- USS Schmitt (DE-676)
USS "Schmitt" (DE-676/APD-76) was a sclass|Buckley|destroyer escort in the
United States Navy , named for FatherAloysius H. Schmitt ."Schmitt" was laid down on 22 February 1943 by the
Bethlehem Shipbuilding Company ofQuincy, Massachusetts ; launched on 29 May 1943, sponsored by Mrs. Elizabeth Buchheit; and commissioned on 24 July 1943, under the command ofLieutenant Commander T. D. Cunningham.After shakedown in
Bermuda and repairs at New York, "Schmitt" departed from New York on 19 October 1943 escorting aconvoy toCuraçao in the West Indies, and then made her first trans-Atlantic crossing with a convoy from Curaçao to Londonderry, Northern Ireland. She served on the Londonderry-New York convoy route until 30 September 1944, crossing the ocean 16 times without incident. Between voyages, the escort underwentanti-submarine training at Londonderry or atCasco Bay, Maine , and received repairs made necessary by the rough North Atlantic weather.On 21 October, "Schmitt" began a convoy voyage from Norfolk to
Bizerte and other Mediterranean ports, returning to New York on 10 December. Between 16 December 1944 and 19 January 1945, she served as training ship for submarines atNew London, Connecticut , and then on 20 January arrived at the United States Naval Frontier Base, Tompkinsville, Staten Island, New York, for conversion to ahigh speed transport . Her designation was changed to APD-76 on 24 January 1945."Schmitt" completed conversion on 3 April 1945, and once again underwent shakedown, this time out of Norfolk. She departed
Hampton Roads on 19 April and arrived atPearl Harbor on 16 May. She embarkedunderwater demolition teams there and carried out six days of exercises with them atMaui before sailing for theSouthwest Pacific on 4 June. The fast transport arrived offBalikpapan, Borneo , on 23 June, and screened the bombardment group of cruisers and destroyers during shore bombardment missions between 23 and 28 June. Her UDT personnel carried out night reconnaissance operations on 25 and 28 June, with the ship resuming escort duties during the day. On 1 July, "Schmitt"'s boat led the first 17 waves of landing craft to the beach. The ship left Balikpapan on 3 July, disembarking her UDT personnel atOceanside, California , on 2 August; and, while the ship was under repair at San Pedro from 4 to 18 August, the war in the Pacific came to an end."Schmitt" reembarked UDT personnel and departed from San Pedro on 19 August. She arrived at
Sasebo, Japan , on 20 September and carried out four days of beach reconnaissance there followed by two more days on nearby islands. She got underway from Japan on 27 September and returned on 19 October toSan Diego . Between 17 November and 30 November, she made one round-trip voyage to Pearl Harbor, bringing troops home to the United States, and then sailed through thePanama Canal and proceeded to join theAtlantic Fleet at Norfolk on 16 December.For the next three and a half years, "Schmitt" conducted peacetime training and upkeep along the Atlantic Coast, highlighted by refresher training and shore bombardment practice in the Caribbean and amphibious landing exercises in
Newfoundland and Labrador . She varied her normal routine between 12 June and 7 July 1948 when she escorted four Naval Academy sailing yawls in theNewport to Bermuda race . On 16 April 1949, the fast transport arrived atCharleston, South Carolina , for inactivation, and was decommissioned and placed in reserve there on 28 June."Schmitt" was struck from the Navy List on 1 May 1967 and transferred in February to Taiwan as "Lung Shan" (PF-44). She was subsequently scrapped in 1976.
"Schmitt" received one
battle star for her World War II service.ource
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