USS Savage ( DE - 386 ) USS " Savage " ( DE - 386 ) was an Edsall - class destroyer escort ship built for the United States Navy during World War II . She was laid down 30 April 1943 by Brown Shipbuilding Co . , Houston , Texas ; launched 15 July 1943 ; and commissioned on 29 October 1943 manned by a Coast Guard crew under the command of Lieutenant Commander Oscar C . Rohnke , USCG . On 18 November 1943 , she was underway for Bermuda , British West Indies , for her shakedown cruise . 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 - o - war . On 23 December 1943 she departed for the U . S . Navy Yard in Charleston , South Carolina for post - shakedown repairs . 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 Atlantic Fleet . In January 1944 the ship was assigned as one of six vessels composing Escort Division 23 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 . During the operations , lasting approximately seven weeks for each convoy , the USS " Savage " and her sister ships safely escorted hundreds of ships loaded with vital war materials safely past the heavy enemy submarine and air concentrations in the Atlantic and Mediterranean . 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 , James W . Searcy , MoMM3c , who was struck in the ankle by shell fragments . He earned a Purple Heart for his injuries and this action earned the " Savage " and her crew a World War II battle star . 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 . During eighteen crossings of the Atlantic , the boat 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 . 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 Island , 20 miles east of the main island of Puerto Rico . Transferred to the Pacific Theatre . After transiting the Panama Canal on 18 June 1945 , she proceeded from San Francisco to the Aleutian Islands and arrived at Adak on 8 July 1945 . 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 Harbor , 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 oilers to refuel Task Force 92 , which had been bombarding shore installations in the Kuril Islands of Russia ; then occupied by Japanese forces . On 27 September 1945 the Savage departed Attu for Petropavlovsk , USSR , and arrived there on the morning of 2 October 1945 . She delivered supplies and mail to the Harry L . Corl ( APD - 108 ) . At the end of hostilities with Japan , " Savage " was assigned liaison duty in the Far East . She shuttled between Okinawa , and Tsingtao , China from December 1945 until February 1946 when she sailed for Pearl Harbor . In April 1946 , she sailed for Green Cove Springs , Florida . She was decommissioned there on 13 June 1946 ; with her CO Captain John M . Waters , USCG in attendance . Also decommissioned at this location on June 1946 were the other five Coast Guard manned ships comprising CortDiv23 . The USS " Sellstrom " ( DE - 255 ) , USS " Ramsen " ( DE - 382 ) , USS " Mills " ( DE - 383 ) , and the USS " Richey " ( DE - 385 ) . With the exception of the USS Richey , all were recommissioned as Navy manned Destroyer Escort Radar Picket ships . 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 USA considered that it needed to protect itself from the Russians , formerly allies . To this end , the US constructed early - warning stations . This system was called the Distant Early Warning system or the DEW Line , which was a state of the art product . There were 22 stations and the line spanned approximately 3 , 693 miles . The DEW Line ' s radar stations could chart the path of the Russian air 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 . The Savage was redesignated a Radar Picket Escort Destroyer ( DER - 386 ) on 3 September 1954 and recommissioned on 18 February 1955 in Boston , Massachusetts ; with Lt . Cmdr . R . E . Davis , USN as commanding officer . Distinguished guests included Walter S . Savage , Sr . , father of Walter S . Savage , Jr . , USNR , and Captain Oscar C . Rohnke , USCG . 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 . She then served as a search and rescue navigation aid ship until May 1965 . 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 . From October 1965 through December 1968 the ship made five more tours off Vietnam on Operation Market Time , operating 50 - 100 yards offshore , searching junks and small fishing boats for Viet Cong weapons and infrequently providing naval gunfire support with her two 3 inch guns : 01 to 15 January and 12 June to 16 September 1966 . 24 August to 8 September 1967 . 16 September to 12 October and 02 to 18 December 1968 . During her 1967 and 1968 Market Time patrols , she also served as " mother ship " to 5 - 6 U . S . Navy 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 " . She made Taiwan Strait patrols in June , September , and December 1967 ; and in July and October 1968 . 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 San Francisco Bay Naval Shipyard in Vallejo , California . On 17 October 1969 , she was decommissioned for the last time and joined the inactive reserve fleet . Post - War Decommissioning . She was stricken on 1 June 1975 and disposed of as a target on 25 October 1982 . Her tonnage was 1 , 269 . She was almost forty ( 40 ) years old when she was disposed of . Awards . The USS " Savage " earned one battle star in World War II ( Convoy UGS 36 , 1 April 1944 ) . She also earned the American Campaign Medal , Atlantic - Pacific Campaign Medal , the World War II Victory Medal , the Navy Occupation Service Medal , and the China Service Medal . She earned six battle stars for her service in Vietnam . In 1975 , the type designation " DE " ( for " Destroyer Escort " ) was discontinued by the U . S . Navy and replaced by " FF " ( for " Frigate " ) .