USS Lowe ( DE - 325 ) USS " Lowe " ( DE - 325 ) was an Edsall - class destroyer escort built for the U . S . Navy during World War II . She served in the Atlantic Ocean the Pacific Ocean and provided destroyer escort protection against submarine and air attack for Navy vessels and convoys . Post - war she was converted and served the Navy as a weather ship and then as a radar picket ship . She was named in honor of Gunner ’ s Mate Third Class Harry James Lowe , Jr . , who was awarded the Navy Cross posthumously for his brave actions in the Solomon Islands . The ship was laid down by Consolidated Steel Corp . , Orange , Texas , 24 May 1943 ; launched 28 July 1943 ; sponsored by Mrs . Harry J . Lowe , mother ; and commissioned 22 November 1943 , Comdr . Reginald H . French , USCG , in command . World War II North Atlantic operations . After a shakedown cruise to Bermuda , " Lowe " reported for convoy duty 2 February 1944 and departed Charleston , South Carolina , escorting convoy UGS 32 to Casablanca , French Morocco , and back . On her second such assignment , " Lowe " went into action 20 April when her convoy came under tenacious enemy air attack off the North African coast . Simultaneously , two high speed wakes made directly for the starboard side of the ship . She evaded the torpedoes by a hard right turn which enabled her to escape between the oncoming warheads . " Lowe " continued convoy escort service making a total of 12 Atlantic crossings until 5 March 1945 when she joined TG 22 . 14 , an exclusively U . S . Coast Guard “ hunter - killer ” group , with the specific mission of finding and destroying an enemy submarine operating due east of Newfoundland . Sinking of German Submarine U - 866 . While steaming in search of the enemy 18 March 100 miles east of Halifax , " Lowe " made sonar contact and attacked with two patterns of hedgehogs . The depth charge attacks with those of other ships of the group brought an oil slick and large amounts of debris to the surface . The submarine was still on the bottom the following day when " Lowe " reestablished sound contact . Postwar investigation verified the destruction of U - 866 by this group ; " Lowe " received credit for the kill , and her commanding officer and four other crew members received awards for their part in the action . While serving with task group TG 22 . 14 3 May , " Lowe " rescued the crew of the foundered Newfoundland schooner Marion Duffitt and her guns sank the hulk , which was a menace to navigation . Commencing 6 July , the ship assumed duties as a training vessel at Norfolk , Virginia , departing only to participate in the Navy Day observance at Washington , D . C . , 24 October . Departing the Capital 1 November , she offloaded ammunition at Yorktown , Virginia , and 30 December arrived at St . Johns River , Florida , headquarters of the Florida Group , 16th Fleet , U . S . Atlantic Fleet , where she decommissioned 1 May 1946 and entered the Reserve Fleet . Recommissioned as a Weather Ship . Recommissioned 20 July 1951 as , she saw service as a weather ship in the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans . She decommissioned a second time 1 June 1954 at the Todd Shipyard , Long Beach , California . Recommissioned as a Radar Picket Ship . With Lt . Comdr . J . R . Bohlken in command , she was recommissioned in the Navy at Long Beach Naval Shipyard after being converted to a radar picket escort vessel . " Lowe " joined Escort Squadron 5 at Seattle , Washington . She saw extended duty with the North American Air Defense Command as a unit of the seaward extension of the DEW line , eventually completing 67 tours as a picket vessel . While on station 20 February 1962 , she was an emergency rescue link for Lt . Col . John Glenn ’ s three orbit space mission . Vietnam Crisis operations . At the disestablishment of the Radar Barrier 30 June 1965 , " Lowe " sailed for the western Pacific and joined the U . S . 7th Fleet 5 August . Taking station off the coast of Vietnam 15 August , she was assigned the task of preventing seaborne infiltration of enemy elements to the south of that country as a part of Operation Market Time . In early September 1965 , she returned to her new homeport , Guam , for a period of rest and upkeep . She rejoined task force TF 115 off Vietnam 22 November and resumed “ Market Time ” surveillance . When not a unit of TF 115 , " Lowe " served as a unit of the Taiwan Patrol Force or as station ship Hong Kong . Final Decommissioning . This pattern of duty continued until 20 September 1968 when she decommissioned at Guam . Struck 23 September , " Lowe " began stripping in preparation for being sold for scrapping . She was then sold for scrapping 3 September 1969 .