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U.S.S. ROBERTS

(DE-749)

SEEK-STRIKE-DESTROY

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USS ROBERTS (DE-749) - a Cannon-class destroyer escort

In Commission 1944 to 1968

DE-749 Deployments - Major Events

Add a DE-749 Shellback Initiation Add a DE-749 Deployment - Major Event
Month Year to Month Year Deployment / Event
JUL1943-Keel Date: 7 JUL 1943
at Western Pipe and Steel Company Los Angeles CA
NOV1943-Launch Date: 14 NOV 1943
SEP1944-Commissioned: 2 SEP 1944
DEC1944-JAN1945Joined HUK Patrolled North East of Hawaii
JAN1945-FEB1945Operated primarily in Marshalls
MAY1945-AUG1945Okinawa Guam Phillipine Sea and Western Pacific
SEP1945-OCT1945Saipan to Nagasaki and Luzon to Sasebo -18 Oct. departed Japan
NOV1945-JAN1946Arrived San Diego continued to Atlantic Coast for Mothball Fleet
JAN1947-MAR1947Ordered to 5th Naval District for Reserve Training
JUN1950-JUN1952Extended Training cruises to Mediterranean
JAN1953-MAR1953Participated in Nato exercises
MAY1953-MAY1953Guantanamo Bay
JAN1954-JAN1954UNITAS
JUN1954-JUL1954Caribbean
JUL1954-SEP19682 Week Training Cruises from Nova Scotia to the Carribean
MAR1961-MAY1961Guantanamo Bay
OCT1961-AUG1962Active Duty/Escort Squadron CortRon 12 based at Norfolk Va.
AUG1962-OCT1964Returned to Reserve Destroyer Squadron 34 for reserve training
OCT1964-SEP1968Decommissioned and continued reserve training
SEP1968-Decommissioned: 21 SEP 1968

DE-749 General Specifications

Class: Cannon-class destroyer escort

Named for: Arthur John Roberts

Complement: 15 Officers and 201 Enlisted

Displacement: 1240 tons

Length: 306 feet

Beam: 36 feet 10 inches

Flank Speed: 21 knots

Range: 10 800 Nautical Miles

Final Disposition:Sunk as target November 1971



USS ROBERTS (DE-749)



Roberts (DE-749) was laid down 11 February 1943 by the Western Pipe & Steel Co. San Pedro Calif.; launched 14 November 1943; sponsored by Mrs. Ruth Marohn; and commissioned 2 September 1944 Lt. Comdr. Robert M. Catharine Jr. USNR in command.


Following shakedown off southern California Roberts sailed for Pearl Harbor on 30 November. On her arrival 10 December she joined a hunter-killer (HUK) group operating with Corregidor (CVE-58); and for the next 3 weeks patrolled to the north and east of Hawaii. During January and early February 1945 her group operated to the west primarily in the Marshalls then returned to Pearl Harbor. From 1 to 18 March the group searched unsuccessfully between Johnston Island and Kwajalein for an overdue Army Air Corps transport carrying Lt. Gen. M. F. Harmon USA. Toward the end of the month the ships replenished at Majuro then resumed HUK operations this time in the Marshalls.


Detached at the end of April Roberts proceeded to Ulithi whence she departed 12 May for Okinawa. Screening Nehenta Bay (CVE-74) en route she arrived at midmonth. On the 16th she joined Natoma Bay (CVE-62) and screened her until the 31st. On the 31st she escorted Gilbert Islands (CVE-107) then on 1 June departed the Ryukyus to escort Makin Island (CVE-93) to Guam.

Roberts arrived at Guam on the 5th steamed to Eniwetok and on the 27th resumed HUK operations with Kasaan Bay (CVE-69). Into July the group patrolled the shipping lanes of Micronesia then toward the end of the month shifted to the Philippine Sea.


In early August Roberts returned to Guam for repairs. On the 15th hostilities ceased and Roberts was assigned to duty in the western Pacific.


During September she escorted landing craft of the 5th Fleet's amphibious force from Saipan to Nagasaki; then in October screened transports from Luzon to Sasebo. On 18 October she departed Japan for the United States.


The destroyer escort arrived at San Diego 10 November then continued on to the Atlantic coast for preinactivation overhaul. In January 1946 she moved from Norfolk to Green Cove Springs Fla. where she joined other ships waiting to berth with the "mothball fleet." In January 1947 however she was ordered to the 5th Naval District for reserve training duty.


On 2 March Roberts arrived at Norfolk and on the 3d she was decommissioned and placed "in service in reserve." For the remainder of the decade she served in that capacity and conducted reserve training cruises along the Atlantic coast and in the Caribbean.


In June 1950 war broke out in Korea. On 13 August Roberts was recommissioned in reserve and 1 December she was placed in commission active. Continuing her training duties she expanded her operations including fleet maneuvers on a large scale in her cruises. In June 1952 she extended her training cruises to the Mediterranean and in 1953 she participated in NATO exercises. In the summer of 1954 an extended cruise took her to South American ports while her 2-week cruises ranged from Nova Scotia to Florida and in the Caribbean


Until October 1961 Roberts continued her reserve training duty. Then with the Berlin Crisis the Selected Reserve was called to active duty and Roberts was assigned to the newly formed escort squadron CortRon 12 based at Norfolk. On 1 August 1962 after the release of her reserve crew she returned to Reserve Destroyer Squadron 34 and resumed Naval Reserve training.


Decommissioned and placed in service once again on 1 October 1964 Roberts contined her reserve training work limiting her cruises to weekends and 2 weeks until she was placed out of service on 21 September 1968. Her name was struck from the Navy list 2 days later.


Roberts earned one battle star during World War II.


[Note: The above USS ROBERTS (DE-749) history may or may not contain text provided by crew members of the USS ROBERTS (DE-749) or by other non-crew members and text from the Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships]