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USS Edward C. Daly (DE-17)

Please see below for item level images and donated collections containing photographs of USS Edward C. Daly (DE-17)

Byard (BDE-16) -originally intended as an escort ship for the British Royal Navy under Lend Lease -- was laid down on 1 April 1942 at Vallejo, Calif., by Mare Island Navy Yard; launched on 21 October 1942; sponsored by Mrs. Diane L. S. McQuilkin, wife of Lt. John H. McQuilkin; reallocated to the U.S. Navy; reclassified to DE-17 on 25 January 1943; renamed Edward C. Daly on 19 February 1943; and commissioned on 3 April 1943, Cmdr. George A. Parkinson, USNR, in command.

USS Edward C. Daly (DE-17) began her sea trials in San Pablo Bay, an estuary of San Francisco Bay and the home to Mare Island Navy Yard on 11 April 1943. On 22 April 1943, USS Edward C. Daly (DE-17) set out for Honolulu, T.H., to begin her career escorting convoys between Pearl Harbor, in the Hawaiian Islands, and San Francisco. She continued to operate between San Francisco and Honolulu in addition to serving as a school ship for training on her sound detection equipment at Pearl Harbor.

On 2 January 1944, USS Edward C. Daly (DE-17) moved to Finger Bay on Adak. Examination of her hull revealed that her sound gear had been torn away, and the ship entered Drydock No. 1034 for repairs (2–4 January) and then returned to Kuluk Bay. USS Edward C. Daly (DE-17) spent the entirety of 1944 escorting multiple Navy and commercial vessels between the various Aleutian Islands. She also served as a weather and homing ship for planes flying bombing raids on Paramushiro Island from Attu.

USS Edward C. Daly (DE-17)’s operations came to a close when she was ordered to return to San Francisco, in company with USS Gilmore (DE-18) and USS Doneff (DE-49), on 13 January 1945. After reentering the Golden Gate, she proceeded to Mare Island where she remained moored undergoing an extensive overhaul (19 January–25 February). Under her new orders, USS Edward C. Daly (DE-17) proceeded on a voyage to Pearl Harbor in company with USS Doneff, to join TF 06.12.1. USS Edward C. Daly (DE-17) began April 1945 escorting ships between Eniwetok and Guam in the Marianas until her duty assignment shifted to Saipan, which included providing escort services between Saipan and Iwo Jima in the Kazan Rettō [Volcano Islands]. 

On 22 October 1945, USS Edward C. Daly (DE-17) departed Guam for Pearl Harbor, and proceeded, via Eniwetok, to the U.S.  She arrived at Terminal Island in Long Beach, Calif., on 5 November, where she was decommissioned on 20 December 1945. She was stricken from the Navy Register on 1 January 1946.

For a complete history of USS Edward C. Daly (DE-17) please see its DANFS page.