USS Ellyson (DD-454 / DMS-19)

History

USS Ellyson (DD-454/DMS-19), a Gleaves-class destroyer, is the only ship of the United States Navy to be named for Theodore Gordon Ellyson, a submariner who became the first officer of the U.S. Navy to be designated a naval aviator. Ellyson was laid down by Federal Shipbuilding of Kearny, New Jersey on 20 December 1940. She was launched on 26 July 1941 sponsored by Miss Gordon Ellyson, daughter of Commander Ellyson, and commissioned on 28 November 1941. Still outfitting when the United States entered World War II, Ellyson was quickly readied for sea and patrolled in the Atlantic, protecting Allied shipping from Halifax, Nova Scotia, to the West Indies and Panama Canal. On 14 January 1942 she rescued 24 survivors from the sunken Norwegian SS Norness.

Text adapted from Wikipedia: USS Ellyson (CC BY-SA 4.0).

Timeline

1. 28 November 1941
   Commissioned (Federal SB Kearny)
   Wikipedia / DANFS
2. 14 January 1942
   Rescued 24 survivors from SS Norness
   Wikipedia / DANFS
3. 8 November 1942
   With Ranger at Fedhala, French Morocco (Torch)
   Wikipedia / DANFS
4. 17 May 1944
   Sank U-616 with gunfire after depth-charge hunt; rescued 30 survivors
   Wikipedia / DANFS
5. 6 June 1944
   Covered Army Ranger assault on Pointe du Hoc (Normandy)
   Wikipedia / DANFS
6. 25 June 1944
   Action off Cherbourg — gun installations, mines, smoke screen
   Wikipedia / DANFS
7. 15 August 1944
   Southern France invasion fire support
   Wikipedia / DANFS
8. 15 November 1944
   Reclassified DMS-19 (high-speed minesweeper)
   Wikipedia / DANFS
9. 3 January 1945
   Sailed Norfolk for Pacific
   DANFS
10. 24 March 1945
    Arrived off Okinawa; pre-invasion minesweep
    DANFS
11. 6 April 1945
    Tried to tow kamikaze-hit Emmons (DMS-22); sank her 7 Apr to keep off Ie Shima
    DANFS
12. July 1945
    Flagship East China Sea sweep group
    DANFS

Sources

• Wikipedia — USS Ellyson
• NHHC DANFS — Ellyson
• Destroyer History Foundation — Ellyson shipmates