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USS Haverfield (DE-393/DER-393)

Please see below for item level images and donated collections containing photographs of USS Haverfield (DE-393/DER-393)

USS Haverfleld (DE-393) was launched 30 August 1943 by Brown Shipbuilding Co., Houston; sponsored by Mrs. Tracy Haverfield, mother of Ensign Haverfield; and commissioned 29 November, Lt. Comdr. Jerry A. Matthews in command.

After shakedown in the Caribbean, USS Haverfleld (DE-393) joined escort carrier Hague's hunter-killer group in patrolling Atlantic convoy lanes in search of marauding German U-boats. Departing Norfolk 26 February 1944, the hunter-killer group, aided by a Canadian corvette and British aircraft, sank U-575 on the 23rd of March. With some seven survivors of the Nazi submarine aboard, USS Haverfleld (DE-393) continued her patrol to Casablanca, where she reported to Commander Moroccan Sea Frontier and turned over the German prisoners 18 March. 

USS Haverfleld (DE-393) continued to operate until the European War ended in May 1945 on trans-Atlantic HUK missions as well as on patrol along the icy Great Barrier. When all German U-boats still at sea had been accounted for, the destroyer-escort underwent a Boston overhaul; and, after intensive training in Cuban waters, sailed for the Pacific 19 July to be ready for the invasion of Japan. Reaching Pearl Harbor via the Panama Canal and San Diego 1 August, USS Haverfleld (DE-393) was there when the war ended in mid-August and at the end of the month assumed convoy escort duty from Saipan to Okinawa. Reclassified DER-393 in September 1954, USS Haverfleld (DER-393) was converted to a radar picket ship at the Philadelphia Navy Yard and recommissioned there 4 January 1955. Fitted with the latest electronic detection equipment and with 50 tons of ballast in her keel to compensate for the topside weight of the new radar antennae, USS Haverfleld (DER-393) trained off the East Coast and then reported to her new home port, Seattle, via the Panama Canal and San Deigo 23 July. 

USS Haverfleld (DER-393) returned to Pearl Harbor March 1965 and, after joining Escort Squaron 5, sailed 19 June for duty off South Vietnam. There she participated in "Market Time" patrols to guard against infiltration of North Vietnamese troops and supplies by sea. She served "Market Time" for 7 months, then returned Pearl Harbor 2 February 1966. Departing for the Far East 23 May, she resumed "Market Time" operations 9 June. 

USS Haverfleld (DER-393) continued "Market Time" patrols during the next 5 months. In addition she provided gunfire support 6 September against a enemy on Phu Quoc Island, South Vietnam. She returned to Pearl Harbor 6 December, remained there until late April 1967, and then resumed patrol duty off South Vietnam.

For a complete history of USS Haverfleld (DE-393/DER-393) please see its DANFS page.