Micka (DE-176)
1943-1965
(DE‑176: dp. 1,240; l. 306'; b. 36'8"; dr. 11'8"; s. 21 k.; cpl. 186; a. 3 3", 2 40mm., 8 20mm., 3 21" tt., 2 dct., 8 dcp., 1 dcp. (h.h.); cl. Cannon)
Lt. Edward Micka, born at Guyuga, N. Dak., 10 October 1915, enlisted in the U.S. Navy 19 June 1984. Appointed midshipman from the Navy at large the following year, he was commissioned ensign 1 June 1939. He served on Minneapolis and Clemson prior to receiving his wings as a Navy pilot and was attached to Fighting Squadron 9, onboard Ranger, in November 1942. On the 8th, he led three flights in support of the initial phase of operation "Torch," the assault and occupation of Morocco. In the first two flights he led his sections against airdromes at Rabat‑Sale and Port Lyautey, destroying at least 17 hostile planes on the ground. During the third his section. provided direct support to ground forces by destroying several machinegun nests. Two days later he participated in the attack on the Mediouna airdrome, conducting strafing runs at low altitudes. Lieutenant Micka, lost his life on the fifth run when his plane was hit by antiaircraft fire. He was awarded the Navy Cross posthumously "for extraordinary heroism and distinguished service in action as a pilot" during operation "Torch."
Micka (DE‑176) was laid down 3 May 1943 by the Federal Shipbuilding & Dry Dock Co., Kearny, N.J.; launched 22 August 1943: sponsored by Mrs. Edward Micka, widow of Lieutenant Micka; and commissioned 23 September 1943, Lt. G. C. Spencer in command.
Assigned to Escort Division 24 Micka guarded merchantmen and naval supply vessels plying the waters of the eastern Atlantic from Recife, Brazil, to New York until 12 November 1944. She then reported at Recife for 3 months of midocean antisubmarine patrols with the 4th Fleet. Detached in March 1945, she steamed north; served briefly with the eastern sea frontier on antisubmarine patrol; and then completed a round‑trip voyage to Oran, Algeria, as convoy escort. On 11 June she entered the Charleston, S.C., Navy Yard for overhaul preparatory to her transfer to the Pacific.
Micka arrived at Pearl Harbor 15 August, the day after Japan agreed to surrender under the terms of the Potsdam Declaration. She remained in Hawaii, conducting local exercises, until 18 December, when, with over 300 naval passengers, she got underway for the east coast. She disembarked her passengers at Boston 6 January and sailed at the end of the month for Green Cove Springs, Fla. There she decommissioned and entered the Atlantic Reserve Fleet 14 June 1946. Micka remained berthed in the St. John's River until struck from the Naval Register 1 August 1965 and sold for scrapping to Peck Iron & Metals Co., 15 May 1967.
