USS Vammen ( DE - 644 ) USS " Vammen " ( DE - 644 ) was a of the United States Navy , named in honor of Ensign Clarence E . Vammen , Jr . ( 1919 – 1942 ) , a naval aviator who died in the Battle of Midway . " Vammen " was laid down on 1 August 1943 at San Francisco , Calif . , by the Bethlehem Steel Corporation ; launched on 21 May 1944 , sponsored by Mrs . Earle Morgan , aunt of the late Ensign Vammen ; and commissioned on 27 July 1944 , with Lieutenant Commander L . M . King , Jr . , USNR , in command . World War II . Following commissioning , " Vammen " fitted out through mid - August 1944 and later conducted her shakedown out of San Diego , California , into late September before undergoing a post - shakedown availability at her builder ' s yard . Underway for Pearl Harbor , Territory of Hawaii , on 13 October , the new destroyer escort convoyed SS " Phillipa " to the Hawaiian Islands before reporting for duty to Commander , Service Force , Pacific Fleet , on 21 October . For the remainder of October and all of November , the destroyer escort trained out of Pearl Harbor , operating in company with various submarine s and aircraft carrier s , perfecting techniques of anti - submarine warfare and escort duty . She then escorted SS " Cushman Davis " via Funafuti in the Ellice Islands to Espiritu Santo , before she steamed independently to Pearl Harbor , arriving at the Pacific Fleet ' s main base three days after Christmas 1944 . " Vammen " plane - guarded for early in January 1945 before escorting the merchantman SS " Exira " to Eniwetok in the Marshalls from 9 to 16 January . While returning to Pearl Harbor , " Vammen " responded to a radio request for assistance from which had an ill crewman . The destroyer escort rendezvoused with the landing ship at sea on 20 January and took the sick man on board . The following day , off Johnston Island , " Vammen " transferred the man to a hospital boat , sent from that outpost , for medical treatment ashore . The destroyer escort arrived back at Pearl Harbor on 23 January . At the end of the month , " Vammen " sailed for the Marshall Islands , escorting Convoy PD - 278 - T , consisting of the attack transports and . Departing Pearl Harbor on 30 January , PD - 278 - T arrived at Eniwetok on 7 February . " Vammen " then headed for Hawaii the next day and , on the 10th , relieved as escort for the escort carrier s and en route . They subsequently reached Pearl Harbor on 17 February . The destroyer escort conducted one more convoy escort run to the Marshalls before she participated in her first major action . She shepherded PD - 310 - T , which consisted of the attack transport s , , and , from 22 February to 2 March , the day of their arrival at Eniwetok . Three days later , she ( as one of nine escorts ) sortied with a 10 - ship convoy bound for Ulithi and Kossol Roads . Detached on 9 March , she escorted the merchantman SS " Westward Ho " to Kossol Roads , and , two days later , departed the Palaus and proceeded to the Philippines in company with the landing ship and " Westward Ho " , reaching Rizal , Leyte , on 13 March . After patrolling the entrance to Leyte Gulf from 14 to 18 March , " Vammen " underwent an availability at San Pedro Bay alongside tender . With those repairs completed within a week ' s time , the destroyer escort sortied on 25 March , bound for Okinawa and her baptism of fire . Okinawa . Steaming as part of the screen for Tractor Group " Easy " , " Vammen " reached the Ryukyus on 1 April , the day of the initial landings on Okinawa . Detached from duty with Task Unit 51 . 14 . 2 ( TU 51 . 14 . 2 ) , for which the ship ' s commanding officer had been screen commander , " Vammen " was assigned to the western half of screening station A - 39 . Later that day , she received orders to screen LST Group " Dog " during its night retirement . While maneuvering at 15 knots through the congested transport area under poor visibility conditions , the destroyer escort struck a heavy floating object with her bow at 21 : 00 . A few seconds later , an explosion occurred beneath her stern , as though a depth charge had exploded under the ship . After noticing marked vibrations , " Vammen " reduced speed to 10 knots . Repair parties reported no evident damage , but the vibrations indicated damage to shafts or propellers . As it turned out , the ship ' s starboard propeller had been damaged and required replacement . Nevertheless , she completed her assigned mission proceeding to rendezvous with the LST group on its night retirement . At 06 : 45 the next day , she resumed her screening station , A - 39 , but because of her reduced speed capacity , was ordered to take station A - 50 . Fortunately for " Vammen " , she was never attacked by enemy aircraft . " Vammen " remained on station off Okinawa until 8 April . Due to the frequent enemy air raids , her crew spent an average of 10 to 12 hours a day at their general quarters stations , but as Commander King noted in his report of the ship ' s operations , " no undue fatigue or effect on morale or efficiency " resulted . Offered no opportunity to fire at enemy aircraft during her time off Okinawa , " Vammen " conducted two " hedgehog " attacks on suspected submarine contacts , neither with observable results . With the additional problem of a burnt - out drive motor in her surface - search ( SL ) radar , " Vammen " departed Okinawa on 8 April , screening LST Group 17 to Leyte . Arriving at San Pedro Bay on 14 April , she underwent repairs alongside " Markab " before she was drydocked in " ARD - 16 " to have the damaged starboard propeller replaced . Undocking on the 17th , " Vammen " returned to Okinawa at the end of April , screening LST Group 41 . Detached from that escort duty on 2 May , " Vammen " received orders to head for the scene of a submarine sighting at 15 : 14 on the 5th . She arrived on the scene at 17 : 23 , and commenced a search plan in company with , but found nothing . The ships abandoned the search at 11 : 00 the following day , and " Vammen " soon resumed her screening role off Okinawa . The destroyer escort remained off Okinawa , screening incoming ships and off transport areas , for the rest of May . On 28 May , while anchored at the northern end of the transport area in Hagushi Bay , " Vammen " picked up Talk - Between - Ships ( TBS ) reports of incoming aircraft , " bogies " , commencing beyond 50 miles ( 90 km ) . A short while later , the destroyer escort ' s radar picked up one enemy plane , a Kawasaki Ki - 61 " Tony " , first at 10 miles ( 20 km ) and then one mile away as it circled across the ship ' s bow . The " Tony " suddenly emerged from the low clouds on the escort ' s starboard quarter , and all of " Vammen " ' s 20 - mm Oerlikon s that could bear opened up , joining the other ships nearby in putting up a fierce barrage of fire . The " Tony " strafed a tug nearby but , hit in the tail and right wing , burst into flame , lost altitude , and crashed into the water without exploding , clear of any ships . Underway on 3 June , " Vammen " , awarded an " assist " in the downing of the plane on 28 May , escorted an Okinawa - to - Leyte convoy between 3 and 8 June , sinking a Japanese mine with gunfire en route . After repairs alongside " Markab " and a docking in for repairs to her sound gear — which had been inoperative since 22 May — the destroyer escort sailed for Lingayen in company with sistership , on her way back to Okinawa . For the remainder of June , " Vammen " performed the unglamorous but vital duty of screening transports and of providing local escort services to incoming convoys . She ultimately departed the Ryukyus in early July and steamed to Ulithi before returning once more to Okinawa on 15 July , commencing patrol at station D - l , off Buckner Bay , on 22 July . Subsequently returning to Ulithi in early August , the destroyer escort returned to Okinawa on 12 August and , after fueling , got underway on 13 August as part of the screen for an Okinawa - to - Ulithi convoy . It was while underway with that convoy two days later that the ship received the welcome news of Japan ' s capitulation . " Vammen " ' s commanding officer recorded the event : " " 1745 , On basis of communique No . 467 , all offensive action against Japanese ceased . " " " Vammen " reached Ulithi on 18 August and , after escorting Convoy UOK ( Ulithi to Okinawa ) 52 to Okinawa from 27 to 31 August , returned to Ulithi at the beginning of September . Subsequently visiting Guam and Saipan , " Vammen " reached Pearl Harbor on 9 November on her way back to the west coast of the United States . The ship underwent a lengthy availability at the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard , Bremerton , Washington , that lasted into 1946 . She shifted southward to San Diego and departed that port on 20 February , bound for the Hawaiian Islands , reaching Pearl Harbor on 27 February . She sailed from Oahu on 4 March , and proceeded via Guam to China . " Vammen " supported the American occupation forces in their operations from the spring of 1946 into the autumn , touching at ports such as Tsingtao and Shanghai , China ; and Kowloon . Departing Shanghai on 1 July 1946 , the destroyer escort reached Pearl Harbor on 16 July via Guam and Eniwetok . She then set out for the west coast , reaching San Diego on 28 July . The destroyer escort next underwent an availability at Terminal Island , California , and San Pedro in early September , and shifted to San Diego in mid - month . " Vammen " was subsequently decommissioned at San Diego on 3 February 1947 and placed in reserve . She was inactivated on 2 April 1947 . Korean War . The Korean War meant a new lease on life for " Vammen " ; she was reactivated and heavily modified to enable her to perform a specialized anti - submarine warfare ( ASW ) role . With a redesigned bridge , trainable forward - firing ASW projectors ( " hedgehog s " ) , and improved sonar capabilities , " Vammen " thus became one of the most modern ASW vessels in the fleet . Recommissioned at Mare Island Naval Shipyard , California , on 15 February 1952 , " Vammen " operated off the west coast , out of San Diego and in the southern California area , into the summer of the following year , training . On 19 July 1953 , she left San Diego behind , bound for her first deployment to the Western Pacific ( WestPac ) since her re - commissioning . After proceeding via Pearl Harbor , Midway , and Yokosuka , " Vammen " arrived at Sasebo , Japan , on 23 August but got underway the next morning for the key port of Wonsan on the eastern coast of North Korea . She operated off Wonsan , performing patrol and gunfire support duties , from 25 August to 17 September before she returned to Sasebo . " Vammen " returned to Wonsan at the end of October , and , after performing a second tour of gunfire support and patrol there , returned to the west coast of the United States . Departing Wonsan on 11 November , the destroyer escort reached San Diego on 2 December via the Shimonoseki Straits , Yokosuka , Midway , and Pearl Harbor . 1953 – 1961 . Over the next six years , " Vammen " alternated in training operations off the coast of California , operating primarily out of San Diego , and conducting regular WestPac deployments . In 1956 , while in San Diego , " Vammen " was used in filming a TV drama , and in 1959 the " Vammen " and crew were also used in filming the Jerry Lewis comedy " Don ' t Give Up the Ship " . The latter provided her with excellent training opportunities . In 1955 and again in 1958 , she made cruises through the Western and Central Carolines , the Bonins , the northern Marianas , and the Volcano Islands , parts of the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands administered by the Navy . She kept a figurative " eye " on local conditions on the various atolls and islands , keeping a lookout for illegal activities in trading and shipping . Her surveillance missions varied in format . On some occasions , she would send a landing party ashore via motor whaleboat or outboard motor - powered rubber raft ; and , on other occasions , " Vammen " would remain offshore while her men scanned the island with binoculars . During the former , a pharmacist ' s mate ( the ship ' s doctor ) would accompany the landing party to provide medical care and advice for the sick . On another occasion , while en route to WestPac in company with , " Vammen " visited Lyttelton , New Zealand , the port of Christchurch . The two destroyer escorts remained there from 3 to 8 February 1958 , while " Vammen " transferred 51 sacks of mail destined for Operation Deep Freeze personnel in Antarctica . In April 1960 , " Vammen " was selected as a Group I Naval Reserve Training ( NRT ) ship ; on 21 May , she was redesignated a Group II NRT ship . On 18 June 1960 , the destroyer escort was de - commissioned and placed " in service " . After becoming an NRT ship , " Vammen " soon began to provide training for reserve surface divisions of the 11th Naval District . Those men came on board for both dockside and underway training . On the third weekend of each month and for two weeks each summer , " Vammen " embarked her selected reserve crew . She then conducted anti - submarine warfare ( ASW ) , gunnery , and other shipboard training drills off the coast of California between Long Beach and San Diego . In August 1960 , " Vammen " conducted her first annual two - week training cruise with her selected reserve crew embarked . For her performance during those evolutions , the destroyer escort received the highest grade assigned to an NRT ship of her type . 1961 – 1971 . She subsequently conducted her second two - week cruise the following summer , 1961 , ready for instant mobilization that came sooner than anyone in her crew probably realized . That autumn , the Cold War tensions that escalated over Berlin and in the Far East resulted in the reactivation of 40 NRT ships for active duty . Accordingly , on 2 October 1961 , " Vammen " was recommissioned at Long Beach , Commander Charlie S . Nelson , USNR , in command . Following her recommissioning , " Vammen " underwent her regularly scheduled overhaul at the Todd Shipyard . Transferred to Pearl Harbor as her new home on 15 December 1961 , " Vammen " sailed for another WestPac deployment on 6 January 1962 . She deployed with a hunter - killer group and arrived at Pearl on 12 January . She began refresher training soon thereafter . Assigned to Escort Division 72 ( CortDiv 72 ) , " Vammen " sailed for the Philippines on 24 February . After logistics stops at Midway and Guam for fuel and minor voyage repairs , the destroyer escort reached Subic Bay on 11 March . After a brief period of upkeep , " Vammen " visited Manila in company with and from 16 to 18 March . On the 19th , the three ships got underway for the Gulf of Siam . Arriving off the southern tip of South Vietnam on 21 March , " Vammen " and " Charles E . Brannon " relieved and on the following day and assumed the duties of training units of the small South Vietnamese Navy in that area . From that day until 9 April , " Vammen " remained on station in the Gulf of Siam , off the coast of South Vietnam , maintaining American presence in that area . Heavy pressure from Communist Viet Cong forces inside South Vietnam had brought about a commitment of force there as the United States sought to bolster the American - backed regime . After visiting Subic Bay for a week of upkeep and conducting a port visit to Hong Kong , " Vammen " returned to her station in the Gulf of Siam . Originally , the ship ' s schedule had called for the ship to visit Japan and return to Pearl Harbor after visiting Hong Kong , but , as " Vammen " ' s commanding officer reported " . . . the efforts of " Vammen " and the other ex - NRT ships on the South Vietnam training mission were apparently of such value that it was decided to retain Escort Division 72 on the mission through mid - May . " There were further changes of plan afoot for " Vammen " , as was evidenced during the second deployment in the Gulf of Siam . On 13 May , " Vammen " and " Charles E . Brannon " were diverted from their training duties under Task Force 72 and were ordered to report for duty to commander , Task Group 76 . 5 ( TG 76 . 5 ) . Complying , the two destroyer escorts subsequently screened , , and while that group took a Marine Corps expeditionary force to Bangkok , Thailand . The 3rd Battalion , 9th Marines , embarked in the amphibious group were sent to Thailand in an effort to provide the friendly regime with troops to deter any Communist moves across the Mekong River . Following that operation , " Vammen " and her sistership escorted TG 76 . 5 back to Subic Bay , arriving there on 23 May . " Vammen " subsequently visited Yokosuka , Japan , and participated in Exercise Powerdive , with 7th Fleet units in the Japan area , before she returned via Midway Island to her home port , Pearl Harbor , on 18 June . At Pearl from 18 June to 11 July , " Vammen " enjoyed the longest consecutive in - port period since February of that year , undergoing much - needed repairs and maintenance . On 11 July , " Vammen " , in company with , , and " Wiseman " , sailed for the west coast of the United States . After her arrival at Long Beach on 17 July , " Vammen " was de - commissioned on 1 August , resuming her role as an NRT ship . For the next seven years , " Vammen " continued her duties as an 11th Naval District NRT ship , based at Long Beach , and operating primarily in the Long Beach - Los Angeles - San Pedro area . During that time , she ranged as far north as British Columbia and as far south as Ensenada , Mexico . Age ultimately caught up with the veteran destroyer escort ; and , in the summer of 1969 , she was adjudged unfit for further service . Placed out of service on 12 July 1969 , " Vammen " ' s NRT crew was transferred to ; and the ship herself was turned over to the Naval Inactive Ship Maintenance Facility , San Diego . Struck from the Navy List on 12 July 1969 , " Vammen " s stripped hulk was utilized in a Condor missile test on 4 February 1971 and , as a result of the damage suffered on that date , sank on 18 February . The wreck of the USS Vammen was found by scuba divers on 1 August 2010 in about 80 metres of water off San Clemente Island . Awards . " Vammen " ( DE - 644 ) earned one battle star for her World War II service and one engagement star for her Korean War service .