USS Blessman (DE-69)
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| Career (United States) | |
|---|---|
| Name: | USS Blessman (DE-69) |
| Namesake: | Edward Martin Blessman |
| Ordered: | 1942 |
| Builder: | Bethlehem-Hingham Shipyard |
| Laid down: | 22 March 1943 as Buckley-class destroyer escort |
| Launched: | 19 June 1943 |
| Commissioned: | 19 September 1943 |
| Reclassified: | APD-48, 31 June 1944 |
| Decommissioned: | 15 January 1947 |
| Struck: | 1 June 1967 |
| Honors and awards: |
3 battle stars (World War II) |
| Fate: | Transferred to Taiwan, 3 July 1967 |
| Career (Republic of China) | |
| Name: | ROCS Chung Shan (DE-43) |
| Acquired: | 3 July 1967 |
| Reclassified: | PF-43 |
| Reclassified: | PF-845 |
| Reclassified: | PF-843 |
| Struck: | May 1995 |
| Fate: | broken up for scrap |
| General characteristics | |
| Class & type: | Buckley-class destroyer escort |
| Displacement: | 1,400 long tons (1,422 t) standard 1,740 long tons (1,768 t) full |
| Length: | 306 ft (93 m) |
| Beam: | 37 ft (11 m) |
| Draft: | 9 ft 6 in (2.90 m) standard 11 ft 3 in (3.43 m) full |
| Propulsion: | 2 × boilers General Electric turbo-electric drive 12,000 shp (8.9 MW) 2 × solid manganese-bronze 3,600 lb (1,600 kg) 3-bladed propellers, 8 ft 6 in (2.59 m) diameter, 7 ft 7 in (2.31 m) pitch 2 × rudders 359 tons fuel oil |
| Speed: | 23 knots (43 km/h; 26 mph) |
| Range: | 3,700 nmi (6,900 km) at 15 kn (28 km/h; 17 mph) 6,000 nmi (11,000 km) at 12 kn (22 km/h; 14 mph) |
| Complement: | 15 officers, 198 men |
| Armament: | • 3 × single 3"/50 caliber guns • 1 × quad 1.1"/75 caliber gun • 8 × single 20 mm guns • 1 × triple 21 in (533 mm) torpedo tubes • 1 × Hedgehog anti-submarine mortar • 8 × K-gun depth charge projectors • 2 × depth charge tracks |
USS Blessman (DE-69/APD-48), a Buckley-class destroyer escort of the United States Navy, was named in honor of Lieutenant Edward Martin Blessman (1907–1942), who was killed in action in the Pacific on 4 February 1942.
Blessman was laid down on 22 March 1943 at the Bethlehem-Hingham Shipyard, Inc., Hingham, Massachusetts; launched on 19 June 1943, sponsored by Mrs. Helen Malloy Blessman, widow of Lieutenant Blessman, and commissioned on 19 September 1943, with Commander J. A. Gillis in command.
Read more about USS Blessman (DE-69): Awards