Service History
The new destroyer escort departed the Charleston Navy Yard on 23 November for shakedown off Bermuda and returned to the yard on 25 December for alterations. She sailed on 4 January 1944 for Panama via the Windward Passage. In the Caribbean she joined her sister ships Lovelace (DE-198) and Samuel S. Miles (DE-183) on 7 January to escort two troop transports. She transited the Panama Canal on 8 January.
In company with other destroyer escorts, James E. Craig steamed from Balboa, Panama, on 14 January escorting SS Azalea City to Nouméa, New Caledonia. Stopping at Bora Bora on 27 January, James E. Craig and Azalea City departed the 28th and two days later encountered a typhoon which pounded the ships with 50-foot (15 m) waves. They passed through a second typhoon on 4 February with winds of 80 knots (92 mph; 148 km/h). On 5 February they were ordered to Espiritu Santo, and arrived the following day.
Read more about this topic: USS James E. Craig (DE-201)
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