USS Mervine (DD-489)
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| History | |
|---|---|
 United States
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| Name: | Mervine |
| Namesake: | William Mervine |
| Builder: | Federal Shipbuilding and Drydock Company |
| Laid down: | 3 November 1941 |
| Launched: | 3 May 1942 |
| Commissioned: | 17 June 1942 |
| Identification: | DD-489 |
| Reclassified: | DMS-31, 30 May 1945 |
| Decommissioned: | 27 May 1949 |
| Struck: | 31 July 1968 |
| Fate: | Sold 27 October 1969 and broken up for scrap |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type: | Gleaves-class destroyer |
| Displacement: | 1,630 tons |
| Length: | 348 ft 4 in (106.17 m) |
| Beam: | 36 ft (11 m) |
| Draft: | 17 ft 5 in (5.31 m) |
| Propulsion: |
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| Speed: | over 30 kn (56 km/h; 35 mph) |
| Range: | 6,500 nmi (12,000 km; 7,500 mi) at 12 kn (22 km/h; 14 mph) |
| Complement: | 271 |
| Armament: |
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USS Mervine (DD-489/DMS-31), a Gleaves-class destroyer, was the second ship of the United States Navy to be named for Rear Admiral William Mervine, who served during the War of 1812, the Mexican-American War and the American Civil War. Mervine was laid down on 3 November 1941 by the Federal Shipbuilding & Dry Dock Company of Kearny, New Jersey and launched on 3 May 1942, sponsored by Miss Mildred Mervine great-granddaughter of the admiral. The ship was commissioned on 17 June 1942, with Lieutenant Commander S. D. Willingham in command.
Following a shakedown cruise off Cuba, Mervine reported for duty with the Gulf Sea Frontier at New Orleans, 30 August 1942. Assigned to escort work, she accompanied merchantmen as they plied the Gulf and West Indian shipping lanes, which during the preceding months had gained the dubious distinction of suffering the heaviest losses to U-boat activity in the eastern Atlantic.
In October Mervine left the gulf and steamed to Norfolk where she Joined Task Force 34 (TF 34) and sailed east. Toward midnight on 7 November she arrived off Safi, Morocco, and took up her station for Operation TORCH the invasion of North Africa. During the landings on 8 November, she acted as control vessel and provided fire support for the assault forces on Red Beach, north of Safi. She remained on patrol in the area for the next five days and then returned to New York. There she resumed escort assignments and for the next seven months guarded coastal and transatlantic convoys.
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