USS Fieberling (DE-640)

USS "Fieberling" (DE-640) was a "Buckley"-class destroyer escort of the United States Navy, named in honor of Lieutenant Langdon K. Fieberling (1910–1942), a naval aviator in squadron VT-8, who was killed in action in the Battle of Midway.

"Fieberling" was launched on 2 April 1944 by Bethlehem Steel Co., San Francisco, California; sponsored by Mrs. C. A. Fieberling, mother of Lieutenant Fieberling; and commissioned on 11 April 1944, Lieutenant Commander E. E. Lull, USNR, in command.

"Fieberling" arrived at Pearl Harbor on 27 June 1944 for escort duty to Eniwetok, making three such voyages to the staging ground for the operation until 3 September. Five days later she sailed for Manus Island and Purvis Bay, arriving 27 September. Until 15 December, she sailed out of Port Purvis on escort and air-sea rescue duty, then served as station ship at Funafuti until 17 February 1945.

After amphibious landing rehearsals at Guadalcanal, "Fieberling" arrived at Ulithi on 21 March 1945 to load stores and ammunition for the assault on Okinawa. She arrived off the island 31 March, covered the landings the next day, and then served on antisubmarine patrol off the island, receiving damage from a near miss in the massive kamikaze raids of 6 April. After escorting a convoy of unloaded assault ships to Saipan between 9 and 29 April, "Fieberling" returned to Okinawa for patrol, escort, and radar picket duty until 28 June.

"Fieberling" operated on escort duty between Okinawa and Guam and Saipan until 22 October 1945, when she sailed to escort a transport from Saipan to Japan. She returned to Portland, Oreg., 22 November, and after overhaul, sailed from San Diego, Calif. on 15 March 1946 for occupation duty off the Chinese coast. Back in San Diego on 13 August, she operated along the west coast and in the Hawaiian Islands, testing experimental equipment, until decommissioned on 13 March 1948 and placed in reserve at San Diego.

Stricken from the Navy Register on 1 March 1972, "Fieberling" was sold on 20 November of that same year.

"Fieberling" received one battle star for World War II service.

References

External links

* [http://www.history.navy.mil/danfs/f2/fieberling.htm history.navy.mil: USS "Fieberling"]
* [http://www.navsource.org/archives/06/640.htm navsource.org: USS "Fieberling"]
* [http://www.hazegray.org/danfs/escorts/de640.txt hazegray.org: USS "Fieberling"]