USS Newell, a 1200 ton (standard displacement) Edsall class escort ship, was built at Orange, Texas. Commissioned in late October 1943 with a U.S. Coast Guard crew, she was briefly used for training and then began trans-Atlantic convoy escort missions. While off Algeria on 20 April 1944, her convoy was attacked by German torpedo planes which sank USS Lansdale (DD-426) and the freighter Paul Hamilton and damaged three other merchantmen. Newell helped rescue survivors and tow the damaged ships into port. While in the western Mediterranean on 4 and 5 May, her convoy ran into U-boats that sank USS Fechteler (DE-157) and damaged USS Menges (DE-320) and the French escort ship Senegalais. The German submarne U-371 was also lost in this encounter.
Newell continued convoy operations until February 1945, then was assigned to training and experimental duty which lasted until after Japan's surrender brought World War II to an end. She was decommissioned in November 1945 and laid up in the Atlantic Reserve Fleet. In July 1951 Newell returned to active service, this time as a U.S. Coast Guard ship. Following conversion for search and rescue service, she operated in the northern Pacific for a year and a half. Decommissioned at the end of March 1954, Newell reverted to Navy custody and was laid up in the Pacific Reserve Fleet.
In 1956-1957 Newell was converted to a radar picket escort ship and redesignated DER-322, recommissioning in August 1957 for service as part of the Nation's defenses against surprise air attack. Based at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, she operated as part of the Pacific Barrier until its disestablishment in May 1965. She then deployed to Vietnam to conduct "Market Time" patrols against enemy seaborne infiltration efforts. Her first southeast Asian cruise ended in January 1966. It was followed, in June 1966-January 1967 by a second, and by a third from July 1967 to February 1968. Following service in the Hawaiian area, USS Newell was placed out of commission and stricken from the Naval Vessel Register in September 1968. The following year she was used as a prop for the motion picture "Tora Tora Tora", playing the role of U.S. battleships during a dramatic reenactment of the 7 December 1941 Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. Her hulk was sold for scrapping in December 1971.
This page features all the views we have concerning USS Newell (DE-322) and USCGC Newell (WDE-422), and provides links to images related to her after conversion to a radar picket escort ship (DER-322).
For more pictures related to this ship, see:
If you want higher resolution reproductions than the digital image presented here, see: "How to Obtain Photographic Reproductions." |
Click on the small photograph to prompt a larger view of the same image.
In the following views, USS Newell (DE-322) is seen in the background of an image of another ship, or is possibly present:
Photo #: 80-G-245464 USS Mattole (AO-17) Refuels USS Pride (DE-323) by the astern method, 17 August 1944. USS Newell (DE-322) is approaching, from the far right. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives. Online Image: 82KB; 740 x 620 pixels Reproductions of this image may also be available through the National Archives photographic reproduction system. |
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Photo #: NH 75615 Sinking of USS Lansdale (DD-426), 20 April 1944, off North Africa The bodies of two men killed in the sinking of Lansdale are brought ashore at a North African port from a U.S. Coast Guard manned destroyer escort which conducted rescue operations. The DE is either USS Menges (DE-320) or USS Newell (DE-322). Coourtesy of Mr. James Russell. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph. Online Image: 113KB; 595 x 765 pixels |
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For more pictures related to this ship, see:
If you want higher resolution reproductions than the digital image presented here, see: "How to Obtain Photographic Reproductions." |
Page made 26 November 2005