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

USS Ahrens

Buckley-class destroyer escort

USS Ahrens
F.B. Larrick, U.S. Navy — U.S. Navy photo 80-G-266487 — Public domain — Wikimedia Commons Plate The U.S. Navy destroyer escort USS Ahrens (DE-575) underway in the Atlantic Ocean on 13 May 1944, seen from the escort carrier USS Bogue (CVE-9). Note the High Frequency Direction Finder (HF/DF) antenna mounted on Ahrens 's foremast peak. 16 days after this photograph was taken, on 29 May 1944, Ahrens and USS Eugene E. Elmore (DE-686) sank the German submarine U-549 northwest of the Canary Islands

Service

  1. United States Navy as USS Ahrens12 February 1944 — 24 June 1946568 days of the war
Buckley-class destroyer escort Particulars
Name
USS Ahrens
Namesake
Edward H. Ahrens
Builder
Bethlehem Steel Corporation, Hingham, Massachusetts
Ordered
1942
Laid down
5 November 1943
Launched
21 December 1943
Commissioned
12 February 1944
Decommissioned
24 June 1946
Struck
1 April 1965
Fate
Sold for scrap, 20 January 1967 (1967)
Status
Scrapped

Specifications

Displacement, standard
1,400 long tons (1,422 t)
Displacement, full load
1,740 long tons (1,768 t)
Length
93.27 m (306 ft)
Beam
11.28 m (37 ft)
Draught
2.74 m (9 ft)
Speed
23 knots (42.6 km/h, 26.5 mph)
Range
3,700 nmi (6,852 km)
Complement
213
Main gun
76 mm (3 in)

USS Ahrens was a Buckley-class destroyer escort, operated by the United States Navy. The ship was named after Edward H. Ahrens. Her keel was laid at Bethlehem Steel Corporation, Hingham, Massachusetts on 5 November 1943. Launched on 21 December 1943, she entered service on 12 February 1944.

98 ships of the class were built. The class followed the Evarts-class destroyer escort and was succeeded by the Cannon-class destroyer escort.

She displaced 1,400 long tons standard and 1,740 long tons at full load. She measured 93.3 m (306 ft) long with a beam of 11.3 m (37 ft). Her designed speed was 23 knots, and she carried a complement of 213. Her main battery was of 76 mm (3.0 in) calibre.

She was in commission for 568 days of the Second World War. She was decommissioned on 24 June 1946. She was struck from the register on 1 April 1965.

She was broken up for scrap on 20 January 1967.

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

Armament and machinery

Armament and machinery
Propulsion
  • 2 × boilers
  • General Electric turbo-electric drive
  • 12000 shp
  • 2 × solid manganese-bronze 3600 lb 3-bladed propellers, 8 ft diameter, 7 ft pitch
  • 2 × rudders
  • 359 tons fuel oil
Armament
  • 3 × 3"/50 caliber guns
  • 1 × quad 1.1"/75 caliber gun
  • 8 × single 20 mm guns
  • 1 × triple 21 inch (533 mm) torpedo tubes
  • 1 × Hedgehog anti-submarine mortar
  • 8 × K-gun depth charge projectors
  • 2 × depth charge tracks

Sister ships

73 more in the class

Sources

  • Facts harvested from USS Ahrens on Wikipedia. Figures only — no wording is taken from it.
  • Photograph: F.B. Larrick, U.S. Navy — U.S. Navy photo 80-G-266487 — Public domain — Wikimedia Commons