USS Satterlee (DD-626)

Charles Satterlee, born on 14 September 1875 in Essex, Conn., was appointed a cadet in the Revenue Cutter Service on 19 November 1895. In 1908, he was assigned as supervisor of anchorages at Sault Ste. Marie, Mich. This duty included command of the cutter, Machinate. In 1909, he was ordered to Tahoma, then fitting out at Baltimore, Md., for a cruise to the Pacific. From 1910 to 1913, he was assistant inspector of lifesaving stations; and, on 1 September 1915, he was promoted to Captain in the Coast Guard. Capt. Satterlee was in command of the cutter, Tampa, when that vessel was torpedoed and sunk with all hands on 26 September 1918 in the Bristol Channel while escorting a convoy.

The second Satterlee (DD-626) was laid down on 10 September 1941 by the Seattle-Tacoma Shipbuilding Corp., Seattle, Wash.; launched on 17 July 1942; sponsored by Miss Rebecca E. Satterlee, niece of Capt. Satterlee; and commissioned on 1 July 1943, Lt. Comdr. Joseph F. Witherow, Jr., in command.

Satterlee escorted the British aircraft carrier, HMS Victorious, from the Western Seaboard to the Atlantic coast, where the new destroyer joined the U.S. Atlantic Fleet on 26 August 1943. After two convoy escort voyages to Casablanca, and training out of Casco Bay, Maine, she escorted the battleships Texas and Arkan sas to Belfast, Northern Ireland, in April 1944.

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From the Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships, compiled by the Naval History and Heritage Command (Satterlee II (DD-626)). A work of the United States Government, in the public domain.