Allied Warships

USS Ahrens (DE 575)

Destroyer Escort of the Buckley class

Navy	The US Navy
Type	Destroyer Escort
Class	Buckley
Pennant	DE 575
Built by	Bethlehem Shipyard Inc. (Hingham, Massachusetts, U.S.A.)
Ordered	7 Aug 1942
Laid down	5 Nov 1943
Launched	21 Dec 1943
Commissioned	12 Feb 1944
End service	24 Jun 1946
History	Decommissioned 24 June 1946. Stricken 1 April 1965. Sold 20 January 1967 and broken up for scrap.

Commands listed for USS Ahrens (DE 575)

Please note that we're still working on this section
and that we only list Commanding Officers for the duration of the Second World War.

	Commander	From	To
1	Cdr. Morgan Hamilton Harris, USNR	12 Feb 1944	30 Jun 1944
2	William J Rogers, Jr., USNR	30 Jun 1944	early 1946

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Notable events involving Ahrens include:

29 May 1944
German U-boat U-549 was sunk in the mid-Atlantic south-west of Madeira in position 31°13'N, 23°03'W, by depth charges from the US destroyer escorts USS Eugene E. Elmore and USS Ahrens.

1 Jun 1944

Convoy GUF 11.

This convoy departed Naples on 1 June 1944.

It was made up of the following (troop) transports; Cristobal (American, 10021 GRT, built 1939), Frederick Lykes (American, 7773 GRT, built 1940) and Santa Rosa (American, 9135 GRT, built 1932).

They were escorted by the destroyers USS Davison (T/Cdr. E.L.E. Ritson, USN, with COMTASKFOR 68 / COMDESRON 15, T/Capt. S.W. DuBois, USN on board), USS Mervine (T/Cdr. D.R. Frakes, USN), USS Quick (T/Cdr. P.W. Cann, USN), USS Tillman (T/Cdr. C.S. Hutchings, USN) and USS Earle (T/Capt. G.O. Hobbs, USN).

Around 2030B/1, the destroyer USS Livermore (T/Cdr. H.E. Siedel, Jr., USN) joined for jammer duty (against German radio controlled bombs).

The convoy proceeded via the Messina Straits.

Around 1300B/2, the AA cruiser HMS Colombo (Capt. C.T. Jellicoe, DSO, DSC and Bar, RN) and naval tanker USS Mattaponi (Lt.Cdr. V.J. Banks, USNR) joined coming from Bizerta.

Around 0445B/4, the convoy was off Oran where the (troop) transports James Parker (American, 10021 GRT, built 1939) and Sea Perch (American, 7870 GRT, built 1944) joined. Also the stores ship USS Merak (Lt.Cdr. J.W. Cawthon, USN) joined.

Around 1745A/4, the destroyer escorts USS Ahrens (Cdr. M.H. Harris, USNR) and USS Robert I. Paine (Lt.Cdr. D. Cochran, USN) joined the convoy near Gibraltar.

Around 1815A/4, HMS Colombo, USS Earle and USS Livermore were detached near Gibraltar.

On 5 June 1944, USS Davison, USS Mervine, USS Quick and USS Tillman fuelled from USS Mattaponi.

Around 1500N/8, the destroyer escorts USS Evarts (Lt.Cdr. T.G. Bremer, Jr., USNR, with COMCORTDIV 5, Cdr. R.A. Fitch, USNR on board), USS Wilhoite (T/Lt.Cdr. E.B. Roth, USN) and USS Eugene E. Elmore (T/Lt.Cdr. G.L. Conkey, USN) joined and commenced fuelling from USS Mattaponi. On completion, around 1800N/8, they parted company.

On 9 June 1944, all escorts fuelled from USS Mattaponi.

The convoy arrived at Hampton Roads on 13 June 1944.