USS Harold C. Thomas (DE-21)

USS Harold C. Thomas (DE-21) was an Evarts-class destroyer escort constructed for the United States Navy during World War II. It was promptly sent off into the Pacific Ocean to protect convoys and other ships from Japanese submarines and fighter aircraft. At the end of the war, she returned to the United States proudly with two battle stars.

For other ships with the same name, see HMS Essington.

USS Harold C. Thomas, in 1945
History
United States
Name: USS Harold C. Thomas
Builder: Mare Island Naval Shipyard, Vallejo, California
Laid down: 30 April 1942
Launched: 18 December 1942, as HMS Essington (BDE-21)
Commissioned: 31 May 1943
Decommissioned: 26 October 1945
Renamed: USS Harold C. Thomas, 19 February 1943
Stricken: 28 November 1945
Honors and
awards:		 2 battle stars (World War II)
Fate: Sold for scrapping, 25 November 1946
General characteristics
Type: Evarts-class destroyer escort
Displacement:
  • 1,140 long tons (1,158 t) standard
  • 1,430 long tons (1,453 t) full
Length:
  • 289 ft 5 in (88.21 m) o/a
  • 283 ft 6 in (86.41 m) w/l
Beam: 35 ft (11 m)
Draft: 11 ft (3.4 m) (max)
Propulsion:
Speed: 19 knots (35 km/h; 22 mph)
Range: 4,150 nmi (7,690 km)
Complement: 15 officers and 183 enlisted
Armament:

She was launched on 18 December 1942 by the Mare Island Naval Shipyard, Vallejo, California, as HMS Essington (BDE-21) for the British Royal Navy; later designed for U.S. Navy use; and commissioned on 31 May 1943, Comdr. H. Reich in command.

World War II Pacific Theatre operations

After three voyages escorting merchantmen from San Francisco, California, to Pearl Harbor, Harold C. Thomas served with ComSubTraPac from 2 to 20 November 1943. Sailing from Pearl Harbor on 20 November with a convoy of merchantmen and cargo ships, she reached Abemama, Gilbert Islands, on 28 November, a week after Vice Admiral Raymond A. Spruance began the occupation of those islands. Harold C. Thomas spent the rest of the year in the Gilberts on patrol and escort duty.

After undergoing availability early in 1944, Harold C. Thomas sailed as flagship for Escort Division 10, on 29 February. Reaching Eniwetok, Marshall Islands, on 11 March, she did escort work until 30 March when she became part of a hunter-killer carrier group on anti-submarine patrol east of the Marshalls. Returning to Pearl Harbor on 6 May, the destroyer escort spent the remainder of the year in the vital but unsung work of shepherding merchantmen, cargo ships, and transports through the back staging area, up to their assembly points for invasion forces. This duty took Harold C. Thomas to the Marshall, Admiralty, Palau, and Marianas Islands. She also performed some submarine training work at Pearl Harbor. On 21 November Harold C. Thomas rescued seven men from a PBM flying boat which had crashed at sea off Majuro Atoll.

Departing Pearl Harbor on 21 January 1945, she reached San Francisco, California, six days later and proceeded to San Diego, California, for badly needed repairs. Harold C. Thomas returned to Pearl Harbor on 5 April and spent the rest of the war in submarine training and escort duty.

Attending the signing at Tokyo Bay

The long Pacific war ended on 1 September with the signing of the unconditional surrender on board USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay, and Harold C. Thomas sailed for the United States 20 days later, putting into San Pedro, California, on 27 September.

End-of-War Decommissioning

She decommissioned on 26 October 1945. She was sold to the Pacific Bridge Co., San Francisco, California, on 25 November 1946 and was scrapped on 26 March 1947.

Awards
Combat Action Ribbon (retroactive)
American Campaign Medal
 Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal (with two service stars)
World War II Victory Medal

See also

References

This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be found here.

  • Photo gallery of USS Harold C. Thomas (DE-21) at NavSource Naval History


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