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

USS Kline

Crosley-class high speed transport

USS Kline
PHM2c James H. Hendrick, U.S. Navy — U.S. Navy photo [1] from Navsource.org — Public domain — Wikimedia Commons Plate The U.S. Navy high-speed transport USS Kline (APD-120) underway, circa in late 1944. She is painted in Camouflage Measure 31, Design 20L.

Service

  1. United States Navy as USS Kline (DE-687)18 October 1944 — 10 March 1947319 days of the war
  2. as ROCS Shou Shan (DE-37)1966 — 16 March 1997
Crosley-class high speed transport Particulars
Name
USS Kline
Namesake
Stanley F. Kline (1901-1942), a U.S. Navy sailor and Silver Star recipient
Builder
Bethlehem Steel Company, Quincy, Massachusetts
Laid down
27 May 1944
Launched
27 June 1944
Commissioned
18 October 1944
Decommissioned
10 March 1947
Struck
15 January 1966
Fate
Sunk as target, 18 October 2000 (2000)
Status
Wreck

Specifications

Displacement, standard
2,130 long tons (2,164 t)
Length
93.27 m (306 ft)
Beam
11.28 m (37 ft)
Draught
3.66 m (12 ft)
Speed
23 knots (42.6 km/h, 26.5 mph)
Complement
204
Main gun
127 mm (5 in)

USS Kline was a destroyer escort of the Crosley-class high speed transport built for the United States Navy. The ship was named after Stanley F. Kline. Bethlehem Steel Company, Quincy, Massachusetts laid her keel on 27 May 1944. Launched on 27 June 1944, she entered service on 18 October 1944.

Her class ran to nine ships. The class followed the Charles Lawrence-class high speed transport.

Displacement was 2,130 long tons. 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 204.

Her main battery was one 127 mm (5 in) guns.

She served with the United States Navy as USS Kline (DE-687) until 10 March 1947. She was in commission for 319 days of the Second World War. She was decommissioned on 10 March 1947. She was struck from the register on 15 January 1966.

She was expended as a target on 18 October 2000. 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
Armament
  • 1 × 5 in gun
  • 6 × 40 mm guns
  • 6 × 20 mm guns
  • 2 × depth charge tracks

Sister ships

Sources

  • Facts harvested from USS Kline on Wikipedia. Figures only — no wording is taken from it.
  • Photograph: PHM2c James H. Hendrick, U.S. Navy — U.S. Navy photo [1] from Navsource.org — Public domain — Wikimedia Commons