

The Territory of Hawaii or Hawaii Territory was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from July 7, 1898, until August 21, 1959, when its territory, with the exception of Johnston Atoll, was admitted to the Union as the fiftieth U.S. state, the State of Hawaii.The U.S...

, on 13 October, the new 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...

 convoyed SS Phillipa to 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...

 before reporting for duty to Commander, Service Force, Pacific Fleet

United States Pacific Fleet

The United States Pacific Fleet is a Pacific Ocean theater-level component command of the United States Navy that provides naval resources under the operational control of the United States Pacific Command. Its home port is at Pearl Harbor Naval Base, Hawaii. It is commanded by Admiral Patrick M...

, on 21 October.

For the remainder of October and all of November, the destroyer escort trained out of Pearl Harbor, operating in company with various 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 and aircraft carrier

Aircraft carrier

An aircraft carrier is a warship designed with a primary mission of deploying and recovering aircraft, acting as a seagoing airbase. Aircraft carriers thus allow a naval force to project air power worldwide without having to depend on local bases for staging aircraft operations...

s, perfecting techniques of 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....

 and escort duty. She then escorted SS Cushman Davis via Funafuti

Funafuti

Funafuti is an atoll that forms the capital of the island nation of Tuvalu. It has a population of 4,492 , making it the most populated atoll in the country. It is a narrow sweep of land between 20 and 400 metres wide, encircling a large lagoon 18 km long and 14 km wide, with a surface of...

 in the Ellice Islands to Espiritu Santo

Espiritu Santo

Espiritu Santo is the largest island in the nation of Vanuatu, with an area of . It belongs to the archipelago of the New Hebrides in the Pacific region of Melanesia. It is in the Sanma Province of Vanuatu....

, before she steamed independently to Pearl Harbor, arriving at the Pacific Fleet's main base three days after Christmas 1944.

Vammen plane-guarded for early in January 1945 before escorting the merchantman SS Exira to Eniwetok in the Marshalls

Marshall Islands

The Republic of the Marshall Islands , , is a Micronesian nation of atolls and islands in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, just west of the International Date Line and just north of the Equator. As of July 2011 the population was 67,182...

 from 9 to 16 January. While returning to Pearl Harbor, Vammen responded to a radio request for assistance from which had an ill crewman. The destroyer escort rendezvoused with the landing ship

Tank landing ship

Landing Ship, Tank was the military designation for naval vessels created during World War II to support amphibious operations by carrying significant quantities of vehicles, cargo, and landing troops directly onto an unimproved shore....

 at sea on 20 January and took the sick man on board. The following day, off Johnston Island, Vammen transferred the man to a hospital boat, sent from that outpost, for medical treatment ashore. The destroyer escort arrived back at Pearl Harbor on the 23 January.

At the end of the month, Vammen sailed for the Marshall Islands

Marshall Islands

The Republic of the Marshall Islands , , is a Micronesian nation of atolls and islands in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, just west of the International Date Line and just north of the Equator. As of July 2011 the population was 67,182...

, escorting Convoy PD-278-T, consisting of the attack transports and . Departing Pearl Harbor on 30 January, PD-278-T arrived at Eniwetok on 7 February. Vammen then headed for Hawaii the next day and, on the 10th, relieved as escort for the escort carrier

Escort aircraft carrier

The escort aircraft carrier or escort carrier, also called a "jeep carrier" or "baby flattop" in the USN or "Woolworth Carrier" by the Royal Navy, was a small and slow type of aircraft carrier used by the British Royal Navy , the Imperial Japanese Navy and Imperial Japanese Army Air Force, and the...

s and en route. They subsequently reached Pearl Harbor on the 17 February.

The destroyer escort conducted one more 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...

 escort run to the Marshalls before she participated in her first major action. She shepherded PD-310-T, which consisted of the attack transport

Attack transport

Attack Transport is a United States Navy ship classification.-History:In the early 1940s, as the United States Navy expanded in response to the threat of involvement in World War II, a number of civilian passenger ships and some freighters were acquired, converted to transports and given hull...

s , , and , from 22 February to 2 March, the day of their arrival at Eniwetok.

Three days later, she (as one of nine escorts) sortied with a 10-ship convoy bound for 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 Kossol Roads

Kossol Roads

Kossol Roads, Palau is a large body of reef-enclosed water north of Babeldaob. During World War II, it was used by the United States Navy as the location of a floating resupply and repair base....

. Detached on 9 March, she escorted the merchantman SS Westward Ho to Kossol Roads, and, two days later, departed the Palaus and proceeded 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...

 in company with the landing ship and Westward Ho, reaching Rizal

Rizal

Rizal is a province located in the CALABARZON , just 16 kilometers east of Manila. The province was named after the country's national hero, José Rizal. Rizal Governor Casimiro A. Ynares III on June 17, 2008 announced the transfer of the Capitol from Pasig. Its P 270-million capitol building,...

, Leyte, on the 13 March.

After patrolling the entrance to Leyte Gulf

Leyte Gulf

Leyte Gulf is a body of water immediately east of the island of Leyte in the Philippines, adjoining the Philippine Sea of the Pacific Ocean, at . The Gulf is bounded on the north by the island of Samar, which is separated from Leyte on the west by the narrow San Juanico Strait, and on the south by...

 from 14 to 18 March, Vammen underwent an availability at San Pedro Bay

San Pedro Bay (Philippines)

San Pedro Bay is a bay in the Philippines, at the northwest end of Leyte Gulf, about 15 km east-west and 20 km north-south. The bay is bounded on the north and east by Samar and on the east by Leyte Island. It is connected by San Juanico Strait to Carigara Bay of the Samar Sea. The...

 alongside tender

Destroyer tender

A destroyer tender is a ship designed to provide maintenance support to a flotilla of destroyers or other small warships. The use of this class has faded from its peak in the first half of the 20th century as the roles of small combatants have evolved .Due to the increased size and automation of...

 . With those repairs completed within a week's time, the destroyer escort sortied on 25 March, bound for Okinawa

Okinawa Prefecture

is one of Japan's southern prefectures. It consists of hundreds of the Ryukyu Islands in a chain over long, which extends southwest from Kyūshū to Taiwan. Okinawa's capital, Naha, is located in the southern part of Okinawa Island...

 and her baptism of fire.

Okinawa

Steaming as part of the screen for Tractor Group "Easy", Vammen reached the Ryukyus

Ryukyu Islands

The , also known as the , is a chain of islands in the western Pacific, on the eastern limit of the East China Sea and to the southwest of the island of Kyushu in Japan. From about 1829 until the mid 20th century, they were alternately called Luchu, Loochoo, or Lewchew, akin to the Mandarin...

 on 1 April, the day of the initial landings on Okinawa

Battle of Okinawa

The Battle of Okinawa, codenamed Operation Iceberg, was fought on the Ryukyu Islands of Okinawa and was the largest amphibious assault in the Pacific War of World War II. The 82-day-long battle lasted from early April until mid-June 1945...

. Detached from duty with Task Unit 51.14.2 (TU 51.14.2), for which the ship's commanding officer had been screen commander, Vammen was assigned to the western half of screening station A-39. Later that day, she received orders to screen LST

Tank landing ship

Landing Ship, Tank was the military designation for naval vessels created during World War II to support amphibious operations by carrying significant quantities of vehicles, cargo, and landing troops directly onto an unimproved shore....

 Group "Dog" during its night retirement. While maneuvering at 15 knots through the congested transport area under poor visibility conditions, the destroyer escort struck a heavy floating object with her bow at 21:00. A few seconds later, an explosion occurred beneath her stern, as though a depth charge had exploded under the ship.

After noticing marked vibrations, Vammen reduced speed to 10 knots. Repair parties reported no evident damage, but the vibrations indicated damage to shafts or propeller

Propeller

A propeller is a type of fan that transmits power by converting rotational motion into thrust. A pressure difference is produced between the forward and rear surfaces of the airfoil-shaped blade, and a fluid is accelerated behind the blade. Propeller dynamics can be modeled by both Bernoulli's...

s. As it turned out, the ship's starboard propeller had been damaged and required replacement. Nevertheless, she completed her assigned mission proceeding to rendezvous with the LST group on its night retirement.

At 06:45 the next day, she resumed her screening station, A-39, but because of her reduced speed capacity, was ordered to take station A-50. Fortunately for Vammen, she was never attacked by enemy aircraft.

Vammen remained on station off Okinawa until 8 April. Due to the frequent enemy air raids, her crew spent an average of 10 to 12 hours a day at their general quarters stations, but as Commander King noted in his report of the ship's operations, "no undue fatigue or effect on morale or efficiency" resulted. Offered no opportunity to fire at enemy aircraft during her time off Okinawa, Vammen conducted two "hedgehog

Hedgehog (weapon)

The Hedgehog was an anti-submarine weapon developed by the Royal Navy during World War II, that was deployed on convoy escort warships such as destroyers to supplement the depth charge. The weapon worked by firing a number of small spigot mortar bombs from spiked fittings...

" attacks on suspected submarine contacts, neither with observable results.

With the additional problem of a burnt-out drive motor in her surface-search (SL) radar

Radar

Radar is an object-detection system which uses radio waves to determine the range, altitude, direction, or speed of objects. It can be used to detect aircraft, ships, spacecraft, guided missiles, motor vehicles, weather formations, and terrain. The radar dish or antenna transmits pulses of radio...

, Vammen departed Okinawa on 8 April, screening LST Group 17 to Leyte. Arriving at San Pedro Bay on 14 April, she underwent repairs alongside Markab before she was drydocked in ARD-16 to have the damaged starboard propeller replaced. Undocking on the 17th, Vammen returned to Okinawa at the end of April, screening LST Group 41.

Detached from that escort duty on 2 May, Vammen received orders to head for the scene of a submarine sighting at 15:14 on the 5th. She arrived on the scene at 17:23, and commenced a search plan in company with , but found nothing. The ships abandoned the search at 11:00 the following day, and Vammen soon resumed her screening role off Okinawa.

The destroyer escort remained off Okinawa, screening incoming ships and off transport areas, for the rest of May. On 28 May, while anchored at the northern end of the transport area in Hagushi Bay, Vammen picked up Talk-Between-Ships (TBS) reports of incoming aircraft, "bogies", commencing beyond 50 miles (90 km). A short while later, the destroyer escort's radar picked up one enemy plane, a Kawasaki Ki-61

Kawasaki Ki-61

The Kawasaki Ki-61 Hien was a Japanese World War II fighter aircraft used by the Imperial Japanese Army Air Force...

 "Tony", first at 10 miles (20 km) and then one mile away as it circled across the ship's bow.

The "Tony" suddenly emerged from the low clouds on the escort's starboard quarter, and all of Vammens 20-mm Oerlikon

Oerlikon 20 mm cannon

The Oerlikon 20 mm cannon is a series of autocannons, based on an original design by Reinhold Becker of Germany, very early in World War I, and widely produced by Oerlikon Contraves and others...

s that could bear opened up, joining the other ships nearby in putting up a fierce barrage of fire. The "Tony" strafed a tug

Tugboat

A tugboat is a boat that maneuvers vessels by pushing or towing them. Tugs move vessels that either should not move themselves, such as ships in a crowded harbor or a narrow canal,or those that cannot move by themselves, such as barges, disabled ships, or oil platforms. Tugboats are powerful for...

 nearby but, hit in the tail and right wing, burst into flame, lost altitude, and crashed into the water without exploding, clear of any ships.

Underway on 3 June, Vammen, awarded an "assist" in the downing of the plane on 28 May, escorted an Okinawa-to-Leyte convoy between 3 and 8 June, sinking a Japanese mine

Naval mine

A naval mine is a self-contained explosive device placed in water to destroy surface ships or submarines. Unlike depth charges, mines are deposited and left to wait until they are triggered by the approach of, or contact with, an enemy vessel...

 with gunfire en route. After repairs alongside Markab and a docking in for repairs to her sound gear—which had been inoperative since 22 May—the destroyer escort sailed for Lingayen in company with sistership , on her way back to Okinawa.

For the remainder of June, Vammen performed the unglamorous but vital duty of screening transports and of providing local escort services to incoming convoys. She ultimately departed the Ryukyus in early July and steamed to Ulithi before returning once more to Okinawa on the 15 July, commencing patrol at station D-l, off Buckner Bay, on the 22 July.

Subsequently returning to Ulithi in early August, the destroyer escort returned to Okinawa on 12 August and, after fueling, got underway on 13 August as part of the screen for an Okinawa-to-Ulithi convoy. It was while underway with that convoy two days later that the ship received the welcome news of 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...

's capitulation. Vammens commanding officer recorded the event: "1745, On basis of communique No. 467, all offensive action against Japanese ceased."

Vammen reached Ulithi on 18 August and, after escorting Convoy UOK (Ulithi to Okinawa) 52 to Okinawa from 27 August to 31 August, returned to Ulithi at the beginning of September. Subsequently visiting Guam

Guam

Guam is an organized, unincorporated territory of the United States located in the western Pacific Ocean. It is one of five U.S. territories with an established civilian government. Guam is listed as one of 16 Non-Self-Governing Territories by the Special Committee on Decolonization of the United...

 and 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...

, Vammen reached Pearl Harbor on 9 November on her way back to the west coast of the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

.

The ship underwent a lengthy availability at the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard

Puget Sound Naval Shipyard

Puget Sound Naval Shipyard and Intermediate Maintenance Facility is a United States Navy shipyard covering 179 acres on Puget Sound at Bremerton, Washington...

, Bremerton, Washington

Bremerton, Washington

Bremerton is a city in Kitsap County, Washington, United States. The population was 38,790 at the 2011 State Estimate, making it the largest city on the Olympic Peninsula. Bremerton is home to Puget Sound Naval Shipyard and the Bremerton Annex of Naval Base Kitsap...

, that lasted into 1946. She shifted southward to San Diego and departed that port on 20 February, bound for the Hawaiian Islands, reaching Pearl Harbor on 27 February. She sailed from Oahu

Oahu

Oahu or Oahu , known as "The Gathering Place", is the third largest of the Hawaiian Islands and most populous of the islands in the U.S. state of Hawaii. The state capital Honolulu is located on the southeast coast...

 on 4 March, and proceeded via Guam to 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...

.

Vammen supported the American occupation forces in their operations from the spring of 1946 into the autumn, touching at ports such as Tsingtao

Qingdao

' also known in the West by its postal map spelling Tsingtao, is a major city with a population of over 8.715 million in eastern Shandong province, Eastern China. Its built up area, made of 7 urban districts plus Jimo city, is home to about 4,346,000 inhabitants in 2010.It borders Yantai to the...

 and 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...

, China; and Kowloon

Kowloon

Kowloon is an urban area in Hong Kong comprising the Kowloon Peninsula and New Kowloon. It is bordered by the Lei Yue Mun strait in the east, Mei Foo Sun Chuen and Stonecutter's Island in the west, Tate's Cairn and Lion Rock in the north, and Victoria Harbour in the south. It had a population of...

. Departing Shanghai on 1 July 1946, the destroyer escort reached Pearl Harbor on 16 July via Guam and Eniwetok. She then set out for the west coast, reaching San Diego on 28 July.

The destroyer escort next underwent an availability at Terminal Island, California, and San Pedro in early September, and shifted to San Diego in mid-month. Vammen was subsequently decommissioned at San Diego on 3 February 1947 and placed in reserve. She was inactivated on 2 April 1947.

Korean War

The Korean War

Korean War

The Korean War was a conventional war between South Korea, supported by the United Nations, and North Korea, supported by the People's Republic of China , with military material aid from the Soviet Union...

 meant a new lease on life for Vammen; she was reactivated and heavily modified to enable her to perform a specialized 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....

 (ASW) role. With a redesigned bridge, trainable forward-firing ASW projectors ("hedgehog

Hedgehog (weapon)

The Hedgehog was an anti-submarine weapon developed by the Royal Navy during World War II, that was deployed on convoy escort warships such as destroyers to supplement the depth charge. The weapon worked by firing a number of small spigot mortar bombs from spiked fittings...

s"), and improved sonar

Sonar

Sonar is a technique that uses sound propagation to navigate, communicate with or detect other vessels...

 capabilities, Vammen thus became one of the most modern ASW vessels in the fleet.

Recommissioned at Mare Island Naval Shipyard

Mare Island Naval Shipyard

The Mare Island Naval Shipyard was the first United States Navy base established on the Pacific Ocean. It is located 25 miles northeast of San Francisco in Vallejo, California. The Napa River goes through the Mare Island Strait and separates the peninsula shipyard from the main portion of the...

, California

California

California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

, on 15 February 1952, Vammen operated off the west coast, out of San Diego and in the southern California area, into the summer of the following year, training. On 19 July 1953, she left San Diego behind, bound for her first deployment to the Western Pacific

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...

 (WestPac) since her re-commissioning.

After proceeding via 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...

, Midway

Midway Atoll

Midway Atoll is a atoll in the North Pacific Ocean, near the northwestern end of the Hawaiian archipelago, about one-third of the way between Honolulu, Hawaii, and Tokyo, Japan. Unique among the Hawaiian islands, Midway observes UTC-11 , eleven hours behind Coordinated Universal Time and one hour...

, and Yokosuka

United States Fleet Activities Yokosuka

U.S. Fleet Activities Yokosuka, or Commander, Fleet Activities Yokosuka is a United States Navy base, in Yokosuka, Japan. Its mission is to maintain and operate base facilities for the logistic, recreational, administrative support and service of the U.S. Naval Forces Japan, U.S. 7th Fleet and...

, Vammen arrived at Sasebo

United States Fleet Activities Sasebo

U.S. Fleet Activities Sasebo is a United States Navy naval base, in Sasebo, Japan, on the island of Kyūshū. It provides facilities for the logistic support of forward-deployed units and visiting operating forces of the United States Pacific Fleet and designated tenant activities.- History :Sasebo...

, 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...

, on 23 August but got underway the next morning for the key port of Wonsan

Wonsan

Wŏnsan is a port city and naval base in southeastern North Korea. It is the capital of Kangwŏn Province. The population of the city is estimated to have been 331,000 in 2000. Notable people from Wŏnsan include Kim Ki Nam, diplomat and Secretary of the Workers' Party.- History :The original name of...

 on the eastern coast of North Korea

North Korea

The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea , , is a country in East Asia, occupying the northern half of the Korean Peninsula. Its capital and largest city is Pyongyang. The Korean Demilitarized Zone serves as the buffer zone between North Korea and South Korea...

. She operated off Wonsan, performing patrol and gunfire support duties, from 25 August to 17 September before she returned to Sasebo.

Vammen returned to Wonsan at the end of October, and, after performing a second tour of gunfire support and patrol there, returned to the west coast of the United States. Departing Wonsan on 11 November, the destroyer escort reached San Diego on 2 December via the Shimonoseki Straits

Kanmon Straits

The Kanmon Straits or the Straits of Shimonoseki is the stretch of water separating two of Japan's four main islands. On the Honshū side of the water is Shimonoseki and on the Kyūshū side is Kitakyūshū, whose former city and present ward, Moji , gave the strait its "mon"...

, Yokosuka, Midway, and Pearl Harbor.

1953 – 1961

Over the next six years, Vammen alternated in training operations off the coast of California, operating primarily out of San Diego, and conducting regular WestPac deployments. In 1956, while in San Diego, Vammen was used in filming a TV drama, and in 1959 the Vammen and crew were also used in filming the Jerry Lewis

Jerry Lewis

Jerry Lewis is an American comedian, actor, singer, film producer, screenwriter and film director. He is best known for his slapstick humor in film, television, stage and radio. He was originally paired up with Dean Martin in 1946, forming the famed comedy team of Martin and Lewis...

 comedy Don't Give Up the Ship

Don't Give Up The Ship (film)

Don't Give Up the Ship is a comedy directed by Norman Taurog and starring Jerry Lewis. It was filmed from October 21, 1958 to January 30, 1959, and released on July 3, 1959 by Paramount Pictures.-Plot:...

.

The latter provided her with excellent training opportunities. In 1955 and again in 1958, she made cruises through the Western and Central Carolines

Caroline Islands

The Caroline Islands are a widely scattered archipelago of tiny islands in the western Pacific Ocean, to the north of New Guinea. Politically they are divided between the Federated States of Micronesia in the eastern part of the group, and Palau at the extreme western end...

, the Bonins, the northern Marianas

Mariana Islands

The Mariana Islands are an arc-shaped archipelago made up by the summits of 15 volcanic mountains in the north-western Pacific Ocean between the 12th and 21st parallels north and along the 145th meridian east...

, and the Volcano Islands

Volcano Islands

The Volcano Islands is a group of three Japanese islands south of the Bonin Islands that belong to the municipality of Ogasawara...

, parts of the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands

Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands

The Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands was a United Nations trust territory in Micronesia administered by the United States from 1947 to 1986.-History:...

 administered by the Navy. She kept a figurative "eye" on local conditions on the various atoll

Atoll

An atoll is a coral island that encircles a lagoon partially or completely.- Usage :The word atoll comes from the Dhivehi word atholhu OED...

s and islands, keeping a lookout for illegal activities in trading and shipping. Her surveillance missions varied in format. On some occasions, she would send a landing party ashore via motor whaleboat

Whaleboat

A whaleboat is a type of open boat that is relatively narrow and pointed at both ends, enabling it to move either forwards or backwards equally well. It was originally developed for whaling, and later became popular for work along beaches, since it does not need to be turned around for beaching or...

 or outboard motor-powered rubber raft; and, on other occasions, Vammen would remain offshore while her men scanned the island with binoculars. During the former, a pharmacist's mate (the ship's doctor) would accompany the landing party to provide medical care and advice for the sick.

On another occasion, while en route to WestPac in company with , Vammen visited Lyttelton, New Zealand

Lyttelton, New Zealand

Lyttelton is a port town on the north shore of Lyttelton Harbour close to Banks Peninsula, a suburb of Christchurch on the eastern coast of the South Island of New Zealand....

, the port of Christchurch

Christchurch

Christchurch is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand, and the country's second-largest urban area after Auckland. It lies one third of the way down the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula which itself, since 2006, lies within the formal limits of...

. The two destroyer escorts remained there from 3 to 8 February 1958, while Vammen transferred 51 sacks of mail

Mail

Mail, or post, is a system for transporting letters and other tangible objects: written documents, typically enclosed in envelopes, and also small packages are delivered to destinations around the world. Anything sent through the postal system is called mail or post.In principle, a postal service...

 destined for Operation Deep Freeze

Operation Deep Freeze

Operation Deep Freeze is the codename for a series of United States missions to Antarctica, beginning with "Operation Deep Freeze I" in 1955–56, followed by "Operation Deep Freeze II", "Operation Deep Freeze III", and so on...

 personnel in Antarctica.

In April 1960, Vammen was selected as a Group I Naval Reserve Training (NRT) ship; on 21 May, she was redesignated a Group II NRT ship. On 18 June 1960, the destroyer escort was de-commissioned and placed "in service".

After becoming an NRT ship, Vammen soon began to provide training for reserve surface divisions of the 11th Naval District. Those men came on board for both dockside and underway training. On the third weekend of each month and for two weeks each summer, Vammen embarked her selected reserve crew. She then conducted 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....

 (ASW), gunnery, and other shipboard training drills off the coast of California between Long Beach and San Diego. In August 1960, Vammen conducted her first annual two-week training cruise with her selected reserve crew embarked. For her performance during those evolutions, the destroyer escort received the highest grade assigned to an NRT ship of her type.

1961 – 1971

She subsequently conducted her second two-week cruise the following summer, 1961, ready for instant mobilization that came sooner than anyone in her crew probably realized. That autumn, the Cold War

Cold War

The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...

 tensions that escalated over Berlin

Berlin

Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...

 and in the Far East resulted in the reactivation of 40 NRT ships for active duty. Accordingly, on 2 October 1961, Vammen was recommissioned at Long Beach, Commander Charlie S. Nelson, USNR, in command.

Following her recommissioning, Vammen underwent her regularly scheduled overhaul at the Todd Shipyard. Transferred to Pearl Harbor as her new home on 15 December 1961, Vammen sailed for another WestPac deployment on 6 January 1962. She deployed with a hunter-killer group and arrived at Pearl on 12 January. She began refresher training soon thereafter.

Assigned to Escort Division 72 (CortDiv 72), Vammen sailed for the Philippines on 24 February. After logistics stops at Midway and Guam for fuel and minor voyage repairs, the destroyer escort reached Subic Bay

Subic Bay

Subic Bay is a bay forming part of Luzon Sea on the west coast of the island of Luzon in Zambales, Philippines, about 100 kilometers northwest of Manila Bay. Its shores were formerly the site of a major United States Navy facility named U.S...

 on 11 March. After a brief period of upkeep, Vammen visited Manila

Manila

Manila is the capital of the Philippines. It is one of the sixteen cities forming Metro Manila.Manila is located on the eastern shores of Manila Bay and is bordered by Navotas and Caloocan to the north, Quezon City to the northeast, San Juan and Mandaluyong to the east, Makati on the southeast,...

 in company with and from 16 to 18 March. On the 19th, the three ships got underway for the Gulf of Siam.

Arriving off the southern tip of South Vietnam

South Vietnam

South Vietnam was a state which governed southern Vietnam until 1975. It received international recognition in 1950 as the "State of Vietnam" and later as the "Republic of Vietnam" . Its capital was Saigon...

 on 21 March, Vammen and Charles E. Brannon relieved and on the following day and assumed the duties of training units of the small South Vietnamese Navy in that area. From that day until 9 April, Vammen remained on station in the Gulf of Siam, off the coast of South Vietnam, maintaining American presence in that area. Heavy pressure from Communist Viet Cong forces inside South Vietnam had brought about a commitment of force there as the United States sought to bolster the American-backed regime. After visiting Subic Bay for a week of upkeep and conducting a port visit to Hong Kong

Hong Kong

Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...

, Vammen returned to her station in the Gulf of Siam. Originally, the ship's schedule had called for the ship to visit Japan and return to Pearl Harbor after visiting Hong Kong, but, as Vammens commanding officer reported "... the efforts of Vammen and the other ex-NRT ships on the South Vietnam training mission were apparently of such value that it was decided to retain Escort Division 72 on the mission through mid-May."

There were further changes of plan afoot for Vammen, as was evidenced during the second deployment in the Gulf of Siam. On 13 May, Vammen and Charles E. Brannon were diverted from their training duties under Task Force 72 and were ordered to report for duty to commander, Task Group 76.5 (TG 76.5). Complying, the two destroyer escorts subsequently screened , , and while that group took a Marine Corps

United States Marine Corps

The United States Marine Corps is a branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for providing power projection from the sea, using the mobility of the United States Navy to deliver combined-arms task forces rapidly. It is one of seven uniformed services of the United States...

 expeditionary force

Marine Expeditionary Force

A Marine Expeditionary Force or MEF is the largest type of a Marine Air-Ground Task Force...

 to Bangkok

Bangkok

Bangkok is the capital and largest urban area city in Thailand. It is known in Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon or simply Krung Thep , meaning "city of angels." The full name of Bangkok is Krung Thep Mahanakhon Amon Rattanakosin Mahintharayutthaya Mahadilok Phop Noppharat Ratchathani Burirom...

, Thailand

Thailand

Thailand , officially the Kingdom of Thailand , formerly known as Siam , is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula and Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the...

. The 3rd Battalion, 9th Marines, embarked in the amphibious group were sent to Thailand in an effort to provide the friendly regime with troops to deter any Communist moves across the Mekong River. Following that operation, Vammen and her sistership escorted TG 76.5 back to Subic Bay, arriving there on 23 May.

Vammen subsequently visited Yokosuka

United States Fleet Activities Yokosuka

U.S. Fleet Activities Yokosuka, or Commander, Fleet Activities Yokosuka is a United States Navy base, in Yokosuka, Japan. Its mission is to maintain and operate base facilities for the logistic, recreational, administrative support and service of the U.S. Naval Forces Japan, U.S. 7th Fleet and...

, 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...

, and participated in Exercise Powerdive, with 7th Fleet

United States Seventh Fleet

The Seventh Fleet is the United States Navy's permanent forward projection force based in Yokosuka, Japan, with units positioned near Japan and South Korea. It is a component fleet force under the United States Pacific Fleet. At present, it is the largest of the forward-deployed U.S. fleets, with...

 units in the Japan area, before she returned via Midway Island to her home port, Pearl Harbor, on 18 June. At Pearl from 18 June to 11 July, Vammen enjoyed the longest consecutive in-port period since February of that year, undergoing much-needed repairs and maintenance. On 11 July, Vammen, in company with , , and Wiseman, sailed for the west coast of the United States.

After her arrival at Long Beach on 17 July, Vammen was de-commissioned on 1 August, resuming her role as an NRT ship. For the next seven years, Vammen continued her duties as an 11th Naval District NRT ship, based at Long Beach, and operating primarily in the Long Beach

Long Beach, California

Long Beach is a city situated in Los Angeles County in Southern California, on the Pacific coast of the United States. The city is the 36th-largest city in the nation and the seventh-largest in California. As of 2010, its population was 462,257...

-Los Angeles

Los Angeles, California

Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...

-San Pedro area. During that time, she ranged as far north as British Columbia

British Columbia

British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...

 and as far south as Ensenada

Ensenada, Baja California

Ensenada is a coastal city in Mexico and the third-largest city in Baja California. It is located south of San Diego on the Baja California Peninsula. The city is locally referred to as La Cenicienta del Pacífico, or, The Cinderella of the Pacific...

, Mexico

Mexico

The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...

. Age ultimately caught up with the veteran destroyer escort; and, in the summer of 1969, she was adjudged unfit for further service.

Placed out of service on 12 July 1969, Vammen 's NRT crew was transferred to ; and the ship herself was turned over to the Naval Inactive Ship Maintenance Facility

Naval Inactive Ship Maintenance Facility

A Naval Inactive Ship Maintenance Facility is a facility owned by the U.S. Navy as a holding facility for decommissioned naval vessels, pending determination of their final fate...

, San Diego. 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 12 July 1969, Vammens stripped hulk was utilized in a Condor

AGM-53 Condor

In 1962, the U.S. Navy issued a requirement for a long-range high-precision air-to-surface missile. The missile, named the AGM-53A Condor, was to use a television guidance system with a data link to the launching aircraft similar to the system of the then projected AGM-62 Walleye.-Development...

 missile test on 4 February 1971 and, as a result of the damage suffered on that date, sank on 18 February.

The wreck of the USS Vammen was found by scuba divers on the 1 August 2010 in about 80 metres of water off San Clemente Island.

Awards

Vammen (DE-644) earned one battle star for her 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 and one engagement star for her Korean War

Korean War

The Korean War was a conventional war between South Korea, supported by the United Nations, and North Korea, supported by the People's Republic of China , with military material aid from the Soviet Union...

service.

External links

• http://www.ub88.org/researchprojects/ussvammen/uss-vammen.html
• Buckley class from Destroyers OnLine
• USS Vammen pictures from Destroyer Escort Sailors Association