With their WW II jobs completed, the Destroyer Escort Radar picket ships (DER’s) now manning the Pacific Barrier were placed in mothballs. They remained there until 1950 when the challenge of air defense required these proud little ships to serve again. 

They went to shipyards where they underwent extensive modification and emerged floating radar sets. In the main, this consisted of enlarging the ships’ nerve centers — Combat Information Centers—to handle data fed by the new air search, height-finder and surface search radar. Too, the center portion of the main deck had to be enclosed and a superstructure added to provide more and spacious living quarters for the 160-man crew, 

These modifications added more than 400 tons to the escorts’ displacement. Small but heavy, they are rough-riders and far from comfortable. Often the risks are great as these ships always remain on station regardless of weather conditions. Work aboard the DERs is harder than in most ships, yet an attraction for duty aboard them defies analysis. Most men who serve aboard them in the Pacific will, without the slightest hesitation, tell you that they are the most important ships in the Navy. They believe this because theirs are the only type ships in the fleet that are actually performing their regular mission on an around-the-clock basis. Like the Barrier aircraft, they are engaged in their ultimate functions, not engaged in peacetime training. 

In 1956, two DERs were as-signed to the Pacific Barrier and home-ported at Pearl Harbor. On 18 August 1957, Escort Squadron SEVEN was formed and commissioned on the East Coast. Since, fourteen DERs have joined the squadron. 

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