USS Camp (DE-251)

USS Camp after refit with two 5"/38cal guns
Career (US)
Namesake:	Jack Hill Camp
Builder:	Brown Shipbuilding, Houston, Texas
Laid down:	27 January 1943
Launched:	16 April 1943
Commissioned:	16 September 1943
Decommissioned:	1 May 1946
Reclassified:	DER-251, 21 October 1955
Struck:	30 December 1975
Fate:	Transferred to South Vietnam, 13 February 1971
Career (South Vietnam)
Name:	RVNS Tran Hung Dao (HQ-01)
Acquired:	13 February 1971
Fate:	Escaped to the Philippines and transferred to the Philippine Navy, 5 April 1976
Career (Philippines)
Name:	RPS (later BRP) Rajah Lakandula (PF-4)
Acquired:	5 April 1976
Commissioned:	27 July 1976
Decommissioned:	1988
Struck:	1988
Status:	Was in service in 1999 as a barracks ship, probably sold as scrap
General characteristics
Class and type:	Edsall-class destroyer escort
Displacement:	1,253 long tons (1,273 t) standard 1,590 long tons (1,616 t) full load
Length:	306 ft (93 m)
Beam:	36 ft 6 in (11.13 m)
Draft:	10 ft 4 in (3.15 m)
Propulsion:	4 FM diesel engines 4 diesel-generators 6,000 shp (4.5 MW) 2 screws
Speed:	21 knots (39 km/h; 24 mph)
Range:	9,000 nmi (17,000 km) at 12 kn (22 km/h; 14 mph)
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 Camp (DE-251) was an Edsall-class destroyer escort built for the U.S. Navy during World War II. She served in the Atlantic Ocean the Pacific Ocean and provided destroyer escort protection against submarine and air attack for Navy vessels and convoys.

She was named in honor of Jack Hill Camp who was born 27 August 1916 in Jennings, Louisiana. Jack Hill Camp enlisted in the U.S. Naval Reserve 20 January 1941 and was appointed a naval aviator 29 December 1941. Attached to Patrol Squadron 44, Ensign Camp was killed in action 7 June 1942 during the Battle of Midway.

Camp was launched 16 April 1943 by Brown Shipbuilding Co., Houston, Texas; sponsored by Mrs. O. H. Camp; commissioned 16 September 1943, Lieutenant Commander P. B. Mavor, United States Coast Guard, in command; and reported to the United States Atlantic Fleet.

World War II North Atlantic operations

After duty as school ship for pre-commissioning crews for other escort vessels, Camp cleared Norfolk, Virginia, 14 December 1943, escorting a convoy bound for Casablanca with men and supplies for the operations in Italy. Camp returned to Norfolk 24 January 1944 to begin a year and a half of convoy escort operations from New York to ports of the United Kingdom, guarding convoys whose ships brought troops and mountains of equipment and supplies for the buildup and support of the assault on the European continent.

Fighting the foul weather common in the North Atlantic, Camp’s alertness against submarine attack and diligence were rewarded by no losses in any of the convoys she accompanied. A collision with a merchantman, in which one of Camp's crew members was killed, required a repair period during which Camp received a new bow and acquired 5" guns; otherwise her escort duty was uninterrupted until 19 June 1945.

Transfer to the Pacific Fleet

Camp cleared Charleston, South Carolina, 9 July 1945 for the Pacific, and after serving as a training ship at Pearl Harbor, proceeded to Eniwetok for occupation duty. She supervised the evacuation of the Japanese garrison from Mili, then took on air-sea rescue duties off Kwajalein until 4 November, when she sailed for home, arriving at New York 10 December.

192.234.135.34 (talk) 17:23, 9 November 2011 (UTC)== Conversion to Radar Picket Ship == She was decommissioned 1 May 1946 and her U.S. Coast Guard crew was removed. She was reclassified DER-251 on 7 December 1955, Camp was recommissioned 31 July 1956 for duty as radar picket ship in the early warning system. She reported to Newport, Rhode Island as part of ComCorTron 16, 19 February 1957 and operated from that port to Argentia, Newfoundland, and into the North Atlantic through 1962. In 1963 she served off of Cuba as a Radar Picket Ship tracking Russian Convoys and rescuing Cuban refugees that had fled the island. From 1962 through 1964 the Camp operated out of Grenock, Scotland and during picket duty in the Irish sea she brok off a large section of external bilge keel Emergency repairs were made at sea to stop the fuel oil leak.

Vietnam

In 1965, Camp was sent to Indo-China for coastal patrol and interdiction by the US Navy (Operation Market Time). By 1968 her radio center had been rebuilt more than once to improve communications efficiency. The Camp gave gunfire support when needed, provided "mothership" services to River Patrol craft and assisted Naval Operations when burial at sea or escort details were requested of her. Her communications center, which was rebuilt in 1968, became so efficient that she could hold simultaneous communications halfway around the world at the same time her local service was in heavy demand. She was used as "Station Ship" in Hong Kong harbor taking on the radio guard for all US Navy ships pulling extended stays.

In 1969 she was caught at sea in a typhoon and under the most hazardous of Pacific Sea weather conditions, managed to stay afloat. Her hull was beaten severely, causing a serious leak, and she was redirected to Sasebo, Japan for emergency drydock where an eight foot section of her hull was found nearing failure. The enclosed forward gun mount was destroyed during the storm. The enclosed rear gun mount was moved forward and replaced with an open gun mount from a decommissioned ship.

After the repairs, she returned to Vietnam and resumed duty which included escort support to the battleship New Jersey. She proudly displayed the Naval symbol for excellence, the "E" on her bridge, for achieving high marks in all categories. During the shooting of the film Tora! Tora! Tora!, the interior scenes of the Ward were shot aboard the decommissioned Newell, while the brief at sea gun fire and depth charge scene was actually the Camp (note the open rear gun mount in the film sequence).

Transfer to South Vietnam Navy and service with the Philippine Navy

She was transferred to South Vietnam on 13 February 1971. Renamed frigate RVNS Tran Hung Dao (HQ-01), the ship was stricken from the Naval Vessel Register on 30 December 1975. Following the surrender of the South Vietnamese government on 29 April 1975, Tran Hung Dao escaped to the Philippines which acquired the ship later that year. Formally transferred on 5 April 1976, former Tran Hung Dao was commissioned into the Philippine Navy as frigate RPS Rajah Lakandula (PS-4) on 27 July 1976. On July 1980, she was renumbered and reclassified as BRP Rajah Lakandula (PF-4). Struck from the Navy List in 1988, she was still in use as stationary barracks ship in Subic Bay in 1999. Probably sold as scrap.

References

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

External links

• NavSource Online: Destroyer Escort Photo Archive - USS Camp (DE 251)