USS Parker (DD-604)
_at_sea,_circa_1942.jpg) |
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| History | |
|---|---|
 United States
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| Name: | USS Parker (DD-604) |
| Namesake: | Foxhall A. Parker, Jr. |
| Builder: | Bethlehem Mariners Harbor, Staten Island |
| Laid down: | 9 June 1941 |
| Launched: | 12 May 1942 |
| Commissioned: | 31 August 1942 |
| Decommissioned: | 31 January 1947 |
| Struck: | 1 July 1971 |
| Nickname(s): | "The Punchy P" |
| Fate: | sold for scrap, 1973 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type: | Benson-class destroyer |
| Displacement: | 1,620 tons |
| Length: | 348 ft (106 m) |
| Beam: | 36 ft (11 m) |
| Draught: | 13 ft 4 in (4.06 m) |
| Speed: | 36 kts (66.7 km/h) |
| Complement: | 276 |
| Armament: | 4 x 5 in (130 mm)/38 guns, 2 x 40 mm, 10 x 21” (533 mm) tt., 1 dct., 1 dcp. (hh.) |
| Aircraft carried: | 1 |
USS Parker (DD-604) was a Benson-class destroyer in the United States Navy during World War II. She was the second ship named for Foxhall A. Parker, Jr..
Parker was laid down 9 June 1941 by the Bethlehem Steel Corporation, Staten Island, New York; launched 12 May 1942; sponsored by Mrs. Edward Lloyd Winder; and commissioned 31 August 1942, Commander John W. Bays in command.
After her shakedown cruise along the East Coast and in Cuban waters, Parker served as a convoy escort to North Africa, participating in the attack on Mehedia and Port Lyautey 7 November 1942. Following her return to the Atlantic Coast, Parker escorted convoys to North African ports on five occasions. On the fourth, she supported the Sicilian invasion 5–13 July 1943. Convoy escort duty to the United Kingdom and the Mediterranean Sea followed. On 6 November, when 30 planes attacked her convoy, Parker shot fifteen down.
From 7 February to 2 April 1944, the ship trained near Casco Bay, Maine, and from 3 to 11 April was on submarine patrol with Task Unit 27.6.1.
On 21 April Parker departed New York for the Mediterranean arriving at Mers-el-Kebir, Algeria 2 May. From 12 to 15 May she steamed to Naples. The ship operated between the Anzio beachhead and Naples from 17 May to 4 June, bombarding the shore in the Ardea sector 31 May–1 June. From 13 June to 9 August, Parker operated from Leghorn to Palermo (Sicily) bombarding positions on the shore and escorting convoys.
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