USS Evarts (DE-5)

USS Evarts (DE-5)
History
United States
Name:	USS Evarts
Laid down:	17 October 1942
Launched:	7 December 1942
Commissioned:	15 April 1943
Decommissioned:	2 October 1945
Fate:	Scrapped 12 July 1946
General characteristics
Class and type:	Evarts-class destroyer escort
Displacement:	1,140 long tons (1,160 t) (standard) 1,430 long tons (1,450 t) (full load)
Length:	283 ft 6 in (86.41 m) w/l) 289 ft 5 in (88.21 m) (o/a)
Beam:	35 ft 1 in (10.69 m)
Draft:	8 ft 3 in (2.51 m)
Installed power:	6,000 hp (4,500 kW)
Propulsion:	4 × General Motors diesel engines with electric drive 2 × screws
Speed:	21 kn (24 mph; 39 km/h)
Range:	4,150 nmi (4,780 mi; 7,690 km) at 12 kn (14 mph; 22 km/h)
Complement:	198
Armament:	3 × 3 in (76 mm)/50 cal dual purpose guns (3×1) 4 × 1.1"/75 caliber anti-aircraft guns (1×4) 9 × 20 mm (0.79 in) anti-aircraft (9×1) 8 × depth charge throwers 1 × 24-tube Hedgehog anti-submarine spigot mortar (144 rounds) 2 × depth charge tracks

USS Evarts (DE-5) was the lead ship of her class of destroyer escorts in the United States Navy. She was named for Milo Burnell Evarts.

Evarts was launched on 7 December 1942 at the Boston Navy Yard in Boston, Massachusetts, as BDE-5, intended for transfer to Britain. Instead, she was retained for use in the U.S. Navy, and commissioned on 15 April 1943, with Lieutenant Commander C. B. Henriques, USNR, in command.

After anti-submarine warfare training and experiments with radar in Chesapeake Bay, Evarts began steady service as a convoy escort, during much of which she flew the flag of Commander, Escort Division 5 (CortDiv 5). After five voyages to Casablanca, she sailed from Norfolk, Virginia, on 22 April 1944 on her first run to Bizerte. Two days before reaching that port, her convoy came under heavy attack by enemy torpedo bombers, and Evarts joined in the protective anti-aircraft barrage which shot down many of the attackers.

During the homeward bound passage of this same voyage, on 29 May, Evarts was detached from the convoy to aid the escort carrier Block Island and destroyer escort Barr, both of whom had been torpedoed by a German submarine. She arrived at the given position to find Block Island had sunk, but screened Barr, under tow, to safety at Casablanca. A second voyage to Bizerte was uneventful, as were the one to Palermo and the three to Oran which followed.

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