View source for USS Trumpeter (DE-180)

{{short description|Cannon-class destroyer escort}}
{{other ships|USS Trumpeter}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2021}}
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{{Infobox ship image
|Ship image=USS Trumpeter (DE-180) underway off New York City (USA) on 31 October 1943 (80-G-87232).jpg
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{{Infobox ship career
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|Ship country=United States
|Ship flag= {{USN flag|1947}}
|Ship name=USS ''Trumpeter''
|Ship namesake= George Nelson Trumpeter
|Ship ordered=
|Ship builder=[[Federal Shipbuilding and Drydock Company]], [[Newark, New Jersey]]
|Ship laid down= 7 June 1943
|Ship launched= 19 September 1943
|Ship acquired=
|Ship commissioned= 16 October 1943
|Ship decommissioned= 5 December 1947
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|Ship struck= 1 August 1973
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|Ship fate=Sold for scrapping 18 June 1974
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{{Infobox ship characteristics
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|Ship class= {{sclass|Cannon|destroyer escort}}
|Ship displacement=*{{convert|1240|LT|t|0|abbr=on}} standard
*{{convert|1620|LT|t|0|abbr=on}} full
|Ship length=*{{convert|306|ft|m|abbr=on}} [[Length overall|o/a]]
*{{convert|300|ft|m|abbr=on}} [[Length at the waterline|w/l]]
|Ship beam= {{convert|36|ft|10|in|m|abbr=on}}
|Ship draft= {{convert|11|ft|8|in|m|abbr=on}}
|Ship depth=
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|Ship propulsion=4 × GM Mod. 16-278A [[diesel engine]]s with electric drive, {{convert|6000|shp|0|abbr=on}}, 2 [[Propeller|screws]]
|Ship speed= {{convert|21|kn|lk=in}}
|Ship range= {{convert|10800|nmi|km|abbr=on}} at {{convert|12|kn|abbr=on}}
|Ship complement=15 officers and 201 enlisted
|Ship armament=*3 × single Mk.22 [[3"/50 caliber gun]]s
*1 × twin [[Bofors 40 mm Automatic Gun L/60|40 mm Mk.1 AA gun]]
*8 × [[Oerlikon 20 mm cannon|20 mm Mk.4 AA guns]]
*3 × [[American 21-inch torpedo|21-inch (533 mm)]] [[torpedo tube]]s
*1 × [[Hedgehog (weapon)|Hedgehog]] Mk.10 [[anti-submarine mortar]] (144 rounds)
*8 × Mk.6 [[depth charge]] projectors
*2 × Mk.9 depth charge tracks
|Ship armor=
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'''USS ''Trumpeter'' (DE-180)''' was a {{sclass|Cannon|destroyer escort}} in service with the [[United States Navy]] from 1943 to 1947. She was sold for scrap in 1974.

==History==
She was named in honor of Navy [[aviator]] Lt. (jg.) George Nelson Trumpeter who was killed in action during "[[Operation Torch]]" on 8 November 1942. The ship was laid down on 7 June 1943 at [[Newark, New Jersey]], by the [[Federal Shipbuilding and Drydock]] Co.; launched on 19 September 1943; sponsored by Mrs. Hazel Vivian Trumpeter, mother of Lt. Trumpeter; and commissioned on 16 October 1943.

=== Battle of the Atlantic ===
 
While ''Trumpeter'' was completing outfitting at [[New York Navy Yard]] only three days after her commissioning, sparks from a workman's burner set off a small fire on a line between the dock and the port side of the ship. An alert fire watch at the scene quickly extinguished the fire, and damage to the new destroyer escort was averted. On the 28th, she underwent dock trials and [[deperming]] and finished the month with underway trials in [[New York Harbor]].
 
Early in November, ''Trumpeter'' departed New York, setting her course for [[Bermuda]]. She moored in [[Port Royal Bay]] on the 6th and in the following weeks participated in extensive [[shakedown cruise|shakedown]] and indoctrination exercises. [[Antisubmarine]] tactics, convoy escort technique, gunnery, night illumination, cruising and screening exercises occupied her days. Each evening, she returned to Bermuda to anchor in [[Great Sound]]. Antisubmarine runs, practice fueling at sea, towing, mail-passing and emergency steering drills readied the new destroyer escort and her crew for the rigors of wartime Atlantic operations.
 
At last, on 2 December, ''Trumpeter'' got underway for New York where she underwent alterations and voyage repairs. On 16 December, she departed New York and set her course northeast. The same day, she moored at [[Naval Air Station Quonset Point]] and reported for temporary duty with the Antisubmarine Development Detachment, [[United States Fleet Forces Command|Atlantic Fleet]] (ASDEVLANT). There she took part in testing newly developed antisubmarine gear until 17 January when she departed [[Narragansett Bay]] for New York. After repairs to one of her main propulsion generators, she resumed her duties at [[Quonset Point, Rhode Island]], remaining there until 13 February when she detached from ASDEVLANT and made way for New York. Following routine upkeep, she got underway with [[Task Force|Task Group]] (TG) 27.2 on the 20th, steaming southward with two [[escort carriers]] and two [[destroyer escorts]], bound for [[Brazil]].
 
Late in the morning on the first day of March, she arrived at [[Recife, Brazil]], reported for duty with the [[U.S. 4th Fleet]]; then continued on to arrive at [[Rio de Janeiro]] on the 7th. She moored at [[Bahia, Brazil]], on the 17th for 10 days availability and routine upkeep. On the 28th, she got underway with {{USS|Straub|DE-181|3}} and {{USS|Gustafson|DE-182|3}}; then, on the 31st, she rendezvoused with {{USS|Solomons|CVE-67|3}} and reported to Commander, Task Group (CTG) 41.6 for her first antisubmarine patrol.
 
For the next five months, ''Trumpeter'' conducted patrols out of Brazilian ports with antisubmarine task groups. The escort carrier [[Hunter-killer Group|hunter-killer]] group was an innovation in antisubmarine warfare which effectively blunted the efficiency of German [[submarines]] in the Atlantic shipping lanes. Each group, composed of one escort carrier and its screen of destroyer escorts or old destroyers, aggressively sought out and destroyed enemy submarines in Atlantic waters with notable success. When ''Trumpeter'' began patrols in March 1944, however, German submarine activity was not so extensive as it had been earlier in the war; and many of her patrols were uneventful. In June, while ''Trumpeter'' was patrolling in mid-Atlantic with ''Solomons'', a plane from the carrier detected the presence of a German submarine. Planes dispatched from ''Solomons'' eventually sank the submarine. While ''Trumpeter'' remained behind to screen the carrier, ''Straub'' and {{USS|Herzog|DE-178|3}} set out for the area of the sinking, some 40 miles away, to rescue survivors. The two DE's picked 23 [[Germans]] from the waters, but the flier, whose bold low altitude bombing run had finished off the [[U-boat]], was still missing when the search was ended.

''Trumpeter's'' routine of patrol interspersed with periods of repair and upkeep was varied in August with four days of antisubmarine exercises and night battle practice out of Recife. She departed on 1 September and, on the 3rd, joined {{USS|Memphis|CL-13|3}} and {{USS|Cannon|DE-99|3}} en route to [[Rio de Janeiro]]. During two weeks in that port, she underwent availability and prepared for her first Atlantic crossing. Finally, on 22 September 1944, she departed Brazilian waters escorting transports {{USS|General M. C. Meigs|AP-116|3}} and {{USS|General W. A. Mann|AP-112|3}} carrying troops of the [[Brazilian Expeditionary Force]] bound for the European theater of war.

On ''4 October'', she anchored in [[Gibraltar]] Bay but, less than six hours later, was again underway for the east coast. Arriving at New York on 13 October, she commenced 30 days of availability and drydocking; then, on 14 November, she set her course for [[South America]], conducting firing practice as she steamed southward. At 1700 on the 23rd, she saw the welcome sight of the [[Fortaleza, Brazil]], harbor blimp, proceeded to that Brazilian port, paused briefly, and then steamed on to arrive at Recife on 25 November. In December, she engaged in gunnery practice and, later in the month, made routine patrols out of Recife with {{USS|Marblehead|CL-12|3}} and {{USS|Micka|DE-176|3}}. On the 24th, she moored at [[Bahia, Brazil]], and remained there undergoing availability until 2 January when she got underway again for patrol. In the next three months, she continued Atlantic patrols; then, early in March, she escorted {{USS|Omaha|CL-4|3}} from Recife to [[Montevideo, Uruguay]].

Trumpeter departed [[Uruguay]] on 22 March 1945, steamed northward, and arrived at New York on 8 April. Following availability and dry-docking, she took part in antisubmarine exercises in [[Casco Bay]]. On 24 April, while patrolling off the [[New England]] coast, she struck an underwater object which damaged her [[sonar]] gear, making it necessary for her to detach from the task group (TG 22.6) and put in at [[Norfolk, Virginia]], for repairs. She rejoined the task group on the 26th and into May continued antisubmarine patrols. On 8 May, she arrived at [[New London, Connecticut]], to begin antisubmarine warfare exercises. Later in the month, she proceeded to New York where she joined the screen of UGS 94 when it departed the [[United States]] on the 22nd. Stopping briefly in the [[Azores]], ''Trumpeter'' steamed for [[Mediterranean]] ports. The convoy members dispersed to their various destinations on 7 and 8 June, and the destroyer escort continued on to Oran for a short stay before departing the Mediterranean. After refueling at [[Horta (Azores)|Horta]], she steamed on, arrived at [[Boston]], Massachusetts, on 19 June, and began a prolonged period of availability.

=== Pacific War ===
Underway again on 23 July, she set her course for the [[Caribbean]] and, on the 27th, arrived at [[Guantanamo Bay Naval Base|Guantanamo Bay]] for refresher training in gunnery, antisubmarine warfare, damage control, and shore bombardment. On 10 August, she departed [[Cuba]] and steamed, via the [[Panama Canal Zone]], to [[San Diego]], California. Following a period of availability, ''Trumpeter'' departed the west coast on the 27th on orders from the [[11th Naval District]]. She arrived at [[Pearl Harbor]] on 2 September and alternated exercises with carrier rescue duties until late in October when she began weather station patrols in the North Pacific.

===Decommissioning and fate===
She returned to the [[Hawaiian Islands]] in December and, on the 18th, got underway for the Panama Canal Zone. She arrived at Boston early in January 1946 and remained in East Coast ports until February when she reported to the [[U.S. 16th Fleet]] at [[Green Cove Springs]], [[Florida]], to await inactivation. She was decommissioned on 14 June 1946. Her disposal was deferred pending a possible transfer to a foreign government, but the transaction failed to materialize, and ''Trumpeter's'' inactivation was completed in December 1947. Her name was struck from the [[Naval Vessel Register|Navy List]] on 1 August 1973, and her hulk was authorized for sinking as a target in Atlantic Fleet tests. Instead, however, she was sold for [[USD|$]]94,666.66 on 18 June 1974 to the [[Boston Metals Company]] of [[Baltimore, Maryland|Baltimore]], [[Maryland]], for scrapping.<ref>[http://www.navsource.org/archives/06/180.htm navsource.org USS Trumpeter (DE 180)]</ref>

== References ==
{{Reflist}}
* {{DANFS|http://www.history.navy.mil/research/histories/ship-histories/danfs/t/trumpeter.html}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|USS Trumpeter (DE-180)}}
* {{navsource|06/180|USS Trumpeter (DE-180)}}

{{Cannon class destroyer escort}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Trumpeter (DE-180)}}
[[Category:Ships built in Kearny, New Jersey]]
[[Category:1943 ships]]
[[Category:Cannon-class destroyer escorts of the United States Navy]]
[[Category:World War II frigates and destroyer escorts of the United States]]