USS Forster (DE-334)

Career (US)
Namesake:	Edward William Forster
Builder:	Consolidated Steel Corporation, Orange, Texas
Laid down:	31 August 1943
Launched:	13 November 1943
Commissioned:	25 January 1944
Decommissioned:	25 September 1971
Reclassified:	DER-334, 21 October 1955
Struck:	25 September 1971
Fate:	Loaned to South Vietnam, 25 September 1971
Career (USCG)
Name:	USCGC Forster WDE-434
Commissioned:	29 June 1951
Decommissioned:	25 May 1954
Fate:	Returned to USN, 25 May 1954
Career (South Vietnam)
Name:	RVNS Trần Khánh Dư (HQ-04)
Acquired:	25 September 1971
Fate:	Captured by North Vietnam, 29 April 1975
Career (Vietnam)
Name:	VPNS Dai Ky (HQ-03)
Acquired:	29 April 1975
Fate:	In service c. 1997, status unknown
General characteristics
Class and type:	Edsall-class destroyer escort
Displacement:	1,253 tons standard 1,590 tons full load
Length:	306 feet (93.27 m)
Beam:	36.58 feet (11.15 m)
Draft:	10.42 full load feet (3.18 m)
Propulsion:	4 FM diesel engines, 4 diesel-generators, 6,000 shp (4.5 MW), 2 screws
Speed:	21 knots (39 km/h)
Range:	9,100 nmi. at 12 knots (17,000 km at 22 km/h)
Complement:	8 officers, 201 enlisted
Armament:	3 × 3 in (76 mm)/50 guns (3 × 1) 2 × 40 mm AA guns (1 × 2) 8 × 20 mm AA guns (8 × 1) 3 × 21 in (530 mm) torpedo tubes (1 × 3) 8 × depth charge projectors 1 × depth charge projector (hedgehog) 2 × depth charge tracks

USS Forster (DE-334) was launched 13 November 1943 by Consolidated Steel Corp., Orange, Texas; sponsored by Mrs. E. W. Forster, widow of Machinist Forster; and commissioned 25 January 1944. She served as an escort in the Atlantic and Mediterranean during World War II. She was decommissioned and placed in reserve at Green Cove Springs on 15 June 1946.

Coast Guard service

She was turned over to the United States Coast Guard on 20 June 1951 and served with the United States’ oldest continuous-going sea service until 25 May 1954. Forster (given the Coast Guard hull number WDE-434) served on ocean station duty out of Honolulu. This included duty on stations VICTOR, QUEEN, and SUGAR and voyages to Japan. She also conducted SAR duties, including finding and assisting the following vessels in distress: the M/V Katori Maru on 17 August 1952, assisting the M/V Chuk Maru on 29 August 1953, the M/V Tongshui on 1 October – 3 October 1953, and the M/V Steel Fabricator on 26 October 1953.

Republic of Vietnam service

She returned to reserve in naval custody until recommissioned at Long Beach, California, 23 October 1956. She served in the Navy until she was transferred on 25 September 1971 to South Vietnam. The Vietnamese reclassified her as a frigate and renamed her RVNS Trần Khánh Dư (HQ-04). In 1974, she participated in the Battle of the Paracel Islands.

Socialist Republic of Vietnam service

She was in a shipyard, in overhaul, when Saigon fell on 30 April 1975, and was captured by North Vietnamese forces. The U.S. Navy wrote her off as “Transferred to Vietnam, 30 April 1975.” The communists renamed her VPNS Dai Ky (HQ-03), she apparently was still seaworthy in 1997 and was used as a training ship. By 1999, she was reduced to a training hulk.

Military awards and honors

	Combat Action Ribbon
	American Campaign Medal
	Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal
	European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal (with one bronze service star)
	World War II Victory Medal
	Navy Occupation Service Medal
	National Defense Service Medal (with one bronze service star)
	Antarctica Service Medal
	Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal (with one bronze service star)
	Vietnam Service Medal (with one silver and two bronze service stars)
	Vietnam Gallantry Cross Unit Citation with Palm (with four bronze service stars)
	Vietnam Campaign Medal

References

This article includes text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be found here.

See also

• List of United States Navy ships
• World War II
• Destroyer escort

External links

• NavSource Online: Destroyer Escort Photo Archive - USS Forster (DE 334)