USS Eichenberger
{{Short description|Buckley-class destroyer escort}}
{{More footnotes|date=April 2023}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2022}}
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{{Infobox ship image |Ship image= USS Eichenberger (DE-202) off Charleston, South Carolina, circa in 1943 (NH 81346).jpg |Ship caption= }} {{Infobox ship career |Hide header= |Ship country=United States |Ship flag= {{USN flag|1946}} |Ship name=USS Eichenberger |Ship namesake= Charles Emil Eichenberger Jr. |Ship ordered= 1942 |Ship builder= Charleston Navy Yard, North Charleston, South Carolina |Ship laid down= 15 April 1943 |Ship launched= 22 July 1943 |Ship acquired= |Ship commissioned= 17 November 1943 |Ship decommissioned= 16 May 1946 |Ship in service= |Ship out of service= |Ship struck= 1 December 1972{{cite web |title=EICHENBERGER (DE 202)| url= {{Naval Vessel Register URL|id=DE202}} |date=4 March 2002 |work= Naval Vessel Register |publisher=United States Department of Defense |access-date=20 August 2009}} |Ship renamed= |Ship reclassified= |Ship homeport= |Ship motto= |Ship nickname= |Ship honors=4 battle stars (World War II) |Ship fate= Sold for scrap, 1 November 1973 |Ship notes= }} {{Infobox ship characteristics |Hide header= |Header caption= |Ship class= {{sclass|Buckley|destroyer escort}} |Ship displacement=*{{convert|1400|LT|t|0|abbr=on}} light
|Ship length= {{convert|306|ft|m|abbr=on}} |Ship beam= {{convert|37|ft|m|abbr=on}} |Ship draft=*{{convert|9|ft|6|in|m|abbr=on}} standard
|Ship depth= |Ship hold depth= |Ship propulsion=*2 × boilers
|Ship speed= {{convert|23|kn|lk=in}} |Ship range=*{{convert|3700|nmi|km|abbr=on}} at {{convert|15|kn|abbr=on}}
|Ship complement=15 officers, 198 men |Ship armament=*3 × 3-inch/50-caliber guns
|Ship armor= |Ship notes= }} |
USS Eichenberger (DE-202), a {{sclass|Buckley|destroyer escort}} of the United States Navy, was named in honor of Ensign Charles Emil Eichenberger Jr. (1920–1942), who was killed in aerial combat on 12 September 1942 during the attack on the Solomon Islands.
Eichenberger was launched on 22 July 1943 by Charleston Navy Yard, sponsored by Ensign Eichenberger's widow, and commissioned on 17 November 1943.
Service history
Eichenberger departed Norfolk, Virginia on 26 January 1944, escorting a convoy to Espiritu Santo and a fueling group to rendezvous with the 5th Fleet before reporting to Milne Bay on 7 April for escort, patrol, and reconnaissance supporting the forces invading New Guinea. She saw action in the landings at Biak and Humboldt Bay, and the initial landings at Wakde during May and June, and escorted convoys from Manus.
After patrolling the Palaus from 20 October to 9 November 1944, Eichenberger sailed from Hollandia on 22 November with the first of two convoys to San Pedro Bay, Leyte. On 4 January 1945, she was bound for Mindoro when the escort carrier {{USS|Ommaney Bay|CVE-79|2}} was bombed and destroyed by a Japanese kamikaze aircraft. The escort vessel rescued two survivors and left a whaleboat and rescue party for the damaged carrier while she continued on with her task group. Returning, she found two of her men had been killed by debris launched from torpedoes detonating within the burning carrier. Several of Ommaney Bay{{'}}s men had been picked up from the water by the whaleboat. Eichenberger patrolled Mangarin Bay during support landings on Mindoro and escorted two supply convoys from Subic Bay to Mindoro, then returned to San Pedro Bay, Leyte, on 24 February.
Eichenberger served in the Philippines for the remainder of the war on local escort and patrol duty operating primarily out of Subic Bay. She sailed for Okinawa on 27 August and herded a convoy safely through a typhoon, arriving on 8 September. After a similar voyage, during which she rescued six men from a downed aircraft, Eichenberger returned to the Philippines to embark servicemen eligible for discharge, with whom she arrived at San Diego on 23 October 1945. She was placed out of commission, in reserve, there on 14 May 1946.
Awards
Eichenberger received four battle stars for World War II service.
References
{{reflist}}
- {{DANFS|https://www.history.navy.mil/content/history/nhhc/research/histories/ship-histories/danfs/e/eichenberger.html}}
External links
{{Commons category|USS Eichenberger (DE-202)}}
- {{navsource|06/202|USS Eichenberger}}
{{Buckley class destroyer escort}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Eichenberger}}
Category:Buckley-class destroyer escorts
Category:Ships built in Charleston, South Carolina
Category:World War II frigates and destroyer escorts of the United States