Edwin A. Howard (DE-346)
1944-1972
Edwin Alfred Howard, born on 6 July 1922 in Phoenix, Arizona, enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps on 23 September 1941. On 3 November 1942 at Guadalcanal, Corporal Howard was in charge of a communication wire team trying to reestablish vital lines to the rear under enemy fire. For his gallantry in this action in which he lost his life trying to move a wounded comrade to safety, he was posthumously awarded the Silver Star.
(DE-346: displacement 1,350; length 306'0"; beam 36'8"; draft 9'5"(mean); speed 24.0 knots; complement 186; armament 2 5-inch, 4 40 millimeter, 10 20 millimeter, 3 21-inch torpedo tubes, 8 depth charge projectors, 1 depth charge projector (Hedgehog), 2 depth charge tracks; class John C. Butler)
Edwin A. Howard (DE-346) was laid down on 15 November 1943 at Orange, Texas, by the Consolidated Steel Corp., Ltd.; launched on 25 January 1944; sponsored by Mrs. Julia W. Howard, mother of the late Corporal Howard; and commissioned on 25 May 1944, Lt. Cmdr. Frederick Denfeld, D-V(G),USNR, in command.
After one convoy escort voyage to the Mediterranean in September and October 1944, Edwin A. Howard sailed from New York 10 November for the South Pacific. From Hollandia, she shepherded a convoy to San Pedro Bay, Leyte, arriving on 6 January 1945. Edward A. Howard reinforced Destroyer Squadron 49 on antisubmarine patrol in Leyte Gulf. She took a convoy through from the Palaus to San Pedro Bay, and continued escort service between New Guinea and Leyte.
Edwin A. Howard arrived in Polloc Harbor on 30 April 1945, and for the next month escorted convoys to supply troops ashore around Davao Gulf, on the second such voyage bombarding targets on Samal Island in the gulf, and other points on the shore. On 10 June she sailed from San Pedro Bay with a convoy of landing craft bound for Morotai, from which she returned to Tawi Tawi escorting an ammunition ship. She left Tawi Tawi on 26 June to escort a squadron of motor torpedo boats and their tender to Balikpapan, arriving on 27 June, four days before the invasion. Edwin A. Howard screened minesweepers operating off the coast, and covered the landings, then escorted reinforcements from Morotai to the beachheads before returning to Leyte on 26 July.
The escort vessel remained in the Far East on occupation duty, escorting convoys from Leyte to Ulithi, Okinawa, and Japan. She sailed from Samar on 28 November 1945 for the United States and was placed out of commission in reserve on 25 September 1946.
Utimately stricken from the Naval Vessel Register on 1 December 1972, Edwin A. Howard was disposed of, by Navy Sale, on 1 August 1973.
Edwin A. Howard received one battle star for her participation in the Balikpapan Operation (26 June--10 July 1945) .
Updated, Robert J. Cressman
24 March 2023
