Recognition Guide Warships of the Second World War

United States Navy — Destroyer escort class

Rudderow-class destroyer escort

Rudderow class

The class in numbers

  • 252 Planned
  • 72 Completed
  • 180 Cancelled
  • 1 Preserved

Design and service

Type
Destroyer escort
Navy
United States Navy
Built
1943–1944
In commission
1943–1992
Preceded by
Edsall-class destroyer escort
Succeeded by
John C. Butler-class destroyer escort
Operators
Republic of China, Colombia, Mexico
Builders
  • Bethlehem Hingham, MA
  • Bethlehem Fore River, MA
  • Charleston Navy Yard, SC
  • Defoe Shipbuilding, MI
  • Philadelphia Navy Yard, PA

Class specifications

Figures for the class as designed. Individual vessels varied, sometimes considerably — each vessel page carries its own configurations.

As built
Displacement, full load
1,740 long tons (1,768 t)
Length
93.27 m (306 ft) OA
Speed
24 knots (44.4 km/h, 27.6 mph)
Complement
183
Main gun
40 mm (1.6 in)
Armament
  • 2 × 5-inch/38 dual-purpose
  • 4 × 40 mm Bofors in twin mounts in the 'B' and 'X' position. 10 × 20 mm single mount Oerlikon cannon, four either side of the bridge, four in sponsons abaft the funnel, two on the fantail
  • Torpedo tubes: three 21-inch (533 mm) torpedo tubes aft of the stack.
  • Hedgehog: anti-submarine mortar, on the main deck aft of 'A' gun.
  • Depth charges: Two double rails at the stern and eight K-gun throwers.

Roster

Holding 8 of the 72 hulls recorded for this class. Vessels transferred to another navy are catalogued under the navy that sailed them and appear there instead.

Vessel Pennant Commissioned Fate
USS Belet 1945 Wrecked 1972
USS Don O. Woods DE-721 1945 Scrapped 2002
USS Earheart 1945 Wrecked 1976
USS Holt 1944 Scrapped 1984
USS Jobb 1944 Scrapped 1970
USS Joseph M. Auman 1945 Scrapped 1989
USS Rednour 1944 Transferred 1969
USS Thomas F. Nickel 1944 Scrapped 1973

Sources