USS Cates (DE-763)

USS Cates (DE-763)

USS Cates (DE-763) was a Cannon-class destroyer escort built for the United States Navy during World War II. She served in the Atlantic Ocean and the Pacific Ocean and provided escort service against submarine and air attack for Navy vessels and convoys.

She was named after William Finnic Cates who was killed in action 12 November 1942 when a Japanese torpedo plane, which he kept under fire while refusing to leave his station, crashed aboard the ship. For this heroism, he received the Navy Cross posthumously.

Cates was launched 10 October 1943 by Tampa Shipbuilding Co., Inc., Tampa, Florida; sponsored by Mrs. P. Dyer; commissioned 15 December 1943, Lieutenant G. A. Prouse, USNR, in command; and reported to the Atlantic Fleet.