From the “Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships,”
(1968) Vol. 3, pp.272-273.
HAVERFIELD DE-393
Displacement: 1,200 t.
Length: 306’
Beam: 36’7”
Draft: 8’7”
Speed: 21 k.
Complement: 186
Armament: 3 3”; 2 40mm; 8 20mm; 3 21” torpedo tubes;
2 depth charge tracks;
8 hedge charge projectors;
1 hedge hog
Class: EDSALL
HAVERFIELD (DE-393) was launched 30 August 1943 by
Brown Shipbuilding Co., Houston; sponsored by Mrs. Tracy
Haverfield, mother of Ensign Haverfield; and commissioned 29
November, Lt. Comdr. Jerry A. Matthews in command.
After shakedown in the Caribbean, HAVERFIELD joined
escort carrier BOGUE’s (CVE-9) hunter-killer group in
patrolling Atlantic convoy lanes in search of marauding
German U-boats. Departing Norfolk 26 February 1944, the
hunter-killer group, aided by a Canadian corvette and
British aircraft, sank U-575 on the 23rd of March. With
some seven survivors of the Nazi submarine aboard,
HAVERFIELD continued her patrol to Casablanca, where she
reported to Commander, Moroccan Sea Frontier, and turned
over the German prisoners 18 March. After returning to
Norfolk, HAVERFIELD sailed on her second offensive combat
cruise with the BOGUE group 5 May. Operating with another
HUK group under escort carrier BLOCK ISLAND (CVE-21), the
BOGUE force sank RO-501, ex-U-1224, at 18d 08m N., 33d 13m
W., 13 May as the former German ship was heading for her new
home in Japan.
Reaching Casablanca 29 May, HAVERFIELD was ordered out
that same night to render emergency assistance to survivors
of escort carrier BLOCK ISLAND, sunk by a German torpedo off
the Canary Islands. HAVERFIELD rescued one of six BLOCK
ISLAND fighter pilots who had been aloft when the carrier
sank, but a long search failed to locate the remaining five
men. After this, HAVERFIELD continued to operate until the
European War ended in May 1945 on trans-Atlantic HUK
missions as well as on patrol along the icy Great Barrier.
When all German U-boats still at sea had been accounted for,
the destroyer-escort underwent a Boston overhaul; and, after
intensive training in Cuban waters, sailed for the Pacific
19 July to be ready for the invasion of Japan. Reaching
Pearl Harbor via the Panama Canal and San Diego 1 August,
HAVERFIELD was there when the war ended in mid-August and at
the end of the month assumed convoy escort duty from Saipan
to Okinawa. She patrolled the China coast and then streamed
her homeward-bound pennant, reaching Boston 15 February
1946. HAVERFIELD sailed to Green Cove Springs, Fla., 25
March 1946, decommissioned and went into reserve 30 June
1947.
Reclassified DER-393 in September 1954, HAVERFIELD was
converted to a radar picket ship at the Philadelphia Navy
Yard and recommissioned there 4 January 1955. Fitted with
the latest electronic detection equipment and with 50 tons
of ballast in her keel to compensate for the topside weight
of the new radar antennae, HAVERFIELD trained off the East
Coast and then reported to her new home port, Seattle, via
the Panama Canal and San Diego 23 July. HAVERFIELD served
as flagship of the newly created CortRon 5 in addition to
regular radar picket patrol off the Pacific coast. After 5
years of this duty, she reported to Pearl Harbor 10 April
1959 for similar employment along the Pacific Barrier.
Departing Pearl Harbor 16 May 1960, HAVERFIELD sailed to a
new homeport, Guam, to make surveillance of the Trust
Territory Islands and to ensure the safety and welfare of
the islanders.
After participating in Operation Cosmos, which provided
navigational aids for and was prepared to render emergency
assistance to President Dwight Eisenhower's plane as the
Chief Executive crossed the Pacific on a good will tour,
HAVERFIELD operated with the famed bathyscaph Trieste as it
descended the Marianas Trench to a near-record dive of
19,300 feet 30 June 1960.
Following her support of this scientific endeavor,
HAVERFIELD conducted antisubmarine and search and rescue
patrols among the Bonins, the Marianas, and the Caroline
Islands. For almost 5 years, she served primarily in the
Trust Territory of the Pacific, though twice she deployed to
the Far East. Steaming to Japan in October 1960, she became
the first radar picket escort ship to operate with the 7th
Fleet in the Western Pacific. In mid-October 1961, she
returned to the Far East; and, upon relieving destroyer JOHN
R. CRAIG (DD-885) on patrol in the Formosa Strait, she
became the first of her type to join in this important
peace-keeping operation. She continued intermittent patrols
off Taiwan until 10 January 1962 when she steamed via Japan
to resume patrol duty out of Guam. In November, Typhoon
Karen left widespread destruction on Guam, and HAVERFIELD,
the first ship to return to the storm-wracked Apra harbor,
provided valuable supplies and services.
HAVERFIELD returned to Pearl Harbor March 1965 and,
after joining Escort Squadron 5, sailed 19 June for duty off
South Vietnam. There, she participated in "Market Time"
patrols to guard against infiltration of North Vietnamese
troops and supplies by sea. She served "Market Time" for 7
months, then returned Pearl Harbor 2 February 1966.
Departing for the Far East 23 May, she resumed "Market Time"
operations 9 June. Eleven days later, she participated in
the most significant action of the operation up to that
time.
(This is mentioned in the Arnheiter Affair)
A 100 foot, steel-hulled North Vietnamese trawler,
attempting to infiltrate "Market Time" patrols with a large
cargo of arms and ammunition for the Viet Cong, was detected
by U.S. Coast Guard patrol craft POINT LEAGUE (WPB-82304)
near the mouth of the Co Chien River in the Mekong Delta. A
chase and fire fight followed, during which the patrol craft
forced the enemy trawler aground. The enemy abandoned the
burning ship; after wiping out enemy shore resistance,
"Market Time" units, including HAVERFIELD, sent volunteers
on board to fight fires and salvage the captured cargo.
While American and South Vietnamese teams extinguished the
fires, other volunteers offloaded almost 80 tons of
ammunition and arms, including mortars, recoilless rifles,
machine-guns, and antitank weapons. This represented the
largest seizure of the "Market Time" operation and thwarted
a determined attempt by the North Vietnamese to supply Viet
Cong.
HAVERFIELD continued "Market Time" patrols during the
next 5 months. In addition, she provided gunfire support 6
September against the enemy on Phu Quoc Island, South
Vietnam. She returned to Pearl Harbor 6 December, remained
there until late April 1967, and then resumed patrol duty
off South Vietnam.
For her participation in World War II, HAVERFIELD was
awarded one battle star as well as the Presidential Unit
Citation for her antisubmarine work in the Atlantic.
[Stricken from the Navy Register on 2 June 1969,
HAVERFIELD was sold on 15 December 1971.
K. Jack Bauer and Stephen S. Roberts, “Register of Ships of
the U. S. Navy, 1775-1990,” p.226.
“Jane’s Fighting Ships, 1966-67,” p.427.]
Transcribed by Michael Hansen
mhansen2@cox.net
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