USS Pratt (DE-363)

USS Pratt (DE-363) was a John C. Butler-class destroyer escort in service with the United States Navy from 1944 to 1946.

For other ships with the same name, see USS Pratt.

History
United States
Name: Pratt
Namesake: Malcolm Lewis Pratt
Builder: Consolidated Steel Corporation, Orange, Texas
Laid down: 11 April 1944
Launched: 1 June 1944
Commissioned: 18 September 1944
Decommissioned: 14 May 1946
Stricken: 15 March 1972
Fate: Sold for scrap, 15 January 1973
General characteristics
Class and type: John C. Butler-class destroyer escort
Displacement: 1,350 tons
Length: 306 ft (93 m)
Beam: 36 ft 8 in (11.18 m)
Draft: 9 ft 5 in (2.87 m)
Propulsion: 2 boilers, 2 geared turbine engines, 12,000 shp (8,900 kW); 2 propellers
Speed: 24 knots (44 km/h; 28 mph)
Range: 6,000 nmi (11,000 km; 6,900 mi) at 12 kn (22 km/h; 14 mph)
Complement: 14 officers, 201 enlisted
Armament:

Laid down in April 1944, launched in June 1944, and commissioned more than four months later, Pratt served as an escort for convoys between New Guinea and the Philippines during early 1945. She then spent three months training and escorting submarines while also patrolling shipping lanes off the Philippines. After the end of the war in the Pacific, Pratt helped establish seaplane anchorages in Korea and China before being decommissioned in late 1945. She remained in reserve until being sold for scrap in 1973.

Design
Main article: John C. Butler-class destroyer escort

The John C. Butler-class destroyer escorts were designed to meet a need for large numbers of cheap anti-submarine escort ships for ocean convoys, and as a result carried little anti-surface armament. The class was part of an initial requirement for 720 escorts to be completed by the end of 1944, which was significantly reduced.[1]

A United States Navy diagram of a destroyer escort

Pratt was 306 feet (93.3 m) long overall with a beam of 36 feet 10 inches (11.2 m) and a draft of 13 feet 4 inches (4.1 m).[2] She displaced 1,350 long tons (1,372 t) standard and 1,745 long tons (1,773 t) full load, with a complement of 14 officers and 201 enlisted men.[3]

The ship was propelled by two Westinghouse geared steam turbines powered by two "D" Express boilers, which created 12,000 shaft horsepower (8,900 kW) for a designed maximum speed of 24 knots (44 km/h; 28 mph). She had a range of 6,000 nautical miles (11,000 km; 6,900 mi) at 12 knots (22 km/h; 14 mph).[3]

Armament and sensors

Pratt mounted a main battery of two single turret-mounted 5-inch (127 mm) /38 caliber guns, one forward and one aft of the superstructure, to protect against surface and aerial threats, directed by the Mark 51 Gunnery Fire-Control System. In addition, she was armed with six 40-millimeter (1.6 in) Bofors anti-aircraft (AA) guns in two twin mounts, superfiring over the 5-inch guns,[1] also controlled by the Mark 51 fire-control system, and ten single Oerlikon 20-millimeter (0.8 in) light AA guns. Equipped with three 21-inch (533 mm) centerline torpedo tubes, the ship also carried two depth charge racks, eight K-gun depth-charge throwers and one Hedgehog spigot mortar as anti-submarine weapons.[2] She was equipped with a QC series sonar[3] and a SL-1 surface search radar.[4]

Construction and service

Pratt was named for Malcolm Lewis Pratt, a World War I Navy Cross recipient, and his son John Lester Pratt, both of whom were killed in action during the Guadalcanal campaign. The ship's keel was laid down by the Consolidated Steel Corp., Ltd. at their yard in Orange, Texas on 11 April 1944. The destroyer escort was launched on 1 June 1944; sponsored by Mrs. Malcolm L. Pratt, and commissioned 18 September 1944, Comdr. Robert H. Wanless in command.[2]

World War II Pacific Theatre operations

After shakedown off Bermuda, Pratt sailed with Escort Division 85 for the Panama Canal and southwest Pacific Ocean. Arriving at Manus, Admiralty Islands on 7 January 1945, Pratt was escort commander for convoys running between New Guinea and the Philippines until 25 May. Between 25 May and 25 August she trained and escorted British and U.S. submarines in the Subic Bay area and patrolled the shipping lanes off the northwestern coast of Luzon.[2]

China and Korea operations

Pratt next joined TG 70.4 and sailed to Okinawa where she joined the Korean occupation force. On 5 September she sailed for Jinsen and after aiding in establishing a seaplane anchorage there, she got underway with Currituck and Rombach, for Shanghai, China, whence she shifted to Taku, arriving on 28 September to plant seaplane moorings.[2]

Post-war decommissioning

On 21 November the ship departed the Asian continent for Okinawa, thence to the United States for inactivation. Arriving at San Pedro, California on 16 December, she decommissioned on 14 May 1946 and was berthed at Stockton, California as a unit of the Pacific Reserve Fleet. Transferred to the Mare Island Group in 1959, she remained a unit of the Reserve Fleet[2] until she was struck on 15 March 1972. Pratt was sold for scrap on 15 January 1973 and broken up.[5]

References
  1. Friedman 1982, pp. 141, 149.
  2. DANFS Pratt.
  3. Friedman 1982, p. 421.
  4. Friedman 1981, p. 149.
  5. Bauer & Roberts 1991, p. 236.

Bibliography
  • Bauer, K. Jack; Roberts, Stephen S. (1991). Register of Ships of the U.S. Navy, 1775-1990: Major Combatants. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press. ISBN 0-313-26202-0.
  • Friedman, Norman (1981). Naval Radar. London: Conway Maritime Press. ISBN 0-85177-238-2.
  • Friedman, Norman (1982). U.S. Destroyers: An Illustrated Design History. Annapolis: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 0-87021-733-X.
  • "Pratt (DE-363)". Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. Naval History & Heritage Command. 18 April 2016. Retrieved 18 September 2019.
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