USS Francis M. Robinson (DE-220)
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| Career |  |
|---|---|
| Ordered: | 1942 |
| Laid down: | 22 February 1943 |
| Launched: | 29 May 1943 |
| Commissioned: | 15 January 1944 |
| Decommissioned: | 20 June 1960 |
| Struck: | 1 July 1972 |
| Fate: | Sold for scrap 12 July 1973 |
| General characteristics | |
| Displacement: | 1400 tons standard 1740 tons full load |
| Length: | 306 ft (93 m) |
| Beam: | 37 ft (11.3 m) |
| Draft: | 9.5 ft (4.1 m) standard 11.25 ft full load |
| Propulsion: | 2 boilers, General Electric Turbo-electric drive 2 solid manganese-bronze 3600 lb 3-bladed propellers, 8.5 ft. diameter, 7 ft 7 inch pitch 12,000 hp (8.9 MW) 2 rudders |
| Speed: | 23 knots (43 km/h) |
| Range: | 359 tons oil 3700 nm. at 15 knots 6000 nmi. at 12 knots |
| Complement: | 15 officers, 198 men |
| Armament: | • 3 × 3 in/50 cal. guns (76.2 mm) • 4 × 1.1 in/75 (28 mm) Anti-Aircraft guns (1x4) • 8 × 20 mm • 3 × 21 in (533 mm) torpedo tubes (1x3) • 1 × hedgehog projector • 8 × depth charge projectors (K-guns) • 2 × depth charge tracks |
USS Francis M. Robinson (DE-220), a Buckley class destroyer escort of the United States Navy, was named in honor of Commander Francis M. Robinson (1883-1942), who was a recipient of the Navy Cross.
Francis M. Robinson was launched 1 May 1943 by Philadelphia Navy Yard; sponsored by Mrs. Francis M. Robinson, widow of Commander Robinson; and commissioned 15 January 1944, Lieutenant J. E. Johansen, United States Naval Reserve, in command.
After a period of service as escort along the east coast, Francis M. Robinson arrived at Norfolk, Virginia 2 May 1944 to join the USS Bogue hunter-killer group, an outstandingly successful anti-submarine force in whose Presidential Unit Citation Francis M. Robinson was to share. Patrolling off the Cape Verde Islands on 13 May, she made a sound contact, and mounted a deliberate attack with depth charges and hedgehogs which sank the Japanese submarine RO-501, the former German U-boat U-1224. Upon the return of the Bogue group to New York 4 July, Francis M. Robinson was detached. She served briefly to aid submarines in training out of New London, Connecticut, and on 2 August sailed from New York on the first of five convoy escort voyages to north African ports. During the fourth such voyage, on 17 February as the convoy formed up to pass eastward through the Straits of Gibraltar, two of the merchantmen were torpedoed. Francis M. Robinson saw one sail off to port under her own power, and remained with the other, sending a damage control party on board to assist in stopping flooding, until a tug came out of Gibraltar.
Completing her convoy duty 15 May 1945, Francis M. Robinson aided submarines training out of New London, and was school ship at the Naval Training Center at Miami, and from November through February 1946 served as plane guard for carriers training in Chesapeake Bay. She first arrived at Key West, her base for the remainder of her naval career, 6 February 1947, and from that time conducted development operations in anti-submarine warfare. Her activities took her on cruises along the east coast and throughout the Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico, and were varied with participation in exercises of many types. Francis M. Robinson was placed out of commission in reserve at Philadelphia 20 June 1960.
In addition to the Presidential Unit Citation, Francis M. Robinson received one battle star for World War II service.
[edit] References
This article includes text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships.
[edit] External links
- history.navy.mil: USS Francis M. Robinson
- navsource.org: USS Francis M. Robinson
- hazegray.org: USS Francis M. Robinson
