USS Savage

{{Short description|1943 Edsall-class destroyer escort}} {{Use dmy dates|date=July 2021}} {{More citations needed|date=December 2010}} {{Infobox ship |section1={{Infobox ship/image |image=DER-386 mid1950s.jpg |image_caption=USS Savage (DER-386) }}

|section2={{Infobox ship/career |hide_header= |country=United States |flag={{USN flag|1958}} |name= USS ''Savage'' |namesake=Walter Samuel Savage Jr. |ordered= |builder=[[Brown Shipbuilding]], [[Houston]], Texas |laid_down=30 April 1943 |launched=15 July 1943 |acquired= |commissioned=29 October 1943 |decommissioned= 17 October 1969 |reclassified=DER-386, 28 October 1954 |in_service= |out_of_service= |struck=1 June 1975 |reinstated= |honours= |fate=Sunk as target off California on 25 October 1982 |notes= }}

|section3={{Infobox ship/characteristics |hide_header= |header_caption= |class={{sclass|Edsall|destroyer escort}} |displacement=*1,253 tons standard *1,590 tons full load |length={{convert|306|ft|m|abbr=on}} |beam={{convert|36.5|ft|m|abbr=on}} |draft={{convert|10.42|ft|abbr=on}} full load |propulsion=*4 [[Fairbanks-Morse|FM]] [[diesel engine]]s, *4 diesel-[[Engine-generator|generators]], *{{convert|6000|shp|abbr=on}}, *2 screws |speed={{convert|21|kn|abbr=on}} |range=*{{convert|9100|nmi|abbr=on}} at {{convert|12|kn|abbr=on}} |complement=8 officers, 201 enlisted |sensors= |EW= |armament= {{Edsall class destroyer escort armament}} |armour= |armor= |aircraft= |aircraft_facilities= |notes= }} }}

'''USS ''Savage'' (DE-386)''' was an {{sclass|Edsall|destroyer escort}} built for the [[United States Navy]] during [[World War II]].

==Namesake== Walter Samuel Savage Jr. was born on 26 April 1919 in [[New Orleans]], Louisiana. He was commissioned [[Ensign (rank)|Ensign]], [[United States Naval Reserve]], on 10 June 1941. After instruction at the Navy Supply Corps School, [[Harvard University]], Ensign Savage reported to the {{USS|Arizona|BB-39|6}} for duty as Assistant Paymaster. He died on the ''Arizona'' during the [[Empire of Japan|Japanese]] [[attack on Pearl Harbor]] on 7 December 1941.

==Construction and commissioning== She was [[Keel#Structural keels|laid down]] 30 April 1943 by [[Brown Shipbuilding]] Co., [[Houston]], Texas and [[Ship naming and launching|launched]] on 15 July 1943. The ship was [[Ship commissioning|commissioned]] on 29 October 1943<ref name="DANFS" /> manned by a Coast Guard crew{{citation needed|date=May 2015|reason= Uncited}}.<ref name="DANFS" /> On 18 November 1943, she was underway for [[Bermuda]], British West Indies, for her [[shakedown cruise]].<ref name="DANFS" />

Commencing Thanksgiving Day of 1943, the ship was subjected to a rigorous training schedule including gunnery practice, submarine warfare tactics, maneuvering, and the hundreds of other tasks demanded of a [[Man-of-war|man-o-war]].{{citation needed|date=May 2015|reason=Not in DANFS source provided}}

On 23 December 1943 she departed for the U.S. Navy Yard in [[Charleston, South Carolina]] for post-shakedown repairs.{{citation needed|date=May 2015|reason=Not in DANFS source provided}}

== World War II North Atlantic operations ==

On Christmas Day, ''Savage'' completed her training and ship and crew reported to [[Norfolk, Virginia]] as members of the [[United States Fleet Forces Command|Atlantic Fleet]].

In January 1944 the ship was assigned as one of six vessels composing Escort Division 23<ref name="DANFS" /> of Task Force 63. This task force was engaged in escorting convoys of 60 to 80 merchant ships from United States ports to the Mediterranean Theatre.{{citation needed|date=May 2015|reason=TF 63 and size of convoys not in DANFS source provided}}

During the operations, lasting approximately seven weeks for each convoy, ''Savage'' and her [[sister ship]]s safely escorted hundreds of ships loaded with vital war materials safely past the heavy enemy submarine and air concentrations in the Atlantic and Mediterranean.{{citation needed|date=May 2015|reason=Not in DANFS source provided}}

On 1 April 1944, Convoy UGS 36, whose escort included USS ''Savage'', was attacked by thirty enemy aircraft north of [[Algiers]], Algeria. So intense was the gunfire of the escorting ships that the attack was repelled without a single allied vessel lost. Her only casualty during the action was a member of the [[depth charge]] crew who was struck in the ankle by shell fragments.<ref name="DANFS" />

During the latter half of 1944 and the first six months of 1945, USS ''Savage'' escorted high-speed troop convoys between New York and the British Isles to support the final assault on Nazi Germany.{{citation needed|date=May 2015|reason=Not in DANFS source provided}}

During eighteen crossings of the Atlantic, ''Savage'' and her sister ships safely brought through over 1,000 loaded troop and supply ships without a single loss despite the persistent threat of enemy vessels and treacherous weather conditions.{{citation needed|date=May 2015|reason=Not in DANFS source provided}}

Following the defeat of Nazi Germany, ''Savage'' sailed to the [[Brooklyn Navy Yard]], where she was fitted with more anti-aircraft guns. She then sailed on 30 May 1945 for an intensive period of operational and gunnery training in the Caribbean off [[Culebra, Puerto Rico]].<ref name="DANFS" />

== Transferred to the Pacific theater ==

After transiting the [[Panama Canal]] on 18 June 1945, she proceeded from San Francisco to the [[Aleutian Islands]] and arrived at [[Adak Island|Adak]] on 8 July 1945.<ref name="DANFS" /> The ship and her crew reported to the Commander of North Pacific Fleets for escort duty.

== End-of-war activity ==

After the hostilities in the Pacific ended, ''Savage'' escorted two convoys from [[Cold Bay]], Alaska to Russian waters where the American escort ships were dismissed. One convoy departed Cold Harbor on 23 July 1945 and the other on 25 August 1945. During the interim, she escorted [[Oiler (ship)|oilers]] to refuel Task Force 92, which had been bombarding shore installations in the [[Kuril Islands]]<ref name="DANFS" /> of Russia; then occupied by Japanese forces.

On 27 September 1945 ''Savage'' departed [[Attu Island|Attu]] for [[Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky|Petropavlovsk]], USSR, and arrived there on the morning of 2 October 1945. She delivered supplies and mail to {{USS|Harry L. Corl|APD-108|6}} then departed for Attu.<ref name="DANFS" />

At the end of hostilities with Japan, ''Savage'' was assigned liaison duty in the Far East. She shuttled between [[Okinawa Island|Okinawa]], and [[Qingdao]], China from December 1945 until February 1946 when she sailed for [[Pearl Harbor]].<ref name="DANFS" />

In April 1946, she sailed for [[Green Cove Springs]], [[Florida]]. She was decommissioned there on 13 June 1946;<ref name="DANFS" /> with her CO Captain John M. Waters, USCG in attendance.{{citation needed|date=May 2015|reason=CO not listed in source}} Also decommissioned at this location in June 1946 were the other five Coast Guard manned ships comprising CortDiv23. {{USS|Sellstrom|DE-255|2}}, {{USS|Ramsden|DE-382|2}}, {{USS|Mills|DE-383|2}}, and {{USS|Richey|DE-385|2}}. With the exception of ''Richey'', all were recommissioned as Navy manned destroyer escort radar picket ships.{{citation needed|date=May 2015|reason=not listed in source}}

== Conversion to radar picket ship ==

After World War II most, if not all, early warning networks had been dismantled. At the height of the [[Cold War]], paranoia ran deep within the halls of the United States military establishment. By 1949, the USSR had developed the atomic bomb and the capacity to deliver it by air. The United States considered that it needed to protect itself from the Soviets, formerly allies. To this end, the US constructed early-warning stations. This system was called the Distant Early Warning system or the [[Distant Early Warning Line|DEW Line]], which was a state of the art product.{{citation needed|date=May 2015|reason=not listed in source}}

There were 22 stations and the line spanned approximately {{convert|3693|mi}}. The DEW Line's radar stations could chart the path of the Soviet bombers toward the North American continent. It was hailed as "a bulwark" against the forces of communism. Radar picket escort destroyers were employed to detect these aircraft moving toward North America on a polar route.{{citation needed|date=May 2015|reason=not listed in source}}

''Savage'' was redesignated a radar picket escort destroyer (DER-386) on 3 September 1954 and recommissioned on 18 February 1955 in [[Boston]], Massachusetts;<ref name="DANFS" /> with Lt. Cmdr. R. E. Davis, USN as commanding officer.{{citation needed|date=May 2015|reason=CO not listed in source}} Distinguished guests included Walter S. Savage Sr., father of Walter S. Savage Jr., USNR, and Captain Oscar C. Rohnke, USCG.{{citation needed|date=May 2015|reason= Guests are not listed by sources on this page}}

In July 1955, she was transferred to the Pacific Fleet with her home port being [[Seattle]], Washington. She arrived in Seattle on 6 August 1955. ''Savage'' served in this capacity until December 1958, when her home port was changed to Pearl Harbor. She operated as a radar picket ship of the mid-Pacific barrier from 12 January 1959 until March 1960.<ref name="DANFS">{{cite DANFS |url= http://www.history.navy.mil/research/histories/ship-histories/danfs/s/savage.html |title= USS Savage }}</ref>

She then served as a search and rescue navigation aid ship until May 1965.<ref name="DANFS" />

== Vietnam operations ==

On 17 May 1965, ''Savage'' sailed for South Vietnam where she spent more time on station in [[Operation Market Time]] than any other DER. She guarded against sea infiltration by North Vietnamese and assisted land forces by providing naval gunfire support. She had no periods out of Vietnam service until October when she made a five-day visit to [[Hong Kong]].<ref name="DANFS" />

From October 1965 through October 1968 the ship made five more tours off Vietnam on [[Operation Market Time]],<ref name="DANFS" /> operating {{convert|50|–|100|yd|m}} offshore, searching [[Junk (ship)|junks]] and small fishing boats for [[Viet Cong]] weapons and infrequently providing naval gunfire support with her two {{convert|3|in|mm|adj=on|0}} guns {{citation needed|date=May 2015}} from 1 to 15 January, 12 June to 16 September 1966, 24 August to 8 September 1967, 16 September to 12 October and 2 to 18 December 1968. She made [[Taiwan Strait]] patrols in June, September, and December 1967; and in July and October 1968.<ref name="DANFS" />

During her 1967 and 1968 Market Time patrols, she also served as "mother ship" to 5 – 6 U.S. Navy [[Patrol Craft Fast|PCF's]] (swift boats). All of ''Savage''{{'}}s officers (except for the Executive Officer and Commanding Officer) functioned as additional officers to the two crews per Swift Boat (daytime and nighttime) covering the [[Mekong River]] Delta and the Mekong River in the "brown water navy".{{citation needed|date=May 2015|reason= None of this swift boat material is cited and is not in DANFS.}}

On 1 February 1969 she arrived back in Pearl Harbor and entered the naval shipyard for restricted availability and upkeep. On 7 July 1969 she departed for [[San Francisco]] and deactivation at Mare Island Naval Shipyard in [[Vallejo, California]]. On 17 October 1969, she was [[Ship decommissioning|decommissioned]] for the last time and joined the inactive reserve fleet.<ref name="DANFS" />

== Post-war decommissioning == [[File:DE-386 AGM-88A hit NAN5-82.jpg|thumb|Explosion of an AGM-88A HARM missile on ''Savage'' in 1982]] She was stricken on 1 June 1975 and sunk as a target off [[California]] on 25 October 1982.

== Awards ==

USS ''Savage'' earned one battle star in World War II<ref name="DANFS" /> (Convoy UGS 36, 1 April 1944).

*[[American Campaign Medal]] *[[European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal]] with one [[battle star]] *[[Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal]] *[[World War II Victory Medal (United States)|World War II Victory Medal]] *[[Navy Occupation Service Medal]] with "ASIA" clasp *[[China Service Medal]] *[[National Defense Service Medal]] *[[Vietnam Service Medal]] with six campaign stars *[[Republic of Vietnam Campaign Medal]]<ref name="DANFS" />

== References == *{{DANFS|http://www.history.navy.mil/research/histories/ship-histories/danfs/s/savage.html}} {{reflist}}

== External links == * [https://archive.today/20011005083318/http://www.history.navy.mil/danfs/#Anchor-Editoria-14954 Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships] * {{navsource|06/386}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Savage (De-386)}} [[Category:Edsall-class destroyer escorts]] [[Category:Ships built in Houston]] [[Category:1943 ships]] [[Category:World War II frigates and destroyer escorts of the United States]] [[Category:Ships sunk as targets]] [[Category:Maritime incidents in 1982]] [[Category:Shipwrecks of the California coast]]