USS Atherton (DE-169)

USS Atherton (DE-169)
History
United States
Name:	USS Atherton (DE-169)
Namesake:	John McDougal Atherton
Ordered:	1942 January 18
Builder:	Federal Shipbuilding and Drydock Company, Newark, New Jersey
Yard number:	285
Laid down:	14 January 1943
Launched:	27 May 1943
Sponsored by:	Mrs. Cornelia A. Atherton
Commissioned:	29 August 1943
Decommissioned:	10 December 1945
Struck:	15 June 1975
Honors and awards:	1 battle star, World War II
Fate:	transferred to the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF), 14 June 1955
Acquired:	returned from JMSDF, 1975
Fate:	transferred to the Philippine Navy, 13 September 1976
History
Japan
Name:	JDS Hatsuhi (DE-263)
Acquired:	14 June 1955
Decommissioned:	1975
Fate:	Returned to the United States, 1975
History
Philippines
Name:	BRP Rajah Humabon (PF-11)
Acquired:	23 December 1978
Commissioned:	27 February 1980
Decommissioned:	1993
Recommissioned:	January 1996
Status:	in active service
General characteristics
Class and type:	Cannon-class destroyer escort
Displacement:	1,240 long tons (1,260 t) standard 1,620 long tons (1,646 t) full
Length:	306 ft (93 m) o/a 300 ft (91 m) w/l
Beam:	36 ft 10 in (11.23 m)
Draft:	11 ft 8 in (3.56 m)
Propulsion:	4 × GM Mod. 16-278A diesel engines with electric drive, 6,000 shp (4,474 kW), 2 screws
Speed:	21 knots (39 km/h; 24 mph)
Range:	10,800 nmi (20,000 km) at 12 kn (22 km/h; 14 mph)
Complement:	15 officers and 201 enlisted
Armament:	3 × Mk.22 3"/50 caliber guns 1 × quad 1.1" AA gun 8 × 20 mm Mk.4 AA guns 3 × 21 in (533 mm) torpedo tubes 1 × Hedgehog Mk.10 anti-submarine mortar (144 rounds) 8 × Mk.6 depth charge projectors 2 × Mk.9 depth charge tracks

USS Atherton (DE-169), a Cannon-class destroyer escort, was the only ship of the United States Navy to be named for Lt. (jg) John McDougal Atherton, who died when the USS Meredith sank near Guadalcanal during World War II.

Atherton (DE-169) was laid down on 14 January 1943 at Newark, New Jersey, by the Federal Drydock & Shipbuilding Co.; launched on 27 May 1943; sponsored by Mrs. Cornelia A. Atherton, the mother of Lt. (jg.) Atherton; completed at the Norfolk Navy Yard; and commissioned there on 29 August 1943, Lt. Comdr. Paul L. Mansell, Jr., USNR, in command.

Atherton began shakedown in September, 1943. During this time, conducted exercises in Chesapeake Bay and made two cruises to Bermuda. On 13 November 1943, she got underway for Puerto Rico. Upon her arrival there, the destroyer escort assumed anti-submarine warfare (ASW) patrol duties in waters between St. Croix, Virgin Islands, and the Anegada Passage. On 24 November, she attacked a submarine contact, but observed no evidence of damage. The ship was relieved three days later and returned to Norfolk on 30 November 1943. There, she began making daily cruises in Chesapeake Bay to train prospective crew members for destroyer escorts. Atherton left Norfolk on 11 December 1943 to escort a convoy bound for the Panama Canal but was back in Hampton Roads on 27 December 1943.