Harveson

U.S.S. Harveson

DER-316

1957

(NNCAD 2367b)

Class: Edsall - 34 converted destroyer escort radar pickets of 1951-58
Displacement: 1,590 tons standard / 1,850 tons full load
Dimensions: 306' (oa) x 36'10" x 11'
Machinery: 4 Fairbanks-Morse Diesels; 2 shafts; 6,000 BHP
Speed: 21 knots
Guns: 2-3"/50 (2x1); 8-20mm (4x2)
ASW weapons: 1 trainable Hedgehog; 2 torpedo rack side launchers; 1 DC rack
Complement: 150

Builder: Consolidated Steel Corp., Orange, Texas
Keel Laid: 9 Mar 1943
Launched: 22 May 1943
Commissioned: 12 Oct 1943 / 12 Feb 1951
Decommissioned: 9 May 1947 / 30 Jun 1960

Notes: Manned by a U.S. Coast Guard crew, Harveson completed shakedown out of Bermuda. On 15 December, she was seriously damaged when she collided with SS William T. Barry on a foggy night off the Virginia Capes. Repairs were completed at Portsmouth, Virginia, by Feb 1944, and she joined Escort Division 22. Departing New York 1 Mar 1944, she escorted a convoy to Derry, Northern Ireland, via Halifax. In the next 14 months she escorted nine more convoys for the European theatre across the North Atlantic. When V-E Day came, CortDiv 22 was ordered to the Pacific; and Harveson reached Pearl Harbor via the Panama Canal and San Diego, 11 Jul 1945 to begin refresher training. She was still engaged in tactical training at Pearl Harbor when Japan capitulated, but she went on to participate in the occupation of Japan before entering the Atlantic Reserve Fleet in 1947.
Towed to Mare Island Navy Yard in 1950 for conversion to a radar picket ship, Harveson recommissioned at Vallejo, California, 12 Feb 1951, as the first of a new class of radar picket ships, designated DER-316. She joined Escort Squadron 10 at Newport, Rhode Island, 30 May, to begin duty on the seaward extension of the DEW line. Outfitted with the most modern radar and early detection warning devices, she cruised off the coast of the United States to provide adequate early warning of any enemy attack. From her usual station In the North Atlantic, she also sailed to the Caribbean for frequent antisubmarine and tactical exercises. Departing Newport 15 Jul 1957, she reported for radar picket duty at Pearl Harbor 18 Aug, joining the Barrier Forces, Pacific Fleet. She patrolled out of Hawaii for three years until sent for decommissioning at San Francisco in 1960.