Recognition Guide Warships of the Second World War
United States Navy — Destroyer escort

USS Tills

Cannon-class destroyer escort

USS Tills
Unknown author — U.S. Navy Bureau of Ships photo 19-N-78079 — Public domain — Wikimedia Commons Plate The U.S. Navy destroyer escort USS Tills (DE-748) underway off San Pedro, California (USA), on 11 October 1944. She is painted in Camouflage Measure 31, Design 10D.

Service

  1. United States Navy as USS Tills8 August 1944 — 23 September 1968390 days of the war
Cannon-class destroyer escort Particulars
Name
USS Tills
Namesake
Ensign Robert Tills
Builder
Western Pipe and Steel Company
Laid down
23 June 1943
Launched
3 October 1943
Commissioned
8 August 1944
Decommissioned
June 1946
Recommissioned
21 November 1950
Struck
23 September 1968
Fate
Sunk as target off Virginia, 3 April 1969 (1969)
Status
Wreck

Specifications

Displacement, standard
1,240 long tons (1,260 t)
Length
93.27 m (306 ft) OA
Beam
10.97 m (36 ft)
Draught
3.35 m (11 ft)
Speed
21 knots (38.9 km/h, 24.2 mph)
Range
10,800 nmi (20,002 km)
Complement
216
Main gun
76 mm (3 in)

USS Tills was a Cannon-class destroyer escort, operated by the United States Navy. She was named for Ensign Robert Tills. Western Pipe and Steel Company laid her keel on 23 June 1943. She entered service on 8 August 1944, having been launched on 3 October 1943.

79 ships of the class were built. The class followed the Buckley-class destroyer escort and was succeeded by the Edsall-class destroyer escort.

Displacement was 1,240 long tons. She measured 93.3 m (306 ft) long with a beam of 11.0 m (36 ft). Her designed speed was 21 knots, and she carried a complement of 216. Her main battery was of 76 mm (3.0 in) calibre.

She was in commission for 390 days of the Second World War. She was decommissioned in June 1946. She recommissioned on 21 November 1950. She was struck from the register on 23 September 1968.

She was expended as a target on 3 April 1969. The wreck survives.

Written from the harvested record. Every figure above is sourced; the wording is this site's own.

Armament and machinery

Armament and machinery
Propulsion
  • 4 × GM Mod. 16-278A diesel engines with electric drive, 6000 shp, 2 screws
Armament
  • 3 × single Mk.22 3"/50 caliber guns
  • 1 × twin 40 mm Mk.1 AA gun
  • 8 × 20 mm Mk.4 AA guns
  • 3 × 21-inch (533 mm) torpedo tubes
  • 1 × Hedgehog Mk.10 anti-submarine mortar (144 rounds)
  • 8 × Mk.6 depth charge projectors
  • 2 × Mk.9 depth charge tracks

Sister ships

54 more in the class

Sources

  • Facts harvested from USS Tills on Wikipedia. Figures only — no wording is taken from it.
  • Photograph: Unknown author — U.S. Navy Bureau of Ships photo 19-N-78079 — Public domain — Wikimedia Commons