USS Raby
| |
| Career | 
|
|---|---|
| Ordered: | 1942 |
| Laid down: | 7 June 1943 |
| Launched: | 4 September 1943 |
| Commissioned: | 7 December 1943 |
| Struck: | 1 June 1968 |
| Fate: | Scrapped |
| General characteristics | |
| Displacement: | 1,400 tons standard 1,740 tons full load |
| Length: | 306 ft (93 m) |
| Beam: | 37 ft (11.3 m) |
| Draft: | 9.5 ft (4.1 m) standard 11.25 ft full load |
| Propulsion: | 2 boilers, General Electric Turbo-electric drive 2 solid manganese-bronze 3600 lb 3-bladed propellers, 8.5 ft (2.6 m). diameter, 7 ft 7 inch pitch 12,000 hp (8.9 MW) 2 rudders |
| Speed: | 23 knots (43 km/h) |
| Range: | 359 tons oil 3,700 nautical miles (6,850 km) at 15 knots 6,000 nautical miles (11,000 km) at 12 knots (22 km/h) |
| Complement: | 15 officers, 198 men |
| Armament: | 3 × 3 in/50 cal. guns (76.2 mm) 4 × 1.1 in/75 (28 mm) AA guns (1×4) 8 × 20 mm 3 × 21 in (533 mm) torpedo tubes (1×3) 1 × hedgehog projector 8 × depth charge projectors (K-guns) 2 × depth charge tracks |
USS Raby (DE/DEC-698) was a Buckley-class destroyer escort for the United States Navy. She was named for Rear Admiral James Joseph Raby (1874 - 1934).
Raby was laid down on 7 June 1943 at the Defoe Shipbuilding Company, Bay City, Michigan, Rear Admiral Raby's home town. The ship was named Raby on 22 June 1943, and launched on 4 September 1943, sponsored by Mrs. James Joseph Raby. She was commissioned on 7 December 1943 at New Orleans, Louisiana, with Lieutenant Commander J. Scott II, in command.
After shakedown off Bermuda, Raby sailed from Norfolk, Va. on 10 February 1944 via the Panama Canal for Nouméa, arriving on 11 March. She then escorted fast convoys from Guadalcanal as far as Manus Island, in the Admiralties.
Raby was engaged in hunter-killer activities in the Solomons during the early spring. On 16 May, she sailed from Florida Island, in the Solomons, in a hunter-killer group with England and George on what was to become one of the most successful anti-submarine actions in the Pacific war. During this patrol from 19 May to 31 May, the three-ship team sank six Japanese submarines (I-16, RO-106, RO-104, RO-116, RO-108, and RO-105) in waters north of the Bismarck Archipelago.
Raby resumed convoy escort missions at the end of June, remaining in the Solomons until 26 October when she got underway for Manus for similar duty in the Admiralties. In December, she shifted to Ulithi, and with the new year, 1945, to Guam where she served as escort and patrol ship into June. Between 22 June and 31 August, she completed two slow tows to Okinawa, and on 13 September, she steamed for Pearl Harbor and the United States.
Remaining in California waters through the winter, she reported to the 7th Fleet for duty in the Far East on 6 April 1946, rescuing on the same day the crew of a downed B-29 bomber. She subsequently put into Hong Kong, Kiirun, Shanghai, and Tsingtao, reaching Okinawa on 26 June. She operated out of Okinawa, China, and Japan until returning to San Diego on 9 April 1947. She was assigned to Task Force 15 and made two runs from the west coast to Pearl Harbor before getting underway on 7 December for Eniwetok, Kwajalein, and Bikini where she arrived on 1 May 1948. She returned to Pearl Harbor on 27 May and to San Diego on 28 January 1949. She conducted local operations on the west coast, making two trips to Pearl Harbor during the rest of the year.
Reclassified as control escort ship DEC-698 on 2 November 1949, Raby transited the Panama Canal on 25 January 1950, and arrived at Norfolk on 1 February. During the next 3½ years, she operated alternately in the Norfolk area and in the Caribbean. She was at the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard, from June to September 1953 for de-activation, and she arrived in the Atlantic Reserve Fleet berthing area at St. James River, Florida, on 24 September. Raby decommissioned on 22 December 1953. She was re-designated back to DE-698 on 27 December 1957. She was transferred to the Orange, Texas, berthing area in 1960. Raby was struck from the Navy list on 1 June 1968, and subsequently sold for scrap.
Raby earned three battle stars for World War II service.
References
This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships.
