Recognition Guide Warships of the Second World War
United States Navy — Destroyer escort DE-768

USS Ebert (DE-768)

Cannon-class destroyer escort

USS Ebert (DE-768)
Unknown author — U.S. Navy photo 80-G-301384 — Public domain — Wikimedia Commons Plate — DE-768 The U.S. Navy destroyer escort USS Ebert (DE-768) underway in the North Atlantic, east of Nantucket Island, on 3 January 1945. The ship is painted in Camouflage Measure 32, Design 3D. The photo was taken from a blimp of squadron ZP-11.

Service

  1. United States Navy as USS Ebert12 July 1944 — 14 June 1946417 days of the war
  2. Hellenic Navy as Ierax1 March 1951 — 1991
Cannon-class destroyer escort Particulars
Name
USS Ebert
Pennant / hull number
DE-768
Namesake
Hilan Ebert
Builder
Tampa Shipbuilding Company, Tampa, Florida
Laid down
1 April 1943
Launched
11 May 1944
Commissioned
12 July 1944
Decommissioned
14 June 1946
Struck
7 March 1951
Fate
Sunk as target, July 2002 (2002)
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)

Hilan Ebert, born on 21 March 1903 in Alliance, Ohio, graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1926 and served in various billets afloat and ashore until assigned to Northampton (CA-26) on 29 April 1942. Lieutenant Commander Ebert was killed in action on 30 November 1942 when his ship was torpedoed in the Battle of Tassafaronga off Guadalcanal. He was posthumously awarded the Navy Cross for his courage and disregard for his own safety beyond the call of duty until his ship was lost.

The name Ebert was assigned to DE-74 which was transferred under lend lease to the United Kingdom 13 October 1943 before commissioning. After service as HMS Bentley, she was returned to the United States after the war and sold 20 June 1947.

Ebert (DE-768) was laid down on 1 April 1943 at Tampa, Florida, by the Tampa SHipbuilding Co., Inc.; launched on 11 May 1944; sponsored by Mrs. Hilan Ebert, widow of Lt. Cmdr. Ebert; and commissioned on 12 July 1944, Lt. Cmdr. Frederic Gibbs, USNR, in command.

Ebert guarded the passage of convoys carrying men and supplies vital to victory in Europe, to ports in Britain and France, between 6 October 1944 and 14 May 1945, then returned to New York to prepare for duty in the Pacific. She sailed on 8 June for Pearl Harbor, Territory of Hawaii; Eniwetok, Marshall Islands; and the Philippines. She escorted convoys carrying occupation troops to Japan, until 30 November when she left Manila for the U.S. Ebert was placed out of commission in reserve at Green Cove Springs, Fla., 14 June 1946.

Towed to Boston in November 1950, Ebert was transferred to Greece on 1 March 1951 under the Mutual Defense Assistance Program- (MDAP). Six days later, on 7 March 1951, Ebert was stricken from the Naval Vessel Register. She served in the Royal Hellenic Navy for four decades, being stricken from that Navy's register in 1991.

From the Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships, compiled by the Naval History and Heritage Command (Ebert (DE-768)). A work of the United States Government, in the public domain.

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 Ebert (DE-768) on Wikipedia. Figures only — no wording is taken from it.
  • Service history reproduced verbatim from Ebert (DE-768) , Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships — public domain, a work of the United States Government.
  • Photograph: Unknown author — U.S. Navy photo 80-G-301384 — Public domain — Wikimedia Commons